Welcome, Is This Your First Time With the Freezing Barrier?
The night at the Lucerne Duke's Mansion was utterly still. But it wasn't the calm of peace—it was the dead silence that comes right before a colossal storm.
I sat slumped on the bed in my room, absently turning the silver cylinder over in my hands.
The Thorn Crown emblem that had suddenly sprung out at me in the shopping district earlier had vanished again the moment I shoved it into my pocket, as if by magic.
Yet the faint vibration and that icy sensation it had given off in response to my ability still lingered vividly on my skin.
Cassian... a rebellion... of all things.
More terrifying than any sense of betrayal was how utterly unfamiliar he had looked.
The way he'd snarled, "Twist their necks and bring it to me," made it clear just how important this thing was. If he ever found out it was in my possession...
Would I become another neck he wanted twisted?
I let out a long sigh. Cassian.
The second son of a ducal house who lacked for nothing—why in the world was he doing something this insane? He'd even confessed right in front of me about creating secret funds and ledgers (though he'd called it a slush fund). There was no wriggling out of this. It was ironclad evidence.
I was clutching my throbbing head when it happened.
Rustle.
Beyond the window, in the pitch-black darkness, came a faint but unmistakably ominous sound.
It wasn't dry leaves being crushed underfoot, nor branches swaying in the night breeze.
It sounded like... the low, ragged breathing of a starving beast.
Boom—!!
A deafening roar split the air as a blue flash exploded from the direction of my balcony.
"Kyaaah!"
Startled out of my wits, I rolled right off the bed and clutched my head with both arms.
The hand gripping the self-defense dagger I'd hidden under my pillow shook violently.
Cassian, you frog-legged bastard! You've finally sent someone to shut me up for good!
My vision swam. An assassin sent by my own brother? What kind of third-rate romantic fantasy cliché was this?
Even if I'd discovered his secret fund, wasn't this a bit much?
How could he try to kill his one and only adorable youngest sister?
You rotten excuse for a human! Family disgrace! Scum of the earth! May heaven strike you down!
I was busy hurling every curse I could think of at Cassian while trying to crawl under the bed when—
One second. Two seconds. Ten seconds passed, and still no sound of shattering glass or masked intruders bursting in.
Instead, I heard something bizarre.
Crack. Thud.
Rolling... rolling...
It sounded exactly like a massive chunk of ice tumbling across the floor.
I swallowed hard, crawled back out, and cautiously parted the balcony curtain.
"...Huh?"
The sight before me was far too bizarre to be the typical assassination crisis you'd find in any romantic fantasy novel.
Was it because this was reality? Three figures that had been attempting to scale the balcony railing were now completely frozen solid and sprawled across the floor.
Right. I'd momentarily forgotten about my eldest brother.
The Absolute Zero Freezing Barrier that Carlyle—legendary swordmaster, head of the Lucerne family, and fiercely protective older brother—had layered around my room to safeguard his beloved sister.
Those wretched intruders had run smack into our house's security system.
"Ugh... What the hell is...!"
"Brrghh..."
Seeing them covered in icicles dangling from their eyebrows and noses, I felt all the tension drain away. A helpless laugh bubbled up.
You idiots. Do you have any idea what kind of person my big brother is? And you thought you could break through here?
I was about to close the curtain in relief when my gaze snagged on the collars of their frozen clothes.
An emblem embroidered in intricate gold thread that gleamed coldly in the moonlight.
It wasn't the Thorn Crown. It wasn't the Lucerne crest, either.
It was the imperial knights' insignia—the arrogant black sun that symbolized the imperial family.
"...What?"
My breath caught in my throat.
It wasn't Cassian? The imperial family? But why would they be after me? I'd lived such a virtuous life!
As I sat there feeling utterly wronged that this could happen to a perfectly law-abiding citizen, the memory of the recent "imperial palace escape incident" flashed through my mind.
Could that terrifyingly perceptive emperor have realized I was the attendant from that day?
Just how much did that crazy emperor know?
If he sent assassins knowing I'm the Duke of Lucerne's daughter, then we're truly finished.
A fear far greater and more horrific than Cassian's clumsy little rebellion crashed over me.
I shoved the silver cylinder deep into the furthest corner of the mattress.
The thought of Emperor Kaelus's eerie crimson eyes laughing at me from the darkness made sleep impossible that night.
Bang—!
Soon after the commotion, my bedroom door flew open.
"Little one!"
The person standing before me as I sat dazed on the bed was my eldest brother Carlyle, still in his nightclothes with sword drawn.
He glanced at the frozen intruders beyond the open balcony, then withdrew his terrifying killing intent and approached me.
"You must have been frightened. Don't worry. It's only vermin that stumbled into the barrier."
Brother pulled me into a tight embrace as I sat there deathly pale.
Once my trembling had subsided, he carefully lifted me, laid me back on the bed, and tucked the blanket all the way up to my chin with meticulous care.
"I'm right here beside you, so sleep peacefully. By morning, there won't be a trace left."
I loved the gentle voice of my beloved eldest brother and the way his large hand stroked my hair.
But I couldn't bring myself to tell him the truth: Um, Brother? Those men are actually imperial assassins, and I think they've come for me!
Instead, I had to play the part of a very small, very obedient youngest sister and gently close my eyes.
Carlyle stayed by my bedside until I fell asleep. Only when my breathing grew steady and regular did he quietly rise.
The moment the door clicked shut, my eyes flew open.
Sleep? How could anyone sleep in a situation like this?!
I kicked the blanket away, sat up, and peeked toward the balcony.
Outside, I could already hear Carlyle's icy commands.
"...Send every last one of them to the underground dungeon. I want to know exactly who these vermin are who dared to challenge the Lucerne barrier—even if we have to wring the answers from their very souls."
His voice was completely different from the gentle tone he'd used with me moments ago.
The bone-chilling cold seemed to seep through the cracks in the door.
I reached into the mattress and felt for the silver cylinder. It was still there, unharmed.
The imperial knight order moving directly means the emperor has confirmed my identity, doesn't it? Or are they after this cylinder?
All I'd ever wanted was to walk a flower-strewn path like the heroines in romantic fantasy novels. So why did my life genre keep veering into "full-scale family destruction prevention espionage thriller" territory?
After leaving elite knights stationed outside his youngest sister's room, Carlyle returned to his office with an expression like the harshest winter blizzard.
On his desk lay a scrap of black cloth the knights had torn from the frozen intruders.
The emblem revealed in the moonlight was unmistakable.
It was the imperial family's crest—an arrogant sun blazing pitch black.
Carlyle frowned and slowly ran his long fingers across the crude, sloppy embroidery.
"...A counterfeit."
His frigid voice shattered the silence of the office.
The fabric torn from an assassin's hem was laughably amateurish.
The very fact that someone who should have been moving in secret had appeared wearing the imperial emblem was already comedic.
This was clearly a fake clue planted by someone hoping to force a direct collision between House Lucerne and the imperial family.
Carlyle's brow furrowed even deeper.
To dare impersonate the imperial family, insult his house, and even target the life of his one and only younger sister...
Fourteen years ago, the sudden loss of his beloved parents had thrust an eleven-year-old boy into hell.
But there had been no time to grieve.
So no one would ever look down on him, Carlyle had taken up the sword. After training that felt like endless screams, he had reached the rank of swordmaster in just one year.
The title of the empire's greatest swordsman and the proud seat of family head were both the bloody result of a single-minded determination to protect his siblings.
In his eyes, they were still clumsy and lacking.
He wanted the accident-prone Cassian and the innocent Elinor to simply live as they wished and be happy.
To give them smiles untainted by darkness, Carlyle had chosen to become a monster himself.
And now, uninvited guests sought to shatter the peace he had built.
The fact that they had targeted the room of the youngest—the one the family cherished above all—had touched his reverse scale.
"This isn't some simple power struggle between houses. Something far larger is moving to shake the entire empire to its foundations."
Carlyle's blue eyes gleamed with icy light as he summoned his aide.
"Send those 'icicle rats' we captured in Elinor's room straight to the imperial palace.
We should present His Majesty Emperor Kaelus with this unpleasant gift and inform him that scoundrels have appeared who dare impersonate the imperial family and disturb the empire."
The aide asked in shock, "M-My lord. Sending them directly to the imperial palace... does that mean you intend to lodge a formal protest with His Majesty?"
"Not a protest. Cooperation."
Carlyle smiled coldly, the corner of his mouth lifting at an angle.
"I'm sure His Majesty will be most interested to learn who dared tarnish the imperial name and covet the flower of Lucerne.
Whoever the culprit may be, they will pay a bone-chilling price for daring to touch both Lucerne and the imperial family at once."
Head of House Lucerne. Legendary swordmaster with silver hair and blue eyes. Cold and overprotective older brother.
