The Frost Flower Knight

Chapter 1

Prologue

This story is a medieval fantasy that strongly depicts the common beauty standards of a fictional period in European history. In this society, “beautiful women” must be feminine, docile, and fair-skinned. Anyone presenting outside these limited bonds is considered cursed. Our female lead, Yulia, has been influenced by these prejudices but still strives to live a life outside her society’s limitations! Follow Yulia as she struggles to overcome her past, society’s expectations, and her own insecurities to become the greatest swordmaster of her time!

Yulia’s heart was pierced by the sword of the man she had trusted.

“Y-Your Majesty…?” she gasped.

He looked at her with empty eyes. It was a cold, heartless look she had never seen from him before.

She coughed. Blood came gushing out of her mouth. Then he mercilessly pulled the sword from her chest. Blood splattered in the air and suddenly, her heart felt like it was engulfed in flames. Yulia lost grip on her sword as her body and mind crumpled, failing her. She stared at the man in confusion.

“Don’t look at me that way. Your usefulness has simply run its course. You’ve served me well, Yulia von Rosenthal,” he said.

He had told her he loved her. He had looked at her with kind eyes and swore his love to her. Yulia also loved him, so she willingly protected him with her sword. She kept his enemies at bay and did whatever she could to help him claim the emperor’s throne.

So… Why?

His lips curled into a twisted smile. “You look as though you feel you’ve been wronged. There’s no need to feel that way. I also had to go through great trouble to stomach your hideous face every single day.”

Every muscle in Yulia’s face twitched.

“Then, was it all a lie? Was everything you’ve ever said to me a lie?” she asked.

Her pale lips quivered uncontrollably, but the words were clear.

He snickered. “Just pretend you had a wonderful, sweet dream. I will make sure to give you a grand funeral, considering all your accomplishments over the years. Goodbye.”

And with that, the man turned his back on her. Yulia stretched out her hand, desperately reaching for him. She wished with all her heart that he would turn around and tell her he wasn’t serious, but he never looked back. She could only watch as he moved farther away.

Then, her eyes traveled downward to look at her arm. At the end of her thick log of an arm was a hand covered in scars. All she had gotten in return for taking up her sword for him—so much so that her hands bled—was a ruthless betrayal. Tears refused to stop flowing from her eyes. Her heart ached. Although her heart had been pierced by his sword, what pained her more was how he had torn it to shreds with his icy stare.

She had trusted him. She had truly believed that at least he of all people would love her. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. He had simply used her. How could she have been so naive? Because she was ugly, she had wanted to believe his sweet lies. When no one else would extend a hand, he had reached out to her and told her how beautiful she was. That was how she had been seduced into pledging her allegiance and devoting her everything to him. And to think she was violently betrayed after all she had done for him…

Yulia’s body gave out and bent forward. She could feel the life leaving her as death crept in. Would he have done this to her if she had been a beauty instead of resembling an orc? A hopelessly sad chuckle escaped her lips as tears continued to flow. She laughed at her foolishness and cried at the brutal reality.

So... this is really the end. Her vision started to go black as death became imminent. She actually found her impending death quite calming. She wouldn’t have to lift her sword anymore and wouldn’t have to be deceived by fake love. And so, Yulia shed herself of all her burdens.

Then suddenly, there was a miracle. A blinding flash burst out of her entire body as it began to undergo a transformation. The countless scars on her body vanished. The rough, rugged surface of her skin became clear and brilliant like snow reflecting the sun. Her messy, bushy hair grew long and turned silver, shiny, and sleek like silk. Her burly, beefy physique became slender and curvaceous.

Even her face changed. Her square jawline thinned and angled into a pretty, feminine face. Eyes too tiny for others to even make out their color opened up into beautifully shaped violet eyes. The flat, orc-like nose rose to form a sharp, straight bridge. Her thick, asymmetrical lips shrank and took on a nice rosy tint.

Body Transformation. One could achieve this by mastering Frozen, her family’s sword technique. It not only changed one’s physique into the optimal build for sword fighting but also removed their unappealing looks. It was the pinnacle of Frozen, which members of the House of Rosenthal pursued and hoped to one day attain—and it had miraculously just happened.

But what good was it now? A heart that was shattered both physically and emotionally could not be restored, even if Yulia had somehow reached the summit. Only death awaited her.

Yulia raised her arm and looked at it. The scars were gone, and there was a pale, slender hand instead.

“How lovely,” Yulia muttered, smiling despondently.

What a cruel god, to grant her the pinnacle of swordsmanship right before she died. She was curious to see how her face had changed. She ran her fingers along her eyes, cheeks, nose, and chin but couldn’t see. Her world darkened.

Yulia von Rosenthal, aged twenty-five, was killed by the blade of the man she loved and trusted.

The Return of Yulia

The House of Rosenthal was generally known to people as the sword of the empire or the guardians of the imperial family. But behind closed doors, they called themselves something else.

“Cursed sword,” Yulia muttered gloomily.

She was sitting on the edge of the bed and looking at the full-length mirror on one side of the chamber. Her arms and legs were skinnier than she was used to. Even her face was slightly feminine, but that was about it.

She bit down on her bottom lip and cried, “This darned curse!”

Long ago, the founder of their house, Howard von Rosenthal, killed the Fire Witch, Ariel. Right before her demise, however, she laid a curse upon him.

“All your offspring shall perish before the end of childhood!”

Howard had two children at the time. His first child, a son, fell ill with a high fever due to the curse and was unable to make it past the age of ten. Howard tried to cure him by employing the holy powers of a priest, the best healers available, and all kinds of elixirs, but nothing worked. That wasn’t the end of it—his daughter also began to experience acute fever.

To find a way to undo the curse, Howard sought a different witch, believing that a witch would know the most about a witch’s curse. After a lengthy, tumultuous journey, he found Iris, the Ice Witch. He was able to obtain one method to save his daughter.

It was a sword technique by the name of “Frozen,” an extreme technique that no regular person could learn because of the intense chill that accompanied it. The technique had actually been created to fight against Ariel, the Fire Witch. Learning Frozen gave one the ability to fend off Ariel’s powerful fire energy.

With Iris’ help, Howard had his seven-year-old daughter learn the ways of Frozen. Then, like a miracle, she regained her health and escaped the suffocating hold of the deadly curse. However, it had consequences. In exchange, the child was inflicted with another curse—unattractive looks.

Yulia picked up a cushion and flung it toward the mirror, which tilted and spun. Somehow, it didn’t fall over and slammed back down with a loud thud.

The cost of continuing the family line was to take on an extremely ugly appearance. Everything would be normal for a Rosenthal child until the age of seven, but once they learned the sword technique, their body would change. Yulia’s outer appearance had changed as she matured, turning her into a figure very much lacking in feminine qualities.

A witch’s curse it was, indeed. She heaved a sigh. At that moment, the chamber door swung open, and a wide-eyed maid walked in.

“My lady, are you all right?”

Judy was a maid who had taken care of Yulia since she was a young child. Yulia’s head began to throb again when she saw her. She couldn’t grasp what was happening. What in the world is going on? When she opened her eyes again, she thought she had somehow survived the wound. But before she could confirm anything, her body began to shiver, and her head throbbed with a massive headache, making it difficult to collect herself.

When she finally did, a ridiculous reality was awaiting her. Somehow, for whatever reason, she had gone back in time—eight years to be precise—to when she was seventeen. The shock subsided fairly quickly, however, as she looked at herself in the mirror. The beautiful, delicate hand she had seen in her final moments was nowhere to be found. Instead, all she saw was the repulsive girl who looked like an odd mix of orc and ogre that she was all too familiar with.

Judy stared at Yulia’s face with a worried look.

“My lady?”

Yulia looked at Judy and calmed herself. Okay. It’s not all too important how or why I came back to this time. What’s important is what I must do from here on out.

It was an understatement to say that Yulia was a strong woman. She became known as the greatest knight in the history of House Rosenthal because she was tough and mighty in both mind and body.

I can attain it again.

The Frozen technique wasn’t all about its ugly side effects. It was the most powerful sword-fighting technique there was, and thanks to that, the House of Rosenthal came to be known as the guardians of the imperial family.

According to the Ice Witch’s words that have been passed down for generations…

“With full mastery of Frozen, all curses shall be broken.”

Yulia had already had a firsthand experience with it.

Body Transformation—there’s no reason I can’t get there again. It had changed her body in her last moments. That feeling, that sensation, was still fresh in her memory. She didn’t know if it was all just a dream, but if history played out the way she remembered it, she could know for sure that she had in fact returned to the past. Her face darkened when she thought about what that would entail.

No. If that happens… I will die. I will be brutally murdered by the man I loved and trusted. It had really happened. It was real. I can’t die again. Then what is the solution? Revenge…?

The more she thought about it, the greater the rage in her heart burned. Just thinking about the face of the emperor, who was the crown prince at that point, made her blood boil.

Then out of nowhere, she heard Judy sobbing and sniffling.

“M-my lady… Wh-what’s wrong?”

It seemed that Yulia had unknowingly released some killing intent, and Judy had become frightened. At seventeen, Yulia’s strength already rivaled that of a captain-level knight, so it was no surprise that a regular person like Judy would be affected by this energy.

“Sorry, Judy. Are you okay?”

Yulia comforted Judy and poured some warm energy into her. The colors in her face slowly began to return.

“I-I’m fine. I was just startled, that’s all. Anyway, are you sure you are all right, my lady?” she said, trying not to show that she had actually been very scared.

“I’m perfectly fine,” Yulia replied.

“You’re not lying, are you?”

“No, I’m not.”

With a sigh of relief, Judy lightly clapped her hands, to which several maids entered through the door.

“If so, then let us get you ready,” she said with a cheerful smile.

“For what?” Yulia asked, puzzled.

“Did you forget already? Today is the crown prince’s birthday banquet.”

“What?”

Yulia grimaced. The cost of continuing the family line was the crown prince’s birthday banquet. From what she could remember, it was also on this day that he had stolen her heart. Her face became more and more contorted.

“That was today?”

“Yes, it’s a very important event. So you have to get ready quickly, my lady…”

But when Judy tried to help Yulia get ready, she pushed away the maid’s hand.

“My lady?”

Yulia pondered for a moment.

If I go to the banquet, I will end up meeting him… the crown prince, Leonard Hidelross Crowne.