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Chapter 14
Gwen shouted loudly.
“Your Highness! Did you enjoy your meal?”
“…Has the mealtime already passed?”
Oh! It seemed he had been so absorbed with Clémen that he lost track of time!
It was a good thing he had dragged Clémen here when they first met.
That might have been the best thing he had ever done in his life.
Gwen chuckled and stepped slightly away from the door.
Because he had something unpleasant to say. You never knew what might happen.
If he stood too close and froze, he might die before seeing Clémen and His Highness get married. That would be terribly unfair!
“Forgive me, but I think I need to take Clémen with me!”
“Why are you looking for Clémen here?”
At that moment, Gwen felt something was strange.
“Huh? Wasn’t she with Your Highness?”
“She must be somewhere else.”
“The housekeeper said she couldn’t find her anywhere else, so I came here as a last resort…”
“Then that means… Clémen has disappeared?”
Crack!
The door froze solid.
And not just the door.
Suddenly the room felt as cold as the outdoors.
‘Ah… anyway, it was a good thing I kept my distance…’
Gwen raised his aura to protect his body and shouted from afar.
“P-Please calm down, Your Highness! I’ll go look for her right away. Maybe she’s sleeping somewhere—she looked tired these days!”
Instead of answering, more chunks of ice began forming along the walls.
Seeing that, Gwen sat down between the stairs connecting the second and third floors.
‘I hate the cold…’
Still, he pitied his own situation—having to guard this spot just in case something happened.
Hugging himself with his muscular arms, Gwen stared out the window and sighed deeply.
The snowstorm showed no signs of stopping. It continued to batter the world outside.
Did Zephyrus’s heart also have snow falling in it all day like that?
‘Clémen, where did you go?’
He wished she would come quickly and calm His Highness down.
Zephyrus was in a foul mood.
Clémen hadn’t come even though it should already be lunchtime.
Looking outside didn’t help him tell the time.
The fierce snow obscured everything.
He tapped his fingers on the table, looked out the window, glanced at documents.
He felt restless and unable to focus, like a dog waiting for its owner.
“….”
No.
Since the meal hadn’t arrived yet, it probably wasn’t time.
It was just dark outside, making him mistaken.
Clémen was not someone who should disappear without saying a word.
‘She said she’d stay by my side…’
At that moment, a knock sounded.
‘Clémen?’
Whenever she arrived, the first thing she did was remove the cover hiding his face.
Still, a week had already passed. He should be able to do at least that himself.
If he showed effort, she might be more willing to help him.
Since he needed to hold everything about Clémen within himself, he had to shorten even that small moment of time.
So he steadied his breathing and reached for the face covering.
He had decided to remove it the moment she entered.
But—
“Did you enjoy your meal!”
A completely different voice spoke with completely different words.
“…Has the mealtime already passed?”
Really?
Reluctantly, Zephyrus glanced at the clock behind him.
Lunchtime had passed a long time ago.
Yet she still hadn’t come.
As he continued talking with Gwen, floating shards of ice began appearing in the air.
“Then that means… Clémen has disappeared?”
Crack.
In the end, he failed to suppress his agitation.
‘Run away.’
That was the first word that crossed his mind.
He had been denying that possibility until now.
Convincing himself she was just late for some reason.
But if no one knew where she was even now, there was no explanation other than escape.
Crunch.
Thin documents froze and shattered.
Watching them, Zephyrus clenched his fist tightly.
He knew.
He knew this wasn’t right.
But he couldn’t control his heart.
She had said she wouldn’t quit.
She had reassured him.
She had shown him how warm it felt to share body heat.
‘You gave me hope and then ran away?’
Impossible.
“Your Highness, please calm down!”
At that moment, Gwen defended Clémen and said he would search for her.
‘Right.’
Finding Clémen in this cold wouldn’t be difficult.
He just had to look for places warmer than usual.
And when she came back—
‘What should I do?’
He didn’t want to lose her.
Then there was only one option.
Surveillance.
Or imprisonment.
Zephyrus closed his eyes and let out a faint sigh.
She was a free woman.
If he bound her, that vitality might disappear.
Thinking that way made the method unpleasant.
‘…Was it really escape?’
As his intense emotions settled, his reason returned.
She didn’t seem like such a irresponsible person.
Though it had only been a week, she had done her best.
She worked diligently and helped him sincerely—even enough for him to notice.
If she had planned to escape while doing all that…
that would be shocking in its own way.
Zephyrus eventually collapsed forward onto his desk.
He didn’t want to do anything.
How long had he stayed like that?
Eventually he had no choice but to get up.
“…Ha.”
This was the harshest season in the North.
If they wanted to safely pass through the nightmare of the snow mountains, preparations had to begin now.
He didn’t want the people of his territory to die because of his laziness.
No matter how cursed he was, the Grand Duke still had to protect his people.
So he resumed his work.
And then—
“I’m la— huh? Why is it cooler inside than outside?”
Clémen appeared on her own.
When Clémen arrived, the castle was bustling.
She didn’t know why, but it seemed her friend had been struggling.
Judging from how the inside was colder than outside.
“Cléééémen! Where on earth have you been?! Huh?!”
Gwen rushed over the moment he heard she had returned.
He quickly checked her condition.
Despite supposedly coming from the raging snowstorm outside, she looked unbelievably fresh and unharmed.
“Huh? Huh?”
“Not ‘huh’! If you’re going somewhere, you should say so first!”
“I didn’t know this would happen either!”
Clémen was about to explain what happened.
But Gwen covered her mouth.
“I’m not curious. Please go explain everything—very, very thoroughly—to His Highness!”
Then he tossed her into Zephyrus’s room and disappeared.
Click.
The door closed.
Seeing the completely frozen room, Clémen awkwardly waved her hand.
There was no response, so she lowered it.
But she could clearly feel that he was looking at her.
Creak.
Zephyrus rose from his chair and slowly approached.
‘Oh, this might be the first time he walked toward me first.’
Her heart fluttered slightly.
She looked up at Zephyrus like someone watching a baby take its first steps.
Then—
Thud.
Zephyrus suddenly sat down on the floor.
“Master!”
Reflexively, Clémen stretched out her arms and caught him.
“Tell me.”
“Huh?”
Zephyrus roughly removed the fur hat covering his face.
His hair slid down, brushing against Clémen’s cheek.
“Where were you?”
His silver-gray eyes, so close in front of her, churned with many emotions.
“Without saying a word…”
“I’m sorry. Were you worried?”
“Worried…? No. I thought you ran away.”
“Ran away?! Am I worse than a bug— I mean, am I worse than a bug?!”
Seeing Zephyrus staring at her as if speechless, Clémen realized her agitation and took a small breath.
“Anyway! I’m not a bug. I’m not running away!”
Zephyrus nodded blankly.
It had been about ten years since he was cursed.
During that time, the Grand Duke’s family had not neglected efforts to break the curse.
Especially after the previous Grand Duke disappeared and died, the attempts became even more active.
They couldn’t search openly, so they disguised it as satisfying the Grand Duchess’s curiosity, collecting rumors and inviting many different people.
But among those invited, less than ten percent actually came to the North.
Even those who did come experienced the frozen mansion and ran away immediately.
For a while, rumors spread in the capital that people of the North were monsters who didn’t feel cold.
The reason was that even inside the mansion it felt like standing outside in the freezing wind.
From that, many bizarre rumors spread.
Eventually the Grand Duchess strictly restricted entry to the Grand Duke’s estate.
Even merchant caravans bringing food were not allowed inside, and the strange rumors spread even further.
‘That’s when the North’s isolation worsened.’
All of that was because of Zephyrus himself.
The “bug” Clémen mentioned suited him more.
Not someone who ran away out of fear.
But someone who thought about imprisoning those who were afraid just to keep them from leaving.
“But running away isn’t something that deserves such blame, is it?”
Clémen flinched and looked at Zephyrus with an expression she had never shown before.
