Prologue

The setting sun bathed the palace in gold, its light stretching across the towering spires of Alkiya. Above, the twin moons slowly began their ascent, faint and pale against the fading sky. A warm breeze drifted through the open arches of the royal balcony, gently brushing against Yuui’s silver hair as she reached for her teacup.

“You’ll lose in five moves,” Winter said calmly, moving his knight with a soft clink.

“Four, actually,” Yuui replied with a small grin, sliding her bishop across the board.

Winter blinked. “Wait—what?”

“Check.”

He stared at the board in silence. A long moment passed before he leaned back with an exaggerated sigh.

“I hate you.”

“No, you don’t,” Yuui said, taking a quiet sip of her tea.

Moments like this were nothing unusual for them. Between patrols, after sparring sessions, or during rare stretches of peace, they would sit here—playing, talking, existing in a calm that felt almost fragile.

The kingdom was quiet these days.
The war drums had fallen silent.
Beyond the walls, the fields stretched wide and green, untouched by conflict.

Winter folded his arms, his gaze drifting toward the darkening sky.

“Yuui,” he said softly, “what do you think is good? And what’s evil?”

Yuui blinked in surprise. “That’s… sudden.”

“Answer it.”

She set her teacup down, thinking for a moment.

“Well… good is kindness. Mercy. Protecting the weak,” she said slowly. “Evil is… cruelty. Taking life without reason. You know… the obvious things.”

Winter gave a small nod. “Mm.”

Yuui narrowed her eyes at him. “Why are you making that face?”

“No reason.”

“You’re judging me.”

“I’m not,” he said, tapping his fingers lightly against the table. “But you didn’t give the real answer.”

“Oh?” Yuui leaned forward slightly, a challenge in her eyes. “Then enlighten me, O wise philosopher of the chessboard.”

Winter didn’t smile.

Instead, his voice dropped—quiet, almost distant.

“Good is what lets you keep going. Evil is what makes you stop.”

Yuui tilted her head. “That’s… vague.”

“It’s survival, Yuui,” he continued. “At its core, life doesn’t care about kindness. The wind doesn’t care if you’re noble. The ocean doesn’t care if you’re cruel. What matters is what continues… and what ends.”

She frowned. “That sounds cold.”

“It’s the only warmth I’ve found in logic.”

Yuui leaned forward, studying him more closely now.

“Where is this coming from?” she asked. “You’ve been strange lately.”

For a moment, Winter said nothing.

Then he looked at her—truly looked.

“Don’t you ever wonder if we’ve just inherited the wrong definitions?” he asked quietly. “What if we’ve been lied to about what’s good? What if our enemies believed they were the heroes?”

Yuui fell silent.

“…And what if you start believing that the only thing that matters is power?” she asked.

Winter hesitated.

Then, softly—

“What if it is?”

Yuui’s fingers tightened against the edge of the table.

“Then I’d hope I’d be strong enough to stop you,” she said firmly. “Even if you were my best friend.”

Winter smiled faintly.

But it didn’t reach his eyes.

“What a paradox.”

Silence fell between them.

The last light of the sun slipped beyond the horizon, and the sky shifted—blue fading into a deep, blood-orange hue.

Yuui reached out and quietly reset the chessboard.

“Your move,” she said gently. “Try not to lose in four.”

Winter moved a pawn without even looking at it.

The breeze grew colder.

And in a voice barely above a whisper, more to himself than to her, he said—

“One day, I’ll ask you again. But when I do…”

He paused.

“I’ll be the question, not the one asking it.”

Yuui didn’t understand what he meant.

Not then.

But someday—

She would.