That voice...
Qian Renxue's gaze instinctively shifted toward the doorway.
Two figures came hurrying toward the main hall, one following the other.
The one in front was a woman dressed in a long emerald-green gown. Her lively, spirited features were framed by a scorpion braid that swung back and forth with each step.
A young man followed behind her.
He was tall and slender, with handsome features and short, deep-blue hair that glimmered faintly in the afternoon sun.
It was Lan.
"Ice Empress..."
At the sight of her, the ten-thousand-year frost in Snow Empress's ice-blue eyes finally began to melt.
The woman in the green gown, known as the Ice Empress, spotted Snow Empress as soon as she entered.
"Snow Sister!"
With a cheer, she darted toward Snow Empress like a bird returning to its nest.
Qian Renxue's vision blurred.
In the next instant, the woman in green had thrown herself into the arms of the woman in white and was holding her tight.
"Snow Sister, why did you come all by yourself? You didn't even wait for us!"
Buried in Snow Empress's embrace, the Ice Empress complained in a slightly sulky, coaxing voice.
She paid no heed to the two guards frozen earlier, nor to Qian Renxue standing nearby, her face full of caution.
The cool reserve vanished completely from Snow Empress's face, replaced by heartfelt tenderness.
She reached out and gently patted the Ice Empress on the back.
"I missed you all, so I came."
Her voice was still clear, but now it carried warmth. Looking over the Ice Empress's shoulder, she gazed at Lan, who had just entered behind her.
Lan was looking at her too, a gentle smile on his face.
"Aunt Xue,"
he called.
That "Aunt Xue" made Qian Renxue's heart jolt again.
Aunt?
That