An Unexpected Proposal-Chapter 1: Our Eyes Met

March 5, 2020.

Their eyes met.

The moment Alicia recognized that fact, she instinctively spread her arms and pulled the child into her embrace. Thump, thump. She couldn't tell whether the rapid heartbeat was hers or the child's, who had been running. Perhaps she didn’t even want to know. Her arms tightened around the child.

"So, it really is your child."

A voice fell upon her like a death sentence. For a brief moment, Alicia’s vision blurred. The sensation of sweat trickling down her back felt eerily chilling, making her body involuntarily shrink. If she could, she would have run away without hesitation. But she had a child in her arms.

"Well, it doesn’t matter."

The man strode toward Alicia with firm steps. Even though she knew it was meaningless, Alicia instinctively shielded the child's face with her hand, trying to keep him from view. Despite inheriting her reddish-brown hair and gray eyes, the child resembled someone else far more than her. She was afraid that the man would notice.

"Alicia."

Just hearing her name made her cheeks flush hot, and she quickly lowered her head. In the past, Alicia had loved the way he called her name. She had always known that, in those moments, a faint smile would grace his otherwise indifferent face. But now, even if he spoke her name, he would never smile at her again.

"I told you not to lower your head in front of me."

A firm hand lifted Alicia’s chin. As his warmth touched her skin, she bit her lower lip hard. Her vision blurred with tears, and if she didn’t hold them back, she would break down at any moment. Though she had grown accustomed to taking orders, his touch, just like in the past, was still unbearably gentle. That realization made her throat tighten.

"The child is watching."

By now, she should have been able to forget. But that familiar touch so effortlessly revived memories of the past. Alicia forced herself to push his hand away.

"What have I even done?"

He hadn't even done anything yet—at least not what he truly wanted to. A slight distortion formed on the man's lips.

"Leave. Nothing will change now."

Alicia avoided his gaze. She knew exactly where his eyes had been focused from beginning to end, and that made her even more anxious.

"Nothing will change?"

The man laughed.

"Hah, you're right. Nothing will change."

His hands gripped Alicia’s shoulders tightly. She swallowed dryly. His piercing gaze bore into her relentlessly.

"As long as you return to me."

His lips brushed against the back of Alicia’s trembling hand as she tried to push him away. She turned her head in distress, nearly in tears, but it was pointless. She still couldn’t forget the warmth those lips had once given her.

"Come back, Alicia."

His hand caressed her cheek. The rough palm, calloused from wielding a sword for so long, bore the imprint of a hilt—harsh and unbefitting of his noble status, carrying a faint scent of iron.

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"I have a child."

"If I cared about something like that, I wouldn’t have come here."

His golden eyes turned toward the child. The cold, piercing stare made Alicia hold the boy even closer to her chest.

"It’s not as simple as you make it sound. I don’t want to be a disgraceful mother. Your Highness must already have a wife—"

"A wife?"

Before Alicia could finish, he ground his teeth and leaned in, his face so close that their noses almost touched. She instinctively held her breath. His warm breath brushed against her lips, unbearably hot.

"Hah! Well, as of today, I suppose I will have one."

His lips curled into a twisted smirk as he glared at her.

"Gajev."

"Yes, my lord."

"Take the child."

Before Alicia could process his words, he raised his hand.

"Mother!"

"Mikael!"

Sensing the danger, the boy whimpered and reached out desperately for his mother. Alicia tried to chase after him, but a strong arm blocked her way.

"What are you doing?! Give him back! He’s my child! My son!"

"Don't worry. I won’t kill him. I can’t just dispose of a child who is now of noble blood."

"Cabelenus!"

"...So I only get to hear my name from your lips when the situation comes to this."

A hollow laugh escaped him as he tilted his head. Alicia bit down on her trembling lips, her eyes welling with tears.

"I don’t change my decisions. If you want your child back, become my wife. That is the only way you’ll ever get him back."

"...Do you even know who that child belongs to?"

"Would I be here if I cared about something like that?"

"Cabelenus."

Alicia, eyes filled with tears, grabbed onto his arm. The chill in his gaze was unfamiliar, but for her child’s sake, she had no choice but to face it.

"I don't care whose child he is. Even if he carries the blood of a traitor, even if he has nothing to do with me—I will raise him as my own."

"You would claim a child whose father is unknown as your own blood?"

"Yes."

A response without even a moment’s hesitation. Alicia stared at him, forgetting even to breathe. Even now, his golden eyes still shone like the blazing sun—just as they had in the past, when she had been blinded by their brilliance.

"Stop using the child as an excuse to run away."

The man growled like a starving beast as he gripped Alicia’s shoulders tightly.

"Even now, I am barely restraining myself from crushing that little life that took you away from me."

Alicia clenched her fists, biting down on her lips to suppress the sobs threatening to escape. The rough, calloused hands gripping her skin felt like they were scorching her.

—

That year, everything seemed drenched in red.

The cavalry arrived alongside blazing torches, and the parched, cracked earth ran not with rain, but with blood.

The chilling sound of clashing steel sent shivers down the spine, only for the mingling screams and battle cries to snap the senses back into focus. The knights of Neuschwein hurriedly donned their armor and fought against the invaders, but everyone present already knew—resistance was futile.

The more their blades met, the more glaring the difference in skill became. And with that, the outcome was inevitable.

Leading the cavalry atop his armored warhorse was The Wolf of Schwarhan, Cabelenus von Schwarhan Blanche. He had never lost a battle.

Cabelenus raised his sword high toward the sky, the blade gleaming gold beneath the sun. Though it had struck down countless foes, not a single drop of blood stained its edge.

The soldiers’ cheers rang loud.

By the time Cabelenus passed through, there were no enemies left to be called such. Blood of unknown origin pooled endlessly, yet his dulled senses no longer recognized its scent.

Only the piling corpses marked the passage of time.

This was not a battle—it was a massacre.

The King of Neuschwein watched in despair as his soldiers fell before him, powerless. Abandoning his retainers and family, he attempted to flee with his arms full of gold and jewels, only to be betrayed by a maid before he could escape far.

The Wolf of Schwarhan beheaded the king, who had pathetically begged for his life, and displayed his severed head atop the castle walls.

It was a pitiful end for a man who had once ruled a nation.

But history belongs to the victors.

The Neuschwein royal lineage, which had lasted for five hundred years, was erased from existence in a single day.

And within the fallen royal castle, the execution bell tolled ceaselessly.

—

"Execution—!"

With every cry of the executioner, yet another lifeless body rolled beneath the guillotine.

The survivors, paralyzed with fear, remained silent, knowing full well that tomorrow, they might be the ones losing their heads.

The foreign conqueror who now ruled the palace had no mercy.

Cabelenus von Schwarhan Blanche, seated arrogantly upon the throne, ruled with nothing but a single gesture—raising or lowering his hand decided who lived and who died.

"Next."

A single, indifferent word. Cold, emotionless.

And so, the bloodshed continued.

The prisoners, dragged before him, wailed and screamed at first, but with each toll of the execution bell, their voices grew quieter. Eventually, they knelt before him as meekly as plucked chickens, stripped of even the will to resist.

Cabelenus, his expression unreadable, swept his gaze over the prisoners.

Beside the throne, his aide Gajev read aloud their identities and crimes in a calm, measured voice.

Some prisoners, cautiously glancing around, still harbored a sliver of hope that they might be spared. They had no idea how their predecessors had met their end.

Since the purging began, Cabelenus had never once raised his hand.

Rumors circulated among the soldiers, claiming that he would only lift his hand in a toast once the entire royal palace had been wiped clean.

"Wait."

Cabelenus’s sharp gaze narrowed as he observed the prisoners.

"What is it, my lord?"

Gajev, who had been about to mark yet another prisoner for execution, stopped and followed his master's line of sight.

At the end of Cabelenus’s stare stood a woman.

"You. What’s your name?"

The woman did not answer.

Instead, she clenched her trembling hands, as if trying to hide the fact that they were shaking. Even with the loose fabric of her clothes, her thin, frail body was impossible to conceal.

"I asked for your name."

Noticing his master’s mood, Gajev quickly checked the records and informed Cabelenus of her identity.

Yet, Cabelenus barely acknowledged his aide’s words. His gaze remained fixed on the woman.

Gajev frowned slightly.

His master, who had been utterly indifferent to even the most beautiful women in the empire, was showing interest in a woman whose appearance could only be described as plain.

Her features were unremarkable, lacking the delicate beauty commonly admired. Her reddish-brown hair and dull gray eyes were nothing special, and there was nothing striking about her at all.

"The princess of Neuschwein seems to have lost her tongue."

If there was anything notable about her, it was the fact that she was the youngest daughter of the king—the same king whose severed head now hung from the castle walls.

Gajev idly toyed with the edge of the parchment in his hand.

Alicia Neuschwein.

Mistaken for a servant due to her ragged appearance, only to later be identified and dragged to trial as royalty.

Unlike her siblings, who had adorned themselves in extravagant garments, she had lived unnoticed. The only reason she had survived this long was sheer luck.

But now, her luck had run out.

Her fate would be the same as her father’s and her siblings’—to die beneath the executioner’s blade.

"There is no such thing."

After a long hesitation, Alicia finally forced the words from her lips.

"No such thing?"

Cabelenus tilted his head slightly.

Alicia hesitated before finally lifting her gaze to meet his.

"You’re going to kill me anyway."

It was not the kind of thing one should say with a face so pale from terror.

This content is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

Yet, despite trembling, Alicia did not avert her gaze.

Cabelenus furrowed his brows.

He wasn’t mistaken.

He knew this woman.

"Why do you assume that I will kill you?"

Cabelenus eyed Alicia’s hands, noting the visible tension in her fingers.

They were rough—far from the delicate hands one would expect of a princess.

"Because..."

Alicia hesitated, pressing her lips together as if searching for the right words.

After a brief, sharp breath, she finally spoke.

"You’ve killed everyone else."

"Not everyone."

Not yet.

His confidence was borderline arrogance as his gaze swept over Alicia from head to toe.

"Do you want to live?"

"If I say yes, will you spare me?"

A faint flicker of hope surfaced in Alicia’s gray eyes.

"It’s true that I was able to capture the king thanks to you. Even a heartless daughter who betrays her own father deserves a small mercy."

How convenient.

Gajev clicked his tongue inwardly.

A maid had exposed the king’s whereabouts, and that maid turned out to be none other than the princess herself.

"Then spare the servants in the palace."

"The servants?"

"None of them are royals, nor are they nobles. They don’t even have the power to resist. If you don’t plan to slaughter all of Neuschwein’s people, then at least spare them."

"I thought we were talking about your life."

"A fallen royal is nothing but a liability."

...She’s smiling?

A faint, almost imperceptible smile tugged at the corner of Alicia’s lips.

Cabelenus’s eyes narrowed.

"If I told you to exchange your life for theirs, would you?"

"If that’s what it takes."

Alicia did not flinch under his gaze.

Like the other prisoners, she was afraid.

And yet, unlike them, there was something... different about her.

And that was enough to get under Cabelenus’s skin.