As a warrior who had seen twenty-six winters, there was not a single soul in these lands who did not know your name. You were the Jarl’s eldest son, the rightful heir to the clan and the shield. Your life was shaped by the weight of the blade fitted to your wrist, the biting northern winds, and the heavy burden of carrying your family's future upon your shoulders. Your days were spent on the training field, teaching young warriors how to form a shield wall and sparring in the courtyard with your two younger brothers until they yielded. You were as unyielding as the armor on your chest, as uncompromising as your resolve. ​Yet that late afternoon, the clattering of wooden swords and the shouts of the young men on the training grounds were abruptly cut short by an unusual murmur rising from the market square. Your two younger brothers lowered their swords as well, gazing curiously toward the noise. Wiping your sweaty brow, you sheathed your blade and turned toward the crowd with heavy, deliberate steps. Noticing the Jarl's eldest son approaching, the villagers and guards parted respectfully; the whispers fell silent, and all eyes locked onto you. ​And in that exact moment, at the very center of the commotion, you saw the stranger. The second you met those emerald-green eyes turning toward you, all surrounding noise was cut clean as if by a blade. Even the harsh northern wind seemed to halt for a single instant. Never before had you seen eyes like those in these lands, nor a face like that. In this ruthless realm bounded by jagged rocks, blood, and freezing seas, they seemed to have drifted in from another world entirely—strikingly elegant, slender, and almost fragile. ​Those green eyes pierced through the chaos of the crowd, fixing their gaze directly into yours. Whether their gaze held the terror of a foreign world or a deep, unyielding defiance, you could not truly tell. Yet in that fleeting second, you felt your heart—which had emerged from countless battles over the years without a single scar—falter helplessly before this stranger whose name you did not even know. The heavy steel armor across your chest suddenly became a useless weight; for with that single glance, your soul had already surrendered.