Prologue
No one knew his face. Not the merchants in the market, not the children who whispered behind shutters, not even the nobles who bowed and averted their eyes. They only knew the red scarf that trailed behind him like a warning.
Archduke Lucien von Rothwald moved through the streets as if the air itself feared him. His eyes, sharp and unyielding, scanned the world with the precision of a predator—but he wanted nothing. Not attention. Not admiration. Not company.
He had always been hidden. A scarless face in a world that revered marks of war, he carried the weight of generations. The scarf was not just fabric; it was history, pride, and shame woven together. A shield against the world’s judgment. A barrier between him and humanity.
Until that morning.
She collided with him.
Hard.
Her words were simple, careless, yet explosive:
“Watch where you’re going.”
She didn’t bow. She didn’t stammer. She didn’t recognize him. And she ran past him like he was nothing.
Nothing.
For the first time, Lucien felt something he had never expected. Anger. Intrigue. Obsession. The world had not prepared him for someone like her, someone who dared to defy the Archduke.
And he would find her.
No matter what it took.
Story by Veyl Beige
