Kaden didn't think much of his intrusion into a woman's room, let alone the house of Mayari. His mind was solely focused on reaching Meris, unsure of what was happening.

With his Absence Trait, Kaden shifted through the corridors of the Elamin building with unbelievable stealth. In no time, he arrived in front of a silver-painted door.

The coldness radiating from it was searing. Prometheus exhaled through his nose, a gurgling sound escaping his blood-shaped form, then slipped through the door, finally entering the room.

But was it even a room?

Everything was all over the place. The floor was riddled with patches of snow, yet drenched in heavy water. Ice was creeping at the edges of the room, plunging it into a cold worthy of hell.

There were clothes, common objects like blankets and jewelry, floating above the water like swimming fish.

Meris was lying in the middle of her bed, her hair rough and damp with frost and water, sticking to her face. Her eyes were listlessly staring at the ceiling.

Beside her, Lari — her faithful maid — stood with her hands clasped behind her back. Her lips were pressed into a thin line, pain evident in her green eyes as she looked at her mistress.

Lari had never seen her mistress in such a pitiful state. Since returning from her quest, Meris did nothing but stay inside her room.

She refused to see anyone, to eat anything, and that was even if her mother came to see her.

She was like ice.

And so her room became cold and dead like herself, caused by her newly evolved power.

Meris looked like someone on the verge of becoming something monstrous. Her eyes were slowly becoming dead, her emotions numbed by ice colder than what surrounded the room.

Her skin was now very pale, as if holding nothing but an expanse of white inside. One would wonder what would come out of her body if she were cut.

For some reason, the maid knew it wouldn't be blood. At least, not the kind she knew.

Lari had once made the mistake of touching Meris. The mere act of remembering that day made her freeze in internal horror.

That day, she had instinctively run away from her mistress, startled by her creeping coldness. And it seemed it was that day that Meris's situation worsened.

Lari bit her lips until blood trickled down, her head curled inward in self-blame. At that instant, her eyes noticed a pool of blood slithering on the water.

She paused, confused. She blinked, thinking she was hallucinating. But when she opened her eyes again, the pool of blood was gone.

Instead, Kaden stood beside her, his crimson, starry eyes fixed on Meris. A deep frown marred his devilishly handsome face.

Lari jerked in shock. "Lord Kaden!" she shrieked, then immediately ducked her head in respect.

"I greet the Red Crown!"

At Lari's loud words, Meris twitched. Her eyes blinked slowly, regaining clarity. Then mechanically, she turned her head toward them.

When her eyes rested upon Kaden's own, they widened.

Kaden spared Lari a curt nod and a faint, forced smile. Without needing to be told, Lari pivoted on her heels and exited the room in haste.

Kaden said nothing and mounted the bed beside Meris. The Daughter of Frost quivered, instinctively trying to distance herself from him.

"W-What are you doing here?" Meris stammered, her voice sounding like that of someone who hadn't spoken in months.

Seeing this sight, Kaden frowned even more. Meris was never one to act like this.

Things were getting weirder, he noticed.

It was as if she was afraid of something. Something dreadful enough to make her recoil from him.

"What am I doing here?" Kaden echoed, then in a burst of speed appeared instantly behind Meris, pulling her into his embrace, her back pressed to his chest.

Meris yelped in surprise.

Kaden continued calmly, "I didn't hear from you even when you came back. So I decided to come visit my fiancée."

Meris was cold. Too bloody cold. Kaden was inwardly shocked. This kind of coldness was not natural.

For a moment, he thought he would be frozen from the inside out. It was that abnormal.

But nothing showed on his face. He remained calm and steady.

"I… I needed time alone," Meris whispered, suddenly at a loss for words in this situation.

"Is something bothering you?"

"Y-yes. I mean no! Everything is fine. But K-Kaden… aren't you cold? My body is too cold. Don't hug me. I will hurt y—!"

"Hurt me?" Kaden chuckled, and slowly his body became licked in crimson-gold flames, steaming out all over the room. The cry of a phoenix rumbled through his chest, loud and screeching.

In one frightening instant, all the ice, snow, and water in the room evaporated, swallowed by his fire.

Meris watched with amazement in her silver eyes. Then she moaned softly in pleasure, feeling Kaden's warmth spread through her body, melting the ice creeping around her heart.

"It doesn't matter how cold you become," Kaden said. "You can never freeze me, Meris."

Meris's back had been facing him, but slowly she turned to look at him. Her face was more relaxed now, yet worry and fear still hid deep within her eyes.

"Are you sure, Kaden?" she murmured, raising her hand to caress his cheek. "Are you sure you can bear my coldness?"

"Did I ever fail you?"

Meris shook her head. "You never did. But this is different. My ice is not normal. I… I am not normal."

Meris's voice wavered. Since returning, she hadn't spoken to anyone about the matter of her soul.

Talking about it meant exposing herself. It would mean accepting that she might be seen as a soulless monster, one slowly losing her humanity.

Yet she looked at Kaden in that instant and felt the urge to confess. The urge to be honest with him, to tell him that her feelings for him might be false.

That everything she showed him might be nothing but a lie to soothe herself. A lie to prove that she, too, was a girl who felt something.

A girl with romance in her heart. A girl who was not cold and didn't see everyone around her as nothing more than sacks of flesh and bones.

Meris truly wished to be that. Yet she found herself unable to open her mouth to say it.

Kaden was warmth. Too much warmth.

Would he abandon her if she told him the truth?

Meris didn't want to lose that warmth. So she kept her mouth shut and forced a smile at Kaden's questioning gaze.

"It's nothing," she whispered, resting her head against his chest. "You have never failed me. You will never fail me."

She said it as if trying to convince herself more than anything else.

Kaden stayed silent. He had seen the hesitation and fear inside Meris, as if wanting to say something but not having the courage to do so.

In normal circumstances, Prometheus would have accepted Meris's decision. He would have simply fallen silent and waited until she was ready to open herself to him.

But not any longer.

Kaden could see that whatever Meris was guarding inside her chest was too heavy for her. She might seem fine at this moment, but not for long.

And besides…

'Her Frost…' Blanche whispered inside Kaden's head, shocked to the core, 'Her frost is too pure. It smells like theirs.'

Kaden frowned. 'Theirs?'

'The Primordials.' Blanche's voice suddenly became solemn. 'A race born from the purest elemental energy that could ever exist. Their whole being is made of that element, giving them absolute control and superiority over others.'

'My Phoenix family's fire might be unique. But in front of the Primordial of Fire, it would embarrassingly pale in comparison.'

At her words, Kaden's eyes flashed with sudden enlightenment. He began to form an idea about what the Fire of the Known World The Will had been referring to.

But Blanche was not done.

'But it's supposed to be impossible. Primordials cannot have offspring. So why this little girl…?'

Blanche was perplexed. Clearly, Meris had the scent of a Primordial yet also the scent of a human. How could a human bear the child of a Primordial? No. How could a Primordial even seed a being?

This little girl seemed to be related to the Primordial of Frost.

But… how?

The questions swirled constantly inside her mind, finding no clear answer. But what was clear was that…

'Her half-human body cannot bear the weight of her ice,' the White Phoenix said to Kaden. 'She would either die because of it or transform into something no one could imagine.'

Kaden began to understand the full picture. Now he knew why even he felt threatened by Meris's ice.

'Is there any solution?' he asked, still holding Meris.

'No.' Blanche shook her head. 'None that I know of. It's my first time facing such a thing.'

Kaden nodded curtly. Next, he gently grabbed Meris's head and pushed her slightly back from him.

Their eyes locked together.

"Don't be afraid," Kaden whispered, making Meris's eyes widen. "I am your fiancé, and I want to help you. I won't go anywhere, even if your body becomes the coldest thing in the world."

"Even if I lied?" Meris blurted out.

"Lied?"

Meris gritted her teeth together. "Even if I lied about my feelings for you? Even if everything I've done was nothing but an act to fool myself? To tell myself that I can love too?"

She balled her hands in his shirt, her knuckles turning bone-white.

"I am lost, Kaden," she breathed, her voice suddenly low. "I feel love for you, yet I am afraid all of that is fake. That it's only my own imagination. My own coping mechanism."

"There is too much numbness in me, Kaden. So much that my tears are frozen. I can no longer—!"

"Aren't you crying already?" Kaden cut her gently, smiling. His hands slid along Meris's cheeks, brushing away the tears trickling down.

Meris froze, eyes widening.

"You are crying, Meris. That means you feel something. No matter how faint it is. And the fact that you are crying means you are afraid. That makes you human."

The Daughter of Frost opened her mouth soundlessly.

"As for the fact that you doubt your love for me…" Prometheus continued, "…doesn't it mean you care enough about me? After all, you only doubt something you care about."

"And even if all of that was false…"

Meris began to sob.

"…I have already let you inside my heart, Meris. There is no going back now."

Kaden grinned and hugged Meris tighter.

Love was such a bloodydamn bitch.

"And I hate one-sided love. So you better fall for real for me."

"Y-You won't… abandon me?"

"I won't."

"Even if I was not sincere with you?"

"Yes, even so."

"Even if I become a monster?"

"We are all monsters, Meris."

Meris fell silent, and there something inside her cracked. The ice cage she had unconsciously built around herself became slightly weaker. It didn't disappear, but her fear lessened.

She took a deep breath, then…

"I will be your monster then."

"Already falling for me? I knew I was too good at this."

Meris laughed.

Her first genuine laugh since…

Since when again?

Meris didn't know. But that day, she laughed.

And Kaden laughed with her, even though a part of his heart was still worrying about another monster.

—End of Chapter 370—

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