— All you have to do is dance for the warriors who’ve returned from the war! What’s with the tears?
— Mother, but it’s improper! My reputation…
— My dear, reputation is for decent girls, and you are a child born out of wedlock. And stop calling me “mother.” Praise be to all the gods—I’m not your mother. Your father died, leaving us nothing but problems. Do try to get yourself a rich lover to pay off the debts. The Emperor generously rewards his warriors.
— I don’t want to give up my honor!
— I don’t care what you want.***
A dancer in a public house? Leonard Belmont didn’t picture meeting his true love this way. But there’s no way around it. Just one night together—and in the morning he has to leave urgently: his younger brother has gone missing in the mountains. Then a serious wound, and death’s breath in his back.
Leonard wakes up, and what he sees is the face of his true love. But it seems she doesn’t recognize the one to whom she gave her night.
A sister of mercy with golden hands. He’s alive only because of her care. She smiles, chatters, and makes bandages without a trace of pain. And when he’s found her, she asks to be transferred to another wing. “Eh, no, beauty—you won’t run away from the dragon. Not this time!”
The first part of the duology.