How To Make The Ice Prince Fall

"Don't..." Nathaniel's brows furrowed in his sleep. His raspy voice was nothing but a whisper. "I didn't do it… please don't."

Curious, Katherine leaned even closer. For Nathaniel to beg for something, that was unprecedented. She always thought he would be to stubborn and proud for that. His warm breath hit her ear and blood rushed to her cheeks. This is only to hear him better, she told herself, but still furthered the distance by a few centimeters.

"Mother..." His muscles tensed, crumpling the papers under his arms. As he jerked his chin upwards, the scar on his jaw seemed to be gleaming red in the dwindling light that fell through the window. "Please don't…"

Could this be a childhood memory?, Katherine deliberated. Beside his aunt's death, she didn't know much about his past. Maybe that was only the tip of the iceberg. Something seemed to have happened with his mother, too.

"Shh, it's all good now.", she said and soothingly stroked his back through the blanket. Her heart ached for him. His childhood seemed to be worse than hers. "Everything is alright."

It felt funny talking to a grown man like to a child, but not in a good way. She couldn't image what must have happened to this strong man to still have nightmares about. It must've been horrible. Should she wake him up? However, he was just as proud as her. If he noticed she heard him beg in his sleep, he wouldn't be pleased at all. It was better to chase the nightmare away without letting him wake up.

However, despite her reassurement, he got more agitated by the second. Even through the blanked, she could feel his heart pounding rapidly. His breathing was rough, the hands clenching until the knuckles turned white. "Mom!"

Suddenly and without her influence, Katherine's magic stirred, wrapping her hand in a pure white light that lit up the surroundings. The change was so unexpected that Katherine held her breath. For two seconds, the light glimmered, before it vanished again like an illusion.

Frightened that it could've awakened Nathaniel, Katherine backed off. But unexpectedly, he didn't seem bothered by it. On the opposite, when the light appeared, his body relaxed and now his breathing deepened again. Strange.

Sitting down on the edge of the desk, Katherine silently watched him sleep for a while. She was suspicious if he was really asleep or just pretending. An hour passed before the desk was getting uncomfortable.

As she stood up, her tummy let out a little growl. Damn. She forgot about dinner. Now it would be over already. It was all his fault! Why did he fall asleep so early?

Strolling out of the study, she reminded herself to later bring some food over. He'd be hungry when he'd wake up. Now, she first had to fill her own rumbling stomach.

It was a bit concerning that her magic had run out of control. She wondered what had caused this development and why would the earl relax when her magic reached him. Maybe there was more to her magic than she'd realized in all these years. After all, she didn't have much opportunities to try it out.

.

In the middle of the night, the study was dark. A few little stars shone through the window albeit not strong enough to light up the surroundings. All their light seemed to be collected by the white hair of a man, who now slowly blinked his eyes. He could see nothing beside the outline of the table edge and the arm he'd laid upon.

"It seems I was more tired than I thought.", Nathaniel muttered with regret. It wasn't his first time slumbering off while working but he certainly wasn't proud of it. Even if he was tired, he would push himself to work until all was done normally. He hated leaving things unfinished.

When he sat up, something fell from his back. Someone had laid a blanket over him. Astonished, his brows raised. Was Sam back already? But the butler was more likely to wake him up and ask if he really wanted to die before him from catching a cold. Then he would usher him into his bedroom to sleep.

There was a slight scent of roses and food in the air. Squinting his eyes, he saw a plate not far from him. His heart warmed up. There was only one person besides Sam that would do something like that for him.

"Silly girl", he sighed, but his voice was filled with gentleness. Because she already treated him when he was unconsciousness, the thought of her seeing him asleep was not as upsetting as it would've been with anyone else. He trusted her to a certain degree. Why then did he feel irritated, as if something uncomfortable had happened? Never mind, if really something happened, he would've remembered it.

After lighting up a few candles, he ate the already cold dinner when suddenly he heard a noise. It was very quiet, but still discernable to him. It came from the neighboring bedroom. Coldness flashed through Nathaniel's eyes. Whoever directly visited a person's bedroom in the middle of the night, definitely didn't have good intentions.

Since his butler and his guard, Dorian, were off on errands, the only possible support were the palace guards in front of his chambers. However, Nathaniel didn't trust that they would be quiet enough to not alarm the intruder with their heavy armament. They were more useful were they were, posing as obstacles.

Opening a drawer, he took out an unassuming dagger. If it was fighting in a small space like a bedroom, such a weapon was better than the long sword he had left leaning near the door after practice in the morning.

He postured himself with his back to the wall next to the bedroom door. Ruffling sounds were coming out of it, then a strange squeak. Not any more rats, Nathaniel thought annoyed. Those little beasts were quite a hassle, alive even more than dead in a package. Just why does she like rats so much?

To not give the intruder time to release the rats in his chambers, Nathaniel shoved open the door and rushed inside. His eyes first found the window that let in the cold wind, then he walked to the wardrobe and pulled it open. Nothing. Looking out of the window, there was also nobody in sight. He closed it. The room was conspicuously quiet.

With his eyes searching for clues, Nathaniel again heard the rustling sound. It came from his bed. There was something squirming under the covers. It was too small to be a person.

A bad feeling arose in his stomach. Cautiously, he neared the bed. First, he looked under it, not surprised to find only empty darkness. Standing upright, he grabbed the blanket, preparing himself. Whatever was under it, squeaked and moved vividly.

Nathaniel's face turned ugly, deliberating for a second if he should leave this present for someone else to sort out. However, with the stand of investigation, the woman was a suspect for the disappearances. He didn't find concrete evidence for her involvement yet, but there might be a clue in this mess of hers. She was bound to know about what had happened back then.

Something warm wetted his hand. The covers were slowly turning red with blood, the movements slowing down. Despite knowing what awaited him, he couldn't abandon the innocent victims, even if the possibility for a clue was low. With one swift motion, he yanked the blanked away. However, what he found wasn't what he expected.

Curses rang through the bedroom. "You evil, mad woman!"