“By the way, out there even tofu could turn into a blunt weapon, hard as winter iron.”

“A blunt… weapon?!” The System flinched; a chill crawled up its spine like a thin blade of ice. “If tofu freezes solid, can humans even live there?”

“Well, once the cold bites, everything sets like stone.” Yan Xiao’s smile was warm steam in frost. “That’s why I told you and Nai Nai to mind your winter gear.”

“That’s not gear you just ‘mind’—that’s survive-or-freeze.” The System’s breath came out in a pale cloud, a tiny, cute shiver. “Then even locals in the Northland would be stuck, right?”

“Hm? Who told you soldiers of the Northland Six Kingdoms freeze at the first snow?” Yan Xiao’s glance slid over like a fox in fresh powder. “They’re our opposite. The colder it gets, the hotter their courage burns.”

“What—are they even human?” The System’s shock popped like ice cracking on a lake. “How did you ever scout the Northland Six Kingdoms alone against that kind of war tribe?”

“Heh, you’re such a kidder, System.” Yan Xiao tapped its shoulder, light as falling snow. “They’re human. What else—monsters? If you can’t stomach winter, you don’t settle in the borderlands unless you’re a fool.”

“...That’s not the point!”

“Anyway, regular cold gear won’t cut it on the Northland border.” Her tone was a calm hearth under storm. “Sit tight in Chronos City for a few days. I’ll make new protection for you and Nai Nai.”

Yan Xiao turned to her machine; gears hummed like beehives in summer, and lines bloomed on the blueprint like frost flowers. The System lingered, then, hands cupped around a teacup warm as dawn, drained the last amber sip and drifted back to its room like a small cloud.

Meanwhile, inside the Ice Palace of the Northland—

“Your Majesty, Ice Emperor! Your Majesty! S–something terrible!” A red-haired girl, all curve and quick steps, burst in; blue light flashed at her boots like lightning under glass, and in a blink, ice climbed her body like a hungry vine and sealed her whole.

“Kya—!” The scream sliced the hush like a needle through silk, sharp and cold in the crystalline hall.

A figure reclined on the Ice Throne, eyes closed in winter rest, and her voice fell like sleet. “What is it, Thousandwise? Why do you wear such a wretched face?”

Her lazy tone carried a young edge, ringing off the throne that glittered like carved glacier. In the center, Thousandwise protruded only a head from a forest of ice spikes; her dazed eyes swam, and the pain twisted her fine features like wind warping snow cornices.

Beads of sweat, bright as dew on frozen plum, dotted her brow. For a breath she thought she would die, yet her gaze—hungry, feverish—clung to the petite silhouette on high like a moth to a moon.

“Ah… Your Majesty, Ice Emperor…” Her moan trembled, a thrill braided with terror, like fingertips grazing the edge of death.

“Speak, Thousandwise.” The Ice Emperor’s voice fell cool as shade, her throne’s shadow a mountain pressing on the air.

“You know this hour is our cherished rest,” she said, hand propping one cheek like a snow lily under weight. “We declared it clear: no one enters while we sleep. So, Thousandwise—spit out all of it before our patience thins like melting rime. Or we’ll be happy to give you a small punishment.”

In any other realm, such frost would shatter souls like thin ice; but Thousandwise was a different species of flame. Pain flushed her face in a strange bloom, yet her mind stayed bright as starlight on ice.

“Y-yes, Your Majesty… A spy in Chronos City sent word.” Her voice scraped like rope on ice. “Two generals from Chronos City are coming into the Northland to scout.”

“Oh?” A soft lift, like wind lifting a veil. “So that old fossil in Chronos City can’t hold his fire and wants to come at us?” Wrapped in the throne’s shadow, she sounded almost amused. Limbs stretched like a cat in sun, then she stepped down, each footfall crisp as breaking lake crust.

Frozen in place, Thousandwise sensed the storm. Her eyes locked on the shadow approaching—the sovereign star of the Northland—and her ink-dark irises burned with worship like coals under snow.

It’s here… the rare vision of Her Majesty’s face, a spring bloom in dead winter.

“Good intel, Thousandwise.” The Ice Emperor’s tone shifted, frost edging the wind. “But there’s one flaw. We heard it a few hours ago.” Spirit Energy rippled through the hall like a sudden blizzard, restless under her brief anger.

“Mmm—ah!” Encased in spears, Thousandwise bucked with a sweet hiss, pleasure and pain twined like thorn and rose.

“Ahhh… We see, Thousandwise. You did it on purpose.” The Ice Emperor’s fingers, cool as moonlight, stroked her twisted yet lovely cheek, slow as falling flakes.

“You wanted our punishment. So you waited until our rest to report.”

“F-forgive me, Your Majesty…” The icy touch blurred her vision like breath fogging glass; the squeeze of the spikes sent waves of pain rolling like dark surf, yet the doll-like face in shadow drew her in like a holy fire.

Ah—Her Majesty is angry… how beautiful, how dizzying, a face to unmake the world. What will the punishment be this time?

Pierced by the Ice Soul Spear, hung from the Ice Palace dome for three days like a fallen banner? Or strapped to the training target, to taste Her Majesty’s love, cold as steel? Or like last time—ankles tied to stones and tossed into a glacier river full of man-eating sharks, to stroll with death?

Thousandwise panted, fantasies blooming like frost on a window, each memory a scar that sang.

The Ice Emperor seemed pleased by her pet’s reaction, a curve playing at her mouth like a crescent blade.

“But, Thousandwise, you’ve grown a bit too bold.” She drew her hand back, thoughtful as a black swan on night water. “Reporting fast deserves reward. Interrupting our rest earns punishment. So—your sentence: for one month, rest exactly ten meters away from us.”

“Eh?” For a heartbeat, sound fell out of the world like a dropped drum.

Thousandwise blinked wide; disbelief fluttered like a trapped sparrow.

“B-but, Your Majesty—”

“Ah, of course.” A snap rang out, clean as a twig in frost. “We’ll heal the freezing. You’re a precious pet of ours, after all.” The great block shattered to powder, snow dust vanishing on the air, and Spirit Energy knitted her frostburn like sunlight mending ice.

“Ehhh—! Your Majesty!” Her voice broke like thin glass. “A month… how can I bear that? It’s too long, too slow, too cruel!”

Standing before her sovereign, newly mended, Thousandwise showed rare panic; fear quivered like a hare under a hawk.

“Less whining, Thousandwise. The punishment starts now.” The Ice Emperor’s command fell heavy as hail. “From this instant, keep your distance.” A disobedient pet must be trained, or a master’s steel rusts under velvet.

“Eeek—?!” A thousand grievances fluttered in her chest like leaves in gale, but the will that unified the Six Kingdoms of the Northland was law carved in ice. A subject can’t defy winter.

“S-sob… T-then I obey… sob…” Thousandwise sniffled, tears bright as beads on a red ribbon.

She picked a spot exactly ten meters away, measured like a soldier counting steps, head drooping like a wilted lotus. There she sagged, small and pitiful, snowed-under by gloom.

Silence seeped back into the Ice Palace like night settling on a frozen lake, yet the Ice Emperor’s heart refused to still.

She really stood ten meters away, just as ordered, a lonely figure like a little bird on a bare branch.

Ah… that face—too pitiful, too perfect, a look that begs to be pushed to the floor and teased, over and over. Too unfair. Too cute.

I want to bully her. I want to bully her. I want to bully her. I want to bully her. I want to bully her. I want to bully her.

But if a pet disobeys and we don’t train her, where do we set our crown? Authority is a blade; it dulls if not honed.

“Mm…” A thought budded like ice forming on water.

“Soldiers outside!”