[Gideon's POV]

I narrowed my eyes slightly. Of course I'd kept the paperweight—it was a constant reminder that Winona still owed me a blood debt.

If the empress weren't coming to inspect the city tomorrow and had banned all blades in advance, my first instinct would've been to cut Winona down the moment I saw her.

At my silence, Winona assumed she'd hit the mark. She smiled to herself, looking smug and satisfied. "You're only being so harsh because you're mad I haven't visited you in five years, but I know you still think about me and love me. I bet you can't wait to crawl into my bed tonight.

"I'm beautiful enough to bring kingdoms to their knees and practically a goddess in the flesh, yet I still ended up in your hands. You really are blessed, Gideon."

"Get out!" I snapped, my voice cracking like a whip. I shoved her straight out of my tent.

"That armor looks surprisingly good on you," she said. Her smile turned playful, almost teasing. "If you really miss me that badly, I can give you the chance to share my bed tonight."

My gaze turned cold as I watched her saunter off with her guards, completely unbothered. I turned to Tom and said, "If she dares to come here again, deal with her under military law. It doesn't matter if she lives or dies."

…

That night, I sent my most trusted officers out to keep a close watch on the movements of the Horindean forces. I had to make sure nothing would go wrong during the empress' city inspection.

Only a few newly reassigned sentries were left standing guard outside my tent.

When Winona arrived with Shane in tow, I was in the middle of reviewing the border defense map. She let out a smug little laugh, wearing a look that practically said, "I knew it."

"Gideon, you left your lamp burning late to lure me here in the middle of the night. Is it because you're trying to cozy up to me?" She sighed in mock helplessness. "You really don't have to scheme this hard. Since I've already agreed to marry you, I won't go back on my word."

I ignored her. That probably made her feel embarrassed, because her tone turned sharp and impatient. "Gideon! Enough with this act. You were so cold to me in the day, yet here you are, leaving a light on late into the night to draw me in.

"It's all because you want my body, right? You think that once you've had me and the deed is done, you can use that to lock down my heart."

My stomach lurched, and I nearly gagged from disgust. I was just about to call for someone to drag her out when I remembered I'd already sent all my confidants out.

"You're the princess of a county, yet your brain is filled with nothing but filth. You must be sick in the head," I said, sneering. Then, in an ice-cold voice, I snapped, "Get out!"

"How dare you!" Winona's face flushed red, and her chest heaved with rage. "I was kind enough to bring Shane to meet you, yet you don't appreciate it at all. You two will be the people I rely on most in the future. Aren't you going to give your brother-in-arms a proper greeting?"

She wanted me, a border general, to give a musician from an enemy nation a proper greeting?

How absurd!

When I didn't move, Shane Lodge strolled forward, bringing a five-year-old boy with him. He drawled, "So you're Gideon? You really do have a fine face."

His gaze, carrying a faint, vicious edge, swept over me. "No wonder Her Highness loses sleep over you."

As he spoke, he stepped closer, reaching out to clap a hand on my shoulder.

I caught a glimpse of a blade hidden up his sleeve. On instinct, I pulled back. Before I could do anything else, Shane dropped to the ground ahead of me with a thud.

He cried out in pain and looked up at me. "Gideon, if you don't like me, I can just leave Her Highness. But why draw a knife on me and cut my hand?"

Winona's face turned pale. She hurried to cradle his injured hand, then lifted his head to glare at me, her eyes blazing with rage. "How dare you, Gideon! I'll have your head if Shane's hand is ruined!"

I let out a cold laugh and didn't bother answering.

The young boy suddenly burst into loud sobs and rushed over, pummeling my leg with his fists. "You nasty man! You stole my mother and hurt my father! I'll beat you to death! Just die already!"

"Enough of this!" I flung him aside.

[Gideon's POV]

The boy dropped to the ground as his father had and rolled around, screaming and wailing. He shouted that I wanted to smash him to death.

Winona's face twisted with heartache as she pulled them both into her arms. She glared at me and hissed, "You monster! How dare you hurt my husband and child to my face! If I were to make someone as brutal and cruel as you my consort, will you even let them live? Guards!"

Her voice turned ice-cold as she summoned her guards. "Gideon Ward, a slave branded a criminal, has defied his betters. Drag him out and give him a hundred strokes of the military cane."

The guards were just about to move when Shane spoke up gently. "Gideon is in full armor and might suffer internal damage if he's beaten in it. In my opinion, he should be stripped of his armor and shirt before the punishment is administered."

The guards hesitated and looked at Winona. Without armor, a hundred heavy blows from the military crane could smash even stone to pieces.

She merely gave a cold little laugh. "If it'll please Shane and our son, then it shall be done. Beat Gideon!"

In her eyes, Shane was soft-hearted and kind. Even if he himself suffered, he wouldn't truly hurt me.

I barked, "I am the border-defense general personally appointed by Her Majesty! Who dares lay a hand on me?"

Winona let out a derisive snort and grabbed one of the sentries by the arm. "He claims he's a general. Have you ever seen him before?"

The sentry flinched and sneaked a terrified glance at my blood-streaked face. Then, seeing Winona in her exquisite silk robes, he ultimately shook his head and said shakily, "N-No, Your Highness. I haven't…"

The other guards followed his lead, ducking their heads to avoid my gaze.

"Did you hear that, Gideon?" Winona grabbed my jaw. "Even your own soldiers don't recognize their so-called commander. Who exactly are you putting on this act for?"

At her command, the guards surged toward me and began yanking at my clothes. As I struggled, a terrible weakness flooded my limbs, as if I'd been dosed with a sedative.

I forced myself to stay calm. Shane had to be behind this. No wonder the maid who'd brought the tea earlier was a new face.

Soon, my armor was stripped, leaving me in only a thin dark-green undershirt. The guards didn't stop there, though. They kept tugging and tearing at what little I had left, their faces twisted with malice.

A tidal wave of humiliation crashed over me. Rage coursed through me as I looked at Winona. "Enough! Winona, I'll accept the punishment. Just call them off."

All I got in return was the cold, contemptuous look in her eyes. The next second, the heavy military cane slammed across my back.

Pain exploded through me, and my vision went dark at the edges. I opened my mouth to suck in a breath, but Shane seized the cane from the guard and brought it down viciously on the back of my head.

"That's enough!" Winona's icy expression finally cracked.

But Shane's second blow had already fallen, this time squarely on an old wound on my back. My organs felt like they were being torn apart. The old injury flared so violently that I coughed up a mouthful of blood on the spot.

"Stop!" Winona cried.

Her face was pale as she rushed over and grabbed hold of me. "I just want you to admit that you were wrong. Once we're married, you can't bully Shane and our son anymore. Don't put me in an impossible position."

I spat up more blood and gave a hoarse, mocking laugh. "Your Highness, have you forgotten that I broke off the engagement five years ago? There's no chance of anything happening between you and me. Not now, not ever."

Winona finally lost her patience when she saw how unyielding I remained. She snapped, "How dare you! Don't think that you can act all high and mighty just because you have my favor, Gideon.

"I know you're only speaking in anger, but I'll start taking you seriously if I keep hearing this kind of nonsense." She stared hard at my face, as if trying to judge whether I meant every single word.

"Is Gideon being so heartless because he's fallen in love with someone else? Does he think Her Highness' household isn't good enough for him?" Shane suddenly piped up in a low voice, lacing it with exaggerated innocence and curiosity.

Then, as if realizing he'd said too much, he hastily clapped a hand over his mouth. "I was just wondering out loud. Ever since Her Majesty took the throne, there's been an increase in female commanders in the army. And Gideon is so handsome…"

[Gideon's POV]

Shane continued, "I mean, just look at Gideon's tent. It's so much bigger than everyone else's, and he even has an adjutant at his beck and call. The way such a handsome young man thrives in a place where women rule supreme… It makes you wonder what he's trading for it…"

The young boy chimed in as well. "Father, doesn't that make him a cheap male prostitute? How shameless and filthy."

At their words, Winona tightened her grip on my arm. "Did you really do something that filthy?"

Her gaze locked onto me, as if she could drag the truth straight out of my bones.

"Calm down, darling. Maybe Gideon had no choice. Still, people will talk if you allow something sullied to be in your presence." Shane pretended to be in a difficult spot, speaking as though he were trying to comfort her.

"That's nonsense. What could possibly force a man to do such a thing? He's just naturally filthy, that's all. He's shameless to the core," Winona said to him.

Then, she turned to me, looking hurt. Her voice shook with grief when she spoke again. "You're truly disgusting, Gideon. I gave you my whole heart, yet in just five short years, you failed to keep your desires in check.

"Tell me—how long have you been sneaking around behind my back? Who's the cheap whore you've been sleeping with? Or is it more than one? Any female officers? And soldiers? What about the slaves and camp prostitutes? Have they pleased you, too?" Her voice rose to a screech.

I couldn't hold back anymore. I gave her a hard slap across the face. But all she did was pull out a handkerchief and wipe her cheek, as if my touch had smeared filth on her.

"I get it now. No wonder you couldn't stop coughing up blood when Shane only hit you a few times." Realization flashed in her eyes. "I thought you were faking an injury to win my sympathy, but it turns out… it's because you caught something dirty."

With that, she flicked her wrist and summoned a young army physician. She commanded, "Strip and examine him. I want to know whether he's carrying a filthy disease."

To be stripped naked in public and handled like an animal was a humiliation beyond anything I could bear. I dragged my blood-soaked body back, desperately trying to back away.

I stared at Winona in disbelief. "You know perfectly well why I coughed up blood, Winona."

Ten years ago, she'd picked a drunken fight with someone. The other party had swung a blade straight down at her, and I'd thrown myself in front of her without a second thought. The strike had shattered three ribs across my chest.

Since then, I'd been left with an internal injury—any heavy jolt would send me into violent fits of coughing up blood.

Winona's gaze flickered, as if the memory had surfaced against her will. Still, she hardened her expression and said, "Don't bring up something that has nothing to do with this. Knowing how cheap and filthy you are… who knows if saving me back then wasn't something you staged?

"You probably planned the whole thing just to get close to me. It was a pretty little act so you could climb your way up the ranks."

The army physician forced me down onto the desk, tearing open what clothes I had left. I was left completely bare under dozens of staring eyes.

Just as his hands were about to touch me, I drove my knee up with full force, aiming straight at his chest. I'd put every last bit of strength into that kick, but Shane suddenly flung scalding tea across my face.

A blaze of pain swallowed my vision. My strength gave out all at once, and the guards seized the opportunity to wrench my arms behind my back.

"He even dares to attack others!" Shane shouted. "Your Highness, look at him. He must've lost his mind out of fear over his disease being exposed!"

I had just opened my mouth to report my rank as a general when he clamped a hand over my mouth. He hissed, "I'd like to see you weasel your way into Her Highness' life now, you wretch."

I was pinned down, naked as the day I was born. I lay there, flipped and handled at their mercy. The crushing humiliation burned my eyes, turning them bloodshot.

"Everyone, turn around!" Winona suddenly shouted. "Anyone who dares look at my husband will have their entire clan wiped out!"

The guards, terrified, hurried out of the tent.

"He shows no signs of disease…" The army physician had just started to speak when he met Shane's murderous stare. He gave me an apologetic glance, then changed his answer. "He… He is sick."

At that, Winona let out a bitter, self-deprecating laugh. "Is this how you've chosen to get back at me, Gideon?"