Chapter 1
The world was a blinding expanse of white. Under the harsh glare of the winter sun, the snow glistened like a million shattered diamonds, so bright it forced her to squint. A gust of biting wind swept across the mountain, stinging her cheeks, but Marein didn't look away. She stood at the edge of the slope, paralyzed by the raw beauty and the terrifying chill of the peaks.
Around her, the world was in motion. Skiers carved through the powder like fluid shadows, masters of the ice. She, however, remained a silent observer, a stranger to the grace of the slopes, lost in a trance of cold and light.
"You've been standing here for a long time," a voice broke through the whistling wind. "Is there a problem?"
Marein blinked, her long lashes heavy with frost. She turned to see a young man watching her with curiosity. She hesitated, her voice barely a whisper against the gale. "No... it's not something I can just explain to everyone."
Before the stranger could respond, a cold, sharp voice cut through the air like a blade.
"Stay away from her."
The atmosphere shifted instantly. A young man approached them, his posture radiating a chilling aura of arrogance. He didn't look at the stranger; his eyes were fixed on Marein with a possessive intensity.
"She's my girlfriend," he added, his voice laced with a warning.
Marein's face flushed a deep crimson, the heat of embarrassment clashing with the icy air. She lowered her head, unable to meet the stranger's gaze.
The stranger raised his hands in a mock gesture of surrender. "If she's yours, take better care of her. The cold has turned her face red. I'm leaving." With a swift movement, he pushed off and glided down the mountain, disappearing into the white haze.
Ranzo turned to Marein. He didn't offer a comforting word. Instead, he reached out, his gloved hand tilting her chin up, forcing her to look into his dark, unforgiving eyes.
"If you didn't know how to ski, why did you insist on coming?" he demanded, his voice devoid of warmth. "You could have stayed home."
Marein didn't pull away. Despite the coldness in his tone, there was a familiarity in his touch that was her only anchor. Without a word, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest.
"You know why, Ranzo," she murmured into his jacket. "Since we were children, I've always been by your side. I couldn't let you come here alone. Even if I can't ski, I just wanted to watch you..."
Ranzo stiffened. He pushed her back with a firm, detached motion.
"I can't keep saving you by telling people you're my girlfriend," he said, his attitude sharper than the winter wind. "You need to learn to stand on your own. Besides, the world knows us as siblings, but what are we, really? Neither I nor you know the truth."
He leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a haunting whisper. "I've never felt like your brother, Marein. Not for a single day. I don't accept you as my sister."
A stray tear escaped Marein's eye, freezing almost instantly against her skin. Her voice trembled. "If you won't accept me as a sister, then... then just keep calling me your girlfriend. Just don't push me away. It's true... I don't know who my real parents are. I don't know how I ended up in your family. But your parents loved me like their own. They raised us to never be apart. Whether you see me as a lover or a sister, Ranzo... we are bound."
Ranzo didn't respond. He looked at her for a long second, his expression unreadable, before turning away. Without a word of goodbye, he kicked off his skis and sped down the slope, leaving her alone in the white silence.
Marein sank into the snow, watching his figure grow smaller. A heavy weight pressed against her chest—a question that had haunted her since she was old enough to understand whispers. Was I a deal?
She had been told only that Ranzo's parents weren't her blood. But why did her biological parents abandon her? Had they traded her away like a commodity? She had been with this family since she was an infant, and while they gave her love, they never gave her the truth.
Seeking to shake off the dark thoughts and the creeping cold, she stood up. She began to run across the snow, waving her arms, trying to reclaim some sense of joy in the vast wilderness. But the mountain was treacherous.
Her foot hit a slick patch of ice near a steep drop.
In an instant, her world tilted. She let out a scream as she began to tumble down the slope, her body sliding uncontrollably toward the jagged edge of a massive cliff.
"No! Stop her!" someone screamed from the distance. "If she keeps sliding, she'll fall into the abyss! Why was she even near that edge? That's no-man's land!"
Ranzo, halfway down the mountain, heard the scream. He looked back, and his heart nearly stopped. Marein was a tumbling blur of fabric and limbs, heading straight for the mouth of a deep, frozen canyon.
He didn't think. He didn't calculate.
Ranzo pivoted his skis, carving a dangerous path upward and across the treacherous incline. The onlookers gasped, their voices hushed with terror.
"Is he a madman? Or a guardian angel?" one whispered. "He's heading straight into the jaws of death for her!"
Marein was inches from the drop, the void yawning beneath her.
Ranzo accelerated, his skis screaming against the ice. He reached the mouth of the slope just seconds before her. He slammed his skis into the snow, bracing himself with every ounce of strength he possessed. He reached out his arms, a human barrier against the abyss.
If she hadn't come today... she wouldn't be facing death, he thought grimly. I have to save us both. I'm ready.
With a sickening thud, Marein's falling body collided with Ranzo's braced arms. The impact nearly sent them both over the edge. Ranzo's skis slid back, his heels hanging over the sheer drop of the canyon.
He held her tight, his muscles straining to the breaking point as they balanced on the very edge of existence. Beneath them was certain death. In front of him was the girl he couldn't quite call a sister.
Could they survive the mountain's wrath, or had their fate already been sealed?