There was a three-year difference between them.
Sev was twenty now, but when he had been seventeen, Elise was fourteen—the same age as Vera now.
He had been nothing more than a minor branch member of the Northern Ice Palace .He had inherited the constitution necessary to train in Snowy Heaven Ice Art, but that was all. He was always slightly below average, content not to stand out, unwilling to involve himself in the competition for succession.
But Elise had been different.
Despite her small frame, she harbored an overwhelming power. The intense cold she couldn't control froze any sword she held and turned gloves to brittle ice with a touch. A talent forbidden to those from minor branches.
A fourteen-year-old girl unable to wield her strength, a threat the palace lord couldn't ignore.
The Northern Ice Palace Lord ruled with an iron hand, and his decision had been unyielding.
