Prologue
It was a night of mud.
The sky hung heavy, as though already foretelling the rain that would begin before dawn, and the acrid smoke rising from the burned-out castle blurred the world beyond recognition.
Goooooo!
The cannon fire that had rolled out into the distance came back like an echo. Shards of rock shattered by the bombardment blanketed the surroundings, and the shrieks of collapsing horses rang out all around.
Woooo. Wooooo. Woooo―
As if in mourning, the laden wind whipped through the royal palace.
Above the castle walls, swallowed by night, the deep-blue banner of the rebels lifted its head like a serpent. Its snapping grandeur looked almost like a dragon’s great, coiling lunge after prey.
That was how many enemies there were. Lights flared in the darkness.
Fire arrows.
Hundreds, thousands of arrows traced bright arcs through the sky. With so many flames stitching the heavens, the darkness itself seemed about to split open in an instant.
It was treason.
Burning red shadows flickered over the broken bodies of the King’s Guard, who had already drawn their last breath.
And the king, left alone, was bleeding out among the corpses.
A gold earring, stained and swaying, dangled uselessly through her tangled lilac hair. It had once symbolized her authority, but now all its brilliance had faded.
Even that was no longer hers.
Thud!
A looter ripped it from her ear.
Blood splattered again at the rough, merciless touch, but the woman no longer had the strength to cry out in pain.
Hahk.
Only a ragged breath escaped the throat that had already cried and struggled itself into exhaustion.
The looters surrounding that pitiful ruin snickered and laughed.
Then a hoarse voice slipped from the mouth of the fallen king.
“...Aiden.”
Snorting, the man who had aimed the blade of betrayal at her gave a sneer.
Only then did the king realize her mistake.
Foolishly, even with the traitor standing right before her, she was still calling for the one who had once stood at her side—Aiden.
The man was no longer the sniveling little cousin the king had personally taken from the ruins of a burned estate and raised by hand.
“Aiden L. Keirikson.”
When she spoke his full name, his sidelong gaze flashed with gold through the tangled strands of his hair.
The king asked in a dry, lifeless voice, almost as if reciting it.
“Was that... the peace you wanted so badly?”
“My, my, Your Majesty of House Alperios.”
The traitor Aiden taunted her, waving the gold earring he had stolen from the king through the air.
“No, I suppose I should say former Majesty now. You’ve stepped down from the throne of gold, after all.”
It was an impossible reality.
Aiden Keirikson had been the king’s paternal cousin.
Royal blood was tangled in so many knots that relatives tearing each other apart and killing one another was common.
For that very reason, the former head of House Keirikson and his wife had also become victims of the bloody political struggle that had raged at the time, and died.
And then there had been the child, the son of criminals, left to starve to death alone.
The king had found him herself and saved him.
Since he had a talent for the sword, she had ignored the displeased looks of other nobles and assigned him a tutor.
He had been taught everything from the most basic common sense to etiquette, military strategy, and martial arts.
And after being rescued like that, the cousin who had once clung to her like a tongue in her mouth was now mocking her as she knelt before him.
The woman cast a dry look over his shoulder. Behind him stood the knights in red uniforms.
Knights who had once been the king’s sword.
The king— the woman who had cherished her cousin— had foolishly ordered them assigned to him so they could keep him safe.
Never imagining that they would return as blades aimed at her throat.
Dirty dust and blood mixed into tears that ran thickly down the woman’s cheeks.
“Ha! So you still think Sir Ted is a knight who will protect Your Majesty?”
The cousin’s vicious laughter fell over the woman’s dazed golden eyes.
The traitor who shared her blood had the same gold irises, chillingly enough.
With the gold of kinship that had made him worthy of her trust above all others, the cousin flung the bloodstained earring into the air.
“Here. Your reward.”
Clack!
The knight who caught it slipped the earring into his breast with satisfaction.
Looking at the deposed king, who had lost even the ability to show an expression, the usurper sneered again.
“See clearly, former Majesty. Where are all the ministers who propped you up until now?”
There was no need to look far.
Yes, everyone was here.
As they always had, the comrades who had fought to defend the nation stood gathered in one place, surrounding her.
The only thing that had changed was one thing.
The sword.
Only the tips of the swords they held were now pointed at her.
In the end, the woman who had once been king swallowed her blood and lowered her head.
Even if her neck were cut down like this, there was nothing left to fear.
She believed every frightening thing had already happened.
“Sister.”
Until the traitor came closer and whispered the next words at her ear.
“Where have you hidden the prince?”
“...!”
The gold eyes that had given up on everything, lost all focus, snapped wide open.
What am I supposed to do...!
Darkness swallowed the king’s sight.
The traitor who desired the throne would never leave alone the existence of the infant prince, who might one day grow into the seed of future unrest.
If things continued this way, the baby would surely die.
Strength rushed back into every knuckle of the hand that had been hanging limp, ready to accept death, and her fingers turned white.
“A...Aiden...”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
There was laughter in the mocking honorific. It was the smile of a starving beast that had found its prey.
Seeing that cruel smile, the king’s lips trembled.
“The child... please.”
Aiden crouched before her, leaning closer as though asking her to continue. The king seized the leg of his trousers and pleaded.
“Please spare him. Aiden! I’m begging you.”
“What?”
“You can cut down my neck all you like. So don’t touch that child!”
At that instant, Aiden’s face twisted savagely.
He sprang to his feet and kicked the fallen king hard.
“Damn it, answer the question when I ask it!”
Thud!
“Do you still think some worthless thing like you is a king who rules over all creation? Who the hell do you think you are, giving orders?”
The king coughed and wheezed, but still did not let go of the trouser leg she had grabbed.
Seeing that ugly spectacle, Aiden’s expression gradually eased.
“You’re less than a lump of meat to be torn apart and pecked at by crows. You’ll be left outside the city walls to die!”
“...”
“And the blood-and-flesh brat you gave birth to will be sent after you soon enough.”
“...!”
Aiden smiled with a thin, oily cruelty and finally yanked his caught leg free.
The king, who was already dying, was flung helplessly onto the cold ground.
“Find him.”
“Yes!”
“N-no...”
No!
Desperate, the king reached out with hands smeared filthy by dust, but the knights had already begun searching the area. The sounds of furniture toppling and objects shattering followed.
With every crash, it felt as though some monster’s footsteps were tightening around her heart, and the king’s mind went numb. Her gaze, without her even meaning it, darted to where the child might be.
A carriage parked behind the royal gardens. A heap of luggage stacked high.
And inside the basket hidden beneath a thin cloth!
“Hhk, hahk. Your Majesty, how could this happen...”
A baby with lilac hair, just like the king’s, was inside.
Hidden in the corner of the carriage, a woman clutching the infant basket to her chest trembled so violently that her whole face was soaked with tears.
She was the prince’s nurse, the last of those who had sworn loyalty to the king and survived. She was also the only one who could not rush forward like the other knights and attendants, even while watching her liege be captured and die.
Because the infant prince was in her arms.
Fortunately, the child was still sleeping soundly, but in a situation this noisy, it was stranger that he hadn’t woken up already.
With the forced search under way, a box of corn was smashed, a jar broke, and wine spilled across the floor. The more the chaos swelled, the more grief hardened on the nurse’s face.
Don’t cry. Please. Please...
As she swallowed hot tears and prayed with all her heart, the baby in the basket woke at the sound of the commotion and opened his eyes with a start.
The child stared blankly up at the pale blue cloth covering his view, then moved his little hands in confusion.
“U? U.”
Tears gradually welled in the child’s face as if he were searching for his mother. His golden eyes shimmered precariously, on the verge of breaking into tears at any moment.
“N-no, little one. You mustn’t cry. If you cry...”
Even in the middle of all this, the nurse begged the baby.
At that same moment, the child’s mother—the king who had lost everything—clasped her filthy hands together in prayer.
Winter Bell.
The king believed in the dragon priest who had delivered the oracle telling her to hide the child.
And she believed in the dragon that priest served, Winter Bell.
Winter Bell, my friend and guardian. Please save the child you have sheltered.
That innocence, that strength of faith, sometimes reached all the way to the heavens...
“...Honestly.”
Clink!
With the sound of a bell, a boy appeared in the air like a mirage and stepped down before the eyes of the nurse hidden inside the carriage.
At every step he took, white snowflake crystals scattered softly in his wake.
The terrified nurse tried to back away with the basket clutched to her chest, but the wall behind her blocked her escape. There was nowhere left to run.
“...!”
“Shh.”
With a light wave of his hand, the boy froze the nurse’s body solid as ice. It was high-level freezing magic that stopped movement without harming life.
Once the nurse was immobilized like an ice statue, the boy took the basket from her arms.
“You again? We’re going to get attached at this rate, seriously.”
“Uu?”
“No royal family has ever summoned me twice for the same reason before, you know.”
“Awoowa!”
While the boy muttered in complaint, what seized the baby’s attention was the silver bell hanging from the tip of the staff he held. The baby stopped fussing and reached out a tiny hand, clutching the silver bell that swayed before his eyes.
The boy looked quietly into those clear golden eyes and tilted his head a little.
“Hmm. You’re not crying. Guess your mother cried for both of you.”
The baby, who had no idea what was happening in the royal castle, simply nestled quietly in his arms and fiddled with the bell.
After letting out a small sigh, the boy glanced toward the carriage door.
“Let’s settle our devout believer’s wish first.”
Swish.
Suddenly, white blossoms of snow spread from beneath the boy’s feet and consumed the carriage interior. The temperature dropped in an instant, and icicles began to form.
Almost at the same moment, the carriage door was thrown open.
Just in time, the rebel search party had rushed in.
“Ugh! What is this place?”
“It’s all ice. A freezing spell.”
“Brrr, it’s cold.”
In the blink of an eye, the carriage had become a freezer packed with ice.
“Tsk... not even an ant could survive in here, let alone a baby.”
“Move on. Next!”
The rebels, blocked by the ice and unable to find the nurse or the baby, looked around and then left empty-handed.
Everywhere, the sounds of things breaking and exploding rang out. Screams of people, the thuds of horses stabbed and collapsing, all of it blended together into a tragedy.
The baby slept quietly again, still clutching the bell.
Airen.
On the pendant hanging around the baby’s neck was the name his mother, the king, had given him.
“Airen? ‘A life filled with love.’ Hah. That’s a fitting name from you, Titania.”
The boy muttered the king’s name as casually as if he were calling a friend, then gave a faint snort. Yet unlike the curve of his mouth, his sunset-colored eyes were sunk deep and dark.
“If I’m going to grant your wish, I can’t leave the kid like this.”
According to the prayer that begged for the baby’s survival, the rebels must not recognize the prince. If he were left here as he was, both the nurse and the baby would be as good as dead.
Seeing that fact plainly, the boy slowly stroked the baby’s hair.
Swish.
“...!”
Witnessing that, the nurse’s eyes trembled violently. Even if her body could not move, she still had consciousness and could see everything clearly.
The lilac hair that so closely resembled the king’s changed, as the boy’s hand brushed over it, to a pale white as though it were icing over.
Before long, the baby’s hair had transformed into a pure silver, with not a trace of lilac left to be seen.
It was a blessing of winter.
The boy restored the frozen carriage interior to its original state, then placed the infant basket back into the nurse’s arms after releasing the freezing spell that had held her still. He left the carriage at an unhurried pace.
The situation outside had already reached its end.
The traitors had tied the king to a pillar and killed her. A sword tore through her heart, her limbs bound in rough chains, and the stench of iron filled the air.
Once the guards had confirmed the king’s death, they ceased resistance while weeping blood.
“You vile rebels. I shall curse you for all eternity.”
A curse spilled over dark red blood that looked as though it had bitten into poison. The captain of the guard, unafraid even before those sharp blades, shouted with all the hatred in his chest.
“By the name of Winter Bell!”
Stab!
Filthy blood flowed over the sword that had pierced the king.
That was the miserable end of the great nation of Alperios.
—And yet.
“...So why, exactly, are you using my name there?”
There was one spectator who was thoroughly displeased by the whole thing.
“I get that it’s miserable and unfair, but...”
Clink!
The bell hanging from the boy’s pure white staff gave a clear, bright ring.
Watching the tragedy wrought by power and betrayal, the boy let out a light sigh.
“What exactly am I supposed to do about it?”
After confirming one last time that the king had bled to death, the boy turned sharply away. Then, with a grimace, he pinched his nose.
“I’m sick of the smell of blood.”
The moment he took a step, an ice-made door appeared in the air. The instant he passed through it, he was transported elsewhere in the blink of an eye, just as he had been when he arrived at the palace.
Whoosh!
Before his eyes spread a dazzling snowfield.
Standing alone on the white plain, the boy swallowed a sigh and looked up at the dozens of silver birds floating overhead. White crows, slicing through the cold winter sky, scattered like sunlight.
“Please don’t reject your sacred fate, Master.”
“Yes! You were born as the Regulator for this world, weren’t you?”
Their whispers were as beautiful as music-box chimes echoing down from the heavens. But the boy did not move an inch.
How absurd. Born for the sake of others? That’s not a sacred fate. That’s just slavery.
Clink―
Leaning on his staff, the boy muttered lazily,
“I just want to be alone...”
His name was Seherbian Winter Bell.
The Regulator born into the world bearing the great mission of a Bell, and the dragon who called forth winter.
At the same time, he was a silver dragon who had not the slightest intention of faithfully carrying out that sacred duty.
...He was currently suffering from a severe case of lethargy.