"Go home…"
Those were the words Arienne had been telling me for the past six months… every single time I came anywhere near the manor.
I never argued with her.
I just didn't listen.
The council had sealed a one-kilometer radius around the place. Invisible barriers, layered spells, warnings carved into the land itself. No one was allowed past the boundary. No one.
So I stood where I was permitted to stand.
And watched.
The manor was frozen in time.
No—not just the manor.
The entire surrounding land had been swallowed by ice. Trees stood mid-bend beneath thick frost, the ground locked in a permanent winter, the air sharp and unmoving. Nothing grew there anymore. Nothing aged either.
I guessed that was why Lucian's power had always been feared.
Auren had told me once, quietly, like it was a truth he didn't want to admit.
He believed Lucian had held back.
