Arie's POV

  We had reached the Polarmen Islands. The skies are clear, as new as freshly picked berries. This should be a good thing, although it bothered me that there were no clouds.

  Bad omen or truly peace, my soul had been darkened long ago. It wouldn't erase the fact that I have shed blood with no remorse. I remembered that feeling. It was horrifying.

  We noticed a poster pinned to the wall.

  Skymint Polarion, 100,000 bills of any type for anyone who can capture him. He has committed theft, homicide, and reckless endangerment. Beware of this creature.

  "These are lies!" I stated. "I'm the one who did all of them."

  "I was responsible too. I used a Magical Item for horse racing, started a riot by throwing the leaf bills, and committed murder in the Sunstar Coliseum," he whispered.

  "And I, Skymint, will clean my name by participating in the attack tomorrow." He had formed ice binoculars in his hand. "Something's wrong with the Central Island."

  "Let me see." I grabbed the binoculars from him, and I twitched.

  Dark gray clouds were all gathered on the island, and tiny white particles were floating around.

  "WHO KILLED MY WIFE?!" A loud roar came from there.

  I found Felipe standing on a building's rooftop. The Ice Judge was standing face to face with him.

  He went on a rampage.

  "I don't need her love, I need her to explain what traitorous act she has done!"

  "I've been a fool... I've been deceived this whole time. I can't find her anywhere. She time-traveled with my children and excluded me! Screw the golden era that she's been talking about. I'm gonna ruin everything so that the future won't exist!"

  And there, it started to rain hard. Heavy winds blew my hair strands violently, and Skymint had covered his face with his arm.

  "End of topic." Felipe had dropped the man into the ocean and flew from the disastrous island.

  "Okay, okay, did I just witness a heartbreak?" A male voice came. I turned and caught sight of him like a full portrait with his sky-blue long hair swaying like waves.

  "Aice," I said.

  "We've been looking for you, Ice Princess." He stated. "I'll bring you back to the palace."

  Seeing him reminded me of my brother. I do not want him to be in danger.

  I glanced at Skymint, and back to the prince. "Pardon me, I have a mission to do. You shouldn't be involved with this."

  "Go attack the palace? Felipe is way too powerful, and this stuff should be done together." He turned to Skymint. "You agree, Skymint, don't you?"

  "Arie, who is he?" he asked.

  "He's my cousin."

  "And I ain't a threat," he added. "What do I have to do, Arie?"

  "You stay put and don't tell anyone that I'm here with Skymint."

  "But I want to be useful!"

  "That's your way of being useful," I said with cold determination.

  "I'm all in for helping you two out, and I have no intention to turn Skymint in. We should also let others know that we're gonna fight him, because the more the better."

  I thought about my Dreamer's Magic. But that is never the solution.

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  "No more risking lives, Aice. I found a way to defeat Felipe without anyone dying. So please just don't do anything for your own good."

  "What are you gonna do, Arie? Be honest with me. I've been like your second brother and I'm worried a lot about you."

  "I'm going to talk to the Wolf King himself," I stated.

  "Oh, you're really Aerol's sibling. Even though he's... no longer here, you have his soul within you. I don't make promises, but I think you are right that I shouldn't intervene, Arie. It must've been hard to be met with a lack of faith from others."

  "Before you could even say sorry for underestimating me, there's nothing to apologize for." I can't help but laugh about this. They gave me stares, but I didn't falter.

  "You are not Aice."

  His breathing went erratic, as though I'd poked his nerve with a needle.

  "You wore the same silver bracelet as those Wolfmen. Do you think we wouldn't notice?"

  In a matter of a blink, Skymint smashed his face. He went flying up to the shore.

  I was surprised. "Don't do that again, Skymint."

  "Sorry, I felt his murderous instincts and I had to react."

  When he had risen from the sea, it was no human, but a massive werewolf with his deep blue eyes staring through us. Seeing the dark sky nearby, the curse must be triggered when it's night too.

  "I'll never forgive you, Sterling. You are the most disgusting human to ever exist. You're the reason why my brother died!"

  "Watch your words, Princess. You don't understand strategic survival. I had to serve Felipe because that's the only way I'll live. Someone, somebody, out there had cursed me!"

  "Who did it then?"

  "I don't know. That's why I'm gonna kill you, witch!"

  That stung my heart. He sliced through the air and a barrier of light came, the line cutting. Skymint had pushed me and we rolled on the snow. His burnt curls emitted fumes.

  "Get out of here!" I yelled.

  "Felipe is my lord, and nobody dares to step in his territory!" He summoned more strings of light, and he shattered the ice cover that I made.

  "He's too powerful, Arie. We have to run," Skymint said.

  "He has a weakness."

  "You're not going to use your magic, right?"

  "That's never an option. Are you familiar with boomerang?"

  He nodded.

  "Get your fruit cube. We make a trajectory with it."

  I threw Skymint's cube, going behind him.

  Sterling somehow dodged, as though he knew it was going to hit his nape. He caught the flying fruit cube, gripping it tightly with his sturdy knuckles. "I knew you would come up with that idea, Ice Princess. I'm not an idiot to not see that coming."

  "Did you know that... I could kill your friend over there by crushing this fruit cube? All I have to do is fly at the speed of light and throw it in the crater of Mount Inferno!"

  "You won't do that. You'll die."

  "That's why I'm going to bring you, Princess."

  "Arie!" Skymint yelled, which went hollow quick.

  I was already on top of the world, far above the height of the White Castles. I had to shut my eyes quickly because of the intense speed.

  I can still move my slender fingers. I pulled on his pointed ear, and he lost balance temporarily with a shriek. Although he was still pressing on my chest.

  A streak of rainbow was in front of us, and I used the crystals as an anchor. My ice had reached them, but I kept on falling further, gripping the ice that formed parallel to my downfall.

  "You're not keen on making floating ice in the air, Princess. It wouldn't be great to fall down there only to become a burnt pile."

  There's no way he'll cut the ice. If he does, then I die without giving him satisfaction. I have to form an ice platform with my other hand! The problem is my hands can slip anytime from the fragile ice, moreso when only one hand is gripping it.

  Sterling, who's suspended in the air, closed his arms. "It seems that you don't have magic after all. It would be a violation of my morals to kill an innocent girl."

  This is my chance. I have to play the role so I could stab him back. But that feels wrong. Betrayal shouldn't be fought with another betrayal. Deep down, I wished he were just our Ice Captain, nothing else.

  I'm having a hard time breathing. My hands are shaking. Yet I refuse to look down.

  "That's why I told my son to freeze you instead of outright ending your life."

  "You did?" I asked.

  "Yes. I owe Felipe, but I'll go out of my way to not get you killed without having concrete evidence." He said, his tone grim. "You should be using your magic by now."

  What am I, an ordeal? He's testing me, which is equivalent to dehumanizing me.

  And I fell. I screamed in a sheer amount of terror, and my body had automatically covered itself in frost.

  We crashed on an ash-surrounded land, with my jaw still open. I can't move. Except for my eyes, which were not frozen. They're watery instead.

  With the bright sky at his back, Sterling's deep blue eyes drowned me in scrutiny.

  "Either way, it doesn't matter whether you have it or not. I do not want to risk my status for some blue blood."

  Then he started to hum a rhythm. He's angling Skymint's fruit cube.

  "I found where this magnetic force is going. There, let me adjust you to the north." He moved my frozen body, and I'm facing him now.

  He crouched and inserted Skymint's fruit cube in my throat, still holding it.

  "This will be quick if it hits your brain stem."

  I realized I can't bite my tongue.

  "What are these birds?!" He pulled out his finger from my throat, and Skymint's fruit cube suddenly disappeared.

  White feathers. Robbery doves. More of them came, and his form can no longer be seen. He lay down on the ashes with a thud.

  The ice covering me began to perish. Which means my nervous system has calmed down. My body feels so heavy. It was like I've been cramped between two walls and came out alive.

  I still managed to stand on both feet, despite the turbulent pain.

  On the ground is Sterling's corpse.

  "So you were telling me that you don't side with anybody." I peered down at his bones and flayed skin with a nasty look. "You're really a traitor by heart."