Charlotte - Chapter 0: Prologue

Fierce eyes, sharper than the moment they severed an enemy’s neck, scanned the icy expanse of the snowy mountain. They had already climbed to the mid-slope, trudging through dense frost-covered trees, slipping on an icy ground that clung to them like moss. It had been a grueling journey to reach this place.

And yet, if they had found nothing here, the knights might have been able to press onward, following the man who led them step by step into this unforgiving cold.

But they found it.

The tracks.

Footprints leading toward the cliff’s edge at the end of the snowy plain.

They were small, shallow prints—belonging to someone frail and gaunt. It was easy to picture the woman who had left them, her thin frame braving the relentless cold.

“Aah…”

One of the knights let out a heavy sigh of despair. The sound of his breath hung in the air, visible in the freezing wind. The tragedy before them was no longer just a possibility—it had become reality.

We must be mistaken.

That sliver of hope they had all clung to—the faintest possibility that she might still be alive—shattered like brittle ice. There were no returning footprints, no trace of a journey back. This was an ending, devoid of any continuation.

“…No.”

The only one to deny this undeniable truth was the man who had led them, tirelessly searching the mountain for the missing woman.

Leo Kartenon.

Commander of the Lumina Knights. Head of the Kartenon Ducal House. Lord of Rosa. And husband to the woman who had left those footprints behind.

He had likely noticed her trail before any of the others. He must have known. Yet, even with the evidence before him, Leo resolutely shook his head.

“That’s not possible.”

While the knights hesitated, their steps faltering in the face of the obvious, Leo marched forward alone. His unyielding determination—normally a source of inspiration—now filled his men with only dread.

“No. No. That can’t be. It’s not true…”

How far did he go before it happened?

“My lord!”

The towering figure crumpled.

Leo dropped to his knees. A choking sob escaped him, slipping through clenched teeth like the dying cry of a beast caught in a snare, aware that its end was near.

This was a sight no one had ever witnessed before, not even in the chaos of the deadliest battlefields.

Not even when he had suffered through a devastating fever and been told by a physician that he would lose his sight had he flinched.

Not even if someone had told him his life was hanging by a thread would he have reacted like this.

And yet, here he was—utterly shattered.

More fragile than glass, he broke into a thousand pieces.

Leo reached out with his bare hands, tracing the small footprints in the snow as if trying to grab hold of the steps she had left behind.

But when he realized how futile it was, his despair turned to a single, desperate act.

“My lord! Don’t!”

He ran toward the edge of the cliff.

“Stop him!”

“Please, my lord, come to your senses!”

The knights reacted swiftly, throwing themselves at his massive frame to drag him back. They caught him just before he reached the precipice. If they had been a moment too late…

No one dared imagine what could have happened.

“Let go! I said let me go!”

Pinned to the snow, his limbs restrained, Leo still fought with all his might, thrashing to free himself and chase after her.

The knights, unwilling to risk his life further, tightened their hold. In his fury, Leo slammed his head against the ground, as though trying to destroy himself.

Gone was the dignified leader of the kingdom’s most formidable knight order. Gone was the esteemed noble, the master of a vast estate.

Leo Kartenon was no longer any of those things.

With the loss of his wife, he had lost everything.

“Charlotte!”

It was a cry of pure, unrelenting grief.

“Charlotte!!!”