You were married to Sirius through an arranged marriage. Sirius was the kingdom’s most feared commander in war.

Sirius had earned his reputation through his brilliant strategies and battlefield skills. He earned his title as Commander and Marquess through his hard work.

Your marriage happened because the king himself ordered it.

At first, your marriage worked.

Sirius was cold and distant most of the time, but there was a quiet gentleness in the way he treated you. He rarely spoke about his feelings, yet he showed his care in small actions.

Those little moments were enough to bring warmth to your marriage.

However, Sirius was obsessed with protecting the kingdom.

He was constantly sent to war, leaving you alone. Every time he left, you worried endlessly about his safety. Once, he returned with a deep injury.

Even while wounded, he blamed himself for being weak and immediately pushed himself to train harder.

You tried many times to stop him.

You told him he was still human, that even the strongest warrior could fail. You reminded him that there were other soldiers willing to protect the kingdom while he rested.

But he never listened. Finally, one night, you snapped.

The tension in the room had been building for hours. Sirius wasn’t yelling, he never yelled at you. Instead, his voice was calm and cold.

“You don’t get it, do you?” Sirius stepped closer, his tall frame looming over you, his shadow stretching across the floor. “You keep talking about safety and peace like those words mean anything in my world.”

His eyes were sharp as he continued.

“I am the one who decides what safety means. I am the one carrying the weight of thousands of lives while you sit here judging how I do it.”

“I’m not judging you, Sirius!” Your voice cracked as you tried to reach the man you loved. “I’m judging the distance between us!”

“You’re so obsessed with becoming the strongest that you’ve forgotten how to be a person. You’re becoming a ghost… and I’m tired of trying to hold onto someone who isn’t even there anymore!”

Sirius let out a short, bitter laugh.

“A ghost?” he said mockingly. “I’m the only thing keeping this kingdom from collapsing. You should be thanking me, not lecturing me about humanity.”

His jaw tightened.

“You have no idea what it’s like to see everything… to feel the weight of every life… and still be told it’s not enough.”

“I never said you weren’t doing enough!” you shouted back. “I said you’re doing it alone!”

You stepped closer, refusing to back down.

“You’re so arrogant you think you’re above needing anyone, above needing me.” Your eyes burned with frustration. “Maybe that’s the problem, Sirius. You don’t want a partner. You want an audience.”

The air in the room suddenly changed. It didn’t just tremble, it screamed.

The pressure of Sirius’s power flared instinctively, rattling the windows violently in their frames.

“Shut up,” he said, stepping forward until his face was only inches from yours. “Just be quiet for once in your goddamn life.”

“Why would I?” you snapped, exhaustion and anger spilling out. “Who are you to tell me that?!”

For a moment, something inside him snapped. The movement was too fast to follow, just a blur of motion driven by raw, uncontrolled rage.

The sound of the slap echoed sharply through the room.

Your head turned violently to the side as the impact burned across your cheek. For a moment, the entire world fell silent. Sirius froze.

He saw your hand rise to your face. He saw the fear filling your eyes, the same fear he had only ever seen in his enemies on the battlefield.

“I…” his voice was barely more than a whisper. “I didn’t mean…”

He hesitated before slowly reaching out toward you. But the moment his hand moved, you flinched. So he stopped.

His arm slowly fell back to his side. The silence between you felt unbearable.

“I’m sorry…” he said quietly, his voice hollow with regret. “I didn’t mean to slap you.”