“Become my beloved, one and only family, to whom I shall devote my soul and love.”

When the foreign prince finally grasped her hand and whispered those words, the girl could only nod silently, overwhelmed with emotion.

This is the story of a girl who had always wanted to become someone’s family.

***

Suddenly, Amelia was dragged out of the tower, bound, and blindfolded. She walked for a long time, feeling the cold, hard stone under her thin shoes.

Shivering slightly in the cool morning air, she smelled the unfamiliar scent of iron.

The sound of people, no, soldiers. Occasional clashes of weapons and a strange, tense heat like a dam about to burst.

Finally, as the black cloth covering her eyes was removed, she realized she was standing in the center of the castle wall.

“Behold, Amelia.”

She blinked her eyes.

As her eyes, shielded for so long, adjusted to the light, she soon saw the archers and infantry densely packed on the castle wall.

Inside the castle gates, Rohan’s cavalry unit was ready to charge at any moment, while thousands of infantry units were lined up along both sides of the castle, waiting for the battle to begin in quiet excitement.

And beyond the castle walls, on the plains, the allied army’s troops were encamped like swarms of ants. Among the allied army’s flags, the flag of the Holy Empire of Delcross shone the brightest.

Only after taking in all this did Amelia turn her head to the side and meet the gaze of the man holding her blindfold.

Leonard, the King of Rohan.

The one she once believed without a doubt would become the family she loved most in the world, but who ultimately deceived and betrayed her, pushing her life into an abyss. The one who had slandered and dethroned the innocent her, confining her to a cold tower for years.

Leonard looked into Amelia’s utterly dry eyes and curled one corner of his mouth.

“Yes, do you feel wronged? Do you resent me? But this is all the retribution that the sinful daughter of that empire deserves. Are you not the cause of this holy war?”

Amelia showed no reaction. She knew that everything he said was in fact a lie, merely a false justification.

Who was the true cause of this war – both the speaker and the listener were well aware of who it was.

A fierce wind blew over the castle wall, tousling her pitifully short, rose-colored hair.

Leonard gazed at the sight as if entranced for a moment, then gently reached out and stroked the ends.

“Romaine’s plan was not even half successful. Your damn father has done well to win over those foxes of that kingdom.”

He ruffled her hair, caressed her roughened cheek, and finally grasped her slender neck.

“So you’ll have to pay the price instead. I will behead you now as the beginning of this war.”

Feeling the grip tighten around her neck, Amelia closed her eyes. She had no more attachment to a life filled only with pain.

She only wished that at least the allied forces would thwart this cruel man’s ambition, that he would be thoroughly trampled and unable to grasp anything he desired. At that moment, that was her only wish.

It was then that a disturbance arose on the front lines.

The distant allied army’s camp began to stir, and soon a black shadow shot out from the camp like an arrow.

A single cavalry unit. It was an impulsive charge without any sign of the battle beginning.

Leonard roughly grasped her neck and narrowed his eyes, scanning the allied army’s camp. As the commotion grew louder, it seemed to be an unexpected, spontaneous action on the enemy’s side as well.

Shortly after, a group of cavalry units rushed out of the allied camp one after another. They seemed to be chasing after the knight who had hurriedly taken the lead.

“That fellow…”

As the leading knight’s figure drew closer, murmurs grew louder in Rohan’s camp as well.

The knight’s black armor and the huge crossbow on his back. And the few spears he had at his side.

A notorious figure who had been wreaking havoc on the front lines until recently was now charging alone towards the castle wall!

“…the Black Demon!”

“It’s Delcross’s Black Demon!”

“The Crown Prince! It’s the Crown Prince of Delcross!”

Whoosh–

The black-armored knight drew out a spear. As the spear was enveloped in an ominous crimson aura, the entire castle wall began to waver.

Is he crazy? He hasn’t even come within arrow range yet, and he’s going to throw a spear from there?

“Shoot, shoot! Archers, what are you doing? Shoot him down quickly!”

At Leonard’s flustered command…

Whish–

Arrows that blackened the sky shot into the air and soon rained down with terrifying acceleration, piercing the ground.

Kwakwakwakwa. But as expected, the range fell a bit short. The knight galloped past the arrow field unscathed, still in a posture of aiming his spear.

“Damn it…!”

While the archers quickly reloaded their arrows, the Crown Prince, who had closed the distance by another 50 meters, finally threw the spear he had been aiming.

Kwaaang!

The spear, which flew with a fearsome force as it scattered aura, struck the ground right in front of the castle gate. Although it narrowly missed the castle wall, the soldiers’ faces paled at the sight of the deeply gouged earth.

“Is, is he human?”

“Prepare to fire! Prepare to fire!”

Hundreds of arrows soared into the air again all at once. The Crown Prince drew the crossbow on his back and created a wide aura shield to deflect most of the arrows. However, it was not enough to block the enormous amount of arrows pouring down on him in concentration.

Hihihing! With the cry of a horse, he fell and rolled on the ground. Just as it seemed he would get up after rolling once…

Kwaaang!

Another spear flew in and this time pierced the exact center of the castle wall.

“This crazy bastard…!”

With a few arrows stuck in his armor, the Black Knight began running towards the castle wall again.

Although his speed was no match for that of a horse, his relentless figure, rushing towards the castle wall while enveloped in crimson aura all over his body, was utterly terrifying. The captain of the knights, waiting for the reload, swallowed hard with tension.

Amelia stood on the castle wall, held by Leonard’s grip, witnessing it all. For the first time, her eyes, which had become as numb as possible, trembled faintly with emotional turmoil.

Someone had not yet given up on her life, which she herself had already abandoned. And he was running towards a place that was clearly going to be his death without a moment’s hesitation.

Whish–

A rain of arrows poured down mercilessly on the Crown Prince once again. But this time, he was not alone in facing it. A group of knights who had chased after the Crown Prince who had deserted the camp without permission had finally caught up with him and raised their shields together while the attack was concentrated on the Crown Prince.

Tatatatadak. The barrier made by interlocking shields instantly became a honeycomb.

“Hey, you crazy bastard!”

An unknown knight who had thrown away his now-useless shield shouted at His Highness the Crown Prince.

Leonard bit his lip impatiently.

“…Can they reach it? Can they reach here?”

The knights, forming a circular formation with the Crown Prince at the center, began to advance little by little.

They had already entered firing range, and arrows began to rain down haphazardly, but as the entire group seemed to be skilled aura users, they took turns creating aura shields and managed to close the distance to the castle wall.

The Crown Prince, who seemed to have lost his helmet while rolling on the ground, was frantically deflecting arrows with his bare face exposed. His fierce-looking eyes and sharp jawline that had sharpened with age… It was a face both familiar and somewhat foreign to Amelia. In the midst of it all, it seemed he had been grazed by an arrow, and half of his light blonde hair was soaked with blood.

“…Morres.”

She had never thought they were particularly close since childhood. So why was that child now trying so desperately to reach her? As she was having such thoughts…

At the very moment their similar gray eyes met…

Poof–

A searing pain was transmitted from her right chest.

“…!”

Amelia lowered her head and stared at the dagger stuck in her chest. The bloodstain spreading red on her shabby dress seemed as unreal as a blooming flower petal.

Following the hand gripping the dagger, she slowly turned her head to look at Leonard’s face. Even with the most desperate look in his eyes, his mouth was twisted in a vicious smile.

“If you are so precious to them, what can I do? I have no choice but to send you… However…”

“…”

“…I will never hand you over to them unharmed.”

Thud.

Amelia, who had been precariously standing on the edge of the castle wall, supported by Leonard’s grip, was easily pushed out with a slight shove.

“Amelia!”

Hearing Morres call out her name like a scream from far away, she helplessly fell to the ground.

Beyond her inverted vision was a peaceful blue sky, as if in a lie. She thought she saw a bird disappear beyond the clouds, and soon her consciousness faded.

The sound of someone shouting, screaming, weapons clashing. The sound of flesh being torn.

“…Amelia, Amelia! Sister! Come to your senses!”

And at the sound of continuously calling her name, Amelia opened her eyes.

Cough! As soon as she coughed, her chest burned with pain. She rolled her eyes and looked around.

In the middle of the battlefield where the forces of both sides clashed… Morres was sitting next to Amelia, who was lying down, pressing on her chest where the dagger was stuck with his gauntlet-free hand.

“Mo…!”

She wanted to call his name, but no sound came out. It seemed the dagger had injured her lungs, as a whistling sound could be heard whenever she tried to inhale, and blood gurgled out of her mouth.

“Shh… Don’t talk and stay still, sister. The wound will open up. You seemed to have landed well when you fell, but the stabbed area isn’t looking too good…”

Morres said soothingly as he held down Amelia, who kept trying to struggle.

“But Father will be here soon. To him, a wound like this is nothing, so don’t worry. You know that well too, right?”

Her brother’s face was also pale with tension. He continued to talk to Amelia, as if to reassure her and at the same time convince himself.

“Just endure a little longer. Amelia-noonim. If you hold on a bit more, once Father arrives, everything will be resolved…”

Ah, His Majesty the Holy Emperor. Father.

Thinking of him, tears began to well up in Amelia’s eyes for the first time in years.

After opposing the marriage with Leonard to the end, resulting in practically disowning her as she left to marry, she had never once sent word to her father. Even if she met him again now, what could Amelia say?

Morres, who had keenly noticed her guilt, whispered in a small voice.

“Amelia. That man is always thinking and worrying about you. He’s not angry at you at all, so when you see him later, just smile and pretend nothing happened. Okay?”

“…”

“When he lost Logan not long ago, he was so discouraged, it was almost scary. If something happens to you too, even I don’t know what he might do. He needs you.”

At Morres’ uncharacteristically gentle tone, Amelia widened her eyes and looked up at his face. He had been avoiding her gaze for a while now. His unfocused gray eyes were blankly staring into the void.

Come to think of it, she had thought it was because of the tension, but why was his face so pale?

“…And while we’re at it, let me apologize. I’m sorry for speaking rudely to you and bothering you when we were young. It was all my fault…”

Amelia, who had been carefully observing Morres, was shocked. Because the armor on his back, which she had not noticed as they were facing each other, was already densely packed with dozens of arrows.

Most of the blood soaking his hand pressing on Amelia’s chest was his own.

Amelia realized that he must have recklessly jumped into the arrow storm to catch her as she fell from the castle wall. Despite falling from such a height, the reason she had no other injuries, the reason not a single arrow had grazed her…

In that fleeting moment, Morres had poured all his strength into protecting Amelia.

And only then could she make out what the knights surrounding them were shouting at the top of their lungs.

“Please hold on a little longer, Your Highness!”

“You always go off on your own like this, huh? Crown Prince, if you pass out here, you’ll see!”

“His Majesty will arrive soon! Your Highness! You must not lose consciousness!”

Amelia wept helplessly, feeling Morres’ breathing gradually weakening.

Ah. It’s because of me.

Because I selfishly came to Rohan, Father had to continue disadvantageous diplomacy, and my brother, the Crown Prince, had to charge into certain death.

And despite all their sacrifices, in the end, she would die as their burden to the very last.

It was then that the sky began to turn a shade of red.