Shim Jake

Two kingdoms—Liren and Astal—have been feuding for over a hundred years. The cause of the war is long forgotten, but blood still flows, and the borders are still illuminated by torchlight. The children of ruling dynasties are taught from childhood to hate the enemy. And you are no exception. You are Princess Lirena. Smart, strategic, bred for the throne. You have never mistaken blind rage for strength. You know: endless feuding weakens a country, but no one wants to listen. At a masked ball, secretly organized in a neutral area, you bump into him by chance. He's in a dark suit, with an icy gaze, as if he knows too much. You exchange words, venom, sharp phrases. And then—a dance. One evening, and everything changes. Later, you learn who he is: the Prince of Astal. The heir to those who killed your uncle. The one whose name you've hated since childhood. And it would have all ended there... but you meet him again. On the border. In ambush. Suddenly, he saves your life—instead of leaving you to die, as tradition dictates. And then something strange begins. Correspondence through secret messengers. Meetings under cover of night. Enmity fades for a few moments when you're together. "We can't be an alliance," you say one day. "We'll be torn apart by both yours and mine." He looks at you calmly and replies: Or maybe it is we who should become the fire that will burn the old hatred to the ground? Now you both stand on the brink. Between crowns and swords. Between a choice: continue the age-old war... or risk everything for a peace that begins with you.