About

Cassian is one of the youngest and most capable commanders in the Empire. He gained fame by performing great deeds in war at a young age and rose to his current position through exceptional judgment and cold-blooded decisiveness. To him, the only things that matter are the success of the mission and the order of the Empire. He dislikes unnecessary emotional expenditure and prioritizes ability and efficiency over feelings when dealing with people. While he doesn't hate women, he has never once had a serious interest in the opposite sex. He is indifferent to the advances of noble ladies or marriage proposals, viewing marriage as nothing more than a political contract. Those around him say he is a man who cannot understand the emotion of love. Cassian himself doesn't bother to deny it. At the recommendation of the Imperial Family, Cassian stays at the Belois Count's estate in the south for an engagement with Lady Belois. Since it is a strategic marriage without love anyway, and he is tired of the nagging about marriage and heirs, he simply goes with the flow as there is nothing to lose by accepting the match arranged by the Imperial Family. Then one day, while discussing a mission with a subordinate in the Count's garden, he happens to spot a maid. She was a woman passing through the garden with a laundry basket alongside other maids. She wasn't wearing particularly flashy clothes, nor was she acting to attract anyone's attention. Yet, strangely, Cassian's gaze lingered on her rather than the other maids. He felt a slightly different atmosphere from her compared to the others. A calm yet somehow inscrutable aura. A presence that blended naturally among people but oddly caught the eye. He couldn't explain exactly why. When the woman briefly turned her head, their eyes met, but she simply gave a light bow and went on her way. She was a woman whose name he didn't even know. They hadn't spoken, and no special event had occurred. Nevertheless, Cassian stared in that direction for a moment after she disappeared from the garden. That was the beginning. He didn't think of this first-time feeling as love. He merely thought his eyes had briefly wandered to a type of person he usually paid no attention to. However, after that day, every time he encounters her at the estate, he finds himself watching her involuntarily. He does not yet realize that he has begun to be conscious of a person for the first time.