Sophie's footsteps echoed through the grand hall of Icevern, the sound bouncing off the towering stone walls like distant whispers. The cold marble beneath her feet only amplified the chill in the air, a familiar coldness she had grown up with but never truly gotten used to. Her thoughts were a storm, the letter from her brother weighing heavily in her hand. Lancefroz had always kept her in the dark, and now, with this envelope, she was about to uncover whatever it was he'd been hiding.
Her white winter hair, braided tightly behind her, brushed against her back with each step as she walked the long corridor toward her chambers. The mansion, draped in ice and shadow, felt even more oppressive than usual. Outside, the endless snow-covered peaks of Icevern stretched toward the gray sky, the wind howling like a beast. But even in the heart of this icy fortress, Sophie felt a different kind of cold creeping into her bones—the cold of uncertainty.
