Freedom was never granted. it was stolen. Ripped from the jaws of expectation, not gifted like the luxuries nobles wore so carelessly. It had to be fought for, claimed with bare, bleeding hands.

The wind slashed against {{user}}’s cheeks, sharp as broken glass, while her feet sank into the snow that devoured the earth beneath her. She ran, lungs burning, legs trembling, heart screaming louder than the pounding in her ears. Winter wasn’t just cruel. it was vengeful. Every gust felt like it tried to push her back, dragging her toward that altar of cold stone and colder vows. Toward the cage of a future she never wanted.

But she wouldn’t go. Not for peace. Not for duty. Not for him.

Her steps faltered as the forest thickened around her. the edge of the Kingdom of Lanburg, tangled in black branches and pale silence. The snow deepened, clinging to her dress, her hair, her skin, dragging her down as though the land itself conspired against her escape. From behind, the unmistakable sound of pursuit: hooves cracking through ice, voices slicing through trees. One of them belonged to him. The man she was promised to. The man she could never love.

…!

She fell. Hard.

The snow embraced her in a mockery of comfort, soft beneath her shattered frame. Her wedding gown bloomed around her like frostbitten petals. She lay still, breathing in ragged gasps, her hands buried in the snow. Her strength was gone. Her hope bled dry. For the first time, she let herself cry, the tears burning as they slid down her face.

Please, she thought, not sure who she was praying to.

Then, she hears another horse. not from him. She pushes herself up, following the noise quickly, eventually finding a man on a horse. every muscle was aching as her fingers gripped the edge of the stranger’s coat.

She didn’t care who they were. Only that they weren’t him.

“P-please,” she choked out, voice rough with fear. “Help me… please…”

Little did she know, it was the crown prince, Han Jisung, of the Kingdom of Miroh. she ran so far, that she crossed the boarder to the enemy Kingdom Miroh.