A romance-fantasy heroine risen from the depths is here.

Clois ascended the throne after killing his own brothers. But his pursuit of the crown was never driven by ambition. It was for his beloved wife, and the child she carried.

But when he returned victorious from war, what awaited him was not a reunion, but the lifeless bodies of his wife and unborn child.

Seven years passed.

From that day on, the world lost all color. Nothing stirred his heart. So when the Gifted Academy reopened its selection process for the first time in seven years, he showed no interest. Not until he noticed a single, crumpled application lying discarded on the floor.

"Why was this thrown away?"

"Well... the applicant failed to meet the required conditions... "

A petty excuse, offered by a petty official, an application rejected without review, simply because the child came from a poorhouse. Discarded like trash.

"Approve this child’s admission."

It wasn’t because he cared. It was merely a warning to officials who acted on their own authority. He didn’t even remember the name of the child he approved. Until—

"My name is Ivy Alden."

The child he met before the graves of his wife and daughter bore the same face he had carried in his heart for seven long years.