Caught Between Fire and Ice
The binary choice is so extreme.
It was a beautiful sunny day. Sunlight streamed through the window, settling warmly against my skin. The weather had grown so perfectly mild that it seemed to have forgotten the bite of winter entirely, singing in harmony with the lush green canopy outside. Luxuriant ivy vines had climbed all the way up the frame, birds I couldn’t name filled the air with song, and flowers of every color smiled brightly across the wide meadow. A perfectly peaceful day. And it was exactly then….
“You… Say that again.”
A wave of scorching heat instantly flooded the room. The source was a petite girl, face flushed crimson, body trembling with fury. Her neatly arranged, flame-red hair declared her royal blood. Every gesture burned with the same bold confidence as her hair, only accentuating her beauty. Yet those large eyes that usually radiated arrogance now flickered like real flames, wild with rage. She looked one second away from charging forward and hurling fire from her fists. The danger was palpable.
A butterfly that had drifted in through the open window fluttered around before the sudden heat startled it, sending it flapping straight toward me.
Hmm… that butterfly looks rather strange….
Wait, this is hardly the time for that.
Snapped out of my brief distraction by a sense of obligation, I opened my mouth.
“Um, Your Highness….”
But before I could finish, a frigid voice rang out from the opposite side.
“It seems your hearing is impaired. Allow me to repeat myself. Miss Baek Seol will be joining our group.”
Ah, what was I supposed to do? Face twisted in distress, I turned to look at the speaker.
Glossy black hair cascaded down her back while her bangs and sidelocks were trimmed with elegant precision. Her face was as lovely as any highborn noble daughter’s, yet the icy aura she emitted made it impossible to speak to her lightly. The moment that chill swept outward, the heat that had filled the room rapidly died. Steam rose in thick puffs from the temperature clash and drifted out the window.
The girl, who had been wearing a frosty expression, noticed me looking and offered a small, gentle smile.
Ah, she’s beautiful….
Wait, I really shouldn’t be getting distracted right now….
“What? Who are you to order her around? What’s your relationship with Baek Seol, huh?!”
While I had been momentarily dazed, an even hotter voice exploded behind me. And it wasn’t just the voice—actual flames had ignited.
The instant ether burst from the princess’s body, fire roared outward in every direction. A massive blaze enveloped her, so intense it was difficult to even approach. The petite girl now radiated the overwhelming pressure of a demon that had descended upon the earth.
Yet the one standing opposite her simply waved her hand once, completely unfazed. Even though the ceiling was solid, snowflakes began to fall from somewhere, swelling in size until they smothered the raging flames that had threatened to consume everything. The smoke thickened, floating lazily toward the ceiling.
With a sardonic little smirk, the black-haired girl scoffed.
“Then may I ask what your relationship with Miss Baek Seol is, Princess, that you’re getting so worked up? It seems to me she’s far closer to me than she is to you.”
“Y-you… you stupid bitch!”
With a sharp shriek she turned her gaze on me. I was already half-checked out. Before my scattered mind could return, another barb flew out.
“Baek Seol! You’re Her Highness’s servant, aren’t you?! So why are you just standing there? You should obviously refuse and say you can’t, because you have to serve me!”
“Eh.”
“My, my. How positively medieval to be throwing around the word ‘servant’ in the twenty-first century. Miss Baek Seol is a scholarship student of our Daeseong. After graduation she’ll be working for us anyway. Wouldn’t it be far better for her to begin syncing with me in advance?”
“Ah.”
“Syncing? You… you shameless woman!”
“Huh?”
“Hehe… Is that really such a big deal? Miss Baek Seol and I have already shared far more than mere breath, after all….”
“What?”
“Grrr… GRRRRRAAAAH!”
The princess’s face, which I thought couldn’t possibly grow any redder, began to burn like a volcano on the verge of eruption. Could fire ability users set their own faces ablaze?
“Ehh.”
At that moment the princess strode straight up to me—I who had been using pointless thoughts as an escape from reality—grabbed my hand, and yanked my face toward hers.
“Baek Seol, you decide! Who exactly are you planning to team up with?!”
Then the other girl, who had been calmly observing the entire scene, slowly approached from the opposite side. She took my other hand and, looking down at the princess with an expression of mild amusement, placed her free palm gently against my cheek.
“Yes, let’s respect Miss Baek Seol’s opinion. So, Miss Baek Seol, who would you like to form a group with?”
On one side, heat intense enough to scorch my face. On the other, cold sharp enough to stop my heart. Both sensations relentlessly hammered my already overloaded brain.
What was I supposed to do in a situation like this? Who was I supposed to choose?
“Answer me!”
“Please give us your answer.”
Aah… Just how in the world had things come to this?