Ancestral Lineage-Chapter 220 : The Ice That Bleeds

For a long moment, the throne room stood still.

The frost in the air, the jagged icicles on the walls, the shards of ice underfoot—it all seemed to pause, waiting for something to break.

And Ethan was waiting too.

Seraphis's cold gaze didn't waver, but he could see through her now. He had seen it the moment his warmth had touched her—the tiny fracture in her perfect, frozen mask.

She had waited. She had suffered.

And deep down, she was furious.

"Let you in?" Her voice was soft, a whisper against the howling silence. Deceptive. Dangerous. "Do you know how many have spoken those words to me, Kael'Dri?"

She spoke his true name.

Ethan didn't answer. He wanted her to continue.

Her hand, still resting against his chest, curled into a fist.

"All of them liars. All of them betrayers." Her voice didn't rise, but the walls of the castle groaned, responding to her emotions even as she fought to keep them buried.

"I was born cursed, Ethan." Her fingers clenched tighter, her nails digging into his shirt. "Abandoned by my people. Rejected by my own father. Cast aside the moment I took my first breath."

The temperature plummeted, but Ethan held his ground. He didn't pull away.

"They tried to kill me," Seraphis continued, her voice shaking, but not from weakness. From barely restrained fury. "Over and over again. But the curse wouldn't let me die."

She took a step closer. Too close. Her face inches from his, her breath cold against his skin. Ethan didn't flinch.

"I clawed my way to this throne," she whispered. "With frozen fingers, through a sea of blood."

Her hand trembled against his chest.

And Ethan caught it, his fingers wrapping around hers—firm, steady, unrelenting.

The moment he touched her, something inside her cracked.

"Seraphis." His voice was gentle, but there was iron beneath it.

She hated that sound.

Hated it because it made her remember.

That she was still humane. That she was still capable of feeling.

Her lips parted as if to speak, but then—

The entire castle shook.

A wave of frosted energy exploded from her body, sending Ethan skidding back as the room froze over once more. The very air crackled with power, and for a moment, the Frost Queen looked more like a wrathful goddess than a woman.

Her wings flared wide, glowing with the light of a frozen sun, her eyes burning with an emotion far deeper than rage—

Agony.

"How dare you?" she whispered. But it wasn't fury anymore.

It was fear.

Ethan straightened, brushing frost from his sleeves as he met her gaze head-on.

"Because I see you," he said simply. "The part of you you're trying to kill. The part that still wants to be saved."

Seraphis let out a sharp breath, staggering back as if he had physically struck her.

Ethan stepped forward.

And this time, she didn't move away.

"You want vengeance?" he asked. "Fine. Then let's take it." His voice dropped lower, a whisper meant only for her. "But don't lose yourself in it. Because I refuse to lose you."

Seraphis's breath hitched.

And for the first time in centuries, she didn't know what to say.

Silence stretched between them. The kind that wasn't empty, but heavy—filled with all the words she refused to say.

Ethan could see it happening.

The cracks spreading beneath her perfect, glacial exterior.

She had spent years—building her throne upon vengeance, upon cold, unwavering strength. And yet, here he was, standing before her as if he had the right to speak to the girl buried beneath the ice.

And worse…

She wanted to believe him.

Seraphis clenched her jaw, trying to will the tremble in her hands away.

"This isn't your battle, Kael'Dri," she murmured.

"Isn't it?" he countered, stepping closer.

Her wings twitched, her fingers flexing at her sides. She wanted to push him away. She wanted to rip open the ground and bury this moment before it could take root in her heart.

But she didn't.

She couldn't.

Ethan's voice softened, his golden eyes never leaving hers. "How long have you waited for me?"

Seraphis flinched.

A breath escaped her lips, unsteady. She hadn't even realized she had been holding it.

He knew.

He knew!!!

She had spent centuries convincing herself that waiting for him was a mistake. That he was nothing more than a cruel joke played by fate—a dream she had foolishly clung to.

And now that he was standing here, real, warm, unshaken…

She didn't know how to bear it.

Seraphis gritted her teeth, her eyes darkening with defiance. "You think just because you showed up, everything will change? That I'll fall into your arms and pretend that everything I've done doesn't matter?"

Ethan exhaled a small chuckle, shaking his head. "I don't expect you to fall into my arms, Seraphis." Then, with a smirk, he added, "Not immediately, anyway."

The nerve.

The absolute audacity of this man.

Seraphis' fingers itched to strike him, but she didn't. Not because she feared him—but because she feared herself.

Because the moment she touched him, she knew—she would break.

Instead, she sneered, her voice sharp as ice. "You're a fool."

Ethan grinned. "Probably."

A heavy pause.

Then—

New n𝙤vel chapters are published on freeweɓnøvel.com.

Seraphis laughed.

Not the cruel, regal laugh of a queen. Not the mirthless chuckle of someone who had lost everything.

But a real laugh. Short, startled, almost bitter—but real.

And Ethan saw it.

Saw the girl buried beneath the ice finally gasp for air.

Seraphis turned away from him, her wings folding close to her body as she exhaled. Her voice was quieter now, less like a queen and more like a woman on the edge of something terrifying.

"…You don't know what you've just done, Kael'Dri ."

Ethan tilted his head. "Oh? And what's that?"

She turned her head slightly, just enough for him to catch a glimpse of her expression—one that was no longer cold, but unsettled.

"You've made me remember."

And that was more dangerous than anything else.

A gust of icy wind swept through the throne room, yet neither of them moved.

Ethan could feel it—the shift in the air, the weight in her words.

Seraphis had spent lifetimes forgetting.

Forgetting the warmth.

Forgetting hope.

Forgetting him.

And now, with just a few words, he had shattered centuries of careful repression.

She turned fully toward him, and for the first time, her regal composure faltered. Her blue eyes, always cold and calculating, held something far more dangerous now.

Emotion.

Rage. Pain. Longing.

A storm brewed behind them, a storm she had kept buried beneath ice so thick, she had convinced herself it no longer existed.

"You think you can just waltz in here and change everything?" Her voice wavered slightly, her wings trembling at her sides. "That you can undo what they did to me? Undo what I did?"

Ethan didn't answer immediately. Instead, he stepped closer, his presence warm despite the freezing air.

She didn't back away.

Instead, she let him see.

The mask fell, just a little.

Her fingers curled into fists, her breathing uneven. "I killed them, Ethan."

Ethan didn't react. He just waited.

Seraphis took a step forward, her voice raw. "I butchered them. The nobles, the elders, my father. Everyone who cast me aside. Who called me a cursed child. Who treated me like filth. Do you know what I did, Ethan?"

She was shaking now, her wings slightly flared, her nails digging into her palms. "I froze them alive. I watched as their bodies cracked apart, as their screams turned into silence. And I felt nothing."

She let the words hang between them, daring him to judge her. To turn away in disgust.

But Ethan just sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, that's one way to handle family drama."

Seraphis blinked. "…What?"

He shrugged. "I mean, I've seen worse. Honestly, given what they did to you, I would've done worse."

She stared at him.

Then she let out a breath that was almost a laugh, though she still looked furious. "You're impossible."

"That's what I keep hearing."

A silence settled between them again, but this time, it was different. Not cold. Not hostile.

Just… heavy.

Seraphis took a slow breath, as if grounding herself. Then, she met his gaze with something almost resembling… hesitation. Vulnerability.

"I can't stop now, Ethan." Her voice was quieter, but no less firm. "This empire—this war—I've come too far. If I stop, everything will have been for nothing."

Ethan studied her for a long moment before speaking.

"Then let's make sure it wasn't for nothing."

Seraphis narrowed her eyes. "What are you saying?"

He smirked. "I'm saying you don't have to do this alone anymore."

Her breath hitched.

Alone.

She had been alone for so long that the thought of someone standing beside her—him standing beside her—was almost unbearable.

She clenched her fists, battling the war inside her.

But Ethan saw it now.

The girl beneath the ice.

And he wasn't going anywhere.