Kazahana Koyuki ran aimlessly onward. Only one thought remained in her mind: escape, get far away from this place that had brought her joy, yet also endless pain. But to her despair, no matter how far she ran, she could not escape this damned place.
Even after she fell and sprained her ankle, she still had not escaped. Huge flakes of snow continued to drift from the sky. The snow-white landscape was beautiful, but its cold cut to the bone. Kazahana Koyuki shifted weakly and curled into a ball, as though that might keep her a little warmer.
Memories of her childhood kept surfacing in Kazahana Koyuki's mind. Back then, her father had still been alive, and she had been only seven, this country's carefree little princess. Her father had adored her and promised to show her spring in the Land of Snow. Everything had been so wonderful.
But everything had changed ten years ago. Her father had died, and at the moment of her deepest grief, her uncle had stabbed her in the back. He had rebelled for the sake of power. Yet what Kazahana Koyuki wanted most had never been power, but her father's love.
Clutching the Hexagonal Crystal at her chest, Kazahana Koyuki thought, I can give up everything else, but not this. My father gave it to me before he died. It's the only keepsake he left me. I won't hand it over to you.
Kazahana Koyuki felt colder and colder, sleepier and sleepier. She seemed to see her loving father calling to her. Her eyelids grew heavier. She knew that if she fell asleep, she would never wake again, but she truly wanted to sleep.
Just as Kazahana Koyuki was about to drift off, she heard something through her haze. Someone seemed to be approaching.