Chapter 1

The moment enemy spears ran through my mother, General Marion Denton, and my elder sister, Commander Kate Denton, and they fell, it felt as if a sword had pierced my own heart.

When the beacon smoke cleared, I stumbled up onto the city wall.

Corpses covered the ground. Mother's armor was scored with blade marks, and the face that had always worn a smile was as pale as paper.

"My Lord, please accept our condolences. The general has fallen in battle..."

The surviving soldiers all turned red-rimmed eyes toward me. Beneath the grief, their gazes burned with hatred.

Everyone in the realm knew that my wife, Clarisse Kaylock, the Princess Royal, was the only one who could have led the iron cavalry to break the siege.

If she had come, how could my mother, my sister, and three thousand soldiers have lost their lives?

I collapsed over Mother's body and sobbed until I could barely breathe. My heart felt as though it were being torn apart.

In the midst of my grief, I noticed the protection charm hanging at Mother's waist.

Clarisse had given it to her when she came to see her off before the campaign.

Mother had treated Clarisse like her own daughter. Even with the enemy at the gates, she had still been reassuring me that Clarisse would come.

But we waited and waited, and all that came was the news of my mother's, my sister's, and three thousand soldiers' deaths.

I brought Mother and my sister home and buried them in the soil of our homeland.

Only after the funeral did Clarisse's reply finally reach me.

"Lord Damien Ryder was frightened during the hunt and is badly shaken. As soon as I have calmed him, I will come to your aid at once!"

It had been written on the very day the city fell!

The numbness in my heart gave way to a fresh stab of pain.

On the road back to the capital with the memorial photos of my mother and sister, I overheard a passing merchant caravan discussing the latest news from the capital.

At the autumn hunting grounds the day before, the Princess Royal had drawn her bow and shot down ninety-nine white doves just to win a smile from the young lord.

When the young lord took fright during the hunt, she had tied a fox-fur cloak around him with her own hands and personally accompanied him to the Lyndon hot springs.

She had even commissioned a painting of their tender moment as a keepsake.

My heart went cold as I listened to the passersby.

That was right. In everyone's eyes, Damien and Clarisse were a perfect match, a talented gentleman and a beautiful lady.

If not for the late king's decree arranging our marriage, they would have been made for each other.

I was nothing more than a choice Clarisse had been unable to refuse.

Only after losing my mother and sister did I understand that a choice made out of necessity would always be tossed aside like an old shoe.

At that thought, I ground ink and wrote at once.

"Clarisse, the letter of separation is written. From now on, we go our separate ways."

I instructed my page to deliver the letter to Clarisse.

The coachman asked, "My lord, shall we return to the Princess Royal's residence?"

"No. Take me home to the Denton estate."

The desolation of my family home pressed down on me until I could hardly breathe.

My father, Charles Denton, had died young, so Mother and my sister had doted on me and cherished me like a treasure.

Whenever Mother returned from war, she would shed her iron and blood and hold me in the courtyard while we watched the peach blossoms.

And my sister, that valiant young commander, would run several streets away to bring back warm shortbread just because I wanted some.

But now, the place was the same, and the people were gone.

I had only just set the memorial photos of Mother and Kate in the family chapel when a servant burst in, panicked.

"My lord, the Princess Royal has taken Lord Damien into the general's armory! We didn't dare stop them!"

My pupils contracted. I rose at once and headed for the back courtyard. From a distance, I could already hear Damien Ryder laughing.

"Your Highness, I hear General Denton collected quite a few weapons. May I pick out a few that I like?"

Clarisse's voice held a tenderness I had never heard before. "Of course. As long as I'm here, you can have anything you want."