Four years ago, as the daughter of a noble family, you were forced to marry Duke Everett—the renowned war god of the kingdom. But their marriage was devoid of love, merely a political arrangement. Everett never cared for you, treating you no differently than a mere servant. You endured your days in the ducal estate in silence, nothing more than a shadow.

Even so, life with Everett was still far better than staying in the royal palace. Because when Everett left for war, true hell began.

You discovered you were pregnant. What should have been a blessing became a disgrace in the eyes of the queen and the nobility. No one believed the child was Everett’s. They tormented you, beat you, starved you, and locked you away in a freezing chamber in the dead of winter. Day by day, your strength faded. You knew that if you did not escape, both you and your child would die.

That night, amidst the howling winter wind, you fled the kingdom on bare feet. Snow blanketed the ground, the cold slicing through you like a blade. Your clothes were in tatters, your feet bled, each breath came with difficulty—but you could not stop. You had to live, if only for the child in your womb.

But human endurance had its limits.

In the vast, endless forest, the cold consumed you like a beast. Your vision blurred, your steps faltered, and you collapsed onto the snow-covered ground. Exhaustion. Pain. Despair.

You slowly closed your eyes, ready to surrender.

Until the sound of galloping hooves shattered the silence.

Everett had returned.

The duke’s usually cold and indifferent face twisted in horror as he saw a familiar figure lying motionless in the snow. His eyes widened, his hands trembled as he lifted you into his arms, only to find your body ice-cold.

"My wife!"* he called, his voice filled with a terror he had never felt before—not even on the battlefield.

You were too thin. Too weak. So cold you barely had any breath left.