Chapter 931: Mercedes is nervous.
Mercedes crossed the skies in silence.
There was no escort.
No entourage.
No banners of the North fluttering in the wind, nor any formal announcement of arrival. Only an enormous wyvern with dark-blue scales cutting through the winter clouds at absurd speed, carrying on its back a woman whose presence made the very air seem heavier and colder. The creature flew with its wings stretched to their fullest, tearing across the sky as if it knew that slowing down would be a terrible decision.
The Monarch of Ice sat motionless in the saddle.
Her body remained perfectly upright, her hands holding the reins only enough to guide the mount, but nothing in her posture conveyed calm. Her face was closed, hard, almost expressionless, yet her eyes carried such profound coldness that even the wyvern avoided moving its neck too much, as if any wrong gesture might draw that silent fury.
Mercedes had received the message too late.
"Vex was kidnapped."
The sentence still echoed in her mind.
It did not matter that the second message had arrived soon after, informing her that the girl had been found alive. It did not matter that Strax was in Asgard. It did not matter that the kidnappers were probably already dead, broken, or wishing they were dead. The first shock had passed through her chest like a blade, tearing away all the sleep, all the rest, and all the peace she had imagined possessing for a few hours.
She had slept for less time than she would have liked.
And had woken to discover that the child had been taken.
Her child.
Mercedes tightened the reins.
The wyvern released a low sound of discomfort, and ice crystals spread over the leather straps before the Monarch realized it. She loosened the pressure, took a deep breath, and tried to control her mana. She partially failed. The air around her continued freezing into small particles, forming a white mist that followed the mount like a spectral tail.
Asgard appeared on the horizon.
Even from above, the city looked different.
It was not merely large. It was sealed. The walls were active, the runic towers glowed in surveillance cycles, patrols moved in rigid patterns, and the railway lines remained still like blocked veins. The city Vex had described in excited messages as full of trains, steam, and sweets now looked like a fortress awakened by war.
Mercedes did not wait for landing authorization.
The wyvern flew over the central district, passing above snow-covered roofs and chimneys releasing warm steam. Guards in the towers recognized the aura before they even saw the mounted figure. None of them tried to stop her. Not out of diplomatic respect, though that existed too, but because no sensible person would stand between the Monarch of Ice and the child she had come to find.
When Strax’s mansion appeared below, Mercedes released the reins.
The wyvern was still dozens of meters above the courtyard.
She jumped.
The creature shrieked, not from fear, but surprise, as Mercedes plummeted directly toward the mansion’s landing area. The impact came seconds later. She struck the reinforced stone with enough force to spread a wave of ice through the entire courtyard. White cracks ran across the surface, nearby fountains froze instantly, and part of the accumulated snow transformed into hard, shining plates.
The mansion guards immediately retreated.
Some servants who were crossing the courtyard simply stopped where they were, unable to decide whether they should greet her, flee, or pretend they did not exist. Mercedes did not look at any of them. She began walking toward the main entrance, and each step left a frozen mark on the stone.
Winter flowers in nearby pots crystallized.
The edges of the windows gained a layer of frost.
The handle of a side door froze before her hand even touched it, simply because it was within reach of her aura.
The Monarch of Ice was not happy at all.
There was a killing intent so dense around her that even the air seemed to hesitate before moving. Icy energy escaped her control in small but constant waves, not because she lacked power, but because the emotion she was trying to contain was too large to fit behind her usual mask. Mercedes had always been cold. Always controlled. Always a figure capable of turning anger into strategy and pain into silence.
But this was different.
They had touched Vex.
The girl who asked too many questions.
The girl who ran through the corridors.
The girl who asked when her father would come visit her.
The girl who, in only a few months, had destroyed all the quiet solitude of the Northern fortress and occupied that space as if she had always belonged there.
Mercedes climbed the steps of the main entrance without slowing down.
A nearby butler tried to approach, perhaps to announce her arrival or offer some formality, but stopped immediately when a thin layer of ice covered the floor before his shoes. The message was clear enough.
Not today.
Mercedes raised her hand to open the door.
Before she could touch the wood, the door opened from inside.
Vex appeared.
The girl was wearing comfortable mansion clothes, her blue hair a little disheveled and her expression initially curious. She looked up, saw Mercedes standing before the entrance, and for an instant seemed not to understand that her mother was truly there. Then her golden eyes lit up in such a pure and immediate way that all the ice in the air seemed to lose strength.
"Mommy!"
Mercedes froze.
Not because of magic.
Because of impact.
Vex jumped at her.
She did not run politely.
Did not wait.
Did not ask if she could.
She simply threw herself at the Monarch of Ice with her arms open and enough force to make any ordinary person lose balance. Mercedes reacted by instinct, holding the girl against herself before she could slip. The small body clung to her neck, warm, alive, whole.
"Mommy! You came!"
Mercedes’s expression broke.
Completely.
The rigid face lost its hardness in a single instant. The cold gaze faltered. The killing intent around her retreated like a storm forced to stop before something too small to attack. The Monarch’s hands closed over Vex’s back, first carefully, then tightly, as if she needed to confirm that the girl was there, breathing and intact.
"Vex."
Her voice came out too low.
Almost failing.
The girl tightened the hug even more.
"I am okay."
Mercedes closed her eyes.
Those three words made something inside her collapse.
For a few seconds, she was not queen, Monarch, warrior, strategist, or ruler. She was only the woman who had woken in terror, crossed the continent in fury, and now held the child in her arms.
"I know," she answered, though she had not known until that moment. "I know."
Vex pulled her face back just enough to look at her.
"You froze the courtyard."
Mercedes blinked.
The girl pointed behind her, where the ice continued spreading in thin patterns across the stone.
"Again."
The Monarch of Ice looked over her shoulder.
Then looked back at Vex.
"It was an accident."
Vex seemed to consider that.
"You say that a lot."
"Because it happens a lot."
The girl smiled.
And that finished destroying any remaining attempt by Mercedes to look threatening.
Behind Vex, Strax appeared in the corridor.
He was in human form, with his white hair still slightly disheveled and his face carrying that rigid calm of someone who had solved part of the problem, but still intended to turn the rest into ruins. His eyes landed first on Vex, then on Mercedes, and finally on the thin layer of ice advancing across the entrance.
"I already handled it."
Mercedes’s gaze changed immediately.
The affection did not vanish when she looked at him, but it was covered by a layer of ice so sharp that several nearby servants found urgent reasons to leave. She was still holding Vex in her arms, yet her aura hardened again.
"Handled it?"
Strax held her gaze.
"She is safe."
"That was not my question."
The silence between them grew heavy.
Vex looked from one to the other, realizing there was something there she did not fully understand. The happiness of the reunion was still on her face, but her expression became a little more attentive.
Mercedes carefully set the girl down.
Then she fixed a blue strand of hair behind her ear, discreetly checking whether there were marks on her face, neck, or arms. Vex seemed to notice the examination and stood still, allowing her to look.
"I really am okay," the girl said.
Mercedes ran her fingers over her wrists.
The marks had been treated, but had not disappeared completely.
The Monarch’s gaze became even colder.
"I saw."
Strax did not look away.
Mercedes raised her head.
"We need to talk."
The sentence was simple.
But it carried enough weight to turn the entire corridor into forbidden territory.
Strax nodded.
"Yes."
He opened the door wider and gestured for her to enter.
Mercedes took Vex’s hand and passed by him without saying anything else, carrying with her the cold from the courtyard and the tension of someone who had not yet decided whether she wanted explanations, apologies, or simply someone to blame. Strax closed the door behind them, and the internal temperature of the mansion dropped by a few degrees at the same instant.
Vex looked around, then at the two adults.
"Are you going to fight?"
Mercedes remained silent.
Strax sighed.
"No."
The girl looked suspicious.
"You look like you are going to fight."
"It is an adult conversation," Strax said.
Vex frowned slightly.
"That always means something bad."
"Not always."
"Almost always."
Mercedes looked at her, and part of the hardness in her face softened again.
"Vex, wait a little, please."
The girl looked at her mother.
Then at her father.
Then crossed her arms.
"I want to know what happened."
"I know," Strax said. "And you will know. But not now."
"Why?"
"Because some things need to be discussed between us first."
Vex stayed quiet for a few seconds, clearly dissatisfied. Her old curious energy was there, trying to rise, but the exhaustion from the sedative, the fear, and the long day still weighed on her. Even so, she held Strax’s gaze longer than an ordinary child would have.
"Do you promise you will not shout?"
Mercedes and Strax exchanged a look.
"I promise," Mercedes said.
Strax answered soon after.
"So do I."
Vex analyzed them both with unexpected seriousness.
"Then I will wait."
Strax called one of the maids with a discreet gesture. The woman approached immediately, though she maintained respectful distance from Mercedes’s aura.
"Take Vex to the room. Stay with her. Sweets, tea, books, whatever she wants. But no one enters without my permission."
The maid bowed her head.
"Yes, sir."
Vex did not look entirely satisfied, but she allowed herself to be led away. Before following, she ran back two steps and hugged Mercedes around the waist again.
"Do not be mad at me."
Mercedes widened her eyes for a fraction of a second.
Then she crouched and held the girl’s face with both hands.
"I would never be mad at you for this."
"Really?"
"Really."
Vex seemed relieved.
Then she looked at Strax.
"Do not be mad at me either."
His expression changed.
Almost imperceptibly.
But it changed.
"I am not mad at you."
"Then at who?"
Strax remained silent.
So did Mercedes.
Vex understood enough not to insist, though the question remained in her eyes. The maid called her gently, and the girl finally followed down the corridor, looking back a few times until she disappeared toward the bedrooms.
As soon as she left, silence fell between the two.
Mercedes remained standing in the center of the hall, still with the snow-damp cloak over her shoulders and small ice particles floating around her hair. Strax stood a few steps ahead, motionless, his hands relaxed at his sides, though Mercedes knew that appearance of calm did not mean tranquility.
For a few seconds, neither of them spoke.
Then Mercedes took a deep breath.
"Explain."
Strax looked toward the corridor where Vex had disappeared.
Then turned back to her.
"She was taken by Aelyra’s agents."
The ice around Mercedes thickened.
"I know that part."
"I found her in the underground canal. She was sedated, chained, and being transported toward an extraction route outside the city."
Mercedes’s expression did not change.
But the air became so cold that a crack appeared in a ceramic vase on a nearby table.
Strax continued.
"She woke earlier than expected and tried to fight. Broke part of the chains by herself."
A small pride crossed Mercedes’s eyes.
It lasted only an instant.
Then the fury returned.
"And you?"
"I arrived before they could take her out."
"Before they could," she repeated.
Strax remained silent.
Mercedes took one step forward.
"She was under your responsibility."
"I know."
"I trusted you."
"I know."
"I gave Vex to you for a few days because I thought she would be safe."
"She is safe now."
Mercedes looked at him with absolute coldness.
"Now."
The word cut the space between them.
Strax accepted the blow without trying to defend himself.
Because there was not enough defense.
He had protected Vex afterward.
He had found Vex afterward.
He had crushed the kidnappers afterward.
But for a few minutes, she had been taken.
And Mercedes was right.
The girl had been under his responsibility.
"You are right," he said.
Mercedes looked ready to continue, but the answer interrupted her for a second.
Strax held her gaze.
"I got distracted. It was only a short time. A few seconds. But it was enough. And that is my fault."
The Monarch of Ice tightened her fingers.
Part of her wanted to continue attacking.
Part of her wanted to turn that corridor into a glacier and scream that a few seconds were an eternity when it came to a child. But his direct admission disarmed a fraction of her fury, not enough to forgive, but enough to force her to breathe.
"Do you understand what could have happened?"
"I do."
"No. Do you feel it?"
Strax did not answer immediately.
The question was different.
Mercedes noticed.
He closed his eyes for an instant.
"Yes."
The answer came out low.
"I felt it."
Mercedes observed his face and, for the first time since entering, saw something beyond anger. There was guilt. A silent, heavy, deeply new guilt, as if Strax had found inside himself a part he had not known existed until he nearly lost it.
That did not erase the mistake.
But it changed the conversation.
Mercedes crossed her arms, trying to regain some control over her own aura.
"What did you do with Aelyra?"
"Follow me."
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