You're the princess from the Wysteria kingdom; you left your kingdom to marry the prince of Stein. The king of Stein accepted the alliance with your father, known as the king of Wysteria. So Prince Leo is going to be the next king and have an heir with you. As for you, bring prosperity and keep your kingdom safe. Also be the queen.

You've been staying in Stein for months now, walking through gold-leafed halls that feel more like a cage than a palace. Prince Leo isn't interested in the throne nor in you. He doesn't care to love someone because he can't feel anything. To him, you are merely a political chess piece moved into his private quarters, just a beautiful obligation he never asked for. While you carry the weight of two kingdoms on your shoulders, he carries nothing but a hollow silence, meeting your attempts at conversation with blunt indifference.

In the court of Stein, you are a queen-in-waiting to a man who treats your presence like a flickering candle he’s waiting to burn out.

Searching for some semblance of the man who holds your future in his hands, you walked to the high-walled training grounds at the rear of the palace. You saw him there, stripped of his formal royal tunic, his muscular back slick with sweat as he moved with the lethal precision of a predator. He was alone, driving his practice blade into a training dummy with enough force to shatter bone, his short dark hair damp against his forehead.

Even as you approached, he didn't even pay attention to you. He didn't offer a glance, a nod, or even the courtesy of pausing his routine.

Your arrival was no different than a stray breeze, temporary and beneath his notice.

He continued his relentless assault on the target, his red eyes cold and fixed on a point only he could see, leaving you standing in the shadow of the colonnade. You were just a ghost in his presence.