First Meeting with the Ice Empress

After some more time, Xue Lingyun could sit steadily, though he still swayed back and forth like a roly-poly toy.

That day, he was struggling to maintain his sitting posture when he suddenly heard faint footsteps outside the palace.

The footsteps were unusual. They were neither as silent as the Snow Empress's nor as earth-shaking as Xiao Bai's.

Instead, they carried a light rhythm, like leaping notes landing on ice.

A figure in an emerald green dress walked in. Her dark green hair fell casually over her shoulders, and several emerald markings ran along both sides of her cheeks. She looked lively, yet possessed a sharpness that warned she was not to be trifled with.

The moment she entered, her gaze fixed directly on Xue Lingyun, as though she were examining some rare curiosity.

"So this is the human baby you picked up?" She walked to the Ice Platform and folded her arms, her tone carrying a hint of scrutiny. "Doesn't look particularly special to me."

The Ice Empress!

Xue Lingyun's heart skipped a beat.

She was the second-in-command of the Far North, and her temper was far more explosive than the Snow Empress's. In the Original Work, when she first met Huo Yuhao, she had nearly frozen him into an ice sculpture.

"Binger." The Snow Empress's voice came from beside them.

"He's still little."

"Being little doesn't change the fact that he's human." The Ice Empress curled her lips and reached out to lightly poke Xue Lingyun's cheek.

"But then again, the Extreme Ice in him is indeed quite pure. It's far better than the trash outside."

Her fingertips carried a trace of chill, and Xue Lingyun instinctively leaned away.

"Oh? Shy around strangers?" The Ice Empress's jade eyes lit up as if she had found a new toy. Not only did she not withdraw her hand, she leaned closer and brushed the back of her fingers against the little fellow's cheek.

"Snow Empress, where did you pick up this little thing? He's so soft and delicate. Can you even keep him alive?"

Her tone carried her usual pickiness, but beneath it lay a trace of curiosity.

The Snow Empress glanced at her. She knew this old friend and younger sister's personality better than anyone.

She reached out and gently pushed away the Ice Empress's restless finger, lest she poke the child into tears.

"I found him on the Icy Plains." The Snow Empress's reply was brief, but her tone was ever so slightly gentler than when she spoke to outsiders. "He's alive, so I can keep him alive."

"Hmph, easy for you to say." The Ice Empress folded her arms and circled half the Ice Platform, examining Xue Lingyun from head to toe. "Humans are the most troublesome—fragile and cunning. Once you raise him, he might even turn around and plot against you."

Her words were blunt, but the Snow Empress heard the awkward concern hidden within them. The Ice Empress was worried that she would invite trouble or waste her energy for nothing.

"He's different." The Snow Empress's gaze returned to the infant, the little fellow's innocent face reflected in her sky-blue eyes. "He has Extreme Ice. It's very pure."

"Just because of that?" The Ice Empress raised a brow, though her appraisal of Xue Lingyun grew more serious. "It's not like I haven't crushed humans with Extreme Ice before..."

"It feels different," the Snow Empress said calmly, but her tone carried an unquestionable certainty.

She did not explain further—the almost imperceptible resonance from the ice wall that night, or the strange, warm vitality within the little fellow's body. Some matters were still under her observation.

Hearing this, the Ice Empress curled her lips, temporarily accepting the explanation.

Their hundreds of thousands of years together had taught her that whenever the Snow Empress reached a conclusion in that tone, she had her reasons.

After watching for a while, she curled her lips again and finally accepted it for the time being. "Fine. Raise him if you want. But let's be clear first—if he causes trouble later, or if you can't tame him, I won't go easy on him."

The Snow Empress's lips curved almost imperceptibly. This outcome did not surprise her in the least.

"His name is Xue Lingyun," she said.

"The name's not bad," the Ice Empress muttered.

Her gaze drifted back to the little one in the swaddling cloth, her expression complicated—scrutiny, curiosity, and a trace of freshness toward "new life" and "change" that even she herself had not noticed.

The Snow Empress took in her expression and said no more.

Though the Ice Empress's tongue was sharp, her heart was actually... well, at least she was not harsh toward her own people in the Extreme North Land.

The little fellow possessed Extreme Ice. He belonged here by nature. Given enough time, the Ice Empress would naturally accept him.

Just then, Xiao Bai ran in carrying an ice ball larger than Xue Lingyun's head. "Little fellow! Look what good thing I brought you!"

The ice ball was crystal clear, with several snowflakes frozen inside. It had been Xiao Bai's favorite toy when he was young. He pushed it before Xue Lingyun. "Play with this! It's really fun!"

Xue Lingyun stretched out his little hands and pushed with all his might.

The ice ball did not budge.

Xiao Bai burst into laughter, his voice making the Ice Palace hum. "Stumped, huh? This ball is really heavy!"

Xue Lingyun looked at the ice ball, then at Xiao Bai doubled over with laughter. Suddenly, he felt a little wronged. Not truly wronged—it was simply that an inexplicable emotion surged up from within his body. His nose stung, and tears fell with a patter.

"Waa—"

The cry was not loud, but it sounded especially clear in the quiet Ice Palace.

Xiao Bai's laughter stopped abruptly. The whole bear froze, his deep-blue eyes going wide in complete confusion. "Huh? Why are you crying? I didn't bully you!"

In a fluster, he tried to move the ice ball away with his paw. But he moved too hastily, and with a thud, the ice ball struck the Ice Platform and shattered into several pieces.

The Snow Empress walked over, bent down, and picked Xue Lingyun up, gently patting his back.

Miraculously, the moment he was lifted up, his crying softened. Xue Lingyun clutched at the Snow Empress's lapel and sniffled, tears still falling, but his body had stopped trembling.

That was the troublesome part about an infant's body. Once the emotions came, they were impossible to control. Tears fell whenever they wanted to.

"See? You scared him," the Ice Empress said, shooting Xiao Bai a sidelong glance, her tone carrying a hint of schadenfreude.

"I didn't!" Xiao Bai was so anxious that his face turned red. "He started crying on his own!"

The Snow Empress ignored their argument and carried Xue Lingyun to the window. The snowstorm outside had weakened somewhat, revealing a vast white snowfield. In the distance, glaciers gleamed beneath the sunlight.

She lowered her head to look at the little fellow still sniffling in her arms, a faint smile flashing through her eyes.

"Mischievous."

She spoke softly, her voice carrying an indulgence she had not even noticed herself.

Xue Lingyun blinked his wet eyes and looked at the Snow Empress's face so close before him. The little grievance in his heart suddenly vanished. He reached out with his little hand, grabbed a lock of her silver hair hanging down, and clenched it tightly.

Life in the Ice Palace did not seem so hard to endure after all.

At least, there was Xiao Bai, who secretly slipped him Ice Silkworm Jerky; the Snow Empress, who spoke little but held him; and... the Ice Empress, who was prideful and tsundere but had not truly done anything to him.

He just did not know how long such days could last.

He yawned, and his eyelids began fighting each other again. Whatever. I'll sleep my fill first.

An infant's body was just that honest.