Chapter 1

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“I’ll become someone more reliable, someone you can depend on. So, when you grow up, will you marry me?”

“…Okay, sure.”

001

The Broken Promise (Part 1)

It had been a long time since I last saw you, and you were still as breathtakingly beautiful as ever.

On the day you left for the city, I pretended to be fine, but when I got home, I cried so much. You had already turned red in the face before that.

After you left, I didn’t hear much about you. The adults teased me, saying you must have forgotten all about me, lost in the glamorous city life. Back then, still a child, I stubbornly refused to believe it.

And then time passed.

Enough time for even a naive child to come to terms with reality.

“Long time no see.”

“Long… time… no see.”

Contrary to what the adults had said, you hadn’t forgotten or changed.

But now I understood. Why they had been so cruel. It was their way of trying to spare a young boy’s first love from as much pain as possible.

A child who had been taken to the city, especially by someone of high status, would never return to this smelly countryside. I realized, as I grew up, that it’s easier to give up than to suffer from hope.

It was I who had forgotten, I who had changed.

“What’s that… beside you?”

Pale platinum hair, eyes like the cloudy sky, a shade of grayish blue.

A strikingly aristocratic appearance that seemed to scream that we were of different species, living in different worlds.

But you were still you. Fragile yet kind, distant yet familiar. The way you looked up at me was just the same.

A face that looked like it might burst into tears at any moment. The blue eyes clouded with sadness.

“Anne.”

If I had been just a little younger—or if this moment hadn’t been so awkward—we might have had a touching reunion.

But you and I were adults now. I could no longer run to you and hug you like I used to.

If I did, I’d just get dirt on your pristine, luxurious robe.

“Louis. Beside you, that…”

“She’s my fiancée.”

I cut it off sharply, meeting your trembling eyes that wanted to deny reality.

In a small village, hands were always needed. My friends were already on their second child, and I couldn’t keep being stubborn forever.

No, that’s just an excuse. I simply gave up.

“Now, she’s the most important person in my world.”

Once, you were my world.

But now, even reaching out to you felt like a sin.

I had dressed neatly for my first impression as a merchant, but it was nothing compared to your attire. If we stood side by side, we’d look more like a princess and a servant than lovers.

Inferiority complex? Yes. Distance? That too. But the village elders would say this:

Know your place.

“You… promised…”

Unable to hold back, tears fell from your damp eyes. Still a crybaby, huh?

But I couldn’t wipe your tears, just stood there helplessly, one arm held back.

“I’m sorry.”

That was the only thing I could say.

From the moment our eyes met, and the moment your expression twisted, I knew. Unlike me, you hadn’t changed at all. You were still the country girl Anne I knew.

But your appearance no longer fit the countryside. The golden cross embroidered on your robe, the blindingly white fabric despite the muddy roads. It looked like something even selling the entire village couldn’t afford.

Your once clumsy steps were now elegant, even the simple act of lifting your sleeve to wipe your eyes exuded grace. If I hadn’t known you, I might have bowed the moment I saw you.

In this small, smelly village, your presence stood out like a lone lighthouse in the night sea.

“I’m sorry…”

It doesn’t fit. It doesn’t match.

Neither you coming down to the countryside to live with me, nor me following you to the city to cling to you, was possible. Our paths had already diverged, and they could never meet again.

So letting go was the right thing to do. Even if it hurts for a while, you’ll eventually forget and move on.

You’ll be able to do that. I know you’re stronger than anyone, even if you look fragile.

The shadow of you, once close to the village, quickly faded. Only after the fluttering white hem disappeared from sight did the grip on my right arm loosen.

I sat down on the dirt ground and stared blankly at the sky for a long time. The sky that resembled your eyes.

*

After running for a while, Anne collapsed to the ground.

At that moment, she didn’t even remember that the robe she was wearing was a near-sacred item, bestowed only to a select few in the religious order. Only one thing came to mind.

A face she could never forget, no matter how much time passed—reflected in puddles when she opened her eyes, etched in her mind when she closed them.

“Liar…”

The scene she had just witnessed drove the painful truth home.

It couldn’t be. You, who were more reliable and admirable than anyone, really…

But no matter how much she tried to deny it, the truth didn’t change. The overcast sky, the glistening tears of sorrow falling from the girl’s beautiful eyes.

Plop. The teardrops left small marks on the ground where she crouched. Staring at the dirt stained with scattered tears, Anne slowly stood up.

She couldn’t deny it, but she wanted to.

The one who stayed by her side when she was sick, the one who approached her first when she was alone, the one who got angry as if it were himself when other kids bullied her, the one who always shared his treats with a smile…

“Louis.”

They were small, trivial things.

But to her, they were almost the only acts of human kindness she had ever known. Those small things had grown like a snowball in her pink heart, amidst the gray city life and the bloody trials she endured.

Once it started rolling, no amount of willpower could stop it.

“Louis…”

The boy she had loved—still loved—had hair as dark as the earth.

Like the dark brown soil beneath her feet, Louis had been the one thing that grounded her in the unfamiliar countryside. Without support, could ivy have grown so tall?

No, even that wasn’t enough to describe their relationship.

A sturdy vine might not fall even without a trellis, but what old tree could withstand having its roots torn out?

“I’ll…”

After composing herself, Anne took off the robe she was wearing.

“I’ll save you.”

The robe, blessed with special protection, didn’t gather a speck of dust even after sitting on the ground. Just like her heart, which remained steadfast even in darkness.

Underneath the robe was not a slender, pale body, but a sharp, gleaming silver armor.

The armor was too bulky and heavy for her small frame, but her movements were light, as if unburdened. Louis probably hadn’t noticed, but the heavily armored girl moved with ease.

Hidden beneath the voluminous robe was a morning star, shining like the dawn star.

Where the golden cross was embroidered on the robe, a thorny bloody cross was engraved.

Finally, she put on a helmet that completely covered her face.

What stood there was no longer a frail, sickly priestess. Though small in stature, she was now a formidable Inquisition Judge, someone to be feared.

As the hem of her priestly robe lifted, the Inquisition Judge’s footsteps clanked with the sound of metal. A pungent smell, whether of rust or blood, spread, startling birds and making wolves tuck their tails.

The one who practiced the law of mercy through blood and violence. The natural enemy of all heretics and demon worshippers.

The place where Inquisition Judge Anne stopped looked like an ordinary corner of the forest. But when she reached out her hand, her fingertips touched nothing, and concentric circles spread through the air.

Dong-

The Holy Barrier, which blinded heretics and sinners, opened to the touch of a sister. Inside the barrier was a sight that didn’t belong in the calm, peaceful forest.

Flags bearing sword-shaped crosses fluttered—the symbol of the Crusaders. Beneath the obsessively clean white barracks, dozens of soldiers waited for the order to march.

A soldier in silver armor, far shabbier than Anne’s, approached her. His eyes, filled with nothing but duty and pride, showed no hesitation or guilt.

The eyes of a fanatic, which would make ordinary people uncomfortable. But Anne felt nothing strange in that righteous gaze.

Because she, too, was one of them.

“Sister, were there heretics there?”

“Yes. That land has already become a den of heretics. Even I couldn’t handle the darkness lurking there.”