Exiled Prince: I'm the Unexpected Extra in the Novel-Chapter 126: The Curiosity of a Frozen Heart

The War for the North[14]

The heavy and suffocating air created by the meeting had dissipated, leaving its place to the relatively calm atmosphere of the private dining room on the upper floors of Frosthelm Castle.

Although the storm outside continued to batter the windows, the crackling of the fireplace and the delicate clink of silver cutlery touching porcelain plates dominated the inside of this room.

In the center of the room, there were no showy and distant tables stretching for meters, as nobles were accustomed to.

Instead, a more intimate, round, and small table was set up. This was Cecilia’s preference.

Since losing her family, sitting alone at the head of those long tables only reminded her of her loneliness, the laughter she had lost, and her frozen heart. That was why she and Cryomara always ate their meals like this.

Three people sat around the table: The Duchess of Frosthelm, Cecilia; the Mythical Beast, Cryomara; and the strange stranger fate had dragged to this duo, Cassian.

Cassian had stripped off that "angel of death" guise in the black suit and returned to his true form. However, his mind was still in the Glacial Hall.

On the plate in front of him stood a steaming piece of meat marinated with Frosthelm’s famous spices, accompanied by sautéed root vegetables.

Cassian stuck his fork into the meat. He brought it to his mouth slowly, as if in slow motion. He chewed, he swallowed.

He couldn’t taste it.

The only thing spinning in his mind was the "Harvest." The union of gods... The reaping of humanity like a crop... This knowledge had increased the burden on his shoulders by tons.

The support army was on its way, time was running short, and the preparations that needed to be done were piled up like mountains.

He didn’t take his eyes off his plate for even a moment, as if looking for a battle strategy even in the arrangement of the vegetables.

In stark contrast, Cryomara was having one of the most enjoyable evenings of her life.

The plate in front of her was the fifth one.

The Mythical Beast was eating with an elegant but frightening appetite. Even Cordelia’s gluttony would pale in comparison to Cryomara’s performance this evening.

She stripped a drumstick down to the bone, took a sip of her wine, and then moved on to the next plate.

As Cryomara continued to eat, her joy increased even more.

And on the third side of the table, Cecilia...

She hadn’t even touched her food. Her hands were clasped in her lap, her ocean-blue eyes locked on the white-haired young man sitting across from her, eating mechanically.

She remembered the moment they first met. His arrogant attitude, his reckless speech... She had thought he was a vulture waiting for Frosthelm’s weak moment, a fraud, perhaps even a pervert. She had been disgusted by him.

But now...

From the crystal ball in her room, she had watched what happened in the meeting hall.

Cassian’s cold, unshakable stance. How he stood like a mountain before the lords and generals.

Especially that "traitor hunt" scene could not be erased from her mind.

Cassian had given Cryomara a list. A list of traitors extending from the lowest maid in the castle to the highest-ranking commander.

At first, they had approached this list with suspicion. There was no proof, only the word of a stranger.

But when Cassian said, "You want proof?", he had summoned that thing.

[Coffin of the Kraken]

That coffin, from which viscous purple limbs emerged, carrying the curse of an ancient ocean.

Even watching from her room, Cecilia had been left breathless under the weight of the aura radiating from that coffin.

The will of everyone who entered there was broken, their minds turned into puppets with strings tied to Cassian’s fingertips.

Varek’s confessions... The severed head... And the "Holy Sun" that followed.

Cassian was the darkest face of death one moment, and shining like a life-giving saint the next.

It was as if he were the "Joker" card in a deck. An element of chaos that didn’t follow the rules, changing shape according to every situation, both terrifying and awe-inspiring.

Cryomara’s warning given during their time alone rang in her ears: "That boy is not an ordinary human, my little butterfly. He is an abomination formed from the combination of dozens of living things."

Cecilia looked at Cassian’s face while toying with her meat with her fork.

His smooth skin, messy and long white hair, tired dark circles... Looking from the outside, he was no different from a boy with the world on his shoulders.

What did ’combination of dozens of living things’ mean? Was he a chimera? Or was his soul fragmented?

She didn’t understand. And as she didn’t understand, her curiosity was turning into an obsession.

"My little butterfly..."

Cryomara’s velvety voice cut through Cecilia’s thoughts like a knife.

Cecilia flinched, her shoulders tensed. A slight pinkness spread to her cheeks from being caught. She quickly lowered her gaze to her plate.

"M-Ma’am?"

Cryomara smiled, gently swirling the goblet in her hand. "You haven’t touched your food. It seems to me you are eating the little lizard across from you with your eyes, not your plate. Is there a problem?"

Cecilia’s face turned even redder. "N-No! I was just... wondering if our guest liked the food. He is very quiet."

Cryomara giggled. This sound was as clear and dangerous as the cracking of glaciers.

"Don’t worry about that, sweetie. He should be grateful just to have the chance to dine at the same table with two beautiful women. If he didn’t like the food, that would just make him ungrateful."

She turned her eyes to Cassian.

"Isn’t that right, little lizard?"

Cassian didn’t answer. He hadn’t even heard. His fork remained suspended in the air.

Cryomara’s eyes narrowed. She hated indifference.

"Hmm... So we are ignoring us."

She took a deep breath and pursed her lips.

PUFF.

From Cryomara’s lips, a thin stream of ice wind, invisible to the eye but penetrating to the marrow, emerged.

This stream glided over the table, reached the back of Cassian’s neck, and slipped inside the collar of his shirt, right towards his spinal cord.

It was as if someone had shoveled a pile of snow down his back.

"HIIIEK!"

Cassian jumped in his seat as if electrocuted.

His fork flew from his hand and hit the plate, making a loud clatter. His hand went to the back of his neck reflexively, trying to clean off that imaginary snow.

His eyes were wide open. He looked at those at the table in astonishment, then his gaze stopped on Cryomara, who was smiling slyly.

"What are you doing?!" snapped Cassian, his voice cracking.

Cryomara shrugged as if she had done the most innocent thing in the world.

"Nothing, ungrateful lizard. I just think you are tiring that little brain of yours too much."

She popped another piece of food into her mouth.

"Rest a little. Seeing that sullen face of yours ruins my appetite. Finish your meal."

Then, she added as if a trivial detail had just come to mind.

"After dinner... you can use the hot spring on the lower floor of the castle."

Cassian’s hand froze on the back of his neck. The word ’Hot spring’ pushed all the war plans in his brain aside.

His eyes lit up.

"Hot spring?" he said, his voice carrying the excitement of a child in front of a candy store. "Is there... a natural hot water source here?"

He probed his game knowledge. He didn’t recall such a detail in Frosthelm Castle. But many things were different in this world.

Hot water. Steam. Bamboos. Relaxing muscles.

For days—no, for weeks—he had smelled of blood, sweat, dust, and death. He would sell his soul right now not just to get clean, but to shake off that cold penetrating his bones.

"Yes," said Cecilia, intervening. Her voice was still a bit timid. "Deep in the castle, there is an old bath heated by a volcanic vein. It is rarely used but... its water is healing."

Cassian attacked the food in front of him. The "eating like a machine" state from a moment ago was gone, replaced by a rush to "finish as soon as possible and jump into the water."

Cryomara enjoyed watching this simple happiness, this human weakness of his. Powerful, ruthless, intelligent... but sometimes as simple as a puppy wagging its tail when hearing the words ’hot water’.

A devilish glint appeared in her eyes.

"Let me give a warning," said Cryomara in a mocking tone. "You will be alone in the hot spring. If you have fantasies like naked maids gliding through the steam or beauties scrubbing your back in mind... forget it, little lizard. Just you and the hot water."

Cassian rolled his eyes while taking a large gulp of his water.

"Oh, how sad I am," he said, his voice filled with obvious sarcasm. "You broke my heart, My Lady. Whereas I thought I would bathe with my harem."

He brought the glass to his mouth again.

"Is that so?" said Cryomara, lowering her tone an octave. "I thought quite the opposite. After all... you are a certified pervert."

Cassian didn’t pause while drinking the water, thinking this was just one of Cryomara’s classic jabs.

But Cryomara continued.

"...After all, it was you who sneaked into my little butterfly’s bedroom and rummaged through her underwear with great curiosity, wasn’t it?"

Cassian swallowed the water in his mouth painfully and choked.

He went into a violent coughing fit.

"Cough! Cough! W-What?!"

His face turned beet red from lack of breath and embarrassment. He hit his chest, trying to breathe.

He didn’t expect her to know this.

That day... While looking for that damn clue, he had been forced to search Cecilia’s room.

But he was now realizing how it looked from the outside: A man entering the Duchess’s room and rummaging through her underwear.

And worse... Cryomara knew this.

"I... I can explain!" said Cassian, his voice trembling with panic. He raised his hands in the air. "It’s not what it looks like! I was just... looking for something... I mean..."

Not a single logical sentence came to mind to defend himself. Saying ’I was rummaging through your panties to save the world’ didn’t sound very heroic.

He fell silent.

Cecilia turned her head quickly to the other side as if remembering that moment. Her ears were burning hot.

Cecilia hadn’t forgotten that event but had tried not to dwell on it.

Now, having that moment become table conversation made her want to sink into the ground.

Cryomara giggled, deriving great pleasure from this chaos.

"Relax, I’m joking," she said, but her eyes weren’t joking. "You are lucky that my little butterfly pitied you, or perhaps found your helplessness in that moment cute, little lizard. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be eating here right now. At best, you would be continuing your life as a castrated lizard."

Cassian swallowed in fear. The coldness of the water in his throat combined with Cryomara’s threat formed a knot in his stomach. This woman... knew everything. Every moment, every mistake.

Cecilia took a deep breath. She closed her eyes, tried to calm down, and opened them again. Pushing her embarrassment aside, she focused on her food.

But her mind wouldn’t go quiet.

There was so much she wanted to ask Cassian.

She didn’t care why he examined the underwear. What she really wondered was what lay in the depths of this boy’s heart.

Was he a hero? A monster? Or just a lonely boy defying fate, wanting a hot bath and a full stomach?

What did he truly desire? Power? Revenge? Or something else that no one knew, something he hid behind those cold walls?

The hot spring enjoyment would perhaps be an opportunity not just for his body, but to untangle these knots in their souls as well. Provided Cryomara allowed it.

_ _ _

Hi everyone,

I’ve started working on a new novel.

Its theme and story structure are completely different from my current one.

If you’re into academy settings, a yandere twist, a strange main character, and a single female lead, you might enjoy this one.

[F-Rank Beast: The Heroine’s Useless Partner]