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Chapter 35
Clémen shouted sharply, almost in a growl.
“Why are you attacking me!”
“Why? If it were you, wouldn’t you capture a fire fairy that appeared right in front of you?”
“I’m not a fire fairy!”
“Yes, you are. A fire fairy who keeps me warm and comfortable.”
Clémen barely turned her head and glared at Hashu’s face.
“Where are you planning to take me?”
Hashu grinned sluggishly, crouching on one knee. He planned to pull out the arrow, loosely tie it, and carry her off.
“Well, we’ll meet anyway. My master is right… huh?”
His expression stiffened. The leg pierced by the arrow felt unnaturally solid, unlike human flesh.
“Ah, what a shame.”
Clémen swung her body, hooked her leg over Hashu’s neck, and toppled him, snatching his bow.
She twisted on top of him, pressing her foot gently against his neck to stand upright.
It all happened in the span of a single breath.
‘What… is this?’
Until that moment, Hashu didn’t even realize what was happening and just blinked. By the time he understood, it was already over.
“Th-this… aghh!”
“Next time, give me the villain’s story in advance. It wastes time otherwise.”
Clémen concentrated heat in the soles of her feet. The bottom of her shoes began to burn, and red blisters started forming on Hashu’s neck.
Even as his vision went white from the pain, he could see Clémen’s calm, smiling face.
“C-crazy—”
“You should know what it’s like to drive sane people insane.”
If she said one more word, he’d know she could burn his clothes to ashes. Clémen whispered softly. The burns were so severe he could no longer speak.
The more he struggled, the stronger the pain became. Hashu eventually lost consciousness.
“Huh? Eh? Already?”
Clémen’s eyes widened. He had passed out far faster than she expected. Even so, she had been moderating her strength. Was hitting the neck too much? But it was the most effective spot.
As she pondered, about to cautiously lift her foot—
“Clémen!”
The Duke’s knights appeared. Gwen was there too.
“What… what’s going on? An arrow? Was she hit by an arrow?”
Reacting to Gwen’s fuss, Clémen casually rolled up the leg of her clothes where the arrow had struck.
“I’m fine. There’s wood inside!”
She meant the wooden greave she was wearing as armor under her clothes, just in case. And it had been an excellent choice.
“Greave…? Clémen, you actually expected this?”
“First, we need to take him for questioning. Absolutely! Questioning!”
Gwen, seeing Clémen suddenly excited, calmed her down and told another knight to take Hashu away.
“So what happened? I was surprised His Highness suddenly sent for Clémen.”
“We’ll explain on the way. We need to inform Master quickly too.”
Gwen likely already knew about this situation when she arrived. It had been planned since Rosia spoke to her. Rosia had promised to inform him immediately after the Nightmare ended.
Still, Clémen wanted to tell him personally. She wanted to see his joy at receiving an unexpected gift.
She recalled her conversation with Rosia earlier that night to organize what she would say to Zephyrus. Her feather-light footsteps were an added bonus.
By the time Clémen went outside with Juli, Zephyrus was tapping his fingers on his desk.
Ice appeared and disappeared in rhythm with his movements.
If he could create and erase it at will… if he could keep the curse under his control, meeting the guild master would be far easier.
Chhh-zzzt-
“Hmm.”
Perhaps nervous at the thought of facing the guild master, the desk froze completely.
Clémen would scold him for this. Zephyrus looked to the void to clear his mind.
‘…What is this?’
His gaze fell on the transparent glass. Its edges were slightly melted.
It was clearly someone’s trace. The only person who could have entered this room without Zephyrus noticing was Clémen.
Then why?
His mind flashed to the ghost incident at the mansion a week ago. He also remembered that Rosia had finished her investigation the next day.
‘Clémen going to the village must be related too.’
He had sent her off confidently, but now he felt uneasy. Just as he was about to call Gwen—
“Your Highness, Lady Rosia has arrived~”
Rosia appeared, the person who would answer the questions he hadn’t realized.
‘This is strange.’
Clémen quietly folded her hands, moving only her eyes in the cold atmosphere.
In his imagination, she would be receiving praise and thanks from Zephyrus.
In reality, she stood as if she had done something wrong.
“Why didn’t you tell me beforehand?”
After hearing the full story from Rosia, Zephyrus quietly questioned Clémen.
“I wanted to surprise you.”
“Did you want me to freeze the mansion out of shock?”
“That’s not something to be that surprised about.”
Seeing Clémen’s sulky face, a vein appeared on Zephyrus’s forehead.
“Are you angry right now?”
She felt wronged. Why was he angry? She had tried to ease his worries.
He must have heard from Rosia why she acted that way.
She wanted to show him her best self.
“I don’t think I did anything wrong. Why are you angry?”
“Not telling me is not a mistake?”
“You liked the last surprise gift, didn’t you?”
He had been delighted when she had let him see her mother.
“That’s different from this.”
“What’s different? I don’t understand.”
“Back then, you weren’t in danger.”
“This time, there was no danger either.”
“The Nightmare of the Snowy Mountains is the most dangerous time in the North.”
There was another goal as well: to interfere with those who were targeting him. Even if the cold itself wasn’t a problem for Clémen—
‘No.’
That was not something he could overlook.
“I didn’t ignore your strength.”
With firewood scarce, Zephyrus hoped the villagers could endure somehow. Yet he hadn’t asked Clémen to watch over the territory. There was only one reason: he was worried.
He feared potential danger. He didn’t even want to think, ‘What if something happens to Clémen?’
And yet, she had done this without telling him? His chest tightened; his mind went blank.
Seeing Clémen return proudly to the room, his mood suddenly sank.
If he let it go, she would do the same thing next time.
Zephyrus’s expression shifted constantly—his eyes narrowed, then drooped; his lips protruded, then curled inward.
‘Ah. I see.’
Only then did Clémen fold her hands obediently.
The reason she hadn’t mentioned the solution she had thought of herself was obvious.
“You were worried?”
Clémen hadn’t realized at first that this was the first time someone had been concerned about her using her power.
“You were worried about me after I disappeared.”
Zephyrus lifted his eyes and replied indifferently, but Clémen interpreted it as him wishing she wouldn’t disappear.
“I’m sorry for making you worry.”
“I wasn’t worried about you. I was worried about the villagers…”
In the end, Zephyrus chose himself over them. He decided to keep her inside rather than send her out.
“I guess I’m not fit to be a lord after all.”
Zephyrus seemed to agree. He had left the villagers at risk to save himself. Despite his calm tone, a trace of guilt lingered in his expression. Ice shards formed around him, floating in the air.
His feelings were understandable.
‘But why am I laughing?’
Clémen decided to deal with her strange feelings later. For now, she focused on comforting Zephyrus.
Pushing aside the ice fragments forming from his warmth, she approached him.
“Thank you.”
“What did you say?”
Zephyrus raised his eyes. Was she thanking him for being unfit as a lord?
Her sincere words didn’t fully reach him.
“I was thinking of the villagers because Master thought of me that way too.”
“I don’t understand.”
“If it weren’t for Master, I wouldn’t have cared whether the people of the North lived or died.”
“…….”
“So it’s Master who saved the people!”
Zephyrus furrowed his brow slightly and looked down.
“……Is this meant to comfort me?”
“Actually, it’s the truth. And…”
