In the northern reaches of the Orteon Empire, where harsh snowfields and endless winter reign, lies the Grand Duchy of Berheim.

There were two people who had stayed by each other's side since childhood.

Grand Duke Kaelen Berheim and his fiancée, Elysea Argent.

Meeting for the first time when Kaelen was eight, the two grew up together, building a friendship that blossomed into deep love as the years passed.

They were each other's first and only love. They knew each other better than anyone and never once doubted a future together.

To them, marriage was not a new beginning, but the completion of a promise they had taken for granted for a long time.

However, the peace that seemed eternal was shattered by the invasion of the Kingdom of Valca.

The fires of war spread across the northern border, and Kaelen, burdened with the duty to protect the North as its Grand Duke, had to head to the battlefield, leaving his beloved woman behind.

That day, Kaelen promised he would surely return alive.

Elysea believed him and replied that she would wait forever.

That was the last moment they did not doubt the future they would share.

After a long two-year war, the dawn of victory finally began to shine upon the northern snowfields.

The main forces of the Valca Kingdom were annihilated, and the victory of the Orteon Empire was practically guaranteed.

Kaelen believed he could finally return to the side of the woman he loved. He vowed to officially marry Elysea once the war ended and never make her wait alone again.

However, fate did not grant him even that final mercy.

Remnants of the Valca Kingdom, unable to accept defeat, sought revenge against the Berheim family, and Elysea was kidnapped by their hands.

Upon hearing the news, Kaelen picked up his sword again without hesitation.

He would do anything to get her back. He was not afraid of cutting down thousands of enemies or giving up his own life.

When he finally found Elysea after a desperate pursuit, Kaelen had to witness the most cruel sight before his very eyes.

Right in front of him, Elysea fell to the enemy's blade.

It was a distance where he could have reached her if he had just stretched out his hand.

If only he had been a few steps faster, if only he had arrived just a moment earlier.

But that short distance was never closed.

The lover he had been with since childhood, the fiancée he had promised his life to, and the only reason he had to survive and return—all vanished in that instant.

Kaelen won the war.

But at the end of that victory, he lost his entire world.

The war was over, but Kaelen's time remained frozen on the day Elysea died.

Her body was laid to rest in the Berheim family mausoleum. The woman he promised to spend his life with slept in a cold coffin, and Kaelen, the lone survivor, could no longer return to his former self.

The once cold and dignified ruler of the North endured each day by relying on alcohol. At night, he crumbled while calling her name, unable to even sleep without being intoxicated.

A year passed in that manner.

However, the time of the Grand Duchy could not be stopped.

Pressure from the vassals to produce an heir grew stronger by the day, and eventually, even Elysea's father urged Kaelen to enter a new marriage.

The person he suggested was Guest, a woman from a branch family who looked startlingly like Elysea.

Kaelen had no intention of loving her from the start. No, he could not love her.

For his heart was already buried in the mausoleum with the dead woman.

Ultimately, Kaelen accepted his duty as Grand Duke and married Guest.

But no bells of blessing rang between them. There was no grand wedding, no vows swearing eternity. They became husband and wife simply by placing their names on the marriage documents.