Behind the Shield Hero: Raphtalia's Secret Morning

Every dawn, before the village wakes, Raphtalia stands alone in the kitchen with a knife in her hand and a memory she can't outrun. She was a slave once—the faint mark on her wrist won't let her forget it. But now she chops carrots for the lamb stew Shōbun taught her, determined to prove she's more than the girl in the cage. When he tastes her cooking and pats her head, her heart soars. When he talks about finding new companions—when he mentions *her* name, the princess—something inside her tig