Page 122 of Wicked Prince of Frost

Iseul steps forward and touches Mingi’s arm. “Let me talk to her.”

He clenches his jaw. He doesn’t argue, but he doesn’t leave either. Instead, he waits by the door and continues glaring.

“He cannot entomb them as we would those who have passed because it is not a true death,” Iseul begins softly. She pauses to let it sink in.

My head snaps up. “He lied to me about the dragon.” I snap. “He’s the reason I’ve been alone for years—he took my family from me.” I hate that my voice cracks. Tears flood my eyes and spill down my cheeks. I can’t fight them, so I don’t even try.

“Joon and the dragon are not the same,” Iseul repeats her brother’s words as she inches closer. “The curse affects them both, so neither of them is in control. It turned the dragon into little more than a wild animal searching for the shards on instinct because it knows they will both die without them.”

I curl my fingers into the top I’m folding, and close my eyes, breathing deep.

My emotions are a whirling mess. I am furious and hurt. I want to hate Joon for this—I should hate him, but I don’t know how to stop the ache and longing in my heart.

“No human would have ever been frozen if they had not attacked. The more the humans attacked the Winter Dragon, the more people it would freeze. It was a vicious cycle.” Iseul is beside me now. She reaches her hands out to take one ofmine and eases my grip open. “It was defending itself. The dragon never wanted to harm anyone. It wanted the shards.”

Without evidence to the contrary, we believed Joon sent it to attack us, and so we attacked in what we thought was self-defense.

Try as I might, I cannot argue with what she says. But I’ve seen for myself how the storms are a side effect of the curse, coming on when it weakens Joon’s hold on his power. I’ve looked the dragon in the eye twice, close enough for it to encase me in ice, and twice I have walked away unscathed.

Bear perches on the bed, looking between the three of us. They tilt their head and make an uncertain chirping sound.

Even though my parents are among the many who fell victim to the dragon, they were also among those who attacked. Fear causes people to react before they fully understand. The fault lies only with the curse itself and the one who cast it.

“He said he would fix things,” I say quietly. It’s an oversimplification of our bargain because, even now, I can’t talk about it, which only frustrates me further. “He planned for my death all along—” I break off, choking down a sob.

“Oh, Violet…” Iseul hugs me from the side. “I know it looks bad, but believe me when I say he never wanted any of this to happen.”

My body goes rigid in her arms. “Why do you continue to defend him?”

“He saved Iseul’s life,” Mingi bites out, marching over. “When everyone said she wasn’t worth the trouble—that we were worthless, that our lives meant nothing simply because we are orphans—he refused to listen.”

Iseul holds up a hand in a calming gesture to her brother. He heaves a sigh but relents.

“Because of that, we pledged ourselves to his service.However, we wouldn’t have if he were truly cruel.” She uses my earlier words against me, and though she says them in a gently teasing way, the barb still makes me wince.

I try to hold on to my hurt and remain steadfast, but they chip away at my defenses, weakening my resolve. But their fealty claws at the dregs of doubt in my heart, past the pain and betrayal.

Iseul and Mingi are loyal to him for a reason,a voice in the back of my mind whispers.

“I truly believe it’s different with you.Heis different with you. Whether you believe it or not, he cares for you,” Iseul adds. “He trusts you.”

And I have trusted him this whole time, haven’t I? Not only has Joon protected me, he’s comforted me when I needed it, even though that was never part of the bargain.

Which is it, Violet? Is the bargain real, or has everything Joon has done been of his own volition?

Either way, he was the one to offer me protection when I only asked to live.

My head pounds from the back and forth.

I don’t need anyone to tell me who Joon is. The more time I spent with him, the more I realized how few people have bothered to know him.

“The people have always seen Joon as a monster. There has never been a time when his people cared for him or respected him, but he has never wanted this for them. Our Joon does not have long, and he is doing everything he can to break the curse.”

Monster.

Guilt blooms in my belly, rising and twisting my insides into knots. I said I love him, yet I am no better than anyone else if I am so quick to believe the worst.

The two siblings and Bear wait in silence for what I will say or do next.