The first thing Kael noticed was how quiet the world had become.
No sirens. No shouting. No bone-crushing betrayal echoing through the dark.
Just… silence.
His body felt light, too light — like he was floating in a dream stitched from moonlight and snow. He blinked once, then again. His fingers twitched, brushing against impossibly soft silk. The bed beneath him was warm, luxurious… far too perfect.
This wasn't Earth.
And he wasn't Kai anymore.
Kael Faelwinter, the system had said.
Slowly, he sat up.
His reflection greeted him from the tall, crystalline mirror at the edge of the room.
Long, snow-white hair. Skin like carved marble. Lips stained faintly red. Eyes… haunting, star-like silver and midnight blue. He looked like a prince sculpted by ancient gods — ethereal, otherworldly, dangerous.
The kind of beauty that didn't belong to humans.
The door burst open with a gust of freezing wind.
And then she entered.
The woman who looked too young to be anyone's mother — yet her presence stopped the air itself. She wore a regal gown of black and midnight frost, every movement laced with chilling grace. Her silver hair tumbled down her back like a winter river, and her eyes, cold and bright, locked onto his face with an emotion he couldn't yet name.
"Kael…"
She rushed to him, arms outstretched, before collapsing beside the bed and wrapping him in a tight embrace.
"You're awake. My little snowflake… you're really awake."
He didn't know how to react.
Her body was cold to the touch, like she was part of the frost itself — yet the warmth in her voice, the raw panic-turned-relief in her expression, was impossible to ignore.
"Who…" he began, but her hand gently pressed against his lips.
"No speaking. You need rest. Your Arcseal was too weak to stabilize. I should've never let the ritual happen so soon…"
Arcseal.
Right. That was the name of this world's magic system — the rite every fifteen-year-old underwent to awaken their magical talents and affinities.
The memory slammed into him like thunder.
In the novel he'd read, Kael Faelwinter was the son of the Duchess of Ice. Born with a noble name but no talent. Mocked. Shamed. Laughed out of every gathering. His Arcseal had failed — or so everyone believed.
He was destined to die in a political raid by chapter twenty. Forgotten. Crushed.
A stepping stone for Ravian Arklen, the golden-haired hero of the realm. The boy blessed with three SSS-class talents. The one who would conquer realms and hearts alike.
But now Kael was him.
And the script was changing.
[Ding! Bond Link System fully synchronized.]
[Welcome, Kael Faelwinter.]
[No bonds currently active.]
[Hidden Talent: Frost Requiem (SSS) — Status: Sealed until user achieves first Bond Activation.]
Kael exhaled slowly.
So it wasn't a dream.
The body. The system. The woman holding him like he was the only light in her life. It was all real.
"You almost died," she whispered, voice trembling. "If I had lost you again…"
Her arms tightened. The temperature in the room dropped ten degrees.
Glass cracked in the corners.
And Kael realized something terrifying — she wasn't just beautiful or cold. She was powerful. More powerful than anyone he'd ever known.
And she loved him.
Obsessively.
"I…" he said slowly, choosing his words with care. "I don't remember much. Only that I felt… something inside me break. Like ice cracking from within."
Her expression softened even more. She pressed her forehead against his.
"Your Arcseal is awakening. Slowly. But I'll protect you, Kael. From the nobles. From the king. From this world. You don't have to prove anything to anyone."
But he did.
Because this wasn't a novel anymore.
It was his life now.
And Kael Faelwinter — the boy the world had written off — would become the one name they could never forget.
"Let them praise Ravian. Let them worship their golden boy."
"I'll show them what cold ambition really looks like."