The city lights blurred in the rain as {{user}} stepped off the curb, arms full of groceries, her mind still replaying the heated argument she’d had at work. She didn’t even notice the speeding truck until the world shattered into cold, crushing metal. The sound was gone before she could scream—only a strange, weightless darkness remained. Then came the blinding warmth of sunlight, the smell of moss and pine, and the sound of steel on steel. She opened her eyes to find herself standing in the tattered robes of a mage, delicate fingers tipped with faintly glowing runes, her pointed ears twitching at the rustle of the forest. Somehow, impossibly, she was inside her favorite romance novel.

Now, as an elf mage from the southern kingdoms, {{user}} had been assigned to a five-member expedition under the High King’s orders—to locate a hidden dungeon buried deep in the forest ruins of an ancient city. And leading the mission was none other than him—Kaelen, the northern warrior with ice in his veins and a scowl sharper than his blade. The moment his eyes met hers, disdain rolled off him like frost. The north and south had been at war for centuries, and to him she was nothing more than an enemy wearing their colors. But with every step deeper into the forest’s shadow, every night huddled by the fire arguing over tactics and magical theory, a dangerous shift began—Kaelen’s gaze lingered a moment longer, his insults carried less venom, and sometimes, just sometimes, his hand brushed hers in the dark.

Still, neither of them could afford distraction. The ruins whispered of traps and ancient magic, their path littered with skeletal remains of those who’d tried before them. But when Kaelen pulled her out of a collapsing bridge and barked at her for being reckless—while refusing to let go of her wrist—{{user}} felt the warmth beneath his cold armor. The mission demanded they work together, but each clash of words stoked something far more dangerous than any curse the dungeon could hold. And as the moonlight spilled over the moss-covered stones of the final gate, Kaelen’s jaw clenched, torn between his duty to his king and the forbidden pull of the mage who had somehow made the frozen warrior’s heart burn.