The Villainess Wants To Retire-Chapter 137: Memory

He did.

Spent the next ten minutes creating increasingly elaborate ice sculptures. Animals. Buildings. Abstract shapes that caught light in interesting ways. Each one more complex than the last. Each one demonstrating just how much control he had over his element.

I watched.

Asked for specific things. Made him create a dragon just to see if he could. Laughed when it came out looking more like an oversized lizard than anything divine.

He pretended to be offended. Created a better one. More detailed. With wings that actually looked like they might work for flight if ice could somehow become alive.

Eventually I got bored.

Not of watching him. Just of sitting still. Of being in the alcove when there was an entire cave system we hadn’t fully explored yet.

"Let’s go somewhere," I said.

He looked at me. "Where?"

"Anywhere. Walk around. See what else is here."

He considered this.

Then nodded. "Alright."

Stood up with me still in his arms. Set me down carefully. Made sure I was stable before letting go completely.

We walked together.

Through the cave system. Past the alcove. Deeper into passages I hadn’t noticed before when I’d been unconscious or distracted or focused on not dying.

Hidden chambers opened up the further we went. Smaller spaces carved into stone by time or magic or divine hands. Ancient carvings covered some walls. Runes I didn’t recognize. Symbols that probably meant something if you knew the language.

The river’s patterns were visible too. The way water flowed through channels carved centuries ago. Paths that made no logical sense but clearly served some purpose.

"How did you find this place?" I asked eventually.

Genuinely curious. The river was supposed to be myth. Legend. Something scholars debated and priests claimed didn’t exist anymore.

But Soren had found it. Known exactly where to go when I’d been dying. Brought me here without hesitation.

His expression changed.

Subtle shift. Like I’d touched something he didn’t want touched. Memory he didn’t revisit often.

"I’m not sure," he said slowly. "It’s always been a mystery."

Paused. Looked at me. Seemed to be deciding something.

"I was a boy," he continued finally. "Ten years. Maybe eleven. My powers had started manifesting properly under Vetra’s watch. Growing stronger. Harder to hide."

I stayed quiet. Let him tell it at his own pace.

"Somehow Soreth discovered them." His voice went flat. "His paranoia had gotten even worse. Seeing shadows everywhere. Trusting no one. When he found out his slave borne son who was supposed to be worthless could wield ice magic at levels that rivaled his own..."

He didn’t need to finish that sentence.

I understood. Paranoid rulers didn’t keep threats close. They eliminated them.

"He ordered my execution," Soren continued. "Publicly. Made it a decree. Every Winter Knight in the palace came after me. Hundreds of soldiers hunting one boy. Not even Vetra could stop him. She tried. Argued. But when Soreth gave orders..."

He trailed off.

Started walking again. I followed.

"I ran for days," he said. "Fought when I had to. Fled when I could. Made it deeper into wilderness than anyone expected. Lost most of the guards eventually."

Paused at one of the carved walls. Traced a symbol with his fingers.

"But I’d pushed too far. Used too much magic. My small body couldn’t handle it. Just like your fire. The ice started turning inward. Freezing me from the inside. Veins. Organs. Everything."

His hand dropped.

"I collapsed in the forest. Under a full moon. Just... waiting to die. And the strange thing was..." He smiled slightly. "I wasn’t worried. Wasn’t scared. Just lay there admiring how beautiful the moon looked. How peaceful everything seemed at night."

Something in my chest ached.

"My vision started blurring," he continued quietly. "Everything going dark. And I saw someone in the distance. A figure. She looked like my mother. I’d forgotten her face years ago. Couldn’t remember anything except the name she gave me. But I knew her silhouette. The way she moved." 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

He was silent for a moment.

"And she called me by that name," he said finally. "The one I’ve never told anyone. And then..."

Pause.

"My lungs gave out. Everything stopped. I was dead. Should have stayed dead."

He looked at me.

"But I woke up in the river. The guardians all around me. Confused why a dead boy was suddenly breathing. I remained in the cave for almost a year. Communicated with them. With the river itself. Learned half of what I was. What I could become."

His expression turned melancholic.

Lost in memory. In the weight of everything he’d carried alone. Child hunted by his own father. Boy who’d died and somehow come back. A child who’d spent his days in isolation learning to survive.

Just like I was...

At least I had Caelen for a short while... But he didn’t.

I reached out without thinking.

Touched his face. Gentle. Just my fingertips against his cheek.

He leaned into the touch immediately.

Eyes closing. Smile appearing despite the sadness in his voice.

"Do you pity me?" he asked softly.

"You must have been so lonely," I said.

Not answering his question directly. Because pity wasn’t what I felt.

Understanding maybe. Recognition. The knowledge that he’d survived something that should have broken him and somehow come out stronger.

"Living like that," I continued. "In the palace. Hunted. Alone. No one to trust."

He opened his eyes.

"You didn’t have it any different."

True.

We’d both survived childhoods that should have killed us. Both learned to be weapons before we learned to be people. Both carried scars that no one else could see.

"You said she called your other name," I said, catching something in his earlier story.

His expression shifted. "I did."

"You have another name?"

"It’s a secret." He said it lightly but I heard the weight underneath. "I’ve never told anyone. And the river said It was tied to something inside me. Something I don’t fully understand yet. But—"

I pressed my hand over his mouth.

Stopping him before he could continue. Before he could share something he wasn’t ready to share. Before trust became obligation instead of choice.

"If it carries that much importance," I said, "I don’t need to know."

He froze.

"When you’re ready to tell me," I continued, "you will. Until then, it’s yours to keep."