Chapter 71
Perhaps the rain would last longer than expected.
Leaving the horse and Floria inside the cave, I dashed outside and gathered branches until just before the downpour began.
Then I lit a fire at the cave entrance, directing the smoke outward.
“Sir Knight… you’re quite skilled.”
Floria whispered, crouching beside the flames.
“You’re not startled even though it’s raining.”
Rain didn’t faze me. In the northern mountains, a sudden blizzard once buried me and Silin up to our waists in snow.
“I was more surprised by you than by the rain.”
“Really? Though, in a forest like this, finding a woman out of nowhere would surprise anyone.”
The girl who had been trembling moments ago now spoke calmly, as though her fear had dissipated.
She was strange. Usually, upon meeting a man in knightly armor whose allegiance they couldn’t identify, a girl would be terrified. Starving soldiers were as frightening as wild beasts.
Yet she sat beside me, bright and untroubled—unaware of what I might do.
I could tear her clothes and indulge in my desires without protest.
“Most princesses wouldn’t do what I’m doing.”
“Probably not.”
Crackle, crackle—the flames danced.
Outside, the cold rain pounded, but the cave was warm and cozy.
Floria swept her hair back, exposing her smooth forehead.
“I’m not ordinary.”
“…”
“I am someone who brings misfortune. A child who shouldn’t have been born.
That’s me.”
Her words carried no sadness or anger—only a resigned sigh.
I too was a child that should never have been born.
My older brother had already inherited the title, and my birth, unwanted, cost my mother her life. So I drifted, unnoticed, content to roam outside the castle rather than vie for a place within it.
But the girl before me was different.
Her words cut deep, and beneath those wounds lay hard scars.
Floria was like me in some ways—and yet wholly unlike me—and that both intrigued and mesmerized me.
The gentle firelight played across her cheeks.
Her long lashes, half-lowered, trembled with each flicker.
“Sir Knight.”
“…”
“You’re not from Altomole, are you?”
I didn’t respond. I didn’t want to reveal my identity and scare her.
“That’s why you keep your helmet on, hiding both your name and face.”
She was perceptive. Her bright eyes pierced through my thoughts.
“Would you… take me there?”
“…What?” “At home, there’s no place for me anymore.
I need someone to call me by a name other than ‘bringer of misfortune.’”
Her request twisted my lips. She didn’t know what she was saying—she didn’t know that the one she spoke to was rumored to be the tyrant ruler of an enemy kingdom.
What would happen if I took her with me? Kidnapping a princess would be tantamount to declaring war. Altomole wasn’t powerful, but drawing the ire of Sieff—already at war with multiple nations—would be foolish.
Yet, an impulse rose within me to ride away with her straight to Sieff.
When I remained silent, she smiled faintly.
“I’ve made a difficult request, haven’t I? Of course, it’s impossible.
Taking someone like me would serve no purpose.
And wherever I go, nothing will change for me.”
She whispered those words, then lowered her head, staring into the burning logs.
The firelight cast long shadows beneath her sharp nose, and although she was sheltered from the cold, her slender shoulders trembled.
I wanted to hold her. To stop those shivers by pulling her into my arms.
My mouth went dry with longing—to steal her gentle lips, to fill her weeping eyes with wonder.
I wanted to press my tongue against the tip of hers, to silence her sorrow forever.
To fill her completely with myself.
Reason whispered that I simply wanted to console her suffering.
And yet, a primal desire to consume her threatened to overwhelm me.
The girl finally dozed off, her fragile shoulders shaking, then, quietly, she leaned against me—unaware of the emotions the man beside her harbored.
She had never wanted anything. As such, she’d known no discontent, no lack.
But for the first time, she had a want.
I wanted the princess leaning against me. I would do anything to keep her with me.
A colossal yearning consumed me—for the first time.
One day, as Floria had asked, I brought her to Sieff.
It might have been a half-hearted plea driven by hardship, yet it didn’t matter to me—for then, it had been genuine.
I wanted to fatten her thin frame, to bring a smile to her unsmiling face.
No, it wasn’t a noble aspiration—it was a desire.
I wanted to imprison her in my world. A pure, selfish hunger.
But… back then, I couldn’t lay a finger on her.
A bitter smile tugged at my lips. Kidnapping a princess—no matter how momentary the impulse—was unacceptable.
She deserved better than being used so cruelly. I wasn’t that low.
But now, everything was different.
She was completely mine.
“I wanted you.”
So I pretended to covet the Altomole territory—though I had no use for it.
Floria insisted no one cared for her, that they’d dispose of her thoughtlessly—but the royal court might object to marrying the princess to a Sieff courtier.
I couldn’t accept the refusal.
I had to have her.
I threatened Altomole, coaxed them… and married her.
“Is that why you tormented Altomole?”
So the truth spilled from me. Words I didn’t need to utter.
My tongue clicked in regret. She had trembled at the sight of my arrow when I first tried to hunt deer with her in my sight.
How terrified she’d be to learn I’d threatened her homeland to claim her as bride.
But she sat before me, eyes wide—not angry, not afraid—studying my face before speaking firmly.
“That’s a lie.”
She wouldn’t believe me.
“You met me that day and wanted me… did you ask for marriage?”
“Yes.”
I wanted all of Floria—from head to toe.
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