Winter stood in the middle of the room, the frost still spreading slowly at her feet.
She didn't look at the servants who had escaped. She didn't look at the room either. Her eyes stayed fixed on Mei Lin.
When she spoke, her voice was quiet, but the cold in it hit fast.
"Raise your head."
Mei Lin lifted it slowly, her chin trembling.
Winter didn't give her a moment to breathe.
She stepped forward, and the frost under her feet jumped outward in a sharp burst that cracked the floor.
The ceiling light flickered once and buzzed. Her voice came out low and tight, carrying anger she didn't bother hiding anymore.
"Stand up," Winter said, not giving Mei Lin a chance to breathe. "Right now."
Mei Lin pushed herself up on shaking legs.
Winter's gaze swept across the room again—the warm basin, the dropped towel, the fruit plate, the silk robe, the servant tools still scattered near the chair. Her cold aura flared, and a thin spike of ice shot up beside Mei Lin's foot, close enough to sting her skin.
"You sit here being treated like royalty," Winter said, stepping closer, "while every assassin you sent has disappeared without leaving even a shadow behind."
The room got even colder. Frost formed on the edges of the window. Mei Lin's breath came out as white mist.
Winter raised a hand, her fingers stiff with cold.
"Do you think you earned this comfort? This robe? These servants?"
Her voice cut straight through the room.
"Your failure fills this place like a bad smell, and you sit here enjoying foot baths."
Another crack ran across the wooden floor near Winter's feet.
She leaned in just slightly, enough for Mei Lin to feel the cold hit her skin.
Mei Lin scrambled to her feet, though her knees shook too much to keep her steady.
Winter's gaze stayed locked on her.
"Explain it," she continued, tone flat but sharper than the cold around her. "Where are they? Why did they fail? And why are you here relaxing when you should be bringing me answers?"
The frost cracked under Winter's step as she moved closer.
"Start talking, Mei Lin."
Mei Lin's breath shook as she raised her head. Her lips were already losing color from the cold. Winter took one slow step forward, and that alone made the temperature drop again.
Mei Lin's knees gave out without her meaning to, and she fell straight to the floor, palms hitting the cold floor. She kept rer heartbeat was pounding hard.
"Len... Leng Xueya… I…"
Her voice caught in her throat. She swallowed hard and tried again.
"I… I sent the rookies first, just as instructed."
Winter didn't move.
She waited.
Mei Lin's shoulders tightened. "They didn't return. Not one of them."
Her breath came out shaky. "I thought… maybe they got lost or delayed, so I sent another group. All loyal and reliable."
Winter's silence only grew heavier and heavier.
Mei Lin forced the words out, her voice shaking.
"They didn't come back either… the second group."
She swallowed hard. "I… I already wrote it in the report I sent you, V-Vice Principal. There were no signs at all."
She tightened her hands on the floor.
"So I sent my own servant to check the area where my brother was staying. Even she came back with nothing. She searched every corner. There was no sign anyone had fought… or even walked through."
Winter stepped closer again. Her presence pressed down like a weight. Mei Lin could feel her heartbeat pounding in her neck.
Winter's voice came out quiet, with no emotion at all.
"Are you telling me an F-rank boy erased every trace of your groups?"
Mei Lin's head shook quickly.
"N-no. He couldn't. I don't believe it."
Mei Lin shook her head so fast her hair slapped against her cheeks.
"N-no… he couldn't. He really couldn't…" Her voice trembled from fear and the cold biting into her throat.
She forced herself to speak louder.
"Shen Yan is pathetic, V-Vice Principal. He always was. His bloodline is trash. Everyone in our family knows it."
Her breath came out shaky.
"He hides when trouble comes. He bows his head to anyone stronger. He drools over every pretty girl he sees and thinks he's charming when he's just embarrassing."
Her hands curled tight.
"He's afraid of everything. He couldn't even fight a dog properly when we were kids. He'd run and cry before throwing a punch."
Her voice cracked again as she tried to steady it.
"He's a coward. A real coward. There's no way he killed them. There's no way he even touched them. He… he's useless. Completely useless."
Mei Lin lowered her head more, breathing hard.
"He didn't do it. He couldn't."
Winter crouched slightly so her mask was closer to Mei Lin's lowered face.
"Then explain," Winter said. "Why did you bring me nothing but failure?"
Mei Lin's throat closed for a second.
"I… I don't have a reason," she whispered. "I don't know who intervened. I don't know how they erased everything. I only know it wasn't Shen Yan."
Her whole body shook.
The cold kept growing, running up her arms.
Winter stayed still. She watched Mei Lin struggle and didn't blink.
Mei Lin finally forced herself to speak the last part.
"I take full responsibility. Punish me as you decide. I failed you."
She moved in one sharp step, and before Mei Lin could even lift her head, Winter's gloved hand caught her chin.
Winter's fingers were icy the moment they touched Mei Lin's chin. The cold hit straight through her skin, making her jaw stiffen on the spot.
Winter tilted her chin upward, forcing her to look straight into the mask.
Mei Lin's eyes widened. Her breath stopped halfway in her throat.
Winter spoke quietly, but the tone carried all the pressure she'd been holding in the chamber.
"You talk a lot," Winter said. "Coward this. Useless that."
Her grip tightened just a little. Enough to make Mei Lin's jaw ache.
"But every assassin you sent is gone. And you bring me nothing except excuses."