It was said that the Ice King was just a mere Water Prince. Prince Kim Junmyeon was said to be a kind, bright-eyed young man instead of the cold, unfeeling prince who was supposed to be the successor to the crown of the Water Kingdom. Instead of a kingdom built of ice, there was supposed to be one surrounded by clear, flowing water that was unlimited to the people. But it was not the case.

That is what she heard, at least. Rumours from the servants back in the Fire Kingdom and rumors from the villagers she encountered on the way to the Water Kingdom. Now actually being in the place herself, she couldn’t bring herself to believe them one bit.

She had heard stories about this infamous Ice King, as to how he earned his title in the first place. Prince Kim Junmyeon was a cold, calculating prince who was son to the beloved King of the Water Kingdom. However, the King was bedridden for months now and the prince was most definitely going to be the next ruler of the kingdom. It was sort of a political issue, or so she heard, and there was speculation that Prince Junmyeon was the one who caused his father’s illness.

But who was she to judge? She wasn’t a citizen of the Water Kingdom. In fact, she was just a junior healer of the Fire Kingdom’s royal family.

The four kingdoms lived adjacent to each other; the Water Kingdom, Fire Kingdom, Earth Kingdom and Air Kingdom. They coexisted in harmony, carrying out trades and businesses from time to time. There had been a war hundreds of years ago, back when magic was still alive and there actually existed people who could bend the four elements to the whims of their ways. That was how the names of their kingdoms came to be.

Today, people who could manipulate the elements were practically unheard of. The magic had died long ago, but at least the four kingdoms lived in harmony. They would help each other if needed.

In fact, Park Jaera was that very help. The royal family of the Water Kingdom had sent a request for a team of healers to help with their king’s illness. As the junior healer on the team, she was one of them who was sent out to solve the seemingly incurable disease.

As she sat quietly in her carriage, she looked out the window. Noise of wheels against gravel filled the air but it was often interrupted by unexpected bumpy piles of snow.

Snowflakes continuously fell from the sky, as it had been for months on end. There was snow everywhere and seemed only to be up until the borders of the kingdom. She wasn’t used to this sort of weather, and as a typical citizen of the Fire Kingdom, she loved the heat. The snow was strange. It had come so suddenly and it looked like it wouldn’t stop anytime soon.

“Terribly sorry for the delay,” the carriage driver apologized. “The snowfall in our kingdom has been getting worse. It started off quite small about more than a year ago but it gradually got worse, so most of us are unprepared.”

“It is alright, as long as we are not too late. I am sure the King will understand,” the head healer, Madam Jung, replied.

Outside the window, they could see villagers bundled up in scarves and layers of clothing, going about their day. There weren’t many children playing around, and some of the adults were closing up their shops. A few villagers stopped and stared in wonder at the carriage full of red-cloaked people. At a glance of their nursing caps, the villagers could guess what was going on.

“Famous healers all over the kingdom have already been called to the castle. None of them have been able to heal the king. Teams of them enter the castle and emerge weeks later. But if you ask me, it must be the weather. It is getting colder by the day and our King cannot take it any longer.”

“Hopefully we can do something about it,” Madam Jung said. “We came from a long way.”

“I give you my best wishes.” The carriage pulled to a stop. “I do not know much about Fire Kingdom medicine but I hope it is able to heal our king. I am sure the other citizens are feeling this way too. I fear that our kingdom might fall into inexperienced and dangerous hands.”

It was apparent he was talking about Prince Junmyeon, but all of them knew better than to say it out loud.

-

“Good day, I am the royal advisor to His Majesty King Kim of the Water Kingdom. You may address me as Advisor Oh Sehun. I hope you all have had a comfortable journey here.” A tall man greeted them at the entrance of the castle, stooping into a bow. “You may put your things in the medical dorms before coming in to see the king. I will expect you all in thirty minutes.”

The maids guided the team of Fire Kingdom healers through the large castle, all the way to the medical dorms. They were to stay together with the Water Kingdom healers throughout their time in the castle. The dorms were quite near to what seemed like a beautiful lake, but was now a piece of frozen ice.

Jaera and her team exchanged greetings with the healers of the Water Kingdom. They were pleasant, and looked almost relieved to see extra pairs of hands to help out in the castle.

Being the youngest, Jaera got the bed closest to the door, next to the other junior healers.

One of them approached her with a smile. “Hello, you must be the junior healer of your own team. My name is Seungwan.”

“Hello, I’m Park Jaera. It’s my first trip with the medical team, actually, so I am a little nervous. I hope we’ll be able to help.”

Seungwan pursed her lips. “We have been trying for months. Calling even private healers from the borders. But nothing seems to be working, and the weather is getting worse.”

Another healer from the Water Kingdom approached them. She looked about their age. “Maybe the Fire Kingdom can bring some heat to our chilly castle?”

“I wish. I am not much a fan of the cold, actually,” Jaera grimaced. “I hope I do not fall sick while treating His Majesty. The cold weather is quite harsh. Perhaps it is making His Majesty’s condition to be even worse. What are his symptoms, may I ask?”

The two girls exchanged a look with each other before turning back to Jaera. Seungwan spoke hesitantly. “High temperature, headache, sore throat, dry cough.”

She frowned. “That sounds like a common flu. What makes this illness so incurable?”

“You will know what we are talking about when you see him for yourself.”

Jaera shrugged. “My team and I have not seen any of the royal family. We arrived a while ago. Advisor Oh greeted us at the gates.”

Seungwan and her friend nodded understandingly. “So you haven’t seen anyone yet. Do not worry, as the King and Queen are nice, pleasant people. They treat the servants and healers with grace and respect.”

“And their son…?”

“Honestly, he is a mysterious character. The older servants do not like talking about him. But you are bound to have heard rumours, no?”

“It is true that rumours have spread all the way to my kingdom,” she laughed. “The prince, is he as cold as they say he is? Is his title of the Ice King fitting?”

“His Highness is akin to frostbite. He never smiles, speaks to everyone as if they are a speck of dust. He is emotionless. The council had to persuade him for a week to give out firewood to the poor villagers! The prince barely had a heart to sympathize with them.”

Seungwan’s friend nodded. “I was on medicine duty a few weeks ago. Prince Junmyeon did not acknowledge me whatsoever, which was to be expected anyway, but I had the misfortune of spilling hot medicine tea on myself while preparing it. He did not help me the slightest, and even scowled!”

“He sounds like a nasty character,” Jaera commented. Hopefully she would not have to see him while tending to the king.

“Our head healer says that he was not like this before. Prince Junmyeon was supposedly a nice, handsome young man,” Seungwan sighed. “I do not know myself, as I only came to the palace as a healer recently.”

“I can admit that he’s handsome,” her friend scoffed. “But nice? Don’t make me laugh.”

“There has to be a reason why he is like this when his parents are so nice!”

“Well, something did happen...”

Before Jaera could reply, Madam Jung was calling her