Peggy suddenly collapsed, her body limp in Glacius's arms.
His eyes narrowed, and though his expression remained cold, a flicker of urgency passed through his gaze. He caught her gently and muttered under his breath, "She needs healing... I have to carry her back to my territory."
Without hesitation, he stood up with her cradled in his arms. As he turned toward the exit of the throne room, his eyes sharpened, locking one final time onto the broken figure of Electrica. His voice rang with quiet warning:
"Don't lay a single hand on this island again. It's mine now."
Just as he turned away, Peggy stirred weakly in his arms, her eyes barely open, voice faint. "There... You said this is your territory..."
Glacius looked down at her and said flatly, "You need to rest."
"Why... concerned?" she whispered with a half-smile.
He gave her a long look and finally replied, "Because if something happens to you... who else would ruin my carefully sculpted peace with light beams?"
Peggy's lips curled into a tired smile as her head rested against his chest, and he carried her onward.
As they descended toward the shores, the aquatic neutrals on the island cautiously emerged, their eyes wide as they saw Glacius approachâPeggy in his arms, bloodied, but alive.
"Is she... gone?" one of them asked nervously.
Glacius looked back toward the palace with calculating calm. "No," he said. "She still lingers. But this island is mine now."
Peggy gave a faint chuckle. "So they get your icy protection now? Guess that means... they're weirdly safe."
Glacius didn't respond, but his pace didn't falter.
The aquatic neutrals exchanged glancesâunsure whether to feel afraid or grateful. But something about the sight of the frost prince carrying the light fairy like a fragile treasure softened the tension.
"If it weren't for you," Glacius muttered, more to himself, "I'd have frozen this island clean. That's how you ensure peace."
Peggy blinked slowly, lips barely moving. "But you didn't..."
He stopped at the heart of the island.
With Peggy resting gently against him, he raised one hand and drove it into the ground. A shimmering frost sigil burst forthâicy tendrils racing across the earth, covering the island in a protective emblem. A silent declaration: this land is under his protection.
Peggy, though barely conscious, lifted her hand, weak light trailing from her fingertips. With the last reserves of her power, she cast her signatureâgentle fairy flora and sparkling light danced across the island, weaving around the frost with perfect balance. Flowers bloomed between the cracks of ice. Soft vines embraced the pillars of frost. It was both preserved and alive.
Glacius glanced at the new glow around the sigil, unimpressed on the surface.
But then, his voice lowered, almost solemnly.
"If Electrica ever tries to rule them again... I will always be by their side. Because she... defies my ideals of a peaceful world."
He then looked down at the sleeping Peggy in his arms, the sparkle of light still twinkling faintly around her fingertips.
"Even if you're reckless," he whispered, "maybe... you're part of the balance I've been trying to preserve all along."
Glacius stepped into the aquatic neutral residence, his boots echoing against the polished coral flooring, Peggy still nestled carefully in his arms. The neutral residents made way, both awed and wary, unsure whether to bow or flee from the frost prince now carrying the glowing fairy.
He walked straight to their healer's chambers and lowered her gently onto the soft bed of woven sea-kelp and light crystals.
"Completely heal her," he said, his voice like cracking ice.
The aquatic doctor blinked but nodded, already calling for herbs, glowing salves from the healing pools. Glacius stood like a statue in the corner, watching silently until Peggy's breathing evened out and color returned to her cheeks. Only then did he turn and vanish without a word.
By the next day, Peggy stepped out of the chamber fully healed, her wings fluttering gently, warmth returning to her eyes. She looked around for him, already knowing where he would beâjust outside, frozen paths carving forward through the seas.
Sure enough, Glacius was thereâwalking forward in silence, freezing the water beneath his boots with each step. His aura was as frigid and precise as ever.
Without missing a beat, Peggy caught up, floating beside him. As he moved, she smiled and gently waved her hand. Everywhere he froze, she thawedâtrailing behind him, replacing ice with life. Flowers bloomed from the water's surface, and vines coiled up from the thawed seaweed.
"Back to our routine, huh?" she said playfully.
He didn't respond, only casting a sideways glance.
"You freeze. I thaw. Balance," she added, gently bumping his shoulder with hers. "You're still cold."
"And you're still loud," he muttered.
Peggy grinned. "That's what makes us a good team."
As they walkedâthe frozen path forming, then softening with every stepâneutrals and sea creatures watched from afar. The silent frost prince and the glowing fairy walked together in rhythm: logic and emotion, ice and light.
One was the bringer of stillness. The other, the pulse of warmth.
Meanwhile, far from the icy trails of Glacius and the gentle thaw of Peggy, the tides raged with fury. Prince Kairo, clad in ocean-forged armor and crowned by a spiral of living coral, surged across the sea with an army of Aqua Soldiers in his wake. Waves followed in thunderous rolls behind him as he stood atop a colossal water current, eyes locked on the horizon.
Before him lay an archipelago â small, peaceful islands belonging to neutral lands.
With a silent command, Kairo raised his trident high. The skies darkened.
With one sweep, a massive tidal wave responded, swallowing the first island whole. Structures shattered, trees uprooted, and silence followed as the land vanished beneath the ocean's claim.
To be continued in the next volume...