Page 12 of The Heart of Winter

Where he was looking, there was still a bit of empty space in the drawing.

After a moment of thought, I selected the sketch tool again.

Could I draw HIM here?

My soul mate?

The figure from my dreams, the one I could never fully visualize, never quite pull out of the void, never quite give shape to.

Maybe I could try today?

My hand trembled slightly as I traced the first lines. I decided to draw him standing, as if he were walking toward us. I gave him a well-built physique, more muscular than mine.

Muscles had never been my focus. I had the lean body of a dancer. But… I gave him more. I wasn’t even sure why.

Honestly, I never had a specific preference. I liked both slender omegas and muscular alphas. I could never decide whether I was more attracted to delicate frames or strong, sculpted builds.

Now, it was time to draw the face and hair.

I focused, trying—almost magically—to channel every instinct, every subconscious impression I could grasp from the ether.

A bit of a mystical approach, sure, but why not? I snickered to myself.

Maybe Fate would guide my hand and reveal what my True Mate looked like? Maybe it would shape itself into the right form.

I hesitated for a moment while sketching the outline of the hair.

Now what? Maybe I really should leave this to Fate?

Alright. I hovered the tip of my stylus over the color palette, closed my eyes, and made a few small circular motions to throw off my own memory of where the colors were positioned.

Then, with a decisive move, I tapped the screen.

Control + G. Fill.

I blinked at the screen, confused. Nothing had changed.

What the hell? Did I not pick a color? The background was still blank, just white paper with black outlines… and the hair had no color.

Then, my gaze shifted to the small square indicating my selected color.

I froze. The chosen color was white!

A burst of maniacal laughter escaped me.

Out of all the colors in the palette, I had randomly picked white.

Oh, wait! Scratch that. When I leaned in closer, I noticed it wasn’t completely white. Maybe it had a faint platinum tint? You’d have to look really hard to see it.

No way. That would be too weird. White hair, like some kind of elven prince…

Or like my new boss at the company.

Ugh, no, no!

That thought sent a strange shiver down my spine. For a moment, I just sat there, lost in thought. Fate had definitely made a mistake. Or maybe it wasn’t Fate at all, just my fingers slipping over the palette. Most likely.

Unless… Fate was just messing with me, a kind of mischievous wink, knowing I’d soon be working for that cold, elven prince of a man, with a very fitting name: Winter.

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