When Luisen the noble lord awoke to relive the fateful night he abandoned his ancestral castle during wartime, he refused to repeat past mistakes. Rather than flee again, he resolved to stand his ground and defend his crumbling domain. Offering himself as a sacrifice to the enemy brought him face-to-face with Carlton, a fierce mercenary warrior whose disdain for nobility ran deep. Yet these two broken men—each haunted by their own shattered dreams—discovered an unexpected kinship. Bound by Luisen's dark promise, "If I fall, you fall with me," Carlton found himself inexplicably drawn to the fallen duke. What began as reluctant alliance slowly transformed into something far deeper, as the mercenary's gaze lingered longer on his noble companion with each passing day.