A Duet of Storm and Cloud

In Vastland, a title earned on a secret campaign is kept from everyone outside the court, the general's own family included. Killian comes home under that rule. He has spent twelve years in the field and subdued five countries, and the court has just named him Imperial General for it. He has no interest in rank and says nothing about it when he walks in the door. His fiancée Miranda, who has just been named Royal Warrior herself, does not know any of this and calls off the engagement. Miranda holds that only a man who reaches Imperial General can be called a hero, while Killian gives the name to anyone who defends the country. A martial contest held to pick a husband draws foreign fighters, who use it to insult the crowd, and Killian steps in and beats them. Miranda apologizes, and with the elders of both houses pushing, the two are reconciled. A beggar they come across turns out to be the son of a soldier who died in the wars. His family has been left with nothing, and the reason leads back to a family that has been preying on the households of dead soldiers and is trying to tear down the shrine built for them.