Chapter 2 · Frozen Petals, Broken Vows

I loved Charles.

It had become an instinct etched into my bones and blood.

From my earliest memories, my parents told me I was to marry Charles.

Back then, I did not truly understand marriage. I only knew we were promised to each other, and the thought filled me with a quiet joy.

But then, the Sinclair family was implicated in a smuggling conspiracy. My father was sentenced to death. My mother, unable to live without him, took her own life.

And Edward, the boy my parents had adopted as a son, vanished without a trace after a fire.

Overnight, my family was torn apart.

I was just eight years old then.

It was Charles's parents who risked everything to take me in.

The Ashtons were poor, yet Charles shielded me from their hardship.

One winter, we were down to a single pot of watery oatmeal.

He pushed the pot my way, lying that he had eaten at school.

Yet I awoke at midnight to find him studying in the pale glow of snow outside. When his stomach twisted, he quieted its ache with fistfuls of snow from the windowsill.

Tearfully, I wrapped my arms around him from behind.

His back was slender but straight. He turned, and with hands reddened from the cold, gently wiped my tears away. His eyes held a fierce, dazzling light.

"Anna, don't cry," he said softly. "When I pass the Civil Service Exam and earn my place, I will clear your father's name," he promised. "I will buy you the grandest mansion, and you shall be the most honored lady in all the city."

The year I turned fifteen, to save for a proper silver brooch for my birthday, he labored day and night as a scribe for the monastery's scriptorium, until his fingers grew rough and calloused.

Beneath the cherry blossom tree, he fastened the brooch at my collar, his eyes full of shy tenderness.

"Anna," he asked softly, "once I pass the Civil Service Exam, will you be my wife?"

If not for that accident, we might have lived out our lives in simple happiness. But prominence invited envy.

Charles offended Victor Graham, the son of the Treasury official Richard Graham. Victor was the capital's notorious bully, a cruel and spoiled nobleman.

Wielding their power, the Grahams conspired with examiners to switch the examination papers, then framed Charles with charges of fraud and possessing forbidden books. The Royal Guard arrested him and threw him into prison.

They wanted him dead, to remove any future threat.

In my desperation, I remained outside Graham Manor for three days and nights, until time itself seemed to blur and my pleas were the only sound I knew.

Finally, Victor opened a side gate, looking down at me with eyes full of lust and malice.

"Want to save Charles? Very well," he sneered. "My chambers grow cold at night. A woman like you might serve nicely. Enter my service, and I will let him go."

To keep Charles alive, I consented.

I went to the prison for one last visit with Charles.

Through the bars, he was covered in blood and grime, but when he saw me, a light came into his eyes.

Gripping the bars, he asked urgently, "Anna, is it over? The accusation..."

"It is over between us," I said, my voice devoid of warmth. I let the silver brooch drop, a faint clink sealing the end. "Let's call off the engagement, Charles."

I forced myself to meet his gaze, each word intended to wound him.

"I am to be Victor's concubine. From now on, there will be silks and carriages, not the hardship and scarcity I endured with you."

Charles stood stunned, disbelief filling his eyes.

"Anna, what nonsense is this? Has Victor forced you?" Charles's voice trembled.

"No one forced me!" I cried, looking at him with contempt, my eyes sweeping over the gloom of the cell.

"I have had enough of this life where meals are never certain. You spoke of passing exams and earning your place, but look at you now. You cannot even save yourself."

After a pause, I continued, "A scholar is useless in times like these. You cannot fight the Grahams. Even birds know to perch on the strongest branch. I refuse to bury my future with you in this cell.

"Victor treats me well. I begged him to spare you, and he agreed. Consider it a final repayment for the charity your family once showed me.

"After today, we are strangers. Take care of yourself."

In that moment, I watched the light in Charles's eyes die, leaving behind only desolation.

I turned and fled. I dared not look back.

I feared that if I looked back, he would see my face streaked with tears.

I feared that if I turned, I would lose all resolve and choose to die with him.

Chapter 2

I loved Charles.

It had become an instinct etched into my bones and blood.

From my earliest memories, my parents told me I was to marry Charles.

Back then, I did not truly understand marriage. I only knew we were promised to each other, and the thought filled me with a quiet joy.

But then, the Sinclair family was implicated in a smuggling conspiracy. My father was sentenced to death. My mother, unable to live without him, took her own life.

And Edward, the boy my parents had adopted as a son, vanished without a trace after a fire.

Overnight, my family was torn apart.

I was just eight years old then.

It was Charles's parents who risked everything to take me in.

The Ashtons were poor, yet Charles shielded me from their hardship.

One winter, we were down to a single pot of watery oatmeal.

He pushed the pot my way, lying that he had eaten at school.

Yet I awoke at midnight to find him studying in the pale glow of snow outside. When his stomach twisted, he quieted its ache with fistfuls of snow from the windowsill.

Tearfully, I wrapped my arms around him from behind.

His back was slender but straight. He turned, and with hands reddened from the cold, gently wiped my tears away. His eyes held a fierce, dazzling light.

The year I turned fifteen, to save for a proper silver brooch for my birthday, he labored day and night as a scribe for the monastery's scriptorium, until his fingers grew rough and calloused.

Beneath the cherry blossom tree, he fastened the brooch at my collar, his eyes full of shy tenderness.

"Anna," he asked softly, "once I pass the Civil Service Exam, will you be my wife?"

If not for that accident, we might have lived out our lives in simple happiness. But prominence invited envy.

Charles offended Victor Graham, the son of the Treasury official Richard Graham. Victor was the capital's notorious bully, a cruel and spoiled nobleman.

They wanted him dead, to remove any future threat.

In my desperation, I remained outside Graham Manor for three days and nights, until time itself seemed to blur and my pleas were the only sound I knew.

Finally, Victor opened a side gate, looking down at me with eyes full of lust and malice.

"Want to save Charles? Very well," he sneered. "My chambers grow cold at night. A woman like you might serve nicely. Enter my service, and I will let him go."

To keep Charles alive, I consented.

I went to the prison for one last visit with Charles.

Through the bars, he was covered in blood and grime, but when he saw me, a light came into his eyes.

Gripping the bars, he asked urgently, "Anna, is it over? The accusation..."

"It is over between us," I said, my voice devoid of warmth. I let the silver brooch drop, a faint clink sealing the end. "Let's call off the engagement, Charles."

I forced myself to meet his gaze, each word intended to wound him.

"I am to be Victor's concubine. From now on, there will be silks and carriages, not the hardship and scarcity I endured with you."

Charles stood stunned, disbelief filling his eyes.

"Anna, what nonsense is this? Has Victor forced you?" Charles's voice trembled.

"No one forced me!" I cried, looking at him with contempt, my eyes sweeping over the gloom of the cell.

"I have had enough of this life where meals are never certain. You spoke of passing exams and earning your place, but look at you now. You cannot even save yourself."

"Victor treats me well. I begged him to spare you, and he agreed. Consider it a final repayment for the charity your family once showed me.

"After today, we are strangers. Take care of yourself."

In that moment, I watched the light in Charles's eyes die, leaving behind only desolation.

I turned and fled. I dared not look back.

I feared that if I looked back, he would see my face streaked with tears.

I feared that if I turned, I would lose all resolve and choose to die with him.