“It’s an ice lake.”
Sabelli turned around and pointed to a spot. Through the branches, a diamond-like blue frozen lake was visible. Anya stared at it blankly. The white snow and blue ice created a stark contrast.
“Shall we go see it?”
Anya timidly nodded. His heart pounded with fear and curiosity.
“When spring comes, the ice melts and the water rises again.”
Sabelli placed his hand on the thickly frozen surface. Anya crouched beside him and placed his hand on it too. His fingertips quickly turned red. Unlike ordinary lakes that freeze over with a cloudy appearance, this lake remained transparent even when frozen. Nevertheless, the lake was so deep that everything below was completely dark.
“Starting from this lake, you must never go beyond it.”
The forest continued beyond the lake. At the eerie warning, Anya immediately withdrew his hand. The sky had already grown dim with twilight. In Tildyen, the sun set early. The cloudless sky was turning purple, and the sun was setting behind the Beriela Mountain Range.
“It’s time to return now.”
Anya straightened his bent knees and stood up. That’s when it happened. Perhaps because of the extreme cold, he suddenly felt dizzy. Anya stumbled and fell forward onto the lake.
“Boy!”
A thud—an embarrassingly terrible sound. Pain shot up his spine from the impact on his back. The ice was much harder than he had thought. Anya swallowed the pain and struggled to his feet.
“I’m, I’m fine.”
Having slid quite a distance as he fell, Anya found himself far from the edge of the lake. Like a newborn foal, he walked clumsily across the ice.
“Sa-Sabelli, sir…”
Anya stopped in his tracks and stared at Sabelli. He sensed something ominous. Sabelli stood at a distance, looking at him. The old man was frozen like someone who had seen something they shouldn’t have.
Crack.
The ice beneath his feet began to make an ominous sound. The ice was breaking. Before Sabelli could reach him, Anya was sucked into the lake.
Even the magic Sabelli had cast was of no use. As he plunged into the water, a chill that could freeze his blood washed over him. Anya instinctively struggled, trying to rise to the surface, but the thick ice prevented him from escaping. He was suffocating. He could see the hem of Sabelli’s robe above the ice. He cried out for help, but his voice was swallowed by the dark, cold water.
The lake seemed endless, like an ocean. Anya’s pitiful body sank deeper into the cold abyss.
《Human, human.》
Anya’s unremarkable body was sinking endlessly downward. Despite being underwater, a strange, peculiar voice that sounded like both a child and an adult reached his ears. A familiar voice. The boy’s eyes, tightly shut as he clutched his neck and struggled, suddenly flew open.
It was the ‘flame.’
The human and the non-human floated facing each other underwater. The flame emitted a smoldering light in the center of the heavy, murky abyss. Somehow it had grown larger than when he’d seen it in the forest. And though ‘it’ clearly had no eyes, it felt as though they were making eye contact.
《First, tell me your name.》
Each time the flame’s voice echoed, for a moment, he could breathe. Then the suffocating sensation returned. Desperate air bubbles burst from the boy’s mouth and nose. He wanted to live. Only at the moment of death did his honest feelings emerge unfiltered.
The truth was, he hated Tildyen. He despised the Northerners who looked down on him. He also loathed the knights who pretended not to see him.
《Then I will save you.》
There was no need for hesitation. If any more time passed, he would surely die. In this deep place, no one would find him, and he would die lonely without even receiving the peace of rest.
“…Anya! My name is Anya!”
Anya didn’t even realize that he hadn’t stuttered.
《Anya. I will remember your name.》
Instantly, light scattered, breaking in all directions. The flame now completely filled the lake. Anya’s entire body was suffused with white and red energy. In that warmth and brilliance, the boy closed his eyes, clasped his hands together, and prayed to the goddess. Oh God.
“Boy!”
Lying face down on the ice, Anya coughed violently. Water gushed out with each cough. His soaked clothes caused an unbearable chill, making his body tremble. Sabelli approached and immediately cast a warming spell. Anya embraced his own shoulders and expressed his gratitude. His chattering lips had turned from blue to purple.
“Th-thank, thank you.”
By now, the sky was completely covered in darkness. Green aurora swam across the night sky.
The face of the old man, who had always been full of composure, now looked ten years older. He stroked his chest with a pained expression.
“Do-don’t bl-blame your-yourself. D-did Sa-Sabelli ca-call the fl-flame?”
Only after speaking did he realize his mistake. But Sabelli already seemed to know about the flame’s identity.
“This is Tildyen, a place where one can easily meet a miserable death.”
Sabelli glanced briefly behind him. His voice trembled slightly, as if overcome with emotion.
“I didn’t call it. They came on their own.”
Anya saw the flickering flames beyond Sabelli’s shoulder. The flames had definitely grown much larger than before. As if receiving permission from Anya’s gaze, the flames slowly circled around them.
“Indeed. I cannot see them. I merely sense their energy. Can you see them, boy?”
Anya was startled, his eyes opening wide. How could something so clearly visible to him be invisible to Sabelli, the great scholar and magician?
“I-I… am n-not a wi-witch or a bl-black ma-magician!”
At his urgent cry, Sabelli smiled kindly. He continued to cast the warm breeze spell and spoke with care.
“I know. They are spirits. Only chosen people can see them and understand their words. You are a chosen one.”
“…Wh-what? M-me? I… I d-don’t kn-know anything.”
Anya was terribly confused and didn’t know what to do. The boy looked up at the old man with trembling hands and bewildered eyes. Before he could feel joy, an inevitable low self-esteem caused fear to pour out first. Sabelli raised his hand and stroked the boy’s head, which had already dried. The wrinkled hand was large and warm.
“Don’t fear, accept it. You don’t need anyone to tell you who you are or what you are.”
As if responding to those words, the flames blazed up fiercely.
“Do not resist.”
Like flowing water.
“That’s it.”
* * *
The people of Tildyen never gave Anya special treatment because he was royalty. For hundreds of years, their families and comrades had been slaughtered beyond the Wall under the regency of the imperial family and nobles. They harbored inherent anger and deep contempt for the imperial family.
He constantly told himself that this place was heaven compared to the direct harassment from his brothers, but after the “lake incident,” a subtle shift occurred in the boy’s feelings.
After his walks with Sabelli Nox, Anya’s face showed a bit more vitality than before. Somehow he felt motivated and his body ached from being cooped up in his bedroom like a mouse.
He wanted to face the flame.
Even if it was a tomb-like forest, he wanted to see the wondrous vitality that bloomed there.
He wanted to hear the legends that Sabelli Nox told in his strange way of speaking.
Moreover, he had said that Anya, a half-wit, was a “chosen one.” Since Sabelli Nox was a scholar, he would never lie. At first, he was just afraid, but as time passed, he felt dazed. Every night, Anya would lie in bed, staring at the dim ceiling, stroking the area near his pounding heart.
‘Don’t resist, accept it.’
One cannot forcibly block flowing water.
Excited people unwittingly show it. A subtle vigor appeared in the actions of the mistress who had been confined to the bedroom. The Northerners here didn’t particularly welcome this change. They desperately hoped that the royal family member wouldn’t strut around. They just wanted the barely maintained peace to continue quietly.
‘Ah… right. There’s a library.’
After thinking about the flames all day, he became curious about spirits. Anya decided to look for books in the library. At the top of Tildyen Rock, there was a small but library filled with rare books.
“The library is available for use at any time, mistress.”
Gregos didn’t approve, but he didn’t stop him either. Rushing to the library in one breath, Anya found several old books about spirits. There were more books in the library than expected, but because they weren’t properly organized, he had to wander until sunset. It seemed the people here didn’t use the library much. Dust had accumulated on the books and the interior was very cold. Having no choice, Anya decided to return to his bedroom to read the books. In his impatient state, greed arose.
