Chapter 699: Frozen Trials 10

Time passed quietly.

Days turned into weeks.

Weeks blurred into months.

Winters came and went, though in this land the cold never truly left.

And just like that—

Three years were gone.

Celestine was now thirteen.

She had grown taller, her frame more refined.

The childish softness she once carried had slowly faded, replaced by something sharper.

Her features had settled into a kind of quiet beauty that didn’t need effort.

Silver hair that caught light like frost.

Eyes that held a calm depth most adults didn’t have.

Even the boys her age couldn’t help but notice her.

They tried not to stare.

Some whispered.

Some looked away quickly when she glanced in their direction.

There was admiration there.

But also fear.

Fear of her.

Fear of her mother.

The two of them were still… different.

Isolated.

Untouched by the normal warmth the other families shared.

By now, Snow had fully integrated herself into this life.

If someone were to look at her memories, her habits, her reactions—

They would see Celestine.

Not Snow.

Not the girl from another world.

Not the student from Lumen Academy.

Just Celestine.

And yet—

“Looking beautiful as usual~”

She murmured softly to herself, standing before the mirror in her room.

The reflection staring back wore a neat white dress layered beneath a white coat.

Clean lines.

Simple design.

Paired with white shoes and a soft white scarf wrapped gently around her neck.

It was almost identical to what she used to wear at Lumen Academy.

Not exactly the same.

But close enough.

She reached up, lightly adjusting the scarf, smoothing it down.

This was deliberate.

Aside from wanting to dress nicely—because she genuinely liked looking presentable—this routine served another purpose.

It grounded her.

One glance in the mirror dressed like this, and she was reminded of Snow.

Snow—the girl who once walked the halls of Lumen Academy.

It was important she didn’t forget that and didn’t fully dissolve into this role.

Because the third trial had already started shaping her in ways she didn’t fully understand.

She had to be careful.

There were still too many unanswered questions about the trial.

At first, she assumed it would reveal its purpose clearly—like the second trial had.

Back then, even with her movements restricted to the house and the small village, there had been patterns.

Clues hidden in conversations.

Emotional triggers carefully placed to guide her decisions.

This time?

Nothing obvious.

Her range was limited again—just the house, the village, the routines of daily life.

But aside from subtle shifts in how people treated her… the trial had stayed quiet.

And before she even realized it—

Three years had passed.

Snow understood that this wasn’t standard.

Trials weren’t supposed to drag on this long without confrontation or revelation.

But time flowed differently in alternate dimensions like this. That much she already knew.

At the very least, she didn’t have to worry about her real body.

Or about how much time had passed outside.

A few years here could mean days… maybe even hours… back there.

Long trials weren’t new to her either.

She had once endured a nightmare that felt just as long—one where she was forced to watch Riley being taken so openly by her sister.

Smiling. Laughing.

As if Snow didn’t exist.

That dream had lasted what felt like years as well.

Compared to that, living a relatively comfortable life as a village girl wasn’t exactly suffering.

But comfort was dangerous.

Because comfort made you forget.

Snow’s fingers tightened slightly at her side.

’I need to finish this.’

She couldn’t allow this to drag on forever.

’Riley must be really worried…’

That thought alone made her chest tighten.

As much as she had grown used to being Celestine…

She knew she couldn’t stay here any longer.

Crackle—!

Like ice expanding under pressure.

A sharp, spreading cold bloomed inside her chest.

Her breath hitched.

When she exhaled, pale white mist flowed from her lips, thicker than usual.

She instinctively placed a hand over her heart—

And frost crept along her fingers.

Thin crystals forming against her skin.

This wasn’t new.

It had been happening more often lately.

That was another reason she needed to hurry.

Because for some reason—

Celestine’s body couldn’t keep up.

Her talent in ice magic had grown monstrous over these three years. Effortless. Instinctive. Vast.

But her physical vessel?

It was still that of a thirteen-year-old girl.

Human.

Fragile.

The power inside her was evolving faster than the body meant to contain it.

And each time that cold expanded inside her chest—

It felt like something was trying to break through.

Snow lowered her hand slowly, watching the frost melt back into her skin.

Riley had once told her—

’The cold will always be your ally.’

Back then, she believed it without question.

But now… it didn’t feel that simple.

The chill expanding in her chest lately didn’t feel like an ally.

It felt like something testing its cage.

Snow let out a small chuckle at the irony, shaking her head lightly.

“Guess you didn’t mean it like this…”

Still, she smiled.

There was no fear on her face. Only quiet resolve.

Satisfied with her thoughts, she turned and walked out of her room, her white scarf trailing slightly behind her.

The wooden floors creaked softly under her steps as she made her way through the house and out the back door.

Behind the house stretched an open plain.

Endless white.

Snow layered over snow.

The ground uneven and frozen solid, wind brushing lightly across the surface in soft waves.

The sky above was pale, almost colorless.

A normal sight for this northern village.

But in the middle of that endless white—

There was green.

A patch of life that didn’t belong.

Grass.

Low shrubs.

Delicate flowers swaying faintly in air that should have killed them.

The frost stopped cleanly at its border, like an invisible wall had been drawn.

If any villager were to see it clearly, they would be stunned.

A garden like this—especially in a remote northern village where crops barely survived the season—was practically impossible.

’I guess being feared has its own benefits…’

Snow thought calmly.

The villagers kept their distance from her and her mother.

Whispers followed them.

Doors closed quietly when they walked by.

Fear was a shield.

No one dared wander behind her house out of curiosity.

And no one dared destroy something that might be tied to “witchcraft.”

If anything, they likely convinced themselves it was better not to look too closely.

Snow didn’t mind.

She preferred it that way.

She stepped closer to the garden’s edge and raised her hand slowly.

Thin, invisible lines shimmered faintly in the air as her mana touched the barrier surrounding the patch of land.

Straight, precise arrays formed for a brief second—structured magic circles layered over one another.

FOOOSHHH—

Bluish-white mana flowed outward from her palm, spreading gently across the garden like a controlled wave.

The air shifted.

The frost surrounding the boundary retreated another inch.

The soil beneath grew warmer—not hot, just balanced.

Satisfied, Snow nodded to herself.

This was one of her daily routines.

Call it maintenance.

Every day she refined the enchantment.

Adjusted the temperature.

Redirected the cold winds.

Filtered the moisture.

By removing and redirecting the cold around this patch of land, she had created a temporary sanctuary for plant life that shouldn’t exist in this part of the continent.

Flowers from the south.

Herbs that required gentle sunlight.

Even a small sapling that would normally never survive northern winters.

“Hmm~ good. You guys are growing well.”

Snow crouched slightly, brushing her fingers gently over a leaf.

The plants reacted faintly to her touch—not freezing, not recoiling. Just bending softly, as if acknowledging her presence.

Taking care of this garden was one of the few things that eased her boredom.

Three years was a long time to play the role of a quiet village girl.

Long enough for routines to become suffocating.

She didn’t want to refine her magic too much. Pushing her limits had consequences now.

That crackling cold in her chest was proof of that.

But ignoring this garden?

She couldn’t do it.

It was delicate.

Carefully balanced.

One wrong fluctuation in temperature and everything here would die overnight.

And… she liked it.

It reminded her that she could create something, not just freeze things.

As for her condition—

She couldn’t tell her mother.

Absolutely not.

Her mother already watched her closely.

Any strange symptom would only make her worry more… or worse, restrict her movements further.

Snow straightened slowly.

Her mother wouldn’t be back until late afternoon today.

Which meant she had time.

The question was—what to do with it?

Finding clues to end the trial would’ve been ideal.

But realistically?

There was nothing left inside the house to discover.

She had explored every corner, tested every interaction, observed every behavioral pattern possible over the past three years.

If there had been a hidden trigger inside that space, she would have found it by now.

Walking to the village square alone was also out of the question.

The last time she tried that—pretending it was just casual curiosity—her mother somehow found out almost immediately.

What followed was an hour-long storm of scolding.

It had been exhausting enough that Snow had no desire to repeat the experience.

“…Should I just practice my magic for the day?”

She murmured the thought aloud.

Despite being thirteen, she was already proficient in high-level ice magic.

Of course, she avoided using magic as much as possible because of her condition.

But ironically—

Releasing powerful spells all at once sometimes felt relieving.

Like opening a valve.

Holding cold mana inside her body wasn’t easy. It built up pressure.

Letting it surge outward in a controlled burst made her feel lighter afterward.

Her mother had no idea how advanced her magic had become.

Which meant if she practiced, she’d have to go somewhere secluded.

The nearby forest would do.

Not too deep.

Just close enough to the invisible boundary that prevented her from traveling farther.

She had tested it countless times.

Deciding there was no real harm in it, Snow nodded to herself.

“Forest it is.”

With one last glance at the garden, she turned and began walking toward the tree line, white boots pressing softly into fresh snow.

The cold wind brushed against her scarf as if welcoming her return.

If she couldn’t find answers today—

Then at least she could keep herself from feeling trapped.

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