*Thud*

A loud crashing noise was heard followed by a low groan filled with pain.

The snowstorm from earlier had drifted far away from the place where it had first originated and had finally come to a halt after traveling a considerable distance.

The moment it reached the end of its life, the snowstorm ceased existing just as quickly as it had come into existence.

'Where am I?' The young boy who had been swept away by the storm wondered when his body came in contact with the cold ground.

He did not know how long the whirlwind had been carrying him nor did he know about the location where it had tossed him.

The only aspect he knew thoroughly was the pain rippling through his body.

Draco could not even open his eyes as his eyelids had been frozen shut after being surrounded by that freezing whirlwind until now.

His body was now laid on the ground which had a thick layer of snow already covering it.

The snow acted as a cushion to break his fall but his stiff body hurt nonetheless as it had been dropped from a significant height at which he had been floating inside that whirlwind.

With each second that passed, his body was getting frigid and stiff due to the chill of the frozen ground seeping into his bones.

He could sense his heart rate lowering as his breaths got shallow.

The lack of air to his lungs had already clouded his mind and had made him lose consciousness earlier but now that he had jolted awake after his fall, he still could not move an inch of his body.

The freezing air around him had stopped yet the ground on which he laid was continuing to cause him to shudder uncontrollably.

'I cannot stay this way any longer.' Draco realized that his body was beginning to shut itself down.

The longer he stayed in the cold, the higher were the chances of him dying right here.

He had been complacent all along as he believed that the cold could not harm him.

This belief was the reason why he had only worn a fur coat while the rest of the people who had arrived at this fief with him had worn thick woolen clothing to shield themselves from the freezing temperatures found here.

The people in the Roschester mansion had also complimented him for being accepted by the motherland which had made him cocky the last few times he had visited it.

This was also why he had dared to not heed to his subordinates' concerns and chose to set off on foot towards the border even when that freak blizzard was threatening to block their path.

'I am an outsider after all.' A self-deprecating smile formed on his lips as he laid there on the frozen ground.

All along, he was being told that Roschester had taken him as one of her children and the cold would not harm him.

But right now, those words of praise for being accepted by the Roschester motherland were proven false.

They said that he was one of them, protected from the cold by their motherland yet now he could not sense his limbs which meant that the cold temperature most certainly was harming him.

Those false words had given him a false sense of security but now he was realizing his folly.

This brought a wave of anger to wash over his body.

So what if the Roschester fief had not accepted him as her child, he was still unwilling to just lay here, waiting to freeze to his death in this unknown location.

'Get a hold of yourself!' He rebuked his mind which had been wallowing in self-pity just earlier.

Even if Roschester had not acknowledged him as her child, he still had his birth land, Amarthea, where his elder brother was waiting for him.

Therefore, he could not just stay here in this sorry state as there were people who needed his presence in their lives just as much as he needed theirs.

With renewed vigor and anger burning in his heart for the false sense of confidence he had in himself until now, the young prince's eyes shot up.

Those emerald eyes sparkled and his lashes fluttered to adjust as they had been stiff until now.

Having regained control of his eyes, the young prince looked around with vigilance to make out the place where the whirlwind had dropped him.

He was still laid on the ground with his back flat on the snow, causing his body to shudder due to the dampness that had seeped into his clothing.

The fur coat on his back had absorbed a major portion of the melted snow beneath his body which resulted in his clothes absorbing the moisture as well.

Disregarding his trembling body, his eyes moved around, scanning his surroundings with subtle movements.

The place where he had been tossed was dark but there was a certain warmth in the air around him which he had not felt earlier.

'Looks like I was hurled into a cave of some kind.' He speculated after observing his vicinity.

There was a dim source of light to his left, indicating that the mouth of this cave was in that direction.

However, the path which led further into the cave was to his right and this was also where the warmth he had felt earlier was coming from.

Due to the restricted movement of his head, he could not see how deep the cave was but from the pitch darkness he glimpsed, he could assume that it was larger than what meets the eye.

He had two options now, one, to head towards the mouth of the cave and find his way back to his subordinates who must be looking for his whereabouts.

The second option was to investigate the source of the warmth which was filling this cave.

One led him to the shuddering cold outside and the other to a solace where he might find some warmth to recover from the frigid cold.

However, right now, to choose either, he would first have to move his body which had frozen due to the stifling cold that had been surrounding him all along.

His anger at the false sense of security he had until now and his deep desire to reunite with his brother and family were the only thoughts in his mind.

With a fire burning inside his heart for the betrayal he had sensed today, Draco Rosenhyde gritted his teeth and forced his eyes shut.

The next time those emerald eyes reappeared, they were filled with determination as he let out a low growl in anger, clenching his fists tight.

The young prince was forcing his frozen body to move with sheer determination and willpower.

The sequelae of his actions, he would have to face in the future but he was not bothered about it at this moment.

All that was on his mind was to find a way to escape this place and reunite with his subordinates.

He could feel tremendous pain shooting throughout his body as he pushed it to its limit, trying his best to regain complete control of his senses.

It took him time to achieve this but Draco gnashed his teeth to endure the pain he felt but did not give up hope.

As low groans and pained growls echoed in the cave, the young prince of this great Kingdom had finally succeeded in sitting up straight.

Looking down at his fingers which were swollen and bright red, he understood that he had been affected by frostbite.

The redness in association with the swelling indicated that he had moved to the intermediate stage which was called the superficial frostbite.

If he did not gain immediate treatment then his condition could worsen and he would move to the advanced stage where things could go dangerously wrong for him.

The swelling and pain would be the least of his worries as his skin would turn white then blue and finally become hard to touch.

Just like frozen meat, once his skin thaws, he would experience blisters that oozed blood but his suffering wouldn't end there.

Those blisters would turn black which would prove that the muscles and tissues of skin in those areas were as good as rotten.

'Necrosis…' Draco gritted his teeth as that was the last stage.

Tissue and muscle death was the worst effect of frostbite which would bring with it different long-term effects he would have to live with throughout his life.

It would be a miracle if he could regain complete control of his body as numbness was often a sequela of frostbite.

Heightened sensitivity to cold, numbness and lack of movement, and persistent pain throughout his body would become a common occurrence once he reached the final stage of frostbite.

The young prince had learned about them all in his lessons but this would be the first time he was experiencing them happening to him.

Any boy who had not even reached adulthood being threatened with such terrible side effects would surely feel fear for his life and his future.

The same was happening to the young prince but there were things more important to him than his own health and well-being.

'I won't die as long as I leave this place.' Draco clenched his fists as he unbuttoned his fur coat.

It was better to get rid of this wet overcoat rather than to let it stay on his body, making him shudder due to the moisture seeping into it.

The pure white coat fell to the ground, camouflaging with the snow as the Prince rose to his feet.

Alternating his gaze between the mouth of the cave and the interior, he wondered which path to choose now that he had managed to regain complete control of his body.

His eyes halted on the pitch darkness which seemed to exude a certain warmth in the air.

'Inside it is!' Draco decided when the freezing breeze coming from outside reached his position.

Raising his feet in the direction of the darkness, Prince Draco ventured to find the source of the warmth before he could leave this cave once and for all.

As he walked in the direction he had chosen, his body began to be surrounded by warmth all around him.

He soon realized that ditching the wet fur coat was an excellent idea as his clothes were beginning to lose the moisture which they had absorbed earlier.

He could feel his toes again and his fingers did not itch as they had done before.

However, the most astonishing aspect to the young prince was the fact that as he walked further into the cave, the darkness surrounding him was fading away with each step he took in its direction.

Along with the warmth which was working to heat his frozen body, there was a dim source of light that was fluttering in the distance.

'This…' Draco's eyes widened at the sight he found once he reached the source of the bluish-hued light which had attracted him to this location deep into the cave.