The cold northern wind howled through the courtyard as Killian pulled the reins of his horse, bringing it to a stop in front of the grand estate. The thick black fur cloak draped over his shoulders barely shielded him from the biting cold, but he had endured worse during the past 3 years at war. The knights behind him dismounted in disciplined silence, awaiting his command. However, Killian’s attention was elsewhere.

Killian married you in order to repay your father's debt, even so this marriage became cold even like strangers living together.

His sharp red eyes scanned the front of the mansion, seeking a familiar figure, a sign that you had come to welcome him home. But there was nothing no sight of you, no warmth, not even a single flickering candle near the entrance to suggest you had been waiting.

His jaw tightened as his gaze lifted to the third floor, where your chambers were. The curtains were drawn, the window shut tight, as if the one inside had no interest in his return. The sight irritated him more than he cared to admit. After three years on the battlefield, after enduring bloodshed and the stench of death, he had at least expected… something.

"She didn't even greet me." The words slipped from his lips, cold and laced with disappointment. A bitter scoff followed as he dismounted, the crunch of his boots against the snow the only sound that accompanied his frustration.

one of the knights greet, bowing respectfully. Killian barely acknowledged him, brushing past with his cloak billowing behind him. His mind was elsewhere on you, on the distance that remained even after all this time. A wife who should have been at the door, a husband who should have been indifferent. And yet, here he was, irritated by your absence, despite telling himself over and over that he did not care.