CH 4

She didn’t mean to abandon Noelle like this.

Liriette was thinking of asking the Duke to take Noelle out of the temple as well.

‘If Noelle says she will be in the temple at the end, I can’t help it, but…’

The thought made her heart heavy like wet cotton.

Liriette buried her gloomy face under the scarf. The soft touch was just like Noelle’s arms, thus it was a little comforting.

***

The temple in the capital and Windsorais Castle in the north were very far. Even if they rode the carriage and ran non-stop, she would have to go for a month.

However, the carriage in which Liriette rode stopped after three days.

Liriette’s eyes widened when she got off the carriage.

A magic circle tinged with mysterious light was drawn on the floor of the huge building.

Villaim said with a blunt look.

“Don’t be afraid. It’s called a gate, and it’s a magic circle that moves people over long distances in a short time.”

He finished the explanation very simply.

However, Liriette knew that the gate wasn’t that simple.

A gate had a special ability to move space in an instant.

Because of that, it was strictly managed by the state, and very few people were allowed to use it.

There were only a few members of the Imperial Family or Grand Nobles.

Above all, the usage fee was very expensive because a lot of mana was consumed every time someone moved using the gate.

‘I can’t believe they use such a thing to take only one child…’

Liriette suddenly felt the mighty power and wealth of the Duke of Windsorais.

“Now, come over here.”

Villaim held out his hand to Liriette.

She hesitated, then she carefully stepped into the magic circle, holding his hand, as huge as a bear’s paw.

A blue light shone from the magic circle, and Liriette’s vision turned pure white.

She felt a great dizziness, as if she was riding a lightning fast horse. Her head was ringing and her stomach groaned.

‘This is why Sir Villaim held my hand.’

If he hadn’t held her hand, she would have fallen.

Not wanting to show her clumsy side, Liriette held his huge hand tightly with her two small hands.

After a while, the shaking in space stopped.

“We’ve arrived.”

At his voice, Liriette slowly opened her eyes.

Her big eyes widened even more.

‘It must have been spring just before, but…’

The green trees and grass were nowhere to be seen.

Snow. Snow. Snow.

It was just pure white snow.

Swoooshㅡ

Liriette’s body shrank from a gust of wind blowing her back.

She came dressed in the warmest clothes she had, fur cape and gloves, and even the scarf that Noelle had given her, yet to no avail.

The northern wind was cold enough to be incomparable to the capital’s winter wind.

Fortunately, there was a new carriage and horse waiting outside the gate.

The carriage was much larger than the one she rode before moving with the gate.

‘Whoa. It’s not like a carriage, it’s like taking a house apart and putting wheels on it.’

Surprisingly, it wasn’t just that.

Rather than a horse, the animal pulling the carriage was a deer.

‘The horns are huge. Its body is huge. The hooves are huge.’

Seeing a deer for the first time in her life, Liriette couldn’t take her eyes off his. Her small body flashed in the air above.

“Kyaaa!”

Villaim spoke to Liriette, who let out a small scream.

“The weather is cold. Come on, get in the carriage.”

“I’ll get on…”

Liriette, who was about to speak, bit her mouth tightly.

The height of the carriage was enormous.

It wasn’t a height that she could climb.

“…Thank you.”

Thus, Liriette obediently gave up and greeted with a blushing face. Villaim nodded his head, as if taking the obvious.

The carriage pulled by the huge deer started running through the snow.

The place where the carriage arrived in an instant was a huge castle.

A white and beautiful castle built on snow.

Its official name was Windsorais Castle, yet many people called it the Ice Prison. It was nicknamed because of its exceptionally strong walls and chilly atmosphere.

Upon entering the castle, Liriette was greeted by a handsome man with orange hair.

The man gently bent his fox-like eyes and bent his back.

“Welcome to Windsorais Castle, Miss Liriette. My name is Simon, the butler in charge of managing the castle.”

Liriette was taken aback by the unexpected polite greeting.

Soon she cleared her expression and lifted the hem of her skirt.

“Thank you for welcoming me, Sir Simon.”

Liriette wasn’t a noble. Even so, she learned this way of greeting because of the High Priest.

The High Priest packaged Liriette as a ‘goddess child with divine power’. Because of this, she had to meet numerous nobles.

Saying that she should look good to the nobles, the High Priest taught her etiquette. In particular, greetings were taught very strictly.

Thanks to that, Liriette was confident in greeting.

Simon opened his eyes wide and chuckled.

“It may be difficult since you have come a long way, but I will guide you right away to His Grace the Duke. Because His Grace the Duke wants to meet Miss Liriette as soon as possible.”

“Yes.”

She swallowed saliva and nodded her head.

Guided by Simon, Liriette arrived at the innermost room of the castle.

She was surprised by the enormous size of the door, and was even more surprised when she looked inside the room.

‘Is this really a room?’

It was much larger than the prayer room of a temple where dozens of people gather. The ceiling was so high that it seemed that if she made a sound, “Ah!” her voice would resonate.

Liriette’s heart thumped and sat down as she opened her eyes wide and looked around the room.

A man with a bandage around his eye was sitting under the window where the white moonlight streamed in.

Silver hair as cool as a blade.

A solid and huge body that can be felt through the stiff suit without a single wrinkle.

A sharp chin and plump lips like a statue.

A man so beautiful that even the bandages wrapped around his eyes feel like elements of a work of art.

Liriette immediately recognized who he was.

The Duke of Windsorais.

He was the owner of the cold winter land.

“…”

Liriette had met Duke Windsorais in her previous life. That’s why she thought that if she met him, she wouldn’t be too nervous.

Yet it wasn’t like that.

Her hands trembled and her heart thumped.

Liriette bit her lip.

‘Don’t be nervous.’

The first meeting is important.

She should greet him with the utmost courtesy.

That’s how he’ll look at her a little bit better.

Liriette managed to move her hands, grabbing the hem of her skirt and bowing her head.

“Nice to meet you, Duke Windsorais. I’m Liriette.”

There was a small tremor in her voice, but it was very calm. She didn’t look like a child who was only 10 years old.

Yet Duke Windsorais didn’t express his admiration for it, rather spoke in a low voice.

“How did you know I hurt my eyes?”

It had been several weeks after Duke Windsorais had injured his eyes. The Duke hid it thoroughly.

It was because there were too many people who were hostile to him who held enormous power.

Since the castle was operated in a closed manner, it wasn’t difficult to hide it.

Undoubtedly, even the Imperial Family, who were trying hard to find out about the Duke every minute, didn’t know about his current condition.

In the meantime, a letter arrived.

The letter said as follows:

[I want to heal the Duke’s eyes.]

The sender of the letter was Liriette.

She was only 10 years old, living in a temple in the distant capital.

As written in the letter, the Duke pulled the child out from the temple and brought it before him.

He asked again.

“Didn’t you hear the question? Tell me how you knew I hurt my eyes.”

His voice sounded cold enough to make it sound like he was saying, “If you don’t answer properly, I’ll cut your throat.”

However, Liriette had no intention of answering, “After facing death, I returned to my childhood.”

Knowing the future means having information.

It was such an attractive and powerful force.

If the Duke knew that she had such an ability, he would covet her.

‘I hate being used any more.’

Liriette squeezed her trembling hands and said.

“I’m sorry. It’s difficult for me to tell the Duke how I came to know about your condition.”

“…”

“But I can definitely say something else. As I wrote in the letter, I can heal the Duke’s eyes. Isn’t that what’s important?”