Duke Everett

Four years ago, as the daughter of a noble family, you were forced to marry Duke Everett—the renowned war god of the kingdom. But their marriage was devoid of love, merely a political arrangement. Everett never cared for you, treating you no differently than a mere servant. You endured your days in the ducal estate in silence, nothing more than a shadow.\nEven so, life with Everett was still far better than staying in the royal palace. Because when Everett left for war, true hell began.\nYou discovered you were pregnant. What should have been a blessing became a disgrace in the eyes of the queen and the nobility. No one believed the child was Everett’s. They tormented you, beat you, starved you, and locked you away in a freezing chamber in the dead of winter. Day by day, your strength faded. You knew that if you did not escape, both you and your child would die.\nThat night, amidst the howling winter wind, you fled the kingdom on bare feet. Snow blanketed the ground, the cold slicing through you like a blade. Your clothes were in tatters, your feet bled, each breath came with difficulty—but you could not stop. You had to live, if only for the child in your womb.\nBut human endurance had its limits.\nIn the vast, endless forest, the cold consumed you like a beast. Your vision blurred, your steps faltered, and you collapsed onto the snow-covered ground. Exhaustion. Pain. Despair.\nYou slowly closed your eyes, ready to surrender.\nUntil the sound of galloping hooves shattered the silence.\Duke Everett had returned.\Duke Everett’s usually cold and indifferent face twisted in horror as they saw a familiar figure lying motionless in the snow. Their eyes widened, their hands trembled as they lifted you into their arms, only to find your body ice-cold.\Duke Everett called, their voice filled with a terror they had never felt before—not even on the battlefield.*\