– Frey Starlight’s Pov –
"Glory to the Empire."
Those were the words Snow Lionheart made everyone repeat ..Until they beca a chant.
A battle cry that the Imperial Army kept echoing throughout the first day of our voyage across the sea.
Our fleet consisted of just over a hundred ships, Carrying the full strength of ten thousand soldiers.
Even in a place as terrifying as the Demonic Sea, A fleet like this was a force to be reckoned with.
Thanks to the overwhelming power we carried, Not a single nightmare creature dared approach us.
Despite their mindless, beastlike nature ..
They possessed a survival instinct strong enough to keep them away.
And so, the fleet advanced smoothly,
Slicing through the waves one after another.
For the past few hours, As I sat atop the mast of our flagship, I could hear the laughter of soldiers below, As veterans shared war stories with younger recruits.
Swordsn sharpened their blades,
Spearn inspected their weapons,
And mages went over their incantations...
Everyone was eager ..
Ready to fight for their continent,
And for humanity itself.
Just a few hours remained until we reached the Bay of Shezclar.
The place that, in all likelihood, would host the first clash.
Everyone knew it.
Even though our vanguard squad was expected to handle the major battles,
The tension still weighed heavily on the hearts of the soldiers.
That’s why they were doing everything they could to keep themselves busy ..
Trying to avoid being crushed by the pressure.
Followers of the Church quietly recited their prayers, Asking their god to light the path ahead.
Others spent ti with friends ..
I even caught glimpses of couples sharing intimate monts aboard the ships as they sailed toward war.
Scenes like that weren’t uncommon.
Many couples forged love—and even marriage—on the battlefield.
They say that life-and-death monts have a way of pulling hearts closer together.
And among the ten thousand troops in the fleet, The number of female warriors was far from small.
"How romantic... to fight beside the one you love."
When Sansa comnted on the scene before , I realized I had completely forgotten she was even there.
Up here, at the top of the mast where the wind howled the loudest, Sansa had been asleep until now, Her head resting on my lap, Leaving herself completely vulnerable in my hands.
She only opened her eyes the mont mine landed on the couples embracing their passion for love before battle.
Sotis I wondered if she did these things on purpose.
"Do you really think fighting beside the one you love is romantic?"
"Of course."
She answered, clasping her hands over her chest, Those devilish eyes of hers gazing up at from below.
"When you find yourself in the middle of a battlefield with the one you love ..
Willing to throw your life away for them if necessary...
Isn’t that the purest form of romance?"
True enough...
To sacrifice yourself for soone you love ..
It was the ultimate proof of the bond you shared.
But I didn’t see it that way.
"It feels more tragic than romantic to .
If one of them dies, the other lives on, burdened with the guilt of a life lost on their behalf .. Haunted by it every single day."
"That’s not true."
Sansa imdiately refuted , sitting upright beside .
"If you ever died for , I’d kill myself right after. So I wouldn’t have to carry that guilt you’re talking about."
I stared at her, Not understanding how she could say sothing like that so easily... and so bluntly.
"Romantic, sure.
But wouldn’t that make my sacrifice aningless?"
"Exactly.
That’s why you must never sacrifice yourself for .. no matter what."
There it was again.
Sansa trying to make promise sothing.
But I didn’t.
I wasn’t sure what the future would hold,
So I decided to be honest instead.
"Tell ...
If one day you saw about to die,
Would you throw your life away for ?"
"Absolutely."
She answered without a mont’s hesitation ..
A smile on her face.
"Isn’t that unfair?
You ask not to do sothing you’re perfectly willing to do for ?"
"You’re right...
But my life is worth far less than yours, Frey.
That’s why it’s okay if I die .. But you’re not allowed to."
"Isn’t that just hypocrisy?"
What even defines the value of a person’s life?
On what basis had she decided mine was worth more than hers?
That kind of thinking wasn’t universal.
In fact, to ... it reeked of self-loathing.
As if she hated herself ..
And everything she represented.
"It’s just my own selfishness."
That was her excuse.
And it didn’t convince at all.
"Sorry... but I’m going to have to reject that kind of selfishness."
Lately, I felt like I had begun to understand Sansa—just a little.
Behind that devilish smile she wore most of the ti, There was sothing deeper.
Sothing darker, tangled in the depths of her heart.
She looked like a carefree demon on the outside ... But that wasn’t true.
She once told she was living only for .
That I was the only reason she kept going.
Her feelings for were real, and I never denied them .. Doing so would have been an insult to her.
But I didn’t want her to keep living like this.
I wanted her to find a different reason ..
A reason to live for herself, not just for .
Unfortunately, I couldn’t help her much with that.
How could I, when only a few hours separated from the enemy?
Placing my palm gently atop her head,
Feeling those ivory horns, I rose to my feet, ready to leap down from the mast.
"Until the day we commit that double suicide you spoke of and die together...
You’re not allowed to die before ..
And not after either.
So cling to life with everything you have,
Because I won’t allow you to die."
As I lifted my hand away,
Sansa pressed both of hers to her head,
Fingering the roots of her snow-white hair.
Unlike her usual hostile stance,
She was remarkably calm now.
That always happened whenever I took the lead in this strange bond between us.
And it made certain ..
That devilish persona she always tried to wear was never her true self.
"Let’s go."
I smiled at her one last ti ..
And jumped down.
Sansa didn’t follow imdiately.
She remained sitting there for a while,
A storm of thoughts no doubt raging inside her mind...
Then, without warning,
She vanished into her own shadow ..
Joining .
We were close now.
Close to them.
To enemy territory.
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