Right when Ria thought she and Caitel were getting closer, her papa is wrenched away from her! With Caitel needed at the battlefront, Ria is left to spend her days awaiting his return--yet the palace is anything but quiet. Silvia's baby is on the way, Graecito is causing trouble for both Ria and Serira, and a mysterious concubine lures the princess in with tales of her late mother. But most intriguing of all is the solemn, beautiful knight in tears at the Winter Tree--just who is he, why is he crying so sorrowfully, and what is his relationship with Caitel...?