For seven years, Silver Wolf soldier Ella and Northern Guard commander Kane were seen as the perfect couple. To support Kane’s role in the Catfolk settlement's reconstruction and garrison duties, Ella turned her back on her own family, gave up her promotion opportunities, and even taught herself the Catfolk language—all just to be closer to him. But when she finally understood the Catfolk girl Naira's whispered confession at the bonfire—"I'm pregnant. It's yours"—Ella realized her seven years of devotion had been nothing but a joke. Fire, false accusations, and a plunge off a cliff… Ella was betrayed, misunderstood, and abandoned. Only when the truth finally surfaced—Naira's pregnancy was fake, and Naira's brother Riven hadn't died saving Kane, but had faked his death to become the leader of a border smuggling ring—did it become clear that Kane had been trapped in an elaborate deception from the very beginning. But love that arrives too late is worth nothing. By the time Kane saw the truth and regretted everything, Ella had already left the North with her wounds and found a new life teaching in a remote community in the Southern Valley.