On a dark, rain-soaked evening, knight surrounded the carriage, their horses snorting clouds of mist into the cold air. Armor glinted faintly beneath the restless flashes of lightning, and each man carried a sword at their side. It wasn’t just as a weapon, but as a silent promise —to protect. They rode close, forming a living wall around the carriage they were sworn to protect.

Rain poured heavily, soaking cloaks and blurring the road ahead. Thunder cracked across the sky like the roar of an angry god, yet they did not slow. The wheels of the carriage groaned over the mud, and inside, the weight of uncertainty hung heavier than the storm itself.

No one spoke. The only sounds were hooves striking wet earth and the distant echo of thunder. Each knight knew the journey they made tonight was not just across land, but across fate itself.

And still, through the darkness and the rain, they rode toward the neighboring kingdom of Valemere, where hope and heartbreak waited in equal measure.

Inside the carriage, a girl sat alone in her wedding gown. Layers of silk and lace pooled around her like a beautiful lie.The soft, delicate, fabrics impossibly heavy cling to her skin, weighing her down just like the rain outside.

She stared at her reflection in the rain blurred carriage window. Her long black hair was styled into an elegant bun, a delicate veil framing her sharp grey eyes. Her lips were painted red, diamonds draped from her neck to her wrists, glittering with every flash of lightning.

She looked perfect—like a queen on her wedding day.

But beneath the silk and sparkle, she felt nothing at all.

After all, she wasn’t being wed—she was being traded. Sent to the neighboring kingdom as the price of peace, a fragile offering to stop a war written in blood. Wrapped in silk and diamonds, she was nothing more than a promise her father had made and she was the one who had to pay for it.

A promise she never made .

A promise made before she was even born ,her destiny written in a time when she had no voice, no name, no choice in the life.

"I never had a choice from the start," she whispered to her reflection. "A place I’ve never seen… a prince I’ve never known."

She paused, the words hanging in the air like the storm outside.

Slowly, she opened the carriage window and let the rain touch her face. Each droplet felt like a quiet comfort, as if the world itself understood her sorrow. She let her tears fall freely, mingling with the heavy rain, no longer alone in her grief.

“Princess Klar,” a knight called gently. “You’ll catch a cold… you should close the window.”

She glanced at him, drenched in rain,For a moment, she almost smiled—but the sorrow in her grey eyes ran deeper than any warmth he could offer. She let the rain cling to her a little longer, letting the world feel her grief with her.

She shook her head slowly, rain dripping from her lashes. “A little cold,” she said, her voice trembling but sharp, "is nothing compared to the cold betrayal my family has given me.”

The words hung between them, heavier than the storm outside, and for the first time, the knight saw that this princess carried a grief far deeper than the rain could ever wash away.

The knight looked at her, eyes steady despite the rain. “Princess… you’re the reason this war can be stopped. Many lives can be saved because of you.”

She met his gaze, her voice soft but unyielding. “I know,” she whispered. “And I don’t care if they live or not. Their lives are not my responsibility… not if it costs my freedom.”

The storm pressed in around them, but inside her, a chill far colder than the rain refused to lift.

Suddenly....

A strong gust of wind caught her veil, tearing it from her head and sending it swirling into the stormy night—flying in the opposite direction of where she was being taken.

She watched it vanish into the darkness, the delicate fabric a fleeting symbol of the freedom she would never have. The knight at her side blurred in the rain and wind, his presence barely touching the wall of sorrow and defiance that surrounded her.

“Careful, Princess,” the knight warned, but his voice faded into the roar of the storm.

Her eyes sparkled with startled awe as a shadowed, hooded figure emerged from the rain, catching her veil before it could be swept away. For a heartbeat, the world around her—the thunder, the carriage, even the knights at her side blurred into insignificance. All that remained was the stranger and the fluttering silk between them, a fragile thread of fate in the grim storm.

Before she could even notice, arrows rained down from behind the shadowed, hooded man, striking toward her carriage.

The knight shouted, drawing their swords as the carriage shook under the sudden attack. Her heart pounded, the storm outside seeming almost calm compared to the danger closing in around them.

As an arrow flew straight toward her, a knight moved with lightning speed, slicing it clean in two before it could reach her.

Rain and chaos blurred around them, but for a moment, her world narrowed to the gleaming sword and the sharp, protective movement that had just saved her life.

In an instant, her knights fell—bodies crumpling, blood pooling dark and warm. Before she could even blink, a shadow loomed. Rough fingers clamped around her arm. With a single, desperate yank, he dragged her through the shattered carriage window into the night.

He yanked her close, guiding her onto his horse. Rain soaked both of them as he leaned in slightly, a smirk tugging at his lips.

“You’re coming with me, Jasmine,” he said, his voice low and edged with something she couldn’t name a part danger, a part challenge, all impossible to ignore. Her long wedding gown trailed along the wet ground, snagging on roots and branches, but he paid it no mind. The horse thundered through the dark forest, cutting through shadows and rain, carrying them both deeper into the unknown.

The world outside blurred into streaks of black and green, and all she could feel was the cold thrill of fear mingled with the sting of helplessness.

I looked up at him.

A black mask swallowed half his face, leaving only those fierce brown eyes raw, unguarded, burning with something between fury and fear. They locked on mine for a heartbeat too long, stripping every thought from my head except one.

He wasn’t here to kill me.

Not yet.