Winter deepens. Kael's people suffer due to a frozen river. Elira offers to help—but he refuses.
"I won't let you risk yourself."
"You don't control me, Kael."
He's silent at first, then quietly says, "No. But I protect what's mine."
The words linger between them.
Elira walks to the river alone, kneels, and touches the ice. Cold pain shoots through her hand, but she doesn't flinch.
A ripple forms in the ice, and from it rises Undina, Queen of Water—elegant, mournful, ancient.
"You are not just the Vessel," she says. "You are the Balance. If you fall, the world drowns in chaos."
Elira lifts the curse on the river. It flows again. Villagers cheer.
Kael finds her shivering at the riverbank, half-conscious from the elemental strain. Without a word, he carries her back to the keep, holds her until the fever passes, and stays at her bedside all night.
When she wakes, she finds her journal beside her pillow. A frost lily bookmark lies inside.
She doesn't need a love confession.
She already knows.