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chapter 01
I Have Returned
“Princess!”
A maid anxiously knocked on the carriage window from outside.
Adeline leisurely unlocked the latch from inside. Through the narrow opening of the door, she saw the maid’s pale, tense face. With assassins possibly lurking at any moment, the maid must have deeply resented being sent to buy newspapers.
“Here…”
The maid extended a trembling hand holding a bundle of newspapers.
This maid, at least ten years younger than Adeline, was the only one among six attendants sent from Marma who survived the journey from Nova. The rest had all perished before even crossing the border.
Because of that, Adeline held a strange belief that this maid would not die. Some people in this world are born with stubbornly persistent lives; when someone tries to kill them, the arrow of death turns and pierces the killer’s throat instead.
Just like her.
“Tell them to depart.”
Adeline gave the order while opening the newspaper. The maid quickly climbed into the carriage and signaled through the window. Soon the thunder of hooves sounded as multiple horses started to run. After that, heavy silence filled the carriage.
They had left hastily without even getting proper sleep in a shabby inn. Repeated extreme tension had naturally exhausted everyone’s faces.
As time passed, the maid sitting opposite started to slowly close her eyelids.
“Must be nice to have such a carefree life…”
Adeline really wanted to be the one falling asleep.
Opening the newspaper, tiny letters caught her eye. There was nothing better to kill time. It also felt good to get information about the homeland she was returning to after being away for a full eleven years.
Adeline took a long, deep breath.
“Hoo…”
Then, she found an article so ridiculous she couldn’t help but laugh.
The Lion King’s “Her,” Falls!
Lady Tamiren commits suicide, found in a gruesome state
“What a sensational headline.”
The article was about Meunié Tamiren, the Lion King Baltica’s fiancée. But after he abruptly broke the engagement, unable to bear her broken pride, trampled love, and the weight of her declining family, she ended her own life.
Of course, the Lion King didn’t even bother to offer condolences, the article coldly criticized.
The Lion King? How great could a man be to cause such a stir?
A bitter laugh escaped her lips. That woman was ridiculous too. To just kill herself because love didn’t go her way—being a noblewoman sure was a strange fate.
Adeline forced out a dry smile. Either way, it was a ridiculous story.
The nobles of Marma seemed terribly bored lately. Throughout the newspaper, sighs and pointless laughter slipped out. Holding what wasn’t the usual Nova Union Newspaper, but Marma’s Nobles’ Newspaper made the difference clear.
All about others’ private lives, rumors, and childish comments. Nothing else.
Adeline read aloud:
“A body presumed to have fallen from the first tower of the North Temple…”
At that moment, the maid, just waking from sleep, blinked her drowsy eyes and asked, watching Adeline’s expression focused on the article:
“Princess, does it hurt your pride?”
“What? Pride?”
Adeline looked at the maid in disbelief.
Having survived countless near-death moments together, the maid sometimes spoke so boldly it felt like she was a friend.
Hesitating, the maid added:
“It’s today’s newspaper.”
Right, it was today’s paper. It was the first thing Adeline had ordered bought upon waking. But…
Adeline looked at the maid’s complicated expression and the newspaper in her hands, then let out a short, hollow laugh.
“So you’re saying the fact that a petty noblewoman’s scandalous love affair made the front page is more important than me, returning to my homeland after eleven years, is what hurts your pride?”
The maid had no answer, but her averted gaze seemed to confirm the accuracy of the guess.
Adeline didn’t know what to say and fell silent for a moment.
Outside, rain had started to pour heavily since some time ago. The light drizzle from two days prior turned into a relentless downpour, continuing even now that they were close to Marma’s capital, Sol-Mar.
The dense mist outside clouded her mind, making her feel unpleasant since morning. The heavy dress soaked with humidity and the damp carriage cushions added to the discomfort.
But it certainly wasn’t because the Lion King’s fiancée had committed suicide. What nonsense to say one’s pride was hurt because they weren’t even mentioned in the news.
“Is he really that handsome?”
“Huh?”
When Adeline asked, the maid blinked in surprise, then realized that the woman before her had no idea about Marma’s current situation for the past eleven years, and quickly spoke.
“Yes! It’s no exaggeration! Every noble lady in the capital adores him. Even the palace maids and women on the streets all admire him…”
“Even a man like that?”
Adeline shook the newspaper a couple of times.
Honestly, he wasn’t a good man, not even as a compliment. She disliked kings in general—Marma’s king, Nova’s king, and this so-called Lion King alike. He ignored his fiancée’s death and had a nasty reputation. Being handsome doesn’t excuse everything.
“But such men are rare…”
The maid never criticized the Lion King outright.
To Adeline, he looked like a terribly bad man, but it seemed she was the only one thinking that way.
Adeline eyed the Lion King’s faintly printed face in a corner of the newspaper.
He did look handsome.
The printed portrait was blurry, so she couldn’t see his eyes clearly. But his sharp jawline and well-shaped lips suggested he was quite the figure.
If it’s a handsome face, I know a few myself. It’d be fun to line them up side by side for comparison.
While such trivial thoughts crossed her mind, the carriage jolted violently running through the mud.
“Aaah!”
The maid screamed, and Adeline lost balance, falling forward. Since this carriage was hastily procured with insufficient safety, even a slight impact caused this mess.
Adeline barely caught herself with one hand on the floor, clutching her injured shoulder with the other. A sharp pain surged—so intense that she had to use all her strength to endure it without screaming.
“Ugh…”
Her vision went dark.
As soon as the maid regained composure, she helped the sweating, suffering Adeline sit up and shouted through the carriage window.
“Hey! What on earth is going on?”
Outside, the relentless rain continued. Drops splattered through the half-open window, soaking her knees.
Just as she tried to close the window, a sly face suddenly popped through the gap.
Richard Selmore.
A lowborn knight who, at 25, had become aide to Crown Prince Cesare.
With a smug, disrespectful face, he represented the disdain and scorn sent by Marma’s Crown Prince Cesare Dixon towards Adeline.
“Are you alright?”
Adeline recognized the interest and sneer in his tone. Throughout the month-long journey, he had tormented her—ignoring, belittling, and teasing her as a daily routine.
She quickly shut her mouth, fearing harsh words that might come out otherwise. Fortunately, the maid shouted at him as well.
“Sir Selmore! What’s going on?”
“There’s a suspicious group blocking the road. We had no choice.”
“Suspicious group?”
“Knights clad in black armor… It doesn’t seem like an ambush. Ask the noble inside. Do you want to push through or take a detour and politely ask them to move?”
Though they made eye contact through the open door, Richard insisted on communicating through the maid, which was childish.
Despite her discomfort, a twisted smile broke through her lips.
Adeline said coldly to the maid:
“We must be cautious since we can’t confirm it’s not an ambush. I think brave Sir Selmore should approach them, explain the situation, and politely ask them to let us pass.”
Richard ground his teeth and glared.
“Are you telling me…”
If those black-armored knights were assassins targeting Adeline, Richard would be the first to die.
Adeline smirked defiantly.
“You better hurry, Sir Selmore.”
When she turned her head with a look that showed she didn’t care about his fate, the carriage window was slammed shut with a harsh sound.
Adeline didn’t blame his arrogance, nor did she stop the restless maid from anxiously checking outside. She didn’t care about their business.
As she flipped through the paper with an indifferent face, the maid cautiously spoke.
“Princess, aren’t you scared?”
“Why should I be?”
“But…”
The maid hesitated, watching Adeline’s face.
The newspaper rustled once as she tossed it aside in irritation.
Adeline thought: There are not many knights guarding the carriage outside, maybe about ten? Over 50 knights died fighting on the journey to Sol-Mar.
If the men blocking the road are attackers, most likely they won’t survive.
But…
“I’m fine.”
Adeline’s calm voice made the maid nod solemnly.
“Of course. Princess, you will surely return safely.”
“No, that’s not what I mean…”
“Huh?”
Adeline just closed her mouth, thinking no explanation would help.
I don’t die easily. If I were to die easily, I would’ve died 11 years ago. My life is stubborn and unbreakable, surviving even skilled assassins’ blades. The reason my liver is outside my body is exactly because of that.
But she couldn’t say it aloud.
Try to kill me, then.
A life that even her parents, siblings, and the kings of both her country and enemy nations couldn’t end—would she hand it over to mere butchers?
Watching the maid check outside through the window, Adeline smirked crookedly.
Then, cutting through the rain sound came a man’s voice.
“This the carriage?”
A low, dry voice.
A suffocating heat settled in the humid rain.
Richard seemed to answer, but his voice was faint.
The questioner’s voice, low and dry enough to send chills, pierced through the wet rain to reach her ears clearly.
Who is it?
A sudden rush of hot air filled her chest, and Adeline curled her fingertips lightly.
“What’s inside?”
The man asked again; Richard replied softly. A heavy silence followed.
She disliked this frustrating silence.
Clop, clop, clop.
The sound of footsteps approaching outside. The maid, pressed against the slightly opened window, startled and pulled back. Richard’s panicked voice came from outside.
“Uh, th-that—!”
What a fool.
Before the man opened the door, Adeline spoke first.
“What’s going on outside? Sir, are you stupid?”
“Well… yes.”
Richard stammered, embarrassed.
“Just tell me if it’s an ambush or not. Seems my knights are fools.”
“It’s not an ambush.”
For some reason, Richard’s voice was unusually obedient, probably because of the black-armored man outside.
Adeline opened the window; the wood creaked stiffly from moisture. She looked out the wide-open window.
Richard and the knights stepped back to one side, the thick rain and mist swirling—and…
A man.
A black-clad man from head to toe.
Her gaze met his. Surprisingly, everything around seemed to retreat with a hiss and fall silent.
Though the man’s face was hidden under a heavy waterproof coat, an immense intimidation radiated from him. The maid took a dry breath in fear.
“Ah…”
The rain sent a thin fog rolling by.
The man’s black armor gleamed coldly despite the fog. His white jaw and sharp mouth silently looked down at her.
Wet droplets splashed into the open window, soaking her dress and the back of her hands resting on her knees. Frowning, Adeline saw the man take a step closer to the window. Up close, he was even bigger. His body blocked the window, stopping the droplets from entering.
With a clack, the man grabbed the carriage roof with one hand. His waterproof coat draped over his shoulders and arms like a canopy, muffling even the patter of the rain.
Adeline looked at his mouth; he looked at her hand. They stared at each other for a long moment.
The man asked,
“Are you Adeline Vita?”
The maid started hiccupping. Shocked, Richard involuntarily stepped back.
She answered with a long sigh instead.
At first, she thought they were the ones her father had sent to greet her. But judging by the knights’ appearance, that was unlikely. They were simply a dull black army.
Who was this man? Neither enemy nor ally—just an unwanted visitor.
Then Adeline suddenly realized. Just by seeing his jaw and mouth beneath the coat, she could recognize him. It was strange. A fleeting photo stuck in her mind instantly.
“You…”
The man was the Lion King, and the others were his knights.
He was the subject of the noisy article she had just read in the Marma nobles’ newspaper.
“I asked if you are Adeline Vita.”
He asked again.
But Adeline didn’t answer, and he didn’t press further. As if by unspoken agreement, they didn’t call each other by name. Knowing each other’s identity, they silently agreed to stop unnecessary questioning.
The Lion King never took his eyes off her. Neither did she.
Even when his knights surrounded the carriage and the man beneath the coat raised a huge sword.
The clanging of metal echoed in the rain. Richard panicked.
“What’s happening?”
“It’s an ambush.”
Assassins.
“This way!”
“They’re coming! Watch the trees!”
“Ahhhh!”
The maid panicked and crouched low. Adeline turned and slowly closed the window.
Before closing the door, she thought she saw the Lion King’s large figure dissipate like mist as he moved.
The fight was brief. So brief it could barely be called a fight. A few screams and swords clashing.
They had been attacked many times traveling from Nova to Marma, but never such a short, futile battle. Even the trembling maid looked up, puzzled.
“Princess… why so quiet?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
They were either all dead or all alive.
Adeline tilted her head, touching her feverish forehead. Her whole body was heating up. The fever blurred her vision and made her dizzy.
Outside, voices began to murmur. The maid clasped her hands, trembling.
“I’ll open the door.”
Richard’s voice came from outside. Adeline strained her blurry vision.
She saw Richard step aside and yield the seat to the Lion King. Hot sweat stung her eyes, and she closed and opened them tightly.
The Lion King’s gaze was once again fixed on Adeline. But even that didn’t last long. Her body had reached its limit.
He noticed her state and contorted his face, then her vision flickered to black.
“Adeline—!”
The Lion King shouted heavily.
Who told him he could call me by name like that?
Even as she
The Lion King pressed the dagger’s handle against Adeline’s mouth. She obeyed and opened her lips, biting down tightly on the handle wrapped in a soft cloth.
The sound of a maid entering was heard, and the Lion King poured a sour-smelling liquid over her wound.
“Just hold on a little longer.”
But how much was “a little” exactly?
Adeline let out a faint moan as she leaned sideways against the Lion King’s chest. He called the maid over and told her to hold Adeline so she wouldn’t collapse. A trembling hand grabbed her shoulder.
Suddenly, an unbearable pain struck. Her vision went white and her breath caught. She didn’t even realize the dagger she was biting had fallen to the floor. Screaming, she clenched her teeth.
Warm liquid trickled down her back.
“Bite.”
He pressed the dagger handle to her mouth again.
After removing the arrowhead, pouring antiseptic, and stitching the wound, the Lion King said nothing more. The treatment was not long, but to Adeline, it felt like an eternity.
“P-Princess… it’s over. Just hold on a little more.”
The maid had been sobbing quietly the entire time. It was ridiculous. She had been ordered to watch over Adeline, yet her voice was full of worry. Despite her pain, Adeline couldn’t help but sneer.
“All done.”
He wrapped her body with a wide bandage. She reluctantly pulled her dress down below her chest and surrendered her entire body to him. But no one present showed any discomfort about that.
The sobbing maid covered Adeline’s body with a blanket. As she weakly parted her lips, the dagger he had handed her slipped from her mouth.
Adeline, who had taken painkillers and fallen asleep, woke up in the dark night. She felt somewhat better, but the pain was still filthy. When she coughed lightly, a hoarse, weak voice came out.
“Ugh…”
“Adeline.”
The Lion King was still by her side.
Her head was hot but she felt cold. Her jaw trembled as if her teeth might chatter whenever she opened her mouth. Struggling, she pulled the blanket closer, and the Lion King threw her his cloak.
“If you lie still, your wound won’t reopen. Is there a nearby place to rest?”
Adeline didn’t answer his question. Instead, she looked for her pesky knight who was supposed to be here.
“How much time has passed? What about Richard?”
“He went to collect the assassins’ bodies. They’re dispatching an investigation team…”
“No way.”
Another sneer escaped. No investigation team would be sent.
Richard had surely rushed to the castle to explain why her return was delayed. Adeline Vita was badly injured but safe, and he would report that no further assassination attempts would happen.
“I have to go.”
“With that body? You’re a miracle for even breathing right now.”
“I’m fine. I won’t die. You’ve seen enough people die. I won’t die from this.”
“Adeline, you’re a patient.”
“And the princess of this country.”
Adeline sat up halfway, lifting her chin. She wanted to look a bit more dignified, but the Lion King got angry. His handsome face, usually stern, twisted noticeably.
Suddenly, a question arose. Why did this man worry about me?
There was no connection between them. They didn’t meet by fate in the distant past, nor did one forget the other due to lost memories, nor were they lovers torn apart by opposition.
Could it be because he pitied me?
If that were the case, there was even less reason for him to be here. In this world, she was the only one allowed to pity herself.
“Sigh…”
But the Lion King’s sigh was longer and deeper than hers. He put one hand on his waist and ran the other through his tangled hair. The man who had once stared uncomfortably at her now only looked at his clenched fist. Then, with an annoyed voice, as if speaking words he didn’t want to say, he finally spoke.
“They don’t miss you, so why are you so eager to return so quickly?”
“What?”
Adeline wiped her damp eyes with one hand. What the Lion King just said was a truth no one dared to mention before her.
Cesar Dickson, the Crown Prince. The royal family of Marma. This country does not welcome her.
She laughed.
“How do you know that? Is Adeline Vita’s tragic story famous even in the barren deserts of Odium?”
“Is it someone else’s story to you?”
“No.”
It couldn’t be someone else’s. It was a life endured by this fragile body.
Eleven years ago, the sole princess of Marma, Adeline Vita, was given to the young king of the enemy nation, Nova, at seventeen.
The young princess screamed, begging to be spared, pleading to die in Marma if she must die at all. But the nobles of Marma, crying as they dragged the screaming princess, threw her before the enemy king like a butchered mule.
It was a story she had never once confided in anyone.
“I heard your story in Nova.”
The Lion King said in a heavy voice. Adeline replied lightly.
“In Nova? Did someone there know you?”
“I met Eisen Balzac.”
Adeline took a deep breath, half-lying back again. The name she thought she would never hear again after leaving Nova escaped his lips.
Eisen Balzac was a man like an indelible scar to her. He was the king of enemy Nova, and the one she hated bitterly ever since she had to live in his bedroom.
“Eisen… how?”
The Lion King’s face revealed no expression. He silently looked down at her face, scanned her eyes, nose, mouth, then forehead, and finally looked at her shoulder still bleeding. He reached out, took her forehead’s temperature, and spoke.
“It was one year ago. He had come to the southern border.”
“Did you meet on the battlefield?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“They were negotiating the end of the war.”
“You went personally to the southern border?”
“Yes.”
Adeline laughed bitterly.
Eisen was a man who rarely left his desk in his chamber. He avoided battlefield appearances and even noble banquets. Especially since she was with him, he was so obsessed with work he even conducted business in his bedroom.
Eisen had called her “a tough woman.” Who was he to say that? She wondered what Eisen had told the Lion King.
“So, what did he say?”
Adeline asked with a twisted, dry smile—no need for a mirror to know it was crooked. The Lion King’s gaze grew heavier.
“He knew I would go to Marma. He said the king of Marma would offer well-packaged noblewomen to him.”
“And?”
“He said, if lucky, he might find a woman meeting at least two conditions among them. Otherwise, both she and he would be unhappy.”
Her pounding heart calmed.
It was true. Adeline’s father was a cowardly, greedy king who would throw all the women of Marma naked before that man if it meant gaining him.
The memory of the brutally killed Monnier Tamiren came to mind. The North Temple was the tallest tower in Sol-Marma, the capital. If she had fallen from there, her body would have been completely destroyed.
Monnier… how many was she? And how many would I be?
“What are those two conditions?”
Adeline asked. The Lion King spoke painfully, as if pouring out his suffering.
“A woman who hates Marma.”
She laughed again. Even in pain, she trembled as she laughed.
Ah, Eisen, you don’t have to feel guilty anymore. What on earth did you teach this innocent desert king? What a cruel man.
“Shall I guess the other one?”
Adeline sat up. The thin blanket slipped off, revealing her dry, bandaged shoulder and chest outlined beneath damp underwear, but she didn’t care.
“A woman whom Marma hates.”
Before he could say a word, she spoke first.
Adeline burst out laughing loudly. The maid, sleeping curled up in the corner, startled and came over, screaming as she wrapped Adeline in a blanket. Adeline laughed even louder. There was nothing left worth protecting in this body, so why all the fuss?
“Adeline.”
The Lion King called her name.
That’s right. A woman who hates Marma—and a woman equally hated by Marma.
Adeline Vita. It was her.
Her dry laughter sharply scratched the quiet farmhouse. Holding her hot face with both hands, she laughed like a madwoman. Even as the maid sobbed and the Lion King’s gaze grew heavy, she kept laughing without pause until she gasped, her heart aching.
And finally, she asked.
“So, you met me by chance. Now tell me the conclusion. What strategy does the Lion of the Desert intend to take?”
They looked at each other simultaneously. Without any pretense or lies, their most sincere feelings were laid bare.
The Lion King’s eyes, filled with pure greenery, and Adeline’s dark eyes, tightly packed with black malice, pierced each other without yielding.
He opened his mouth.
“I intend to propose to you.”
Richard returned before sunrise. He looked exactly as he had when he left. Clearly, he had hurried without even thinking to wash or change his dirty clothes.
Adeline looked at him with bloodshot eyes.
“The King ordered you to return immediately.”
Richard suddenly held out his hand, showing no sympathy despite seeing her on the verge of collapse from her injuries.
Adeline wondered who had ordered Richard.
“Cesar? Or was it your father?”
“I heard the King personally spoke to the Crown Prince.”
She nodded slowly, fully expecting how much Cesar must have pressured him.
Yes. I must return. My destination isn’t the Lion King’s arms, but the royal family of Marma.
Adeline naturally reached out her wet hand toward him. But before she could stand, the Lion King suddenly appeared, grabbing her hand instead of Richard’s, making it impossible for her to get up.
“Where are you going?”
“…Your Highness?”
Richard looked up at him, surprised. The Lion King’s blue eyes blazed with anger. He growled, holding Adeline’s hand tightly.
“The princess is in critical condition.”
He stated it as if a natural disaster had occurred.
Richard hastily withdrew his hand, intimidated by the Lion King’s fierce gaze resting on it.
“Your Highness, but…”
“I said the princess is in critical condition, Knight of Marma.”
Richard dared not argue and looked at Adeline.
What are you looking at?
Her lips silently said so.
A man who tells a wounded woman to leave immediately regardless of her pain—Cesar. And a man she just met but who worries so much and wants to protect her—the Lion King.
Adeline shivered at the roughness of the Lion King’s palm that completely enveloped her hand. She had never felt such a rough hand before.
This man is dangerous. At least to me.
A desert heat enough to warm even a cold body. If I lean on this heat, I will die.
Adeline Vita was a woman frozen colder than distant glaciers. Her body was like a stiff corpse, and her heart had long been frozen solid.
“I will return.”
Adeline suddenly lifted her head. She was the one who solved Richard’s predicament.
With weak strength, she twisted her palm, and the Lion King’s large grip easily released. She roughly wiped her wet face with her long sleeve, pulled off the blanket, and grabbed Richard’s hand firmly.
Richard stared at Adeline and the Lion King in surprise. He seemed not to expect her to walk on her own toward Cesar.
But Adeline stood up. Despite the terrible pain and dizzying fever, she stood firmly on both feet.
“Adeline.”
The Lion King’s voice held deep reproach and even greater concern as he tried to stop her. Adeline shook her head defiantly. Her tangled long hair fluttered.
“Don’t interfere.”
“You could die.”
“I still have to go.”
She had her reasons for risking her life to return this far.
“Thanks for your help, but that doesn’t mean I have to obey you. If you want a price, come to the castle.”
“Are you serious?”
The Lion King looked at her with blazing eyes—an anger she could not understand.
Staggering, Adeline clung to Richard’s arm. Standing was okay, but her legs lacked strength.
Richard instinctively reached out and caught her as she nearly collapsed. The Lion King’s gaze poured down on him—a fierce look. Richard flinched and narrowed his shoulders.
“Adeline.”
The Lion King called her name. From Richard’s awkward embrace, Adeline swallowed a wet sigh and warned:
“Don’t call my name.”
Not again.
Crown Prince Cesar would not allow Adeline to enter the castle through the main gate. She had to sneak in like a stray cat, hiding her face and entering through the workers’ back door.
She already knew Cesar thought of her as a disgrace without needing such measures. The doctor prescribed medicine with a disinterested face and left without checking her wounds, which the Lion King had skillfully treated and barely looked at.
Afterward, Adeline was placed in a small annex attached to Cesar’s palace.
That night, the King, her father, visited.
“Welcome, my precious daughter.”
A kindly smile moved over his handsome wrinkles. The maids looked on with tears, moved by the reunion of king and princess after eleven years.
But the older ones, who remembered seventeen-year-old Adeline from eleven years ago, glanced nervously, worried she might act up again.
It was laughable.
“Why are you standing there? Call me father, Adeline.”
The king said. He had said the same thing the day she was adopted long ago.
Back then, Adeline screamed at the king and cried, begging to be sent home. She cried so hard she could barely breathe but never uttered the word “father.”
The king smiled gently, but that night, she was beaten until she lost consciousness. She was only nine years old then. Until she was seventeen and sold to the enemy king, Adeline lived as the king’s adopted daughter in Marma, living a doll-like life.
Now she was twenty-eight.
Adeline took a cautious step forward, drawing all eyes in the room to her. She slowly and precariously walked to the king. In his aged eyes flickered a petty impatience. Her heart thundered.
“Father.”
She collapsed to her knees and pressed her forehead to the back of his hand. Sniffling sounds began around the room. The king flinched and trembled before gently stroking her cheek with a deeply moved face.
“I missed you, Adeline.”
“You can’t know how happy I am to be back.”
Adeline smiled brightly, watching the uneasy king’s eyes. He trembled even more. She felt exhilarated.
Her words about happiness were sincere.
She had expected to collapse and cry upon meeting him; to scream, rage, and throw mad fits.
But look.
She had grown into an adult who could smile kindly like him. Eleven years was a long time for that.
Now it was time to repay equally for all she had endured.
