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008 - Embrace of Winter
🕑 Added 2024-12-16 16:44:20 +0000 UTCEthan remained silent, holding his breath. Despite the shock, he soon relaxed, letting all the tension slowly drain away, but his gaze remained locked onto the woman down below, his vigilance at an all-time high, only to feel a cold front on the back of his head.
As if on instinct, he spun, unsheathing his blade. He swung the sharp piece of metal in an arc, seeking to slaughter whatever caught him by surprise. However, his eyes couldn’t help but widen when he realized what it was.
Before him stood an ethereal beauty in a dress of snow and long hair as cold as the dead of winter. Her eyes were a light blue like the clear morning sky, calm and serene—just like the calm before the storm.
She floated behind him, her tiny feet standing on the air itself. Ethan's knife sliced through her, but she didn't react in the slightest. She let the blade reap through her throat yet remained completely unscathed. The edge passed through her unhindered, only to collide with the tree trunk barring its path, remaining stuck in the dense wood.
Taken aback, Ethan couldn't help but freeze for a moment. He knew of this spirit all too well, yet this was the first time he had seen her form. It was eerily similar to the woman below, except a much younger version. She looked about twelve, yet the coldness in her eyes couldn't help but give him shivers.
Suddenly, the floating little girl extended a single hand toward him. Ethan's eyes narrowed, and he took a single step back, only to realize where he stood. He had inadvertently stepped over the void. As he began to fall backwards, he swore he saw the floating apparition utter a small mocking laugh that couldn't help but fill him with dread. This spirit was much more than she seemed.
His body picked up speed, heading toward the ground. However, multiple branches stood in his way, yet were much too feeble to stop his fall. The first few broke when he tried to hang on to them, only to collide straight into a large one.
He felt his breath cut short yet clung to it regardless. However, the impact cracked the branch at its junction to the trunk and soon gave as well. Fortunately, he was much closer to the ground and didn't accelerate much as he finally ended his journey into a bed of leaves at the tree's base.
He took a few seconds to regain his breath. He felt his ribs ache in his chest, yet the pain was dull, merely a bruise. Fortunately, it seemed no bones had been broken. Still, he couldn't help but chastise himself for how careless he had been. How could he have his back taken so easily? He couldn't help but remember the mocking smile on the spirit's face, wondering if he had imagined it all. Spirits able to display human emotions were far from ordinary.
“That was quite the entrance.”
Ethan's eyes snapped open, only to see the woman hang over him, sporting the same unconcerned look devoid of emotions. Still, he was in no hurry to get up; there was no point anymore. Instead, he sighed and remained on his back, looking upwards, only to see the white spirit slowly lower itself and land on the young woman's shoulder. Indeed, despite the age difference, Ethan couldn't help but think they were twins.
“How long do you plan to stay like this?” she said, tilting her head to the side.
Despite her always-sour look, Ethan couldn't help but think she looked adorable. Still, this realization only reopened old wounds and memories left in his heart—those he thought he had discarded long ago.
“I like it here," Ethan replied, trying to hide the pain filling his words. "It's soft and cool. It also offers a great view of the moon."
She gave him a look—one which he knew the meaning of. He was lying—they both knew it well. However, she didn't know that Ethan was being truthful in one way. It did offer a great view of the moon—the moon was beautiful tonight, wrapped in this dress of white light. Even if he possessed all the willpower in the world, he couldn't stop staring.
As he was absorbed in the view, Ethan saw the spirit lean closer to the woman's ear, whispering something he couldn't hear as a soft wind passed through the forest, making a symphony out of the rustling leaves. Still, he saw the woman's expression change from bewilderment to even more solemn than it was—if that was possible. Another shiver ran up Ethan's spine as he felt her gaze attempt to sear right through him, and yet, she remained silent. Soon enough, he couldn't bear it anymore and chose to speak.
“What is it?” he asked sheepishly, unable to sustain her gaze.
“How long?" she asked as a frown appeared.
Taken aback, Ethan couldn’t help but blurt out, “How long, what?”
“How long have you been able to see her?" she asked again, emphasizing every word.
Ethan froze, fear gripping his heart. Was his secret revealed already? Probably... yet he didn't let it show. His expression remained a mask of obliviousness, unable to comprehend what she referred to. However, on the inside, his mind raced, trying to devise whatever excuse seemed plausible. Yet, none came to mind.
“Who’s her?” he asked. “I have no idea who you’re talking about.”
He shrugged, smiling foolishly, yet the two females before him didn't look impressed. Their gazes remained locked onto him. Worse still, he could see the spirit further lean next to the woman's ear, relaying information he wasn't privy to.
“Stop playing dumb!" she said, her tone becoming fiercer. "You know exactly who I'm talking about, don't you?"
Ethan couldn't help but be taken aback. He had rarely seen her lose her composure. In fact, almost every time, she was colder than ice, keeping everyone at a distance as if she were a giant iceberg slowly drifting on a lonely sea. Seeing her temper heat up like so was quite novel, and it brought a single thought to Ethan's mind—something he could exploit.
“Beth. Is that jealousy I hear in your voice?” Ethan replied. “I must say I didn’t expect that coming from you. Even when we were engaged, the most you ever gave me was a look of disinterest. Why the sudden change?”
Shock flashed on her face, yet it soon soured, becoming something akin to fury slowly smouldering in the depths of her eyes. Ethan could feel the temperature drop, and his body began to freeze, yet he remained calm, keeping the same oblivious smile plastered on his lips.
“Do not call me that," she said, weighing every word. "You lost that right already.”
“Of course, Miss Elizabeth Reinhardt. This poor pleb wouldn't dare to offend one of such noble birth."
"As if your family isn't even more prestigious than mine," she replied, her tone sharp and deadly.
Ethan scoffed, turning to the side as he felt a hint of anger rise. Merely looking at her brought forth painful memories he believed he had long crushed at the bottom of his heart, yet they always resurfaced once she was involved.
"What family? My sister is the only one that still talks to me, but even then, she merely does so to ensure I do not bring any more shame upon them than I already have."
"Still as bitter, I see," she replied. "Isn't it about time you grew up? The world doesn't revolve around you."
Ethan’s snapped back in front, facing the beautiful woman before him. However, his joking pretense had long crumbled, replaced with a bitter expression he could hardly conceal no matter how hard he tried. Despite how cold she seemed, this woman could always cut the deepest. But even then, she never showed remorse, as if she expected everyone to be as blunt as she was.
"Not everyone is as blessed as you are..." Ethan said through gritted teeth. "Beauty, talent, wealth and status. You already have it all. And now, you even have a fiance who's just as blessed as you are. What more can you wish for?"
“Enough!”
Her voice echoed among the nearby trees, rustling their leaves like a slight wind had passed. The little ethereal girl on Elizabeth's shoulder rose in the air, shining slightly. He saw the damp ground begin to freeze as a cold front assaulted his skin, prompting him to rise from his bed of leaves.
The sky darkened as a slight haze blocked the moonlight. The moisture hanging in the air froze into snowflakes before falling to the ground, covering the forest into a blanket of white, and yet, Elizabeth seemed unaffected by the frost. Her white mantle danced in the frigid air, and her breath created a white cloud each time it exited her small mouth, yet she didn't shiver even as the temperature dropped below subzero. On the other hand, Ethan couldn't help but wrap himself in his own mantle, trying his best to battle the encroaching frost.
“So it's finally come to this," Ethan said, teeth striking against each other, his whole body shivering in a desperate attempt to create some warmth. Yet his gaze remained fixed upon the woman before him, not a single trace of fear to be found within. "Have you finally decided to rid yourself of the shame of your past? I always knew this would happen eventually. I just never expected you would be the one to do it personally.”
The cold suddenly stopped, her gaze filled with something Ethan didn't recognize. Never had he seen such an expression on her face. Was this pity or something more akin to regret? He didn't know but also didn't have the heart to ask.
“You made your choice, remember?” she said, her voice now soft, almost inaudible amid the frigid air. “You were the one that chose to break the engagement decided by our families, not I. You were weak, and now you must reap the consequences. That is all.”
She gave Ethan one last look—one utterly devoid of emotion as if looking at a non-existent being. Then, she turned and walked away, following the same trail she had used to find this place, leaving Ethan alone amid the frost.
The cold lingered for a while longer before dissipating into the atmosphere. The snow melted, dampening the already humid ground and seeping into the fallen leaves and mud. Ethan stood still for a while longer, letting her disappear into the distance. Yet, his gaze remained fixed on her back as if debating whether or not to chase after her.
What’s the point... It’s already too late to change anything...
Ethan sighed, looking at the bright moon high in the sky. Now alone, in the peaceful serenity of this lonely forest, he couldn't help but regret his actions. He had been childish, letting his past wounds resurface only to throw his pain and insecurity onto her.
He wished to take them back and apologize, yet she was already long gone. Somehow, this woman always brought out the worst in him—what he had desperately tried to hide for years—yet it always emerged unexpectedly. She constantly stirred emotions he had always thought had been long buried.
Still, her parting words cut more profoundly than he would have liked to believe. She was right. He had been the one to break off their engagement. Since they were children, they had been promised to each other—a way for two powerful families to be tied together by this union—yet he was the one to destroy it all.
"Of course, I was weak," Ethan muttered, letting these soft-spoken words travel along the breeze. "How could I not be? Can you honestly expect a powerless sixteen-year-old to stand up to two of the most powerful families in the Empire? Had I not done so, I would be nothing more than a corpse by now..."
Comments
Sapioit D. Deicider
Some do. I can name a few, and I'll name one right now, "Science Of Cultivation" (which also gives one more free chapter on patreon than on royalroad, once they have a certain number of free chapters, before starting to make the backlog of patreon-only paid chapters), but using the collections still adds a few extra steps, compared to having those links added by the author. And this website isn't the only one where it's done. For example, multi-part stories published on Reddit often have those links, too. For example, "Wearing Power Armor to a Magic School".
Zarthos
Do other Patreons do so? I must admit I haven't seen it before. If you want all the chapters for a given series, I do have collections to help you navigate them.
Sapioit D. Deicider
Suggestion: Add the following to each of the chapters of this series, with their respective links: « First | < Previous | Next >
