Chapter 1
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A girl was running.
Not jogging. Not taking a nice morning stroll through the palace gardens. This was the kind of running where your lungs burn and your heart slams against your ribs and every breath feels like it might be your last.
Her blue cloak was torn at the shoulder. A long rip. It showed pale skin and one strap of the undergarment she should've been wearing to a ballroom, not a forest.
One shoe was gone.
Her left foot was bare now. Cut up from rocks and thorns and whatever else she'd trampled through. She didn't feel it anymore.
Princess Lilia of the Northern Kingdom.
Ice-blue hair. Rare, they said. Once in a generation. Worth more than the entire palace if you measured it in gold. Right now it was a tangled mess, snagged on branches, plastered to her cheeks with sweat.
Fair face. Small, sharp nose. Big blue eyes that were red-rimmed and puffy—not from crying. She hadn't had time to cry. She was too busy running.
Her lips were small, pink, and slightly parted. Old habit. Since she was a kid she'd forget to close her mouth. Her etiquette tutor used to scold her. "Princess. Your mouth." She'd just grin.
Nobody was scolding her now.
Three knights were behind her.
Closing in.
---
"Princess Lilia! Stop!"
The Captain's voice. Up front. Heaviest armor, but his breathing was steady. C-rank, probably. Maybe D. Didn't matter. He was faster than her. They all were.
"Your father just wants you home. It's for the kingdom."
For the kingdom.
Lilia almost laughed. Almost. For the kingdom, her father was going to marry her off to some old noble from the neighboring territory. Twice her age. Three wives already. And her father called it an alliance.
She wasn't going back.
But her legs were giving out.
---
A cliff.
Right in front of her. The ground just... stopped. A sheer drop, fifty meters down, a thin river at the bottom like a silver thread you could snap with your fingers. Wind howled up from below, cold and smelling like wet earth.
Lilia stopped at the edge. Her bare heel hung over. A pebble broke loose and fell. She watched it disappear.
Behind her, the three knights emerged from the trees.
The Captain stepped forward. Smiled. "No more running, Princess."
The second knight—scar on his cheek—drew his sword. "We don't want to hurt you. But we will if we have to."
The third one didn't speak. Just stared at her. His eyes weren't on her face.
Lilia pulled her torn cloak tighter. Her hands were shaking.
Then—
"One night."
---
Everyone turned.
There was a man sitting on a flat rock right at the edge of the cliff. Two meters from Lilia. He hadn't been there a second ago. No sound. No movement. Nothing. Like the forest had been hiding him and just now decided to let him be seen.
White hair. Not old-grey. Just... white. Messy, blowing in the wind like cotton that had come loose from its stem. His face was young. Maybe early twenties. But his eyes...
His eyes were half-lidded and tired and looked at everything like it wasn't worth the effort of seeing.
Shabby brown cloak. No armor. No sword. Worn leather boots with holes in the heels. He could've been a beggar. Or a farmer. Or someone's forgotten grandfather at the wrong end of a long life.
The Captain frowned. "Who the hell are you?!"
The man didn't answer. His tired eyes were on Lilia. Her hair. Her neck. Then—briefly—the torn cloak, the skin beneath. His gaze paused there. One heartbeat. Two.
Lilia yanked the cloak tighter. "What are you looking at?!"
He didn't answer that question. Instead, he repeated himself.
"One night. I save you. Payment: you spend one night with me."
Deadpan. Like he was telling her the price of bread.
Lilia's face went red. "WHAT?!"
The Captain burst out laughing. Fake-huge. "You hear this?! Crazy bastard thinks he can—"
The man didn't move.
Just his finger.
A flick.
The Captain went flying. Not stumbling. Not tripping. Flying. Like an invisible cart had rammed into his chest at full speed. He hit an oak tree. The trunk cracked. Bark split. The Captain crumpled to the ground and didn't get up.
Silence.
The two remaining knights stared.
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" screamed the scarred one, raising his sword.
But the man was already gone from the rock.
He was in front of him now. Close enough to see the pores on his expressionless face.
Tap.
One finger to the forehead.
The knight's eyes rolled back. His knees buckled. His body dropped like a sack of grain. Sword clattered on stone.
The third knight—the quiet one, the one who'd been staring at Lilia wrong—stumbled backward. One step. Two. Three. His face was pale.
"I-I was just following orders..."
The white-haired man looked at him. Those tired eyes didn't show anger. Or mercy. Or anything.
"You were looking at her."
"W-what?"
"When she stood at the edge. The wind moved her cloak. You looked."
"I—I didn't—"
"You did."
The man stepped forward. The knight stepped back.
"Chest. Waist. Legs. You looked at all of it. Your eyes were disrespectful."
"I-I'm sorry—"
"If you're sorry, don't look. Close your eyes."
The knight shut his eyes.
The man touched his temple with one finger. Slow. Almost gentle.
The knight dropped.
---
Lilia stood frozen.
The wind was still blowing. Her cloak was still torn. But she wasn't holding it anymore. Her arms hung at her sides. She stared at the three unconscious knights, then at the white-haired man who was now turning back toward her.
"You haven't answered."
"A-answered what?"
"One night. Yes or no."
Lilia stared at him. Her heart was pounding. Not love. Not fear. This weird mix of shock and confusion and something she couldn't name. This man was strange. This man was dangerous. This man—
Her eyes dropped.
And she saw it.
He was wearing loose pants. But not loose enough. There was something there. Raised. Pushing against the fabric. Clear. Obvious. Very big.
Lilia's brain stopped.
Her mouth opened. Her small lips formed words that didn't come out. Her pale cheeks turned red. Then deep red. The color crawled down to her neck, to her ears.
"That—that's—what IS that?!"
The man glanced down at himself. Then back at her. His face stayed blank.
"Natural reaction. You're beautiful. My body responded. I'm not embarrassed."
"NOT EMBARRASSED?! IT'S—THAT'S HUGE! THAT'S NOT NORMAL!"
"Thank you."
"THAT WASN'T A COMPLIMENT!"
He scratched his cheek—still no expression. "I can't control it. Side effect of... something. Not important. Important thing: you accept or not?"
Lilia stared at him. Then at it. Then at his face again. Her brain was trying to process. This man had just saved her. This man had taken down three knights in three seconds without a sword. And now he was—
"Why?" she whispered. "Why do you want... that?"
The man looked at her for a long moment.
"Because I haven't been with a woman in a very long time. So long I've forgotten what it feels like. And I want to remember."
It wasn't a romantic answer. It wasn't a lewd one either. Just... honest. Brutally honest. So honest she couldn't get angry.
She swallowed. "And if... if I say no?"
"Then you leave. I don't force."
"That's it?"
"Yes."
"You won't... chase me? Or... or force me?"
"No."
"Why?"
His tired eyes met hers. "Because I'm not a monster. Monsters force. I only... offer services."
Lilia was quiet.
The wind blew again. Softer now. Her torn cloak fluttered, but she didn't bother pulling it closed. She was still staring at him. The white hair. The half-lidded eyes. The flat face. And that, still very clearly visible beneath his pants.
She couldn't believe this was happening.
But also... she couldn't deny it. This man had saved her. This man wasn't forcing her. This man just... offered something. And strangely, the offer felt more honest than all the sweet promises she'd heard in court.
"Fine," she said. Her voice shook. "I... I accept. One night. After you've saved me."
The man nodded. "Deal."
Then he turned and started walking toward the forest. "Follow me. Let's find food."
Lilia stared at his back. "THAT'S IT?! YOU'RE NOT GOING TO... RIGHT NOW?!"
He glanced back. "You're hungry. I'm hungry. Let's eat first."
"EAT?! YOU WANT TO EAT?! AFTER—AFTER—"
"The contract isn't active until you're safe. Right now you're still in danger. So relax."
Lilia didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
So she just followed him.
---
An hour later, in a roadside inn.
The place was small. Wooden walls, straw roof, rickety tables. But it was busy. Adventurers, merchants, drunks. Lilia sat in a corner, hugging her knees. Her cloak was pinned up with a borrowed brooch from the innkeeper.
Across from her, the white-haired man was eating soup. Slowly. Silently. Like someone who had all the time in the universe.
"What's your name?" Lilia asked.
"Not important."
"Where are you from?"
"Nowhere."
"Your power?"
"Practice."
Lilia sighed. "Are you always like this?"
The man looked up. His tired eyes met hers—not cold, but exhausted. Deeply exhausted. Like someone who'd walked a very long road and never stopped to rest.
"I don't know," he said. "I forgot how to act."
The inn door opened.
A big man stepped in. Heavy armor. Elris crest on his chest. General Baldur. The patrons backed away. Baldur scanned the room. His eyes stopped on Lilia.
"Princess Lilia. Your father sent word."
Lilia tensed. But Baldur wasn't moving toward her.
He was staring at the white-haired man.
His breath caught.
His hard face went pale. The hand that had killed thousands of monsters trembled on his sword hilt.
"I don't want trouble."
The man didn't look up from his soup.
"Neither do I," he said.
Baldur stepped back. "I'll tell the king the search failed. The princess is safe. Good evening."
He left. Fast. Too fast for a general.
The inn went quiet. Every eye was on the white-haired man. Lilia stared at him with her mouth open.
"What... what just happened?"
"He might remember something."
"Remember what?"
"I don't know." The man set down his spoon. "I don't remember. Maybe he remembers more than I do."
Lilia stared at him. White hair. Tired eyes. Flat tone. Unthinkable power. A general running from just one look.
He wasn't a regular wanderer.
He was something the world didn't have a name for.
---
That night.
They were walking down a dirt road toward the next village. Stars were starting to show. The air was cold.
"I'll go with you," Lilia said.
The man—she still didn't know his name—glanced at her. "Why?"
"Because I have nowhere else. Because you saved me. And because..." She hesitated. A little red on her cheeks. "Because I'm curious. What are you, really?"
He looked up at the night sky. For a long, long moment.
"I don't know," he said. "But I'm looking for something."
"What?"
He didn't answer. But in his head, there was an image. Faded. Women. Many. Each with a different kind of beauty. A list that hadn't been completed yet.
"My debt," Lilia said suddenly. "When do I have to pay?"
He glanced at her. "Whenever you're ready."
"And if I'm never ready?"
"You will be."
"How do you know?"
His tired eyes met hers. "Because every woman who looks into my eyes... eventually becomes ready."
It wasn't a pick-up line. It wasn't a threat. Just a fact.
Lilia didn't reply.
They kept walking. Above them, the sky stretched wide, full of stars. Far on the horizon, something dark swirled slowly. It looked like a castle. Or a crown. Or maybe... a throne.
The man didn't care.
For the first time in a very long time, he was walking with someone beside him.
And that was enough.
---
