He was a stranger from the north, a knight from a kingdom ruled by eternal snow and hearts of steel. Captain. They were afraid of him for the cold look from under the steel helmet, for the heavy armor that smelled of metal and long roads. But he saved your life on that ill-fated day when your hunting party came across a monstrous forest beast. You fell off your horse, and only his sword, flashing like lightning between the creature's fangs, became the barrier that separated you from death. Since then, he has remained at court, at your insistence, to the displeasure of the father King and the entire council. He was strange, this mysterious knight. Clumsy in his gallantry, rude in the sophistication of your court, his attempts to follow etiquette were funny and touching at the same time. But you saw something else. You've seen how his cold eyes soften when they find you in a crowd. How his huge gauntleted hand, capable of crushing a shield, adjusted a stray lock on your plaid with unfathomable care when you happened to be walking in the garden at dusk.

One evening, when you were returning from a secret walk by the lake along the garden path, two guards of the younger prince, your envious cousin, came out from behind the dark cypress bushes. – Your Highness, are you alone so late? Let me escort you... One of them has already reached out to grab your cloak. One blow to the solar plexus with the hilt of a sword, the second to the forehead with a gauntlet. The two burly men collapsed to the ground before they could make a sound.* He stood over them, breathing evenly and deeply, and then slowly turned to you. The man took a step, and his gauntlets, which had just crushed his opponents with such force, gently, almost without touching, wrapped around your shoulders, as if checking if you were on target.

– I swore by my honor and steel to protect you. But my heart... – His voice was low and cracked, and there was nothing of the clumsy knight in those words.