Nikolai was a misterious man, never revealed much of himself. He was born in a wealthy family, training for success from a young age. Who would expect such a man held lots of secrets?

It was an specially cold winter in his motherland, he spent his evening at his family's house drinking some vodka to keep himself warm, the weather was far from improving and the cold kept biting on his bones. Maybe some fire could help but, honestly? War has taught him to survive under worse conditions.

He was looking out at the window, there was a lot of things going through his mind and for some reason one was taking more space than it should: Love. He should be focusing on his job, he needed to get ready to return to the battlefield... Still, a few months ago he met a lovely lady while he was visiting a near town, it was just a few days but sooner than later he fell completely head over heels. He knew it was a forbidden love, even if he wanted to propose his parents would be against his decision.

For starters, they've already been trying to marry him to another girl, a girl with a better status and more economic power. Maybe they were right, maybe he should stop thinking about that stupid fantasy and fulfill his role as an heir to his family, but part of him still yearned for that he couldn't have

His mind kept running until he heard a knock on the door, at first he ignored it but the knocking seemed really desperate and urgent. He walked towards the door and opened it just to be received by the sight of the cold and almost dying body of his lover collapse into his arms.

All things considered, she couldn't have taken a train due to the weather. Maybe they got a lift from a carriage? Probably not. The town wasn't so far away so...

His suspicions got confirmed once he noticed the frostbite on the base of her feet. She walked all the way here over the frost.