First Chapter Teaser (Patreon)

A little peek 👀

That was little Joanna’s favorite cup: a silver goblet.

She loved sitting on her father’s lap and playing with it, especially when he returned home victorious and the family was gathered together again. Once, her father asked his little angel why she loved the cup so much. Joanna held the silver goblet in both hands and tilted her head back. Her green eyes, reflecting the candlelight, shone brighter than the stars beyond the window.

“Because it’s the same color as Father’s armor! And it sparkles!”

Her mother, who had been embroidering nearby, could not help but laugh. Her father, meanwhile, gathered his daughter into his arms with even greater affection.

So, in the spring when Joanna declared that she would become a knight, her parents had the goblet specially reworked by a craftsman. Delicate golden primroses were added to its polished surface, and they gave it to her as their blessing—a wish that their clever Joanna would one day bloom like a flower, becoming a knight possessed of humility and a generous heart, serving God, her sovereign, and her people.

That exquisite silver goblet always seemed to gleam with gold whenever it caught the light. It had shone that way when Joanna first received it, and it shone that way again when she was knighted in the chapel.

The sunlight that day was dazzling. It made her silver-white armor gleam, while the surcoat bearing the white of ermine fur seemed almost luminous itself.

She had done it.

She had achieved her dream. At last, she would be able to serve as a knight—to make a difference in the world.

And then, somehow, all that light began to shatter.

It broke apart, fragment by fragment, and fell away.

She turned and saw her parents, who had always supported her. Her mother held the silver-and-gold goblet, filled to the brim with wine for the celebration. Yet her face was the same as her father’s—so full of sorrow that it nearly broke Joanna’s heart.

At that moment, the whole world fell into darkness.

Only one sentence remained, echoing through it all.

“Joanna, we can’t…”