Chapter 40

“Yes?” I asked, pretending to be oblivious to the count’s bewildered gaze. Instead, I looked at Aedis. “Aedis, remember when I asked to see the land?”

“I remember, but…”

“Well, Your Highness? With all due respect, but Castella hasn’t even officially gone to the land inspection,” the count started,

I raised my index finger without looking at the count.

‘Shh, try to be quiet.’

“But?”

Somehow, after coming to the north, I started to hate the word ‘just’.

Aedis pointed out the window with his chin. The wind blew so hard that it made the illusion that the snow was falling upside down.

The snow was heavy.

“Can you go out there?”

‘Crazy, crazy. Why is the weather like that?!’

Without knowing, I pulled up the blanket defensively.

I knew the environment in the north is harsh for humans, so I had mentally prepared myself, but even so, these circumstances were a bit harsh!

The windows absorbed most of the noise, making the outside landscape feel more impractical.

It was a quiet disaster. I felt like were watching the outside from within the eye of the storm.

“I didn’t know the weather in the north would be so harsh every day.”

How could I get through here? I couldn’t.

“After a few days, it will calm down,” Aedis said, almost sounding as if he were apologetic.

“Does it snow a lot at this time?” I asked.

While Aedis was deliberately choosing his words, the count interjected. “I don’t know about that.” The count looked at Aedis. “While Castellan was away, the weather here was quite mild.”

“What does that have to do with the weather?”

My head turned to the count. The count, who received Aedis’s ugly gaze, was as flustered as a fish pulled out of water.

“I’m leaving now! Please pardon my rudeness!”

The count, who claimed the weather would be mild without Aedis, ran away, and I glanced at Aedis.

He avoided my gaze.

Something was amiss.

Suddenly, on the day the imperial ball was held, I remembered that the wind blew unusually.

Sarah was worried about the storm coming.

It was also the day I first met Aedis.

‘Oh, my God? Did the cold front love him?’

“Aedis?”

“It’s not something that I can control by my will. I’m glad it’s a temporary phenomenon,” he answered, seemingly aware of what I was thinking.

“So, that’s why you stay in the north? Is it less obvious due to the nature of the environment?”

“That’s one of the multiple reasons.”

If I wanted to be by Aedis, I would have to deal with the temperature.

I felt like my life expectancy was rapidly decreasing.

I have a fateful premonition that I should never lose this knee blanket.

But was Aedis a real human being?

Anyway, I have no choice but to adapt. From now on, I decided to randomly collect the highest quality knee blankets, but Aedis, watching my shaking eyes, said, “Escort, backup, haircare.”

‘What are you saying so suddenly?’

When I looked at him with a sour expression, Aedis smiled lightly.

“Please don’t hate me too much, I’ll do everything for you, wife.”

Yes, a handsome person that may unintentionally lower the temperature around. It was a temporary phenomenon.

I accepted Aedis’s destructive beauty.

***

I opened my eyes too early. It was neither dawn nor morning. It was a time passing by in a very instant.

Aedis was in his study, and I constantly tossed and turned.

It was an unusual day.

I was originally a person who was insane all day long if I opened my eyes before 9 o’clock in the morning. Sometimes I fell asleep again in an instant even when I was faintly awake at dawn.

I had an ominous feeling for some reason. Today might prove to be a challenge.

Raven woke up after covering his disheveled hair with the knee blanket and stared at me with one eye.

“Kaak?”

“I can’t sleep. I’ll be right back.”

I dissuaded the butler from following me and walked alone. The sound of the wind buzzing like a demon crying against a window was weird.

There was no specific destination. I was just thinking of going back to the bedroom with a little consciousness, or visiting Aedis if I was serious.

In a dazed state, between the first and second floors, I leaned against the stair railing.

Then, I heard a loud voice down the stairs.

“I’ll sell it to you for 100,000 marka.”

“Isn’t it too expensive?”

Looks like Vega was around. Maybe he was so diligent because he was a knight.

“Hey, you have to think about the cost of transport. If you don’t buy it for this price, it’s your loss.”

“….”

“Hey, I’ll cut off two thousand marka because I’m generous. I’m in trouble.”

Since the castle was silent as if it were dead, I could hear Vega’s voice diligently cheating his subordinates in the morning.

The other voice was unfamiliar, but unfortunately, it seemed there was an ongoing conflict.

“Is it a really popular item in the capital?”

“You don’t believe me? Okay. I just have to sell it to Lord Castor…”

“Oh, I can buy it!”

Vega enjoyed sightseeing in the capital with Procyon. They bought anything that looked good and pretty as a souvenir.

It was the moment when the purpose was revealed.

Looking at the tightly closed gates with a gloomy face, I heard some approaching footsteps.

At first, I tried to ignore it, but it was clearly coming to me, so I looked at it.

Procyon smiled wide as he looked up at me leaning on the railing.

“Your Highness!”

Procyon’s voice was quite loud, so it looked like it spooked Vega.

I think I just heard a bunch of gold coins falling.

Procyon jumped up the stairs at once. His thin clothes were covered with sweat.

“What are you doing at this time?”

“I couldn’t sleep. Sir?”

“I went around to the training ground as a morning exercise.”

Well, at this time, the first floor was mainly occupied by the knights.

“Do you have any concerns?”

“I don’t know.”

It was a boring answer, even for me.

Wouldn’t it be useless if I told the knight about the cold weather who regularly exercised in such weather?

As soon as I thought about it, Procyon spoke like a large dog waving his tail.

“Wouldn’t it make you feel better if you talk to your retainer?”

“…I was thinking about how to adjust to the weather here.”

Suddenly Procyon freaked out.

“Oh, don’t be impatient. The capital and the environment here are so different that it’s really troublesome if you overdo it.”

“But I have to inspect the land and…”

“Isn’t that a matter of no rush? It doesn’t take a day or two, but it’s good to go when the Grand Duchess’ health is in the best condition. ”

“Do you really want to be my retainer?”

Procyon nodded his head.

“Of course! I like people like the Lord and Your Highness. Because you take care of your own people. In that respect, the former knight leader was the worst.”

This time I was a little curious.

“The knight leader?”

“Yeah, the leader downstairs has just been promoted for a while. His skills are totally different compared to the former leader.”

We ignored it when we heard a cough

“Is that person that strong?”

Procyon slightly frowned.

“He was the only one who could compete with the First Lord. For me, he was my master and brother, but he was like, uh, his hobby is murder and his specialty is murder. Eventually, he was kicked out.”

Oh… Murder as a hobby, and murder as a specialty. No matter how good he was, it was troublesome.

“I’m curious about what he’s doing right now. I’m still pretty attached to him. I’m worried about how he’s doing, and whether he’s being treated like a beast and subjugated and beaten in a country where he has slaughtered,” Procyon muttered sadly.

It was too serious to dismiss it as a joke.

Procyon seemed to be strong enough to say that, but he was a crazy person enough to laugh at Gilbert.

However, there has never been a story in the novel about such an extraordinary psychopath.

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