My fingers tightened on the card as Alaric handed it to me, his demeanor calm but unsettling. The mystery of what I'd been given gnawed at me, a foreboding chill settling in my chest. When I turned it over, my breath hitched. Written in sharp, crimson ink were the words: “The flames are coming to get you.”

I immediately jerked my head up, but his right hand clamped onto my left shoulder like a steel vice. His lips curled upward, a predatory grin slicing across his face.

“Sometimes, the real threat is already inside,” he said, his voice low, each word dripping with menace. His sky-blue eyes shifted to an unholy crimson, sending a jolt of terror through me.

“Felipe! How—”

Before I could finish, pain erupted across my body. Flames spread from his hand, crawling over my shoulder and consuming me with searing heat. My fire resistance should have protected me, but the agony was unbearable, unnatural. The realization hit me like a blow—General Sterling. That damned traitor. He must have enchanted the wine I drank to strip me of my resistance.

My knees buckled, and I struggled to move, to fight back, but the flames crawled hungrily at my skin, melting it away like wax. Felipe's face blurred in the heat, his laughter cutting through the screams that echoed in the ballroom. My vision faltered as his fire consumed me, but one voice pierced through the chaos.

“Arie…” I wanted to cry out, to warn her about Felipe, but my voice burned away with the rest of me. I thought of my sister, so young, so unprepared for the crown’s weight. My heart ached for her safety even as my body gave out.

The world melted into darkness. I could do nothing but curse Felipe, curse Sterling, and silently beg Arie for forgiveness.

***

Arie’s POV

I had just stepped back into the ballroom with a plate of coconut salad when a fiery eruption tore through the pavilion. My heart dropped as my gaze locked on the source—Lord Alaric—I didn't have time to react.

“No, no, no!” My pulse raced as the sight before me became clear. The flames engulfed my brother. I screamed, my voice breaking through the din of terrified cries.

No. No. It couldn’t be. This couldn’t be real.

“BROTHER!” I shoved through the panicked crowd, heading for the burning stairs. The heat seared my skin, but I didn’t care. I had to save him.

When I finally reached him, I froze in horror. His flesh was… gone. Just molten remains clung to his frame, like a grotesque sculpture left too long in the fire. Tears streamed down my face, but I forced them back, summoning my power.

"Glacial Ice!" The words burst from me, and with them came a frozen tempest. Twin cascades of glacial power erupted from my palms, crashing toward Lord Alaric.

But he only smirked, mocking me. “What do you think you’re doing, lil' princess?” His voice was laced with venomous amusement as my ice shattered against a barrier of flames.

The palace—my home—was unraveling before my eyes. The delicate blue walls collapsed, overtaken by fiery orange tendrils that consumed everything. Sweat drenched me, my heels reduced to molten puddles against the scorched floor. Still, I stood firm.

"Why did you burn him?!" I demanded, my voice raw with desperation. I searched for reason in his fiery gaze, but found only malice.

"Didn’t you hear him?" he sneered, stepping closer. "I am Felipe Viciouso, the Wolf King.”

I froze.

Felipe Viciouso. The tyrant whispered about in every shadowed corner of our kingdom. The murderer whose name lingered like a curse in the halls of history.

"You killed my father, didn’t you?” My voice wavered, the weight of my words threatening to crush me. “Do you know my mother?"

He laughed—a low, guttural sound that cut deeper than any blade. "Your mother? Oh, I knew her well. Personally. Intimately. I knew her banishment, too."

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

The word hit me like a slap. Banishment? No. My mother had vanished, yes, but banished? That was a lie. It had to be.

"What do you mean by banishment?!" My voice cracked, desperation drowning out my fear.

Felipe smirked, relishing my unraveling. As he shifted, the firelight caught on a silver bracelet gleaming on his wrist, its polished surface untouched by the chaos around us. "You’ll find out—if you survive my flames." He raised his hands, and the fire surged forward, a tidal wave of destruction.

“Arie!” Skadar’s voice cut through the inferno as an iceberg erupted between me and the flames, shattering the fiery onslaught.

"We have to leave, now!" He grabbed my wrist, pulling me toward the collapsing stairs. A chandelier plummeted, shattering into fiery shards just behind us.

Before I could protest, light engulfed us, and the world blinked out.

When it reappeared, we were outside the palace, its once-pristine towers now engulfed in hellfire, while plumes of steam and shimmering heat waves twisted into the evening sky. I stood frozen, my breath caught between disbelief and despair.

"How about my brother?" I asked, though the answer clawed at the edges of my mind.

Skadar’s yellow eyes softened, heavy with sorrow. "He’s gone."

The finality of his words crushed me, a sob tearing free as my knees buckled. Tears blurred my vision, each one a futile protest against the truth.

"I’m sorry," he murmured. "But you’re the last eligible heir, Arie. Your safety is paramount."

“But what about the others? My friends, my family—"

Skadar stopped, his hand firm on my shoulder. His gaze pierced through my hysteria. "Listen to me. They have the fruit masters. They’ll do everything they can. Right now, your survival is the only thing that matters."

I nodded, though the words felt hollow. My brother was gone. My kingdom was burning.

“We need help,” I said, my voice trembling. “We’ll call on the Fresha Kingdom.”

Skadar smirked faintly, though it didn’t reach his eyes. "You think they’ll offer help so freely?"

“They will,” I said, my conviction fragile but unyielding. “They have to.”

He sighed, his shoulders relaxing as exhaustion caught up to both of us. "You’re tired."

"I’m fine—"

He crouched suddenly, his back to me. "Get on. I’ll carry you."

I hesitated. "Wait, I can—"

"Arie." He glanced back, a tired but genuine smile on his face. "Just get on."

Reluctantly, I climbed onto his back, my gown bunching awkwardly. He took off, moving like a shadow through the moonlit snow. As the burning palace faded into the distance, so too did the last shreds of my peaceful life.

***

We reached the expanse of the Great Glacia Ocean, its vastness stretching endlessly before us. The waves danced in a hypnotic rhythm, their gentle splashes a balm to my fractured mind. The stars above burned bright against the obsidian sky, their glow reflected in the crystalline waters below. For a moment, I wondered if the Galactic God could see me from his celestial throne.

"If Megaverse were real," I murmured, my voice barely audible over the ocean’s song, "He would have saved my brother. I thought his fate for us was to make our lives better." The wind whispered through my hair, carrying my words into the void.

Skadar’s reply was quiet, laden with a gravity I couldn’t grasp. "Maybe he did. Just... in another way."

I turned to him, my innocent blue eyes searching his inscrutable expression. "What do you mean?"

"Just a thought that slipped my mind," he said, brushing the question away with practiced ease.

The silence between us deepened, interrupted only by the ocean’s rhythm. Skadar had been unnervingly quiet since we reached the water’s edge. His golden eyes, usually sharp and alert, now carried a distant, soulless glaze. Perhaps it was the same look I bore after witnessing the inferno that consumed my world.

"Skadar," I asked gently, worry threading through my words. "Are you okay? We can wait until morning to head to the Fresha Kingdom if you’re tired. Let’s rest for now."

"Nah, I’m good." He avoided my gaze, his attention fixed on the icy ground beneath us. His tone was steady, but something about it felt... wrong.

"Are you sure?" I pressed, leaning closer, my concern growing heavier with each second of his silence.

For a moment, he didn’t respond. The wind howled around us, its icy breath seeping into my skin, but my hands were damp with sweat. Something about him was... off.

Finally, he spoke. "I’m sorry, Arie."

The words were a dagger. "For what?" I asked, my voice trembling. "For not being able to save my brother?"

His gaze, cold and unreadable, met mine at last. "It was all a part of the plan."

"What plan?" My heart twisted in confusion, my voice faltering. "Skadar—what are you talking about?"

Instead of answering, he offered me a smile—small, hollow, and far too calm. "You need to rest now. Until everything’s... alright again."

Before I could react, his hands found mine, his grip ice-cold and unyielding. Frost surged from his palms, crawling up my arms like an invasive vine.

"Skadar!" I cried out, panic clawing at my chest. "What are you doing?! Stop this—stop it now!"

He didn’t answer.

I thrashed against the freezing tendrils consuming me, but it was futile. The ice spread rapidly, encasing me in a crystalline prison. Betrayal crashed over me like the waves around us, leaving me paralyzed—not just physically, but emotionally.

I trusted him. I trusted him with everything.

My frozen gaze locked onto his as he stepped back, his stoic mask never faltering. My iceberg was shoved into the water, sinking with an eerie, deliberate grace. Deeper and deeper it descended, past curious clusters of fish and the shimmering rays of moonlight, until the ocean’s cold, murky depths swallowed me whole.

I hit the ocean floor with a muted thud, the iceberg embedding itself into the sand. My mind screamed, my heart shattered. He—the man I thought was my ally, perhaps even my love—had cast me away like a pawn in some unfathomable game.

Now I wait.

Wait for the ice to crack.

Wait for something—anything—to set me free from this frozen, drowning fate.