Five years ago, the Elf King Klaus, weary of court intrigue, hid his identity and fell in love with an ordinary elf named Flora. When an enemy set off a forbidden curse of fire, Klaus was trapped in the flames and near death. Flora cut out half of her life-heart to save him, leaving herself with a chronic cough, greatly shortened lifespan, and dependent on the "Marrow of the Life Tree" to stay alive. Stella falsely claimed credit for the rescue, framed Flora, and forced her to disappear. Flora lied and said she was leaving to cling to the powerful and wealthy, and Klaus hated her for five years—never knowing she was pregnant.
Five years later, Flora is scraping by at a street stall with her five-year-old son Rowan and saves an unconscious old elf—Klaus's mother, the Queen Dowager. Klaus arrives and speaks to her coldly, yet secretly helps her at every turn. The truth gradually emerges: the arsonist was in fact Stella, in league with traitorous ministers, and the false claims of credit and fabricated evidence were all her schemes. Only when Klaus sees Flora doubled over coughing does he finally understand—the woman he hated for five years was the ordinary elf who ran into the fire to save him, bore his child alone, and endured five years of bitter hardship.
