IRER 58

Chapter 58 

 Complicated Feelings

Aidan quietly gripped the hilt of his sword.

As a seasoned warrior, he managed to rest his left hand naturally on the pommel without making the slightest clatter from the scabbard.

Fortunately, Kalihiel didn’t notice Aidan’s movement.

No—it seemed more accurate to say he simply had no interest in Aidan’s actions.

“You know Lady Cloria, but you say you don’t know where she is. Why are you looking for her now?”

At Aidan’s question, Kalihiel tilted his head, as though puzzled.

A strange question… The child of Lady Hieldieta. Could it be that there is another reason Lady Hieldieta seeks Lady Cloria?

“…”

Answering with a rhetorical question, Kalihiel then lifted his head again.

He didn’t even raise it all the way, yet already his massive head was towering above the canopy of the coniferous forest.

I see… So, you don’t know.

Kalihiel’s glassy-blue eyes gleamed as he gazed at the sky.

Surely… I thought I could find her. I must find her… for her sake.

The starlight of the night sky struck his transparent eyes, glittering like wet jewels.

—Awooooo… Awoooooo…

Kalihiel let out another mournful howl. First to the north, then turning his body, he howled once in each direction, his sorrow echoing all around.

As though he hoped Cloria might hear his cry and come to him.

Bundled tightly under the blanket, Brody could only listen to their conversation and to Kalihiel’s howls, unable to move an inch.

Even muffled by the fabric, the sound carried vibrations that traveled from her head down into her chest, resonating deeply within her.

It felt as though Kalihiel’s heart—no, Hieldieta’s heart—was being conveyed directly to her.

She couldn’t even lift a finger, so she couldn’t block her ears. All she could do was endure the sound with her whole body, trembling quietly.

Was it out of fear? Out of helplessness? Or simply because it was all so unbearably, unbearably sad?

Tears spilled from her frost-covered eyelashes.

Before the droplets could reach the ground, they froze against her cheek.

Hieldieta, you foolish idiot… Why did you let her go? Why?

With a heavy flap, Kalihiel—who had been crying for a long while—bent his strong black legs and spread vast wings from his shoulders.

The eagle-feathered wings unfurled, blanketing the treetops of the forest below.

As those massive wings beat up and down, the surrounding trees swayed outward in widening circles.

Aidan braced himself against the gusts, clutching the blanket-wrapped Brody tightly to keep her from being blown away.

In that instant, the frozen tears stuck to Brody’s cheek disappeared.

With a thunderous sound of wings, a mountain-sized figure lifted into the sky.

Thankfully, the vast heavens seemed wide enough to embrace even such a colossal being.

And thus, Kalihiel vanished into the distance.

Aidan quickly dispelled the icy aura that had bound Brody.

When he peeled back the blanket, her face was pale, her lips blue, with frost scattered across her brows and skin.

Aidan stroked her face, his heart sinking.

He had only meant to protect her—but had he made a terrible mistake? What if she had died in the meantime? His whole body trembled.

This cursed power of his could freeze, but not thaw.

The only saving grace was his naturally high body temperature.

Clutching her, Aidan rubbed her cheek urgently. Thankfully, warmth slowly returned.

When her body regained enough heat to move, Brody immediately furrowed her brows.

She gasped, lips trembling as she spoke.

“Your… High…ness…”

“Yes, yes, I’m here, I’m listening.”

“Th-this… isn’t… right…”

“…”

Her eyes were filled with reproach. Meeting her gaze for just a moment, Aidan’s heart ached, and he could no longer look her in the eye.

Brody raised her frozen hand with difficulty. Her arm rattled with stiffness as she reached up, grasping the front of Aidan’s shirt.

As though telling him not to dodge the conversation.

Aidan forced out an answer.

“I had to hide you from Kalihiel. This was the only way to erase your presence.”

Brody’s grip tightened once more.

Clenching her chattering teeth, she managed to speak again.

“Why… why are you… doing this? Y-your Highness… do you mean to… fight Kalihiel alone? So that… even if you’re hurt, or killed… I’ll survive?”

Aidan understood what she was saying.

It was connected to her earlier words, after hearing the story of Hieldieta and Cloria.

Even if Cloria met her death, Brody had said, her will was to remain at Hieldieta’s side. That choice should have been respected.

But still…

Aidan couldn’t accept it.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to respect her.

It was simply that he couldn’t allow her to die.

He understood Hieldieta’s feelings—the desperation to save Cloria even if it meant kneeling, even if it meant his own destruction, even if the cost was unbearable. That desperate hope to cling to even the faintest chance.

He had failed in the end. He had let her die.

It was never meant to be. Hieldieta and Cloria should never have been together.

Resolving himself once more, his next words came out cold.

“In the end, both of us are safe. I apologize for making you cold.”

“…Ha.”

Brody let out a hollow laugh.

Aidan ignored it and pulled her into his arms.

Their eyes no longer met. To Brody, it felt like a signal not to say anything more.

Trembling like a small creature in his embrace, she waited for her body to fully warm again.

Kalihiel’s mournful cries still echoed in her memory. Aidan’s reckless attempt to shield her alone filled her with anger. All of it tangled together, leaving her heart in turmoil.

An elemental spirit who had lost his beloved and spent 800 years writhing in madness and grief… And a man who would stand against danger alone to protect her life.

In front of such things, how could she argue she could protect herself?

If Aidan hadn’t shielded her, would Kalihiel have harmed her?

If he had truly attacked, could she have resisted? Could her plant magic have stopped such a vast creature?

You wouldn’t know unless you tried, right?

To her own surprise, that thought came.

Yes—she hated being excluded from the fight, her will disregarded.

If a time came when she truly needed protection, she could ask Aidan then.

As she leaned against him, the forest’s commotion gradually faded, and her trembling subsided.

Though she was irritated at him… at the same time, the warmth of his embrace, his hands, even his breath—so gentle—made her bite her lips in silence.

When the danger had passed, Aidan stood, lifting Brody in his arms, and returned to their camp without a word.

The scattered tents were quiet. The campfire had long gone out, leaving not even smoke behind.

He carried Brody into his own tent, laying her down against a tree he had planted earlier. Her strength was gone from being frozen and thawed repeatedly, so she simply leaned limply against the trunk.

Aidan lit the fire again.

Soon the forest stirred—the rustling of leaves, the crunch of boots on snow.

The knights were returning.

One by one, until all twenty-one. Aidan had already sensed their safety, but seeing them with his own eyes brought relief.

The knights gathered hesitantly around the newly lit fire.

“Your Grace, my Lady, are you unharmed?” the captain asked.

Aidan gave a small nod.

“We were shocked. Your Grace, perhaps, but for you to lure it away even with the lady present…”

At the captain’s words, the knights nodded vigorously, their eyes shining with admiration.

But Aidan had not been luring Kalihiel. He had only thought to protect Brody first.

Still, he couldn’t say that here. He merely frowned in silence.

The knights, long used to his grim expression, couldn’t read his true feelings.

“My Lady, you must have been so frightened,” Teddy said kindly.

“No. With His Highness protecting me so firmly, how could I have time to be afraid?”

Brody stepped away from the tree as she spoke, not wanting to worry them.

“Wow… as expected.”

The knights’ admiration for their duke only grew.

Meanwhile, Aidan felt another thorn pierce his chest—because he knew Brody’s words also held quiet reproach toward him.

“Oh dear, but you really don’t look well, my Lady. Your lips are blue.”

“Ah… I guess it’s just the cold after being away from the fire.”

At her reply, the knights sprang into exaggerated panic.
“Hey, stoke the fire again!”
“Quick, heat a water skin!”
“Put the pot on—I’ll fetch the pouches!”

After a flurry of activity, Brody was soon handed a pouch of warm water.

“Thank you, everyone,” she said, hugging it to her chest. Their kindness warmed her as much as the heat itself.

“But still… how could this happen? Did I really see it right?”

Finally, Teddy voiced what had been itching to be said.

The knights buzzed with excitement.

“Kalihiel… it has to be, right?”

“With that appearance, how could it not be? But still… could it really be? For real?”

“It must be real. Otherwise, what, our entire Wolf Knights went mad together? You mad?”

“Not me, you?”

“Not me either.”

After their meaningless exchange, they all turned to Aidan, waiting for confirmation.

With a heavy heart, Aidan nodded.

“Yes… it was Kalihiel.”

Gulp. The knights swallowed hard.

The Duke had confirmed it. Truly, it was Kalihiel—the familiar of Hieldieta, spoken of only in legends and songs of bards. And now he had revealed his magnificent form here in the North.

And at such a time—right when the North was breaking from the Empire after endless hardships.

Teddy’s lips trembled.

“Th-the Ice Spirit, Lord Hieldieta… perhaps he is awakening.”

Could it be that he was opening his eyes at the dawn of the North’s new beginning? To bless them?

The knights nodded, filled with conviction.

Then Teddy, ever the smooth-tongued one, cried out:

“A new era for the North is upon us!”

“Waaaaaah!”

“Ither Hiel! Ither Hiel!”

“Ither Hiel!”

“Ither Hiel!”

“Ither Hiel”—eternal ice. They chanted again and again, praying that Hieldieta would bless their children, that their North would endure forever.

The knights’ thunderous shouts filled the snowy forest.

“The warriors of the North gaze to the farthest north. With hearts of ice, they guard the world.”

The same song as before, but no longer subdued—now it rang bold and triumphant.

Only Aidan and Brody, who had seen Kalihiel and heard his words, could not join in their joy.

Brody lifted her gaze beyond the dark forest canopy, to the deep navy sky.

Even as the knights sang in glory, Kalihiel’s sorrowful howl still echoed in her memory.