Inside the underground warehouse transformed into a secret hideout, Selena sat cross-legged on an old wooden chest. Her hand held a worn book titled "The Melody Behind War" — an old romance novel she found hidden behind the shelves of the military library.
Her sharp eyes that were usually filled with killing intent were now round with curiosity, even slightly reddened.
> "I want to protect her even if the world opposes me," the prince said in the book, hugging the dying soldier girl.
Selena bit her lower lip. Her heart was beating strangely.
"Is this what is called love…?" she muttered, then hugged a small pillow with her cheeks flushed red.
Ironically, the girl whose hands were once stained with blood was now trembling because of cliché romantic sentences.
Then the sound of the stone door opening was heard.
"Selena."
Ars stood in the doorway. His gaze was flat.
Selena flinched and immediately closed the book quickly.
"I-I-It's nothing! I just—it's just training… analyzing the enemy's psychology!"
Ars approached. Staring.
"Do you read romance novels?"
Selena looked up. Her face was like a child caught stealing cookies.
Ars took a deep breath, then said:
"…If you fall in love, make sure it doesn't interfere with your mission."
The academy hallway was still quiet that morning. Some cadets were preparing to attend magic and mechanical engineering training. Ars Storia walked slowly down the stone corridor, his steps light but precise.
His hand felt his shirt pocket—empty.
A standard military pen… left in the basement reading room.
He turned around without a word, walking towards the quiet room filled with dust and piles of training documents. As his hand touched the table to grab the pen, his small shoes slipped because of the puddle of lubricating oil dripping from the overhead pipe.
Ars' body lost its balance. In a split second—
THUMP!
But he never hit the floor.
His tiny body was quickly caught by a pair of cold, strong hands.
Selena.
With a reflex action, she jumped from the shadow near the shelf and grabbed Ars before he fell.
For a moment... the world stopped.
The hug was so close.
Selena's chest rose and fell. Her breath was warm and rushed to touch Ars' cheek.
Selena's dark red eyes were caught in Ars' cold light blue eyes that were still innocent but... piercing.
Ars said nothing. He just stared.
A face devoid of emotion.
The face of a child who had grown up too fast... too used to bearing burdens he shouldn't have to bear.
But for Selena, that moment turned into a page from a romance novel she had secretly read last night.
Selena's cheeks were flushed red. Her hands were still hugging him tightly.
In her mind, the words from the book played again:
> "If you fall for him... make sure your heart is ready to be broken many times."
"Ars..." she whispered softly. Her fingers trembled slightly.
Then she moved closer.
So close...
The scent of Ars' soft blonde hair was faintly smelled.
The air seemed to freeze. The world became silent.
Selena slowly closed her eyes—
But before her lips could touch…
"Don't."
That one word sounded flat and cold.
Selena fell silent. Her eyes opened.
Ars was still looking at her… with a calm expression, unchanged in the slightest. But there was a faint glimmer of threat in his tone.
"Feelings should not be a tool to forget wounds. You are too full of blood to taste sweetness."
Selena lowered her head. Her body trembled, not because of fear…
But because she was devastated. Because she realized, the hug was not warmth—but a warning.
Ars slowly stood up. Tidying up his uniform.
"We are not heroes in a novel, Selena. We are tools… shadows in a war that is greater than a love story."
Selena could only nod.
And when Ars left her alone in the room, tears flowed silently down her cheeks.
Not because of rejected love…
But because she, for the first time, felt like she wanted to live as a human.