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Chapter 03
I didn’t expect a situation like this.
She had thought that wandering around melting the snow might attract the attention of the lord of the estate.
It was only natural, after all.
But being suddenly dragged here and facing that lord—could he actually affect her condition?
Could he make her feel even more at ease than when she first entered the north?
‘Cool… my chest feels lighter.’
As she moved toward him, drawn by that feeling of release, a sharp rebuke struck her like a blade.
“Stop! Don’t come closer!”
The heat that had softened moments ago flared up again. It was as if she had woken from a dream.
Clémen narrowed her round eyes, examining him carefully. She took a step forward, and he stumbled back two steps.
“I was told to give this to you. If it’s scary, I can leave it here.”
With a light step, Clémen placed the papers on the desk and stepped back.
Of course, Zephyrus was already crouched against the wall, shrinking into himself.
He hadn’t looked at her since their first eye contact.
‘What am I supposed to do?’
She wasn’t a threat, only a subject of disgust and avoidance. She had delivered the papers—shouldn’t she just leave? Yet she couldn’t bring herself to take a step away.
The reason was simple: the wall he pressed against was frozen stiff.
A person whose nature differed from hers, but who seemed to carry a similar burden.
Unlike her, he hadn’t yet overcome it.
Before entering the room, she recalled what one of the knights had said:
“I believe the Fire Spirit can do it.”
The knights must have hoped she could melt the ice.
It seemed harmless for her to try.
She wanted to feel again that light, cool sensation she’d experienced upon first entering the room.
With the lord radiating freezing cold, the chances of that happening again weren’t small.
More than anything, leaving without trying would have left her with regret.
It was just… how it was.
“Um…”
For a moment, she wondered what to call him, then found the answer.
The lord of the estate!
“Lord! Aren’t you going to read it?”
“I’ll read it when you leave.”
His voice was cold and composed, but his movements betrayed a subtle helplessness. She was too flustered to notice the strangeness of her address.
“I’m curious too, so read it. Or shall I?”
“No! I said don’t come closer!”
Each step Clémen took made Zephyrus shiver, sharp ice forming around him.
Clémen, unbothered, picked up the papers again.
“Ahem. ‘While hunting monsters, we discovered the Fire Spirit’s volcano. We hope it helps.’ What’s this? Is that all, Lord?”
“…Isn’t it a manifestation rather than a volcano?”
“Huh?”
Clémen squinted at the words, then her lips curved into a slight frown.
“I think it said… manifestation.”
“No.”
With a firm denial, Clémen pursed her lips and traced a word in the air, memorizing it.
Seeing her so calmly, Zephyrus’s tension eased slightly. It seemed she wouldn’t approach further.
“…Why did you come?”
“Huh?”
“Seems you don’t know anything.”
Knowing too much would be stranger. She was a foreigner, a desert dweller from the books, yet how could she possibly know that the northern duke’s curse froze everything?
A matter not even revealed to the emperor.
“The armed men laughed and cried while saying it.”
“….”
It implied the situation was hard to refuse. Zephyrus cleared his throat and asked again.
“More importantly, do you know what the Fire Spirit means in the north and claim to be its manifestation?”
“I don’t know what ‘claim’ means, but I never said I was a Fire Spirit.”
“Then it seems my knights took the liberty of calling you a Fire Spirit’s manifestation.”
Clémen scratched her cheek. She didn’t know the northern significance, but the Fire Spirit was mentioned even in the Terra Nova Empire’s founding legends.
Still, that was all. No one would naturally associate her with the Fire Spirit.
From the desert, she had been nothing but an irritating, dangerous stranger. Even those she rescued felt that way; others would feel the same.
Hmm…
Rather than explaining why the knights thought that, it seemed better to simply show what she could do. She was curious if the lord would react similarly when she melted the ice.
“I’ll show you. Step outside.”
Clémen winked playfully, extending her hand toward Zephyrus.
“You’ll see the difference outside.”
“Step outside?”
“Oh, my name’s Clémen. I’m not dangerous.”
“It’s not that! Is there no one outside?”
No matter what, he wouldn’t leave a foreigner and himself alone. Someone was surely watching from outside.
Then shouldn’t he stop this woman from going out?
“Gwen, take the woman outside immediately!”
Calling for Gwen went unanswered.
Scanning for escape, Zephyrus realized his back was already pressed to the wall.
She stepped closer. No room to retreat.
Fear surged instantly.
‘What if she freezes too?’
He couldn’t bear another ice sculpture before him.
“Stop! I said don’t come closer!”
Crack!
His threatening shout froze the entire room.
“Hah… huff.”
He gasped, shivering violently. The fur mask covering all but his eyes obscured everything, but he could imagine her expression.
He should have ordered her out, yet he hated seeing her afraid of him. He despised his own foolishness.
“See? Leave now if you don’t want to die.”
He thought she’d step out trembling. He waited, bitterly smiling.
“Are you really going to act like Zevil?”
Snap!
His head was grabbed. The fur mask forcibly removed.
Light revealed his eyes, the steam-filled room around him.
And through the white mist, a woman’s face pressed close.
Emotions he couldn’t name twisted the corners of her eyes—but Zephyrus didn’t notice.
“No… it won’t freeze…?”
Though her forehead and fingers brushed lightly while removing his hat, it didn’t freeze.
“I’m hotter. Your ice is nothing.”
All he could see in his dazed vision was her face.
A blazing smile, a fireplace incarnate, warming the room.
“…Are you sure this is safe?”
“It will be.”
Gwen stared at the dampened, rigid door. Zephyrus’s freezing had surged, yet the door remained unfrozen—a successful gamble.
“Inform Lady Rosia. We’ve found someone unaffected by our duke’s curse.”
Whether she truly was a Fire Spirit didn’t matter. She could help the young duke—that was enough.
In his eyes, Zephyrus was still a child. The coldness in his voice, growing with time, lingered in the mind.
Even if she visited daily, talking with him, it couldn’t erase his loneliness and suffering.
If only he could find laughter…
Gwen stood guard by the door, watching.
“Are you a Fire Spirit?”
“…I’m human.”
“Then why does the ice melt immediately?”
“Some people create ice too.”
“…Are you…?”
Zephyrus hesitated. Asking if she was cursed was too reckless.
“By the way… why hide that beautiful face under all that fur?”
“W-what…!”
His cheeks reddened beneath the mask. If she wasn’t a Fire Spirit, respect wasn’t needed. Clearing his throat, he lowered his voice.
“No idle chatter. How did the knights meet you? Monsters don’t usually come down near people.”
“In the mountains.”
“Why climb the mountain?”
“Curious?”
“Just interrogating a suspicious individual.”
Interrogation… Clémen smiled, repeating the difficult word.
“Then I’ll be interrogated!”
A chuckle escaped from behind Zephyrus’s fur mask.
A strange woman. And he was strange too.
Even talking across a single desk made no sense. Her resistance to his curse now didn’t guarantee it would persist.
The more anxious he felt, the more ice formed around him, freezing nearby objects.
Sharp icicles formed at his feet, flying toward Clémen.
