A magnificent castle, built entirely from solid ice, stood huge and imposing, glowing faintly under the moonlight.
This was the palace of the Snow Queen, the supreme ruler of the Ice Empire, and the most powerful ice mage in the world.
Inside the palace, a stunningly beautiful woman sat on a frozen throne.
Her ice-blue hair fell to her waist, and her flawless face looked like a work of art sculpted by the hand of God.
There was no emotion in her pale blue eyes, cold as a rock buried in snow and ice.
She looked down at the female knight below with a gaze utterly devoid of feeling.
“Your Majesty, there’s still no word from the team sent to wipe out the cult.
They’ve disappeared.
I think we should send more people to search for them.”
“Mm.” The reply was indifferent.
At that moment, a man standing not far from the female knight spoke up.
“Your Majesty, the intelligence has been confirmed.
Princess Keliya really has been corrupted by the cult.”
“Kill her.” The response was still flat.
“Understood.”
No one tried to argue.
They all obeyed the Queen’s highest command.
In this country, anyone corrupted by the cult—no matter who they were, even if it was the Queen’s own sister—had to die.
Because the Snow Queen was a person without emotions.
To rule the country more effectively, she had frozen her own heart, turning herself into a cold and efficient administrative machine.
She never felt sadness or regret.
Even if all her freedom was taken away by endless government affairs, she never complained.
For the same reason, no matter who broke the law, she could deal with them without mercy.
Of course, another reason for sealing away her emotions was to fight against the Witch.
After the second-generation Witch was defeated, her place of slumber was in the bitterly cold lands of the far north.
If she ever woke, the Ice Empire would be the first to face her.
The Witch’s power wasn’t just her strength, but also her control over darkness and fear.
In the history of the Ice Empire, there was once a king who, because of fear and the darkness in his heart, was corrupted and controlled by the Witch, becoming her puppet.
To prevent this from happening again, later kings developed a new magic: freezing their own hearts.
They would feel no fear, have no emotions at all—neither kindness nor malice—so the Witch’s power to corrupt hearts or devour fear would be useless.
Of course, every king who turned themselves into a machine had to program that machine with a single purpose.
So, the emotionless Queen had only one goal behind everything she did: to keep the country running as well as possible.
No personal feelings, no need to consider anyone’s interests—everything was for the strength of the nation.
That’s why the Queen could sign every decree perfectly, and that’s also why the Ice Empire was so powerful.
“Your Majesty, according to the prophecy, there’s less than a hundred years before the Witch awakens.
I think we should strengthen the northern defenses.” In reality, they were guarding against the second-generation Witch, not knowing that the truly terrifying Witch had already awakened, and was already in this land, heading for the capital.
“Approved.” The Queen never wasted words, always giving the most efficient answers.
“Your Majesty, will the marriage selection tournament be held as scheduled this year?” “As scheduled.”
Because she had no emotions, the Queen didn’t care about love.
She didn’t even care if her partner was a beastman.
But to make the country stronger, the Queen’s partner had to be powerful, and only those who passed a series of strict tests could become her mate.
Their union was only for producing stronger offspring.
Every king followed this rule, so the royal bloodline grew stronger and stronger.
By the Queen’s generation, she could be called a once-in-a-millennium genius.
At a young age, she had already mastered the most powerful ice magic.
But because the selection was so harsh, there hadn’t been a king’s husband chosen for several generations.
No one knew if there would be a surprise this time.
Not long after the Queen’s orders went out, her loyal guards began to act.
They brought out the princess, who had been locked in the dungeon.
“Wait! You can’t treat me like this! I’ve bled for this country, I’ve risked my life for the Queen, you can’t just use me and throw me away! I want to see the Queen!!!” The princess, locked in the prison cart, kept shouting.
As the Queen’s sister, she was naturally an outstanding ice mage too, but unlike the usual cold stereotype, she was a very ‘lively’ girl.
“Waaah… you can’t do this to me! I want to see the Queen, I want to see my sister!” With her magic sealed and locked in the prison cart, the princess could only cry out helplessly.
She was well-liked, and as she was escorted through the streets to the execution ground, many people looked at her with sympathy, but no one dared speak up for her because of the Queen’s authority.
Finally, they reached the execution ground.
Hanging from a T-shaped post was a huge icicle—this was the Ice Empire’s common method of execution.
“Hey, hey, let’s not rush, we can drag this out a bit, right? Or maybe use a different punishment? Getting smashed to death is just too miserable.”
The princess, dragged onto the execution platform, was still trying to stall for time.
“It’s alright, Your Highness.
It won’t hit your face, and we’ll do your makeup and change your clothes after, no one will notice.
If you were hanged, you’d look even worse.
Also, Your Highness, you should mind your image and watch your language.”
“I’m about to die and you want me to care about my image? Screw you…” The princess, cursing, was tied up right under the icicle.
No one dared defy the Queen’s orders—the princess had to die today.
“I’m done for.”
At that moment, she seemed to see her own fate.
Staring at the icicle, she gave up struggling.
She slowly closed her eyes, tears sliding down her cheeks.
“Sis… I’m sorry… for making you bear all this…” “Execute!” At the judge’s command, the icicle hanging above dropped straight down toward the princess.
In an instant, the cold, sharp icicle pierced the princess’s warm chest.
Her eyes, which had been closed, flew open in shock as she stared at the icicle in her chest.
“Ugh—!” Then, with a scream, her head lolled to the side and she went still.
The lifeless princess was quickly dragged away.
After all, she was royalty—they couldn’t leave her body exposed here.
The princess’s death caused quite a stir in the kingdom, all because the Queen had sealed away her emotions.
So all the work of building ties between the royal family and the people had always been done by the princess.
In everyone’s eyes, the princess was a gentle, approachable girl, always wearing a smile that could heal hearts, bringing a bit of warmth to this cold world.
But even such a princess was executed today.
