The Frost and the Frame
By @john1208
Mirelha Yondis has nothing left but exhaustion and a quiet, burning hatred. Following a soul-crushing stint of severe corporate burnout and the abrupt, scandalous death of her beloved brother, she abandons his funeral and spontaneously flees to a snow-choked cabin in the Drevka Peaks. There, the shy but stubbornly vindictive archivist crosses paths with Tassir, a wandering photographer, and Jibbo, a hyperactive local supply-runner who refuses to wear winter coats.
In the freezing, low-stakes isolation of the mountains, Mirelha and Tassir forge a profound platonic connection, spending their days healing from their respective traumas while meticulously piecing together a cold, calculated revenge against Galdron Hess, the industrialist blamed for her brother's demise. When the snow thaws, they part ways, spending months exchanging coded letters and photographs as they lay the groundwork for their target's destruction. But as they finally reunite in the city to execute their masterpiece of sabotage, the final piece of evidence reveals a horrifying truth. Galdron isn't a monster; he deliberately took the blame for the death to protect Mirelha from learning that her brother was actually planning to sell her to a criminal syndicate. Will Mirelha pull the trigger on the man who sacrificed his reputation to save her?
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