MELT MY FROZEN HEART
Chapter 51 — Whispers of the Past, Tension in the Present
The grand hall buzzed with news long buried but never forgotten.
"Foreigners?" Oki whispered as she trailed behind Prince Kimo, her eyes wide with curiosity. The palace corridors were unusually crowded, nobles murmuring, guards standing taller, and servants practically tripping over themselves trying to listen in.
Kimo's cold eyes flicked to her. "They're not just foreigners, they're cowards," he muttered under his breath.
Oki blinked. "Cowards?"
Kimo didn't answer directly. His gaze was locked ahead, jaw tight, but there was something in the air—a story buried beneath the polished floors and gilded walls.
The banquet hall doors swung open, revealing a sea of officials, diplomats, and outsiders dressed in foreign silks. Their embroidered symbols bore scars—dragons, swords, and phoenixes—but their proud faces faltered the moment they laid eyes on Kimo.
Oki caught it—the hesitation, the unease—the fear.
"They fought us before," one guard whispered near the entrance. "During the Frost War… they came with fire in their hearts, left with ice in their veins."
Oki's lips parted in realization. These were the infamous foreigners who once challenged the kingdom, their army vanishing into the northern blizzards, returning home trembling, unable to speak of what they'd seen.
Rumors claimed it was Prince Kimo—young, barely sixteen—who walked into their ranks alone. The snowstorm rose, and when it cleared… only their leader crawled back, frostbitten and broken, muttering nonsense about "eyes colder than death" and "the prince who commands the storm."
But now? Those same foreigners stood in Kimo's hall, masking fear with forced smiles.
"Play nice," Kimo whispered sarcastically to Oki, but his voice tensed when he noticed the foreigners' eyes lingering on her.
One of the foreign diplomats, young, blonde, charming, approached with a practiced grin. His eyes sparkled as they landed on Oki.
"And who is this lovely flower beside the prince?" the diplomat asked smoothly, ignoring Kimo entirely.
Oki opened her mouth to answer, but Kimo stepped between them, his tall frame practically radiating cold.
"She's a servant," Kimo snapped, voice sharp as ice shards.
Oki raised a brow. Servant? Since when did he care enough to sound jealous?
The diplomat chuckled, undeterred. "A servant with eyes like emerald fire? Dangerous combination." He winked at Oki before turning back to the prince. "I see the North still keeps hidden treasures."
Kimo's icy blue eyes darkened, the faintest flush of irritation creeping onto his cheeks. "Careful, foreigner," he whispered coolly, "our hidden treasures have a habit of burning those who get too close."
Oki barely held back her laugh, watching Kimo's rare display of possessiveness.
Later, as they slipped away from the crowd, Kimo walked faster than usual, his steps stiff, his expression unreadable.
"Awfully defensive for someone who claims I'm 'just a servant,'" Oki teased, bumping his arm playfully.
Kimo looked away, ears slightly pink. "Don't flatter yourself."
But even as he stormed ahead, Oki smiled, knowing the cold prince's jealousy was showing—whether he liked it or not.
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To be con....