Exiled Prince: I'm the Unexpected Extra in the Novel-Chapter 160: The Return of the Prince
The War for The North [48]
Chapter 160:The Return of the Prince
Behind the walls of ice of the Winter Fortress, time flowed heavily and painfully, like a frozen river.
Days had passed since Cassian had ridden out the gates to meet the support army. But for Cecilia Frosthelm, these days felt like the longest and darkest season of her life.
The Duchy’s capital was drowning in an influx of refugees fleeing the storm outside.
Makeshift camps established right outside the gates, at the foot of the walls, rose like monuments to hunger and misery.
Cecilia battled the guilt of not being able to take them inside, behind the safe and warm walls, every single night.
However, logic whispered a cruel truth to her: "The Plague." The moment the cursed disease carried by the refugees entered the fortress, Frosthelm’s collapse would accelerate.
Therefore, she had to keep them outside, in the rickety tents they had set up. This was the only thing reining in the chaos, even a little.
As Cecilia watched the gray sky outside and the flickering campfires on the snow below from her room’s window, she held the necklace in her hand tightly.
A blue butterfly... The counterpart to the necklace she gave Cassian. This was the only bond between them, the only proof he was alive.
She had followed the faint light glowing in that crystal for days. His progress, his pauses...
But one day, that light veered off course. It left the path the support army was supposed to take and drifted toward the wildest, most desolate mountains of the North.
"This shouldn’t be happening," Cecilia whispered, her voice trembling. She had run to Cryomara immediately. "We must check on him! We must help him!"
But the Guardian of the North had shaken her head.
"We cannot, my little butterfly. I cannot leave the capital." She had said. She told her she needed to trust Cassian and that nothing would easily happen to him.
Cecilia wanted to trust. She wanted to believe that the boy, that arrogant, reckless, yet warmth-giving boy, would return.
But then... the light went out completely.
When the glow in the crystal vanished, Cecilia’s world went dark as well.
Panic spread through her veins like poison. While the thought "Is he dead?" gnawed at her brain, Cryomara intervened again with her cold logic.
"He probably lost it," she said. "Or considering his personality, he threw it away because he doesn’t like being tracked."
This possibility fit Cassian’s indifferent attitude, yes, but it wasn’t enough to quell the fear inside Cecilia.
Days later, movement was seen on the horizon. But it wasn’t Cassian coming. The tips of spears, banners, and the glint of armor... The support army had arrived.
When Cecilia went down to meet them with Cryomara by her side, the scene she saw was both pride-inducing and heartbreaking.
The banners of Evershade, Mooncrest, and Amberfield waved in the wind. The Lords, generals, thousands of soldiers... They were all there. Cassian had kept his word. He had brought an army to her doorstep.
But the person who should have been at the very front of that army was missing.
When General Hareth dismounted and bowed his head, Cecilia’s knees went weak. "We lost him," said the old general, his voice filled with shame. "The Witches... They kidnapped him."
The only consolation was the news that he was still alive. But why? Why did the witches want Cassian?
The following days turned into a torture of waiting. The Lords and Cryomara had reached the same decision at the strategy table: They could not attack.
The plague stalking outside was the army’s greatest enemy. Dozens of soldiers on the road had already fallen ill. Without the "cure" Cassian had promised, stepping outside the walls meant suicide.
Defense... That was the only option. Waiting for Cassian to return. But what if he didn’t? Time was working against them. Every passing second, every new life claimed by the plague, was a step toward the Obsidian Dawn’s victory.
As despair roamed the corridors of the fortress like a ghost...
One night... The sky began to burn.
First, a crimson glow appeared behind the distant mountains. It was as if the sun had decided to rise at midnight.
But this was not the sun; this was a fire of pure destruction. The entire North was painted red by the reflection of those flames.
And then darkness came.
An ominous, bottomless darkness that swallowed the flames and covered the sky like ink.
The sounds of explosions echoed in the mountains like thunder. It was as if the gods had descended to earth and were fighting their final war.
In that moment, everyone in the fortress, every single soul in the refugee camps, looked up at the sky and trembled. They prayed they weren’t the target of that power, that apocalypse.
The darkness swallowed the crimson flames. When the night returned to its silent, serene state...
Cecilia stood on her room’s balcony, gripping the marble railing tight enough to crush it.
As tears streamed from her eyes, a smile appeared on her lips. She recognized that darkness. That chaos, that savage power... She had felt it.
"You’re still alive!" she whispered to the wind. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺
She wiped her tears harshly. He was fighting. Somewhere out there, he was clashing with gods and monsters. Then Cecilia couldn’t stop either. It wasn’t the time for crying. When he returned... everything had to be ready.
_ _ _
Cassian had finally arrived at the capital, with Lilith and the other witches behind him.
The only obstacle standing before them was Cryomara’s barrier surrounding the city. A blue, vibrating, impenetrable wall of energy.
If Cassian were alone, he could have passed through this barrier easily. But right now, he wasn’t alone.
He placed his hand on the surface of the barrier. Cold energy tingled his fingertips. He knocked on the air twice, as if knocking on a door.
"Hey, old butterfly! Are you there? You have guests!"
Silence. There was not the slightest reaction from the barrier.
Cassian turned around with a sigh. He cast an apologetic look at the witches, especially Lilith.
"I guess we’ll have to wa—"
He couldn’t finish his sentence.
The air suddenly grew heavy. The surface of the barrier rippled like a rock thrown into the middle of a calm lake. But from this ripple, born not a warm welcome, but a deadly intent.
A massive chunk of ice, the size of a mountain, covering the sky, broke off from within the barrier and began to fall upon them like a meteor.
"Sovereign Form!"
Cassian’s body reacted as soon as he gave the command.
However, before he could complete his transformation, he instinctively raised his hand into the air.
Chaos Flames erupted from his palm, rising to the sky like a black pillar, catching the gigantic ice mountain descending upon them in mid-air.
BOOM!
The collision of ice and fire shook the earth and sky. Steam and snow turned the surroundings into a cloud of fog.
Under the protection of the flames, Cassian tilted his head slightly to the side. He narrowed his eyes.
What was happening?
Had Cryomara just tried to kill him? Or was this an automatic defense mechanism of the barrier?
"But why?" he thought. "She should know me."
Just then, a light, fake coughing sound came from behind him.
Cassian looked over his shoulder. Lilith had stepped forward like a child who had committed a crime.
She was scuffing the snowy ground with the tip of her foot, hands clasped behind her back, avoiding eye contact and looking at the ground with an innocent demeanor.
"Um..." Lilith said, her voice like a mumble. "I think... in the past, between the Guardian of the North and us... how should I put it... there might have been some ’unpleasant’ events."
Cassian turned back to the closed barrier in front of him.
"Unacceptable!" he thundered. His voice reached all the way to the fortress beyond the barrier.
"Trying to kill my woman?! I will tear that butterfly’s wings off!"
He placed his hand on the barrier again. But this time, he didn’t knock.
The Chaos energy radiating from his palm invaded the structure of the barrier like a virus.
The blue light turned black, cracked, and within seconds, shattered like glass and scattered.
The path was open.
Cassian squared his shoulders, raised his head high, and turned to the women behind him.
"Get inside," he said. His voice was as absolute as a ruler’s command.
Lilith paused as she passed by Cassian. Her cheeks were flushed not from the cold, but from shame and a strange pleasure.
This state of Cassian... This reckless courage, this arrogance... And calling her "my woman" in front of everyone...
Lilith’s heart was pounding with excitement. In panic, without being able to say anything, she bowed her head and quickly walked past him.
The other witches followed Cassian with looks full of admiration and fear.
After all the witches entered the safe zone, Cassian stopped holding the barrier open. The blue energy merged again like a pool of water, and the barrier returned to its original state.
But their business wasn’t finished yet.
From the ramparts of the fortress, a blue glow cutting through the sky came towards them like an arrow.
Cassian stepped forward. Taking the witches behind him, he extended his hand forward in a protective manner.
A pitch-black wall made of Chaos appeared in front of them.
The blue glow slammed into the barrier. But it didn’t stop.
Like a drill piercing wood, it bored through the Chaos barrier.
CRACK!
The barrier shattered into smithereens.
In the next moment, a woman stood right in front of Lilith, right under her nose.
Her bluish-white hair waved in the air as if she were inside a storm.
Her eyes shone with pure, freezing killing intent.
Cryomara.
However, her hand, reaching out to grab Lilith’s throat, could not reach its target.
Her body was wrapped in black chains of fire. And in the air, a clawed hand covered in scales had caught her wrist like an iron clamp.
Cassian had stopped the Mythical Beast in mid-air.
Cryomara looked at the hand holding her wrist, then at Cassian’s face. Her anger was freezing the air around them.
"LET GO!" she roared.
The aura radiating from her body spread out like an explosion. It shattered the chains wrapping her, breaking the pressure on her.
In that moment, everyone there, the witches, even the guards in the distance, were crushed under that terrible pressure and fell to their knees. Breathing became impossible.
Only one person was standing.
Cassian.
With not the slightest hesitation in his stance, not a crumb of fear in his eyes, he looked upright at Cryomara. His red eyes battled with the Mythical Beast’s blue ones.
Cryomara looked at him, unable to believe this audacity.
"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS, HEIR OF KAISER?!" she shouted. Her voice echoed through the mountains. "HOW DARE YOU BRING THIS CURSE INTO MY HOME?!"
Cassian did not let go of Cryomara’s wrist. On the contrary, he squeezed tighter.
"She is with me," he said. His voice was calm, cold, and absolute.
"And not even you can touch what is mine."
