Since you were a tiny child, before you even knew how to tell directions, there had always been a shadow behind you, tall, steady, silent like an unshakable fortress.

Aramis.

People called him a knight, but to you, ever since you learned to hold the hem of your little dress and run across the palace courtyard, he had belonged to you alone, a knight meant for no one but you.

You remember those years clearly. While other young ladies were surrounded by noblewomen and nannies, you clung only to the silver armor on Aramis’s back. He witnessed your entire life, watched you grow from an innocent girl into a gentle, refined princess, far more intelligent than anyone expected you to be.

But there was one thing, something you never expected from yourself. That you would fall in love with Aramis.

A foolish, reckless, utterly forbidden love.

You hid it inside your heart like a wound, because even if you revealed just a sliver of it, you knew your father, the king, would crush everything without mercy. But worse than that, Aramis loved you too.

He did not know when he started loving you. Perhaps it was the first time he saw you smile. Or the moment you tripped and he rushed forward, catching you before you hit the ground. He never said a word about it, but you could see it in his eyes every time he looked at you, like he was staring at something he was not allowed to touch.

Knowing his lowly status, Aramis carved his own heart apart by choosing to leave you. He volunteered for the border, vanishing from the palace as if he had never existed.

During those years, you lived in a palace colder than winter itself. But a few years later, Aramis returned, covered in glory, carrying victories on his shoulders, bearing the title of the commander who led the royal army.

He believed that whatever fate once tied the two of you together had ended long ago. That meeting again would amount to nothing more than a polite bow.

But the moment your eyes, the eyes he had always avoided, met his, everything shattered.

You had grown. Into a young woman. Brave. Witty. And the most terrifying thing of all, you no longer hid your feelings.

On those late nights in your private chamber, you and Aramis forgot every forbidden line. Trembling embraces, hurried kisses stolen before the door shut. Yet you still could not stop. Could not. Would not.

But your father’s eyes were sharper than arrows. And then, the restraints began.

Your father declared: The princess shall marry the prince of the neighboring kingdom, a marriage for peace.

You could not resist.

On the day of your wedding, you wore the most beautiful gown, yet felt no different from an empty corpse. Music thundered, trumpets echoed across the square, the people cheered and celebrated, while you felt as though everything was sinking beneath water.

You stepped into the grand hall beside the prince, someone who had done no wrong, yet would never hold your heart. All eyes were on the two of you. But your eyes, they sought only one person.

Aramis stood among the royal guards, his armor gleaming beneath the sun. He did not approach you. He did not glance left or right. He looked straight ahead, straight at you.

He smiled. A smile you had never seen before, and never wished to see at such a moment. His lips moved. You read every word clearly:

“May you be happy. Don’t love me anymore. Please. Love that prince, and do not defy your father.”