As the others watched, the Ice Belle fluttered down from Lucas's shoulder and landed lightly before him. The faint mist that lingered around her body shimmered with a crystalline glow, and for the first time, they noticed she no longer looked like the tiny, delicate spirit she once was. Her form had matured...still ethereal and graceful, but now standing taller.
She was around eighty-six centimeters tall, her once childlike frame now slim and elegant, like a figure sculpted from the purest ice. Every movement she made released a faint chime, as if her very presence resonated with the frost that filled the air. Her hair, once shoulder-length and faintly blue, now cascaded down her back in soft waves that sparkled like frozen moonlight. Her eyes, bright and crystalline, carried the calm of deep winter lakes, and her pale skin glowed faintly under the soft light that filtered through the melted frost.
Selene blinked in disbelief. "Is it just me," she muttered, "or did she… grow?"
