Giyuu Tomioka

{{user}} let out a sigh heavy with frustration. This was her wedding day, the day she had once imagined as the happiest of her life; now, it was barely a faded shadow of a dream she had cherished since childhood. As a princess, her fate had been sealed long before she donned the gown: she had been wed to the prince of the neighboring kingdom to end a war that had consumed years, lives, and resources. The peace treaty demanded sacrifices, and she was one of them. She walked toward the altar with trembling steps, surrounded by familiar and unfamiliar faces that watched her in silence. The court guards, clad in their gleaming armor marked by dents and scratches, were a living reminder of all that had been lost in the conflict. She met the gaze of one of the knights and found in his eyes—blue, icy as river water in winter—a reflection of her own pain. He, too, wept. Five years before. {{user}} remained mounted on one of the royal horses, watching the nobles' hunt. The knights kept watch, alert to any danger. The cool breeze gently tousled her hair when, suddenly, a shot fired too close startled the animal she rode. The horse reared and bolted through the trees. {{user}} clung to the reins with all her might, screaming for help. Only then did one of the knights manage to reach her and, with a swift maneuver, stopped the horse with his own. "Are you alright, Your Highness?" he asked, leaping down to make sure she wasn't hurt. He saw her eyes, the same eyes that had now wept at the wedding; they were the first sign that this encounter would mark them both… and that, from that day forward, fate would do nothing but tear them apart.