The Ice Royal Physician carefully examined Byanka and was visibly surprised by her current condition. Byanka waited patiently for the results, unaware of what the physician had discovered.
At last, the physician stepped forward.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty. You are with child."
For a moment, everyone in the room was overwhelmed with joy. The announcement should have been a moment of celebration for the Ice Kingdom, but Byanka's expression immediately hardened.
"Do not spread the news that I am pregnant," she ordered coldly. "Anyone who does so will face the consequences."
Without waiting for a response, she immediately left the room. The others exchanged confused glances, unable to understand why their queen seemed more frightened than happy.
Bella, however, understood.
She quietly followed Byanka until they reached the balcony.
The cold breeze swept through Byanka's hair as she stood silently by the railing, one hand resting over her stomach. She stared into the distance, her expression filled with a fear that she refused to show before her court.
Bella approached her carefully.
"Who is the father?" she asked. "Why are you afraid, Your Majesty?"
Byanka remained silent for a moment before finally answering.
"My only mistake was forgetting who I was... and allowing myself to love him."
Bella's expression changed as she finally understood the reason behind Byanka's anxiety. This was not simply fear of becoming a mother. It was fear of what the child's existence would reveal.
That night, Bella secretly sent word to Aamon.
She told him everything.
[One Week Later]
The cold night breeze swept across the balcony as Byanka stood alone beneath the moonlight. She closed her eyes, allowing the familiar chill of the Icelandic air to surround her.
Suddenly, someone wrapped his arms around her from behind.
"Why didn't you let me take responsibility for our child?"
Byanka's eyes widened.
She immediately broke free from Aamon's embrace and turned toward him, anger flashing across her face.
"You shameless king!" she shouted. "I can only keep this bastard child of yours because everyone will become suspicious if I continue denying that I am carrying your child!"
Aamon was left speechless.
For a moment, he could only stare at her, stunned by the bitterness in her voice. He eventually composed himself and stepped forward.
"I want to take responsibility for our child," he said firmly. "I am the father, Byanka. That is something you cannot change."
Byanka said nothing.
She simply turned away and left, refusing to give him another word.
Aamon remained there alone, watching her disappear into the palace.
Regret settled heavily within him.
He had waited too long to face the consequences of their actions, yet now that he knew about his child, he could no longer remain indifferent.
"I will protect my child," he promised himself. "No matter what danger comes."
Soon afterward, Aamon left Iceland.
He did not return.
✦
✧
✦
Sixteen years passed.
Byanka gave her daughter the name Aamon had once chosen for her.
Varenka.
Over the years, Byanka finally accepted her daughter completely, raising her within the Ice Kingdom as a beloved princess. Yet whenever her people asked about Varenka's father, the Ice Queen never gave them an answer.
Varenka grew into an intelligent and playful young woman. She possessed snow-white skin, silky pastel-blue hair, and striking blue eyes that closely resembled her mother's. To the Icelanders, she looked every bit like the daughter of their Ice Queen.
Yet there was one thing she could never hide.
Her Firelander blood.
Whenever Varenka became overwhelmed by anger or intense emotion, her appearance would begin to change. The cold beauty inherited from her mother would give way to the fierce nature of a Firelander, unleashing an extraordinary power that she struggled to control.
Thankfully, the transformation would eventually fade.
But each incident left the Icelanders disturbed.
Whispers spread throughout the kingdom that their Ice Queen had once been defiled by a shameless Firelander, and that Varenka was the living proof of that union.
Those whispers eventually reached Varenka.
They made her question who she truly was.
Why did she possess the blood of a people she had never known?
Why did her mother refuse to speak of her father?
And why did she feel as though a part of herself belonged somewhere beyond the frozen borders of Iceland?
Aamon never returned to Iceland.
He never appeared before Byanka again, nor did he attempt to force his way into his daughter's life.
Instead, he waited.
He believed that one day, fate would bring his daughter to him.
But Byanka never allowed that day to come.