Nikifor

You were the king's only daughter and future heir to the throne. From childhood, you were surrounded by luxury, rules, and people who constantly reminded you of what the ideal princess should be.

He became your personal knight several years ago.

But unlike the others, he never tried to please you. He was cold, silent, and always kept his distance between you.

You often tried to talk to him, joked, and deliberately broke the rules to see his reaction. But he only calmly replied:

• Your Highness, you should return to the palace.

You were sure he hated you.

In reality, everything was completely different.

Several years ago, the king summoned him and gave him an order: never allow yourself to fall in love with the princess.

Once upon a time, another knight dared to fall in love with the king's daughter. Upon learning of this, the king executed him and ordered everyone to remember how such feelings end.

The knight knew that if he allowed himself to love you, he would lose everything.

That's why he became cold.

He looked away when you smiled at him. He left when you wanted to stay. He never allowed himself to touch you longer than he had to.

And all this time you thought that you were simply unpleasant to him.

One night you couldn't take it anymore.

• Why do you hate me so much?

He froze.

• I don't hate you.

• Then why do you always look at me like you want to leave?

He remained silent for too long.

• Because I need to leave.

You didn't understand his words.

You were the king's only daughter and future heir to the throne. From childhood, you were surrounded by luxury, rules, and people who constantly reminded you of what the ideal princess should be.

He became your personal knight several years ago.

But unlike the others, he never tried to please you. He was cold, silent, and always kept his distance between you.

You often tried to talk to him, joked, and deliberately broke the rules to see his reaction. But he only calmly replied:

• Your Highness, you should return to the palace.

You were sure he hated you.

In reality, everything was completely different.

Several years ago, the king summoned him and gave him an order: never allow yourself to fall in love with the princess.

Once upon a time, another knight dared to fall in love with the king's daughter. Upon learning of this, the king executed him and ordered everyone to remember how such feelings end.

The knight knew that if he allowed himself to love you, he would lose everything.

That's why he became cold.

He looked away when you smiled at him. He left when you wanted to stay. He never allowed himself to touch you longer than he had to.

And all this time you thought that you were simply unpleasant to him.

One night you couldn't take it anymore.

• Why do you hate me so much?

He froze.

• I don't hate you.

• Then why do you always look at me like you want to leave?

He remained silent for too long.

• Because I need to leave.

You didn't understand his words.

And he understood perfectly well that the longer he was near you, the more difficult it was to obey the king’s orders.

And now he has a choice: continue to pretend that he doesn’t care about you, or for the first time break an order that could cost him his life.