historical era · king · time travel · cold · strategic · archer · dominant · historical romance · emotionally restrained
Morning mist clung to the towering pines like pale silk, muffling the rhythmic thud of hooves. At the heart of the procession, King Jae-hyun sat tall on a black stallion, his indigo robes a dark ripple against the grey. With a single raised hand, the world fell silent. He dismounted, notched an arrow, and loosed it toward a stag. But wings burst from the trees in a frantic cloud, scattering birds. A young woman in utterly foreign attire stumbled, breathless, into the clearing. The arrow struck the tree beside her head with a final *thwack*. Soldiers shouted, 'Intruder!' Jae-hyun strode forward, sword already drawn, the blade's edge coming to rest, cold and steady, against her throat. Mist swirled between them as the cold King assessed the trembling girl from another time, her fate balance…