Chapter 25
I opened my eyes, feeling a cool breeze.
As soon as I did, I saw Callias’s face. He was looking down at me.
“Are you alright?”
“…!”
I hurriedly sat up.
‘Why was I lying on this man’s lap?’
Seeing my flustered expression, Callias calmly explained as if it were no big deal.
“You fell asleep for a moment when the magic circle activated. It’s something many people experience. There’s no need to worry.”
“Ah, I see… I’m sorry. That was rude of me.”
“Think nothing of it.”
‘For someone rumored to be a cannibal, he’s awfully kind.’
Though I hadn’t spent much time with him yet, that was the impression I’d formed so far.
He opened the curtain of the carriage and showed me the view outside.
“We’ve arrived in Avene.”
For a moment, I was speechless.
A world of pure white unfolded before my eyes.
I pressed against the window, scanning the scenery outside.
No matter where I looked, it was covered in snow.
“Wow…”
I had seen snow in the capital before.
But the snow there was more like a fine misty rain. And even that only appeared once or twice a year, if you were lucky, in the dead of winter.
There were many years with no snowfall at all. Even when it snowed, it was brief and light.
I had never seen snow piled up like this.
As I stared, unable to take my eyes off the view, Callias made a suggestion.
“Would you like to step out and take a look?”
“Can I?”
Callias instructed the coachman to stop the carriage.
“You should bundle up tightly.”
With my round hands, I tried to fix my clothes as best I could.
Watching me, Callias eventually reached out to help.
“Allow me.”
He tied my cloak string securely and pulled the hood snug around my face.
‘He really is quite kind for a supposed cannibal.’
They say you can see the depths of water, but not the depths of a person’s heart.
Who would think someone like him eats people?
If he hadn’t promised me himself that he wouldn’t eat me, I probably wouldn’t have believed the rumors.
I shook my head to clear the image of him eating a person from my mind.
Unaware of my thoughts, he smiled and held out his hand.
“Shall we get down?”
As I placed my hand in his, he opened the carriage door.
A blast of cold air hit my face.
“Gasp!”
Startled, I recoiled.
The air pierced straight into my lungs—it was so cold I couldn’t breathe.
It was a sensation I had never felt before, and I was left dumbfounded.
Seeing me frozen, Callias quickly shut the door.
“Are you alright?”
“Uh…”
I couldn’t even bring myself to say I was okay.
‘He never said it would be this cold.’
Or did he?
I recalled him warning me multiple times that the journey to Ronheim wouldn’t be easy.
‘Ah, he did.’
With the door closed and the chill blocked, I finally regained my senses.
I calmed myself.
‘Chloe, it’s alright. You’re not going to lose to a bit of cold.’
After everything I’d gone through to get here…
There was no going back. I had to live on this snowy land now.
To steel myself, I thought of Viscount Felsus.
‘If I go back, I’ll have to marry that man.’
Just the thought of it made me shudder.
‘Freezing to death here is a thousand times better than marrying that man.’
Callias looked at me with concern.
I widened my eyes and spoke firmly.
“I was just a little surprised by the northern wind. I’m fine. I want to get out and look around.”
Callias didn’t try to stop me.
He knew. If I couldn’t adapt to this wind, returning was my only option.
Instead of stopping me, he reassured me.
“You’ll get used to it soon.”
“Yes, I will.”
This time, I opened the carriage door myself.
The wind, heavy with cold, scraped across my cheek.
Thankfully, the harsh wind couldn’t penetrate my yak leather clothing.
‘I’m glad I didn’t take this off just because it looked ugly.’
Callias had been right.
If I’d worn the same outfit from the palace, I wouldn’t have survived this northern wind.
“The ground might be slippery, be careful.”
As I was about to step out, Callias held me and gave a warning.
I carefully stepped onto the snowy ground.
But the snow was deeper than I’d expected, and I stumbled helplessly.
“Ah!”
If Callias hadn’t held me, I would have fallen face-first into the snow.
I was practically dangling from his arm.
“Are you alright?”
How many times had he asked that now?
I nodded and made sure both feet were solidly on the ground before fully stepping out.
The snow came up to my knees.
“I didn’t know snow could pile up like this…”
Callias seemed amused by my muttering.
“Avene actually gets the least snow in the north. That’s why the teleportation circle is placed here. Other areas are worse.”
I blinked in surprise.
“You mean there’s even more snow elsewhere?”
“There are places where it piles up as high as a person.”
And by a person, he meant a northern adult—so the snow could be even taller than me.
“That must make travel difficult.”
“Thanks to that, Ronheim was well protected from enemies.”
Now I understood why Arental had such a hard time conquering the north.
‘Though snow wasn’t the only reason, surely.’
I looked around while the cold wind brushed against my face.
Everything was blanketed in white.
On tree branches, rooftops, walls—everywhere.
“Why does my face feel hot even though the wind is so cold?”
“It’s probably because of the sudden temperature difference between inside and outside.”
He spoke casually, so I figured it wasn’t a serious issue.
I nodded and tried to take another step forward.
But Callias stopped me.
“Would you like to walk more?”
“Do we not have enough time?”
“That’s not it. I just think it would be better if you wore snowshoes.”
“Snowshoes?”
Callias pulled something out from under the carriage seat.
“These will make walking easier.”
I looked curiously at the wide, perforated item in his hands.
Just as he brought it over, Brentian dismounted his horse in a hurry.
“I’ll take care of it, Marquis.”
But Callias declined gently.
“It’s fine.”
He lowered his body and placed my hand on his shoulder.
“Hold on here.”
He knelt on one knee and placed my feet one at a time on his other knee to strap on the snowshoes.
As I looked down at the top of his head, I rested my other hand on his shoulder.
‘Are shoulders normally this broad and flat?’
Maybe it was the thick leather and fur cloak making him look so big.
His shoulders were so wide they didn’t even fit in my grasp.
‘I’m wearing the same kind of cloak, but my shoulders don’t feel like this.’
Maybe he had some kind of shoulder pads under his clothes?
While I was distracted by such thoughts, Callias finished strapping the snowshoes and stood up.
“Try walking.”
Following his words, I cautiously stepped onto the snow.
And something amazing happened.
“…!”
I was standing on the snow.
With eyes wide in wonder, I looked back at Callias.
Afraid I might sink if I let go, I held tightly to his hand.
“This is an amazing magical item!”
Callias gave a small laugh.
“It’s not magic. But walking will be much easier now.”
It wasn’t magic? That surprised me. Still, just as he said, walking really was much easier.
I started taking steps forward, one at a time.
I could feel the others watching from behind, but I didn’t care. I walked forward, again and again.
The clothes were heavy—my shoulders ached, and my back was sore. But the excitement of the new scenery helped me endure.
Crunch, crunch.
Every step I took made a ticklish sound in the snow. It was pleasant.
Soon, I was out of breath. As I opened my mouth to breathe, the cold air made my throat freeze.
Even though yak leather blocked the wind, it wasn’t enchanted with heat. Gradually, the cold spread through my body.
I trembled. My eyes watered from the chill.
Even the late summer winds in Arental were too cold for me—this northern cold was close to torture.
‘I feel like I’m going to die.’
It wasn’t an exaggeration. I really felt like I might freeze to death.
But I didn’t stop walking.
Eventually, I stood at the edge of the cliff I’d been looking at since getting off the carriage.
“The wind is strong.”
Worried I might be blown away, Callias gripped my hand tightly.
I didn’t respond.
I couldn’t.
I was entranced by the breathtaking snowy landscape below the steep cliff.
My breath caught.
Overwhelmed, tears poured from my eyes.
As I stared at the pristine white view before me, I became certain.
There was no way I wouldn’t fall in love with this frozen land.
