Chapter 3
How Should I Interpret This Scene?
Miklok Pritan, the young king of the Pritan Kingdom—renowned across the northern continent for its valor—had not imagined, when he set out for the Harun Empire to fetch his future queen, that such an interesting situation would await him.
The Emperor of Harun, expressing regret over the wrongs committed by his younger brother, Grand Duke Jake, against the Pritan Kingdom, had sent a marriage proposal as a gesture of reconciliation. When Miklok accepted the proposal, he had done so without much enthusiasm.
After all, he was on the verge of leading an important campaign to eradicate the demon race, and he had no desire to be distracted by something as trivial as marriage.
The news that it would take at least a month for his bride-to-be to arrive, even if she traveled with all haste, had irritated him further. This campaign would take a good four months—delaying it by more than a month would cause serious disruptions, and he also had to consider the harm to his allies from changing plans.
Frankly, it would have been more satisfying to gallop to the Harun Empire, lop off the old raccoon’s head, and then head out to exterminate demons.
However, Miklok’s exciting little plan was thwarted by his most trusted guard knight, William Giles.
“What if we went to bring the future queen ourselves? With an elite cavalry skilled in riding, even with a carriage, it would take ten days to go and ten to return—a total of twenty days.”
“Will, is that really necessary before such an important battle?”
“Of course it is!”
When the already rough-looking William frowned, the air instantly turned tense.
“What’s with the attitude?”
“Huh? Ah… no, sir…”
“Still, that temper of yours… tsk tsk.”
William thought his king had no right to talk about other people’s tempers, but he swallowed the thought.
“There’s no young noblewoman in Pritan fit to be your match, Your Majesty. Even if we send proposals abroad, every one of them is rejected—because of our kingdom’s infamous freezing winters, and because of the equally bad rumors about you.”
“That’s true.”
Miklok nodded but looked as indifferent as ever, which made William’s stomach churn.
The truth was, even with Pritan’s harsh winters and his own terrible reputation, if Miklok simply showed his face around other royal courts, finding a queen would be no problem. This man could probably gather not only a queen but a harem of dozens of concubines in under a month—yet for some reason, he had no interest in women. His entire focus was on war and conquest.
William thought this was a terrible waste of a man and, as another man, couldn’t help snapping:
“Unless you want a widow over fifty for your queen, go fetch her yourself.”
And so, the journey began. Even then, traveling at the slow pace of a carriage was so dull that Miklok and William arrived at the Marquis of Uzkall’s estate five days earlier than planned.
And what an interesting surprise awaited them!
From the moment he stepped into the reception room, Miklok noticed the hooded figure of a young woman—Leah.
What’s this? The infamous black witch I’ve heard of?
He exchanged a discreet glance with William, prepared to throw a dagger at any moment, when the black hood fell back to reveal shimmering platinum hair and a pale face glowing like moonlight.
And he clearly saw the flicker of discomfort cross her features.
Leah Uzkall, was it?
Hearing the marquis call her name, Miklok realized she was his bride-to-be.
Planning to run away, were you?
He had never expected her to be fond of him—it was a political marriage between nations, after all—but meeting a future bride whose first instinct was to escape did not put him in a good mood. So, he simply watched to see what she would do.
Then came her response to the marquis’s persistent questioning—a response that made him almost laugh out loud.
“When I heard the King of Pritan was here, I packed my things immediately. Are we leaving right away?”
“You’re so handsome! I want to live my whole life just staring at your face!”
When Leah clasped her hands, bounced on her feet, and gazed at him with bright, sparkling eyes—her cheeks flushed—Miklok felt a strange tingling in his palm.
What is this?
He flexed his fist a couple of times before looking at her again.
Could it be… because of this woman? No… impossible…
Shaking off the thought, he asked coolly:
“So you mean you could leave for Pritan with me this very moment?”
Did she even understand what she was saying? But Leah, lifting her small, fair face close to his and clinging to his arm, replied:
“Of course, of course. If my future husband looks like this, I’d follow him to hell!”
Then, as if suddenly embarrassed, she covered her face with both hands.
Miklok, exasperated, muttered inwardly:
Hopeless, through and through—a complete fool for looks.
It was obvious she was acting, yet there was some hint of sincerity in her eyes, which unsettled him slightly. Still, he decided to pretend not to notice.
The Marquis of Uzkall was equally doubtful, but since Miklok made no complaint, he let it go.
“How could you leave at this late hour? Stop saying such childish things. The carriage will arrive in five days—prepare yourself and wait until then.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Miklok cut in, surprising both Leah and the marquis.
“I had planned to leave once Pritan’s carriage arrived, but it’s hardly polite to keep a lady waiting.”
Smiling coldly, he said:
“Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Miklok Pritan, King of Pritan.”
“Leah Uzkall, second daughter of the Marquis of Uzkall in the Harun Empire,” she replied, extending her hand.
Miklok kissed the back of her hand lightly, his long fingers brushing her skin. Her eyes wavered with unease.
“If you so dearly wish to come with me, nothing could please me more. At dawn, we leave. William! We return to Pritan at sunrise.”
“Huh? Ah… yes, Your Majesty.”
Later, still in my outdoor clothes, I collapsed onto my bed and stared at the ceiling.
I had crafted a careful escape plan—hastily revised at the last moment—but it had evaporated in an instant. Worse, the ridiculous things I’d blurted out to King Miklok just to stay alive made me want to die of embarrassment.
But there had been an unexpected silver lining: contrary to rumors that he was a bloodthirsty monster, King Miklok was… stunning.
No, “handsome” wasn’t enough. He was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen.
No face could match my mother’s dying wish—that I marry a man with exceptional looks—better than his.
Marrying the old raccoon emperor or living here as a despised burden is far worse than going to Pritan, I told myself, trying to focus on the positives.
I’ll follow Mother’s will first. If I can’t stand it there, I’ll escape later.
As I was mulling this over, Millie sank into a chair, looking utterly deflated.
“My lady… what do we do now?”
“We have no choice. We’re going to Pritan.”
I got up and walked to her. I’d already decided—if anyone was going to suffer, it would be me alone. I wouldn’t let my precious Millie go through hardship.
“Millie, I have to go to Pritan, but if you want, you can stay here.”
Her eyes widened like lanterns, and tears quickly filled them.
“Leah, are you abandoning me because I’m useless now?”
“No! It’s just… Pritan is a land of perpetual winter. You hate the cold—you might not survive.”
I hugged her tightly. Millie had been with me since I was eight—my only family.
Straightening her back, she wiped her tears and looked me in the eye.
“I’ll serve you even more diligently. I’ll eat less and never complain about the cold. So please… don’t throw me away.”
Her sincerity brought a lump to my throat. I grasped her hands.
“I promise, Millie—I’ll protect you until my last breath.”
Just then, someone knocked at the door. When Millie opened it, to my shock, the Marquis and Marchioness of Uzkall were standing there.
They had never once visited my room before.
“There’s something I forgot to ask earlier… how’s your health these days?”
“My… health?”
There was no way they were genuinely concerned, so I wondered at their intent.
“Anything unusual lately? Like a hot sensation rising from your lower abdomen each morning, or an electric tingling in your fingertips?”
In fact, the marquis had asked me the same question when we first met, and then again every year on my birthday. My answer was always the same.
“No, never.”
“I see,” he said, looking disappointed—while the marchioness looked relieved.
“Of course. From the start, it was never possible for her,” she said with a smug look.
“We’re leaving early in the morning, so get some sleep,” the marquis said, and they left without another word.
Once they were gone, I felt suffocated. I sighed and went to the window, throwing it open.
“Leah… Leah, are you all right?”
“Ahhh!!!”
A shadow outside the window spoke, startling me so badly I screamed. Millie rushed over, ready to shriek as well—until the shadow clapped a hand over her mouth.
“Quiet, both of you—it’s me, Robbie.”
Ah—Robbie! When the shadow pulled off his mask, his soft blond hair and round face came into view.
Only then did I remember I had completely forgotten my meeting with him.
“Sorry, Robbie. Did you wait long?”
“What happened? You two didn’t show up at the meeting place—I was so worried.”
I explained everything: King Miklok, who was supposed to arrive in five days, had appeared early, and I’d been caught trying to flee.
Listening with a grave expression, Robbie’s eyes hardened.
“Leah, it’s not too late. Let’s run away together.”
“Run away together? Robbie, I only asked to borrow your carriage.”
“I always intended to go with you. I’ve decided.”
I looked up at him in surprise. Robbie had been my childhood friend since we were nine, when we both trained with Sir Pallet—him openly as the son of Count Stone, me in secret. Sir Pallet had let me join in whenever he taught Robbie.
We had been together since those carefree days, and even at twenty, he remained the same gentle, soft-hearted friend. But now he was being stubborn.
“Robbie,” I said gently. “You’ve been so worried about me, haven’t you? But I’m fine now. I’ll handle it.”
“Don’t say that. It was bad enough when you were supposed to marry that old emperor, but now what? Queen of Pritan? You’ll freeze to death the moment you get there.”
Seeing the anger in his face hurt me. I wrapped my arms around his stiff body.
“People live there too, you know. I won’t put you or your family in danger because of me. If you care about me, go back, Robbie.”
His shoulders trembled in my arms. My precious Robbie was crying for me. My own chest ached. I gently stroked his back.
“How should I interpret this scene?”
The cold voice from behind froze my blood. I turned in shock to see King Miklok standing there. His face was expressionless, but his eyes were like blades of ice.
When his gaze fixed on Robbie, his deep indigo eyes suddenly flared crimson.
“Step away. Now.”
