The story of how I, who became the beloved child of Winter Fenrir, was healed from despair

Chapter 82: Last Epilogue [Michela’s Chapter] [Winter Fenrir Epilogue: 12]

(From the perspective of the Green Princess)

They called me the Spring Princess, a gem as green as an emerald.

I was happy to be called that only when I was young.

Eventually, I realized that I was just a girl meant to be a sacrifice for the Spring Dragon.

All the beauty I was praised for and the green magic I polished—none of it was to become a beast.

It was for me.

I just wanted to be praised.

Even the green fairies I used to be friends with, I began to despise.

“You’re raising me as a sacrifice, aren’t you?” I thought. “If that’s the case, then I’ll treat you like mere objects too.” So, I worked them to the bone.

Even when I saw those fairies, battered and broken, and felt a pang of guilt, I thought, “I’m suffering more than they are.”

Even when everyone looked troubled, I told myself, “I’m suffering more!”

Despite all that, my older brother always saw me as just a “pretty girl.”

And then there was Prince Christopher from the Snow Kingdom. He looked at me with eyes that weren’t greedy.

When he escorted me with his cool, azure-nailed hand, he was so gentle, and I fell in love.

But my brother used me for political gain.

And the prince saw me as no more than a little sister.

After that, I couldn’t trust anything or anyone anymore. My heart and body became trapped in a cage.

…

…

The cage door creaked open.

When I weakly lifted my head to see who it was, platinum hair appeared.

That platinum, like the light that breaks through winter clouds, paired with snow-colored skin, made the ice-blue eyes shine all the more powerfully.

“I don’t want this.”

I turned my face away in disgust.

Michela. Just looking at the fortunate princess, whose place had been taken by someone from another world to become a beast in her stead, made my stomach churn.

“Shall we have a heart-to-heart conversation?”

That winter light invaded my cage.

Though she just sat on the sofa across from me, the weight of her presence was overwhelming!

In this not-so-spacious room, it was impossible not to be aware of her.

“…What is it!?”

I shouted and glared at her, but she was like a sunbeam in the darkness.

…No, that’s wrong. She’s like a polar bear that appeared in the night.

What a ferocious expression she wore.

“A… beast.”

“Oh, that makes things faster. I’m here as a representative of the Fel Snow Kingdom, and I’ve brought two answers.”

She raised two delicate fingers.

“The topic is the resurrection of the Spring Dragon. …By the way, isn’t it exhausting? All this talk about sacrifices and replacements. After all, our efforts are always destined to turn us into one of the Four Seasonal Beasts. We lose our precious memories with our families. And once we’re born as Princess Michela, what’s the point of all this?” She sighed, as if on the verge of tears.

“…You? Crying?”

It was unbelievable.

I couldn’t imagine this princess being sad like that. She was too strong.

I wanted to dismiss it as some sort of attempt to manipulate me, but why were my own eyes suddenly filled with tears?

My vision blurred.

“Yes, when I was young, I often cried. What I feared losing most were my memories with my family. And you?”

“…I don’t want to lose my beauty.”

“Is that your top priority?”

“…Because that’s the only thing everyone ever praised purely for what it was.”

No matter how much I refined my magic, everyone looked at me only as the Spring Dragon’s future vessel.

But beauty—at least that was something people saw in me, and me alone.

Why did I accept the handkerchief she offered me?

Was it because of the soft light of her platinum hair and the gentleness of her ice-blue eyes?

“You can preserve your beauty.”

“…What are you saying?”

“Only your beauty. You’ll have to discard your memories, though. So, what will you do?”

She waved her two fingers like a conductor’s baton, waiting for my answer.

As she explained further, I learned that by offering my name, I could restore the Spring Dragon.

Would I become the Spring Dragon entirely—body and soul?

Or would I offer only my name, keeping my beauty in human form?

It felt surreal to be standing at the crossroads of two futures like this.

“I will…”

As I answered, she gently embraced me, whispering, “You did well, Meixiao Li,” calling me only by my name, without any title.