The armrest of the throne was cold.
Seolhwa traced the grain of the stone with her fingertips. The chill seeped beneath her nails and traveled down her spine, but her expression did not move. A Chieftain's face had to be like stone. Her mother had said so, and her mother's mother before her.
"Bring in the candidates."
Hyeran, the Head Handmaiden, bowed her head. Seolhwa dipped her chin once. That was enough.
The doors to the Great Hall opened.
Fox Clan men entered.
There were four of them. The ones who had passed all three stages of the selection trials. Four who had survived from among thousands of Fox Clan men. One of these four would become Seolhwa's concubine, and one of those concubines would someday become the First Consort. The territory would go to the clan of the man who became the First Consort.
Which meant this was not a marriage. It was the final move in a war.
The first man stepped forward.
Golden hair shimmered in the candlelight. Sharp eyes. A smile hooked at the corners of his mouth. His fox ears were half-folded, and even that looked like a calculated angle.
"I am Hyeon. It is an honor to meet you, Chieftain."
His voice was smooth. Too smooth. It only sharpened Seolhwa's wariness. She looked into his eyes. He was smiling, but his eyes were not. He was calculating something behind them. This man was a merchant who knew exactly what he was selling.
"Next."
Seolhwa's voice was flat.
The second man stepped forward. Dark red hair and a sturdy build. He was large for a Fox Clan man. He did not bow his head. He met Seolhwa's eyes head-on.
"Kang."
He threw out only his name. He offered no courtesy. The Head Handmaiden's eyes narrowed, but Seolhwa raised a hand to stop her.
"Why are you here?"
"My clan sent me."
"And your own will?"
Kang's jaw tightened. He was grinding his teeth. His entire body declared that becoming a Wolf Clan woman's concubine was a humiliation. And yet he stood here. For his clan.
Seolhwa did not dislike that pride. But she was not interested, either.
"Next."
The third man. He called himself Yun. Quiet eyes and neat clothes. He bowed deeply and spoke only when necessary. He looked diligent and loyal. Not dangerous. To Seolhwa, not dangerous meant not memorable.
"Next."
The fourth.
It took time for the last man to come forward. Only after the other three moved aside did the figure standing behind them become visible.
He was small.
Unusually small even among the Fox Clan men. Soft red hair covered his forehead, and his fox ears drooped. He could not raise his head. No—not that he would not. He looked as though he could not. His shoulders curled inward. Like someone who found the world's gaze itself too heavy to bear.
Seolhwa's fingers stopped on the armrest.
"Name."
"……Yeon. That is my name."
His voice was thin. Trembling. It was so small in the vast Great Hall that Seolhwa had to lean forward to hear it at all.
Seolhwa realized she was leaning and straightened her back again. She also noticed that her heart had quickened by one beat. That was a response she could not permit.
"Raise your head."
It was an order. Yeon slowly lifted his head.
Their eyes met.
Red eyes. Not the amber typical of the Fox Clan, but a deep red like the setting sun. There was fear in them, and beneath the fear, desperation. The eyes of someone staking everything simply by standing here.
Heat rose low in Seolhwa's belly.
No one noticed. Seolhwa's expression remained stone. The Head Handmaiden, the royal guard, and the three men before her read nothing. They could not. When a Chieftain's heart tilted toward a particular candidate, it became a political weakness. The Fox Clan's factional infighting would exploit it, and the Wolf Clan's elders would turn against her.
Which meant that what was happening inside Seolhwa's body at this very moment had to be treated as nonexistent.
"I will accept all four."
Seolhwa's voice did not waver.
"Have them stay in the Concubine Quarters starting today. I will assess each of their qualities starting tomorrow."
The Head Handmaiden bowed and led the men out. Yeon turned last. As he turned, the nape of his neck showed between his drooping fox ears. A slender, pale nape. There were old scars there. Marks left by someone's bite.
Seolhwa saw them.
She should not have.
The door closed. Seolhwa was alone in the Great Hall. The candle flame flickered. She tightened her grip on the armrest. Her nails dug into the stone.
She bit her lip.
The thought that she wanted to lick the wound on that man's nape had no place in a Chieftain's mind.
Seolhwa closed her eyes.
The assessment would begin tomorrow. Coldly. Fairly. Like a Chieftain.
It had to.
It absolutely had to.
The marks her nails had left in the armrest spoke of the weight of the promise Seolhwa had made to herself.