Episode 3
The people who had stolen her gentle father, her kind mother, and her beloved younger brother—who had torn her family apart and ravaged their estate—were spies from a neighboring country.
It was an open secret among the nobility that relations with the neighboring kingdom had begun deteriorating during the reign of the previous king.
And those relations had never fully recovered.
At one point, rumors had spread that war might break out between the two nations, but those fears were dismissed after the neighboring kingdom sent a diplomatic delegation the previous year.
According to the official reports, nothing unusual had happened during their visit.
But it was all false information.
Among the noble families, strange rumors circulated in whispers—that the delegation had secretly reported that the neighboring king had no intention of restoring relations with their kingdom.
Some even speculated that war would eventually break out.
The neighboring country had carefully planted spies to monitor their kingdom.
The one who discovered this was her father, Illian Alfred.
And when the neighboring kingdom realized that Illian Alfred had secretly begun investigating their movements, they sent assassins to House Alfred.
Adora learned all of this completely by accident.
Late one night, she had secretly overheard a conversation outside a study where light still burned.
Inside were the elder members of House Alfred—those who had become her guardians after the tragedy.
Through their hushed voices, spoken as though sharing forbidden secrets, Adora learned the truth behind her family’s destruction.
And she also learned that nothing could be done about it.
The ones responsible for nearly destroying an entire noble family were spies from a foreign nation.
But revealing that truth wouldn’t solve anything.
They couldn’t demand punishment from those spies.
They couldn’t march into enemy territory and vent their rage.
Because that would mean war.
War brought suffering.
And the lives of one family could never be weighed equally against an entire nation.
Perhaps war would come one day—
but delaying such tragedy for as long as possible was the better choice.
And House Alfred was not powerful enough to bear such a burden alone.
And so the truth behind her family’s destruction was buried.
Before anyone could even properly grieve, it was forced into silence.
And on that day—
Adora made a decision.
Instead of holding flowers, as her mother had wished—
she would hold a sword.
People told her that the living must continue living while burying their longing for the dead deep within their hearts.
Adora could never accept that.
The memories of that night were still vivid.
The pain carved into those memories still strangled her heart.
The rage she had never been able to release still burned inside her.
How could she possibly forget and move on?
She felt that only by making them suffer the same pain she had endured could she extinguish her hatred.
The year Adora turned fourteen, she cut her red hair short and applied to become a royal knight apprentice.
People were stunned when a young noble lady with a delicate face appeared in trousers and short hair like a boy, boldly submitting her application.
Since the founding of Glorious Kingdom, no woman had ever applied to become a knight.
There was no law explicitly forbidding it—
but it had always been treated as an unspoken rule.
People would have been less shocked if a one-legged man had applied.
A woman becoming a knight?
It was unimaginable.
Naturally, the backlash was immense.
People mocked Adora’s audacity and ridiculed her ambition.
But Adora passed proudly.
She became a royal knight.
And later, when war finally broke out, she joined the battlefield and earned victory by beheading an enemy commander.
And so—
Adora achieved her revenge.
And in return, she gained death.
The cook, now well into middle age, prepared a meal for her for the first time in a long while.
The dining table was filled with all of Adora’s favorite foods.
Despite how uneasy her stomach had been lately, Adora finished the satisfying meal and wiped her mouth before announcing the decision she had made before returning here.
“…What did you just say?”
“I think I’ll get married. Find me a suitable partner.”
A loud crashing sound suddenly rang out behind her.
Startled, Adora turned around.
John stood frozen with both hands raised in the air.
At his feet were shattered empty plates—the obvious source of the noise.
As if that didn’t matter at all, John stared at Adora in disbelief.
“M-marriage? If my ears haven’t completely failed me with age… did you just say you’re getting married, my lady?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“W-why have you suddenly decided to marry?”
She hadn’t expected him to be this shocked, but she had anticipated the question.
So Adora answered calmly.
“I think it’s finally okay for me to rest now. Honestly, I’m a bit late.”
At her response, John’s hands began trembling violently.
Then his entire body started shaking.
For a moment, Adora wondered if her marriage was truly that shocking.
Then she grew concerned that something might actually be wrong with his health.
John muttered, “Marriage… marriage…” like a madman before fumbling through his clothes with trembling hands.
He pulled out a neatly pressed white handkerchief.
“Our young lady is finally getting maaarried!”
And then he buried his face into the handkerchief and burst into loud sobs.
He cried loudly—far too loudly for someone usually so composed and dignified.
The cook even patted his shoulder to comfort him.
Adora stared blankly for a moment before noticing John clutching his chest.
She quickly spoke.
“Calm down, John.”
“S-sniff… I’m fine! Something like this won’t stop this old man’s heart! Our young lady is getting married!”
“……”
Adora was completely flustered after discovering just how emotionally fragile her butler truly was.
He looked as though she might kill him from overwhelming joy if she got married twice.
When he tearfully declared he could now die without regrets, Adora wisely decided not to say anything else.
After loudly expressing every emotion possible, John finally calmed down and spoke with a solemn expression.
“Do not worry, my lady! No—my master! I will find someone truly worthy of you!”
“R-right. I’m counting on you.”
Adora answered awkwardly and turned away.
At some point, the dishes had all been cleared from the table and replaced with warm tea.
As she lifted the teacup, she quietly regretted something.
She had probably stayed away from her estate for far too long.
News that Adora Alfred was seeking a marriage partner spread throughout the entire kingdom.
The noble families became especially excited.
The name House Alfred had long since lost much of its former influence.
But Adora Alfred was different.
She had risen to become the commander of the Green Knights despite being a woman.
She had become a war hero.
She had even earned the king’s trust.
Though she had recently retired from knighthood, marrying her still promised enormous benefits.
After finishing their calculations, noble families rushed to send marriage proposals.
As if competing with one another, proposals flooded House Alfred.
The news spread even further, igniting widespread discussion about Adora Alfred’s marriage.
And naturally—
people became obsessed with one question:
Who would she marry?
That curiosity eventually reached deep into the royal palace—
and one particular man.
Inside a palace surrounded by red roses, a man stood within a garden overflowing with rich crimson fragrance, as though trying to conceal the beauty hidden inside.
He slowly swept his gaze across the sea of red.
His snow-white hair shimmered beneath the sunlight like falling snow in spring—
beautiful and strangely out of place.
Adjusting his newly tailored clothes, the man waved away a gardener approaching him and carefully examined each vibrant flower blooming in the well-maintained garden.
Then he began selecting roses himself.
The unfastened cuffs of his sleeves fluttered like butterfly wings as he walked.
A gardener handed him a rose whose stem had been trimmed and thorns removed.
Morning dew still clung to its petals.
It looked freshly bloomed and pristine.
The man buried his nose into the flower and inhaled deeply.
The rich floral scent overwhelmed his senses.
He smiled faintly, surrendering himself to the fragrance.
And growing alongside the roses filling his arms—
was his rising excitement.
Adora stared at the densely written letters spread before her.
To be honest, all she could think was:
Black letters on white paper.
She absentmindedly skimmed through the detailed contents—
until she reached one letter that boldly demanded the transfer of family rights.
At that point, she stopped reading altogether.
Adora stared blankly at the towering stack of letters on the table.
Beside them were piles of bouquets that surrounded the room.
From early morning, messengers claiming to represent various noble houses had been arriving to deliver them politely.
John no longer needed to search for a marriage candidate.
Because every letter on that table was a marriage proposal.
Some impatient nobles had already sent portraits.
Others, even more shameless, included detailed lists of what benefits they expected from the marriage.
As though they had already assumed their proposals would be accepted.
The demands were absurdly specific.
Where had the rumors even spread from?
It hadn’t even been a few days since John had begun searching.
“So many… flowers.”
The bouquets were just as overwhelming.
Some were enormous arrangements that relied purely on quantity.
Others came in ornate flower vases decorated with elaborate designs.
Adora had never received so many flowers in her life.
There were enough different bouquets to create an entire garden.
“Some also sent valuable gifts such as jewelry,” John added, “but I assumed you wouldn’t want those, so I returned them.”
“Yes. Good decision.”
Adora was secretly overwhelmed.
She was now twenty-seven years old.
Still young by a knight’s standards—
but well past the typical marriage age for noblewomen.
She had even retired from the only role that made her stand out.
Honestly, she had expected finding a suitable partner to be difficult.
She never imagined the response would be this intense.
Apparently, news of her marriage plans had spread so widely that there wasn’t a single person in the kingdom who hadn’t heard about it.
It felt like far too much attention—
but she decided to think positively.
After all, having many options wasn’t a bad thing.
That thought disappeared the very next day.
