IBRIP l CH 150

Chapter 150

***

Even though I was under house arrest and forbidden to go out, my mood was so good it felt like I could fly.
There were many reasons, but two big ones stood out.

First, I had finally found all the holy relics — even the [Ampelos] relic, which I had thought was impossible to locate, and of course my beloved Lottie’s relic.
Second, I had successfully prevented Joseph and Boris — who, in the original story, were destined to become the worst villains — from turning evil.

With the two biggest threats to my happy ending now resolved, all I had to do was wait for time to pass.
I already knew all the major events that would happen until the seal of Huerrion — or rather, the evil god Abilisk — was broken. I also had plans prepared for them.

“Mom! Mommy!”

Shuran was doing well.
Since my promised two days away had turned into five, I had worried she might throw a tantrum and smash the palace gardens with her roots. Luckily, that didn’t happen.

“You scared me, you know. His Majesty the Emperor even came looking for Shuran because you weren’t here, but she just lay there with her eyes closed, not moving. He was shocked.”

Shuran reacted a lot to changes in my magic circle. According to Lottie, when I lost consciousness for three days after the Agrisen incident, Shuran had also fallen asleep at the exact same time and didn’t wake up.

This time was the same — when I woke up, so did Shuran. And, just like when I had first activated my magic circle, she had grown long, limp roots endlessly, like strands of seaweed.

Because of that, Shuran only had to endure my absence for two days, not five. She handled it well, showing more patience than her age suggested.

Now that Shuran was safe, and my biggest obstacles were gone, my remaining tasks were simple:

• Decide when to go to the Northern Empire. 
• Solve the human trafficking problem in the Eastern and Southern Empires. 

Winter had already dealt with similar trafficking cases long ago, so we decided to start by tracking down connections between the captured group we had “pickled in strawberry jam” and high-ranking nobles in the East or South.

That left just one immediate decision: when to go North.

“It would be best to leave next summer,” Winter said.

He had been summoned by the Emperor after we returned to the capital, and it took exactly three days before he came back to me.

“…You look exhausted,” I pointed out, noticing how sharp and tense his expression was.

Winter rubbed his eyes lightly and gave a small smile.
“I’m fine. It’s just… after hearing the same question for three days straight, even your voice sounds more pleasant than usual.”

“…I won’t ask what that question was,” I said quickly.

“It seems he found out part of the truth about our engagement,” Winter replied.

I thought back to what I’d blurted to the Emperor… something like:

“There’s no reason not to like him, right?”

The Emperor probably took that as me being shy but secretly head-over-heels for Winter — which, honestly, I’d let him believe on purpose.
But since he also knew I was needed for Winter’s role as [Igrio], he likely interrogated Winter for three whole days, pressing him about our relationship.

“It was hard to lie to His Majesty,” I admitted, tapping my forehead on the table. “So I decided to stick to something close to the truth, but still hide the important parts.”

Winter nodded in understanding.
“For a regressor, deciding what to keep secret and for how long is a lifelong duty.”

I quickly changed the subject before he could ask what exactly the Emperor had said — because if I imagined him telling Winter things like, “If you hurt her heart, I’ll never forgive you,” I would die of secondhand embarrassment.

***

“So, next summer?” I confirmed.

“Yes. Right now, your body could never endure the Northern Empire. You’ll need at least a year to prepare.”

I looked down at my still-weak frame. I’d once called the North an “otherworldly version of Noah’s Ark” because the sea there was so frozen that even “oysters” couldn’t surface.
During monster waves, the creatures that came out were especially weak in the North — probably because Huerrion, the god of water, influenced the area.

The climate was so brutally cold that even monsters couldn’t survive. For people to live there, their bodies had to be ready.

“The Northern Empire has no real seasons,” Winter explained. “We just call it ‘summer’ for convenience based on the Western Empire’s calendar, but there’s never a time without snow.”

And horses? Useless there.
They rode reindeer in the snow-clearing months and polar bears in the snow-and-hail months.

“So, four months of snow, four months of hail, four months of clearing snow?” I asked.

Winter smiled faintly.
“That’s what outsiders say, but in reality, we don’t bother clearing snow — too many frozen corpses appear when we do. And even if we clear it, snow piles up again right away. The bears dig paths themselves, so there’s no need to waste energy.”

…Right. Under that snow, it wasn’t just ice piling up.

I swallowed hard. Basically: the North was terrifyingly cold, and I didn’t want to think about it too much.

“There’s another reason for the one-year wait,” Winter continued. “The malice of the sea will weaken by then. It’s best to stay here in the West until that happens.”

He pointed out the window.
“Also, we should see how the crops you planted in the palace gardens turn out, shouldn’t we?”

I glanced outside at the still-bare, sectioned-off plots where Joseph, Boris, and Oscar had helped plant seeds yesterday. I was curious to see the results… Maybe it would be nice to take care of them a bit longer.

“My lady, you have a letter!” Lottie burst in without knocking.

“Knock first,” I grumbled.

She ignored me and handed it over with a letter opener. I was about to slit the envelope when Winter suddenly grabbed my arm, leaning close enough that his nose almost brushed mine.

At that same moment, Raglia — who was still sulking over the theft of her hoard — spoke up for the first time in a while:

“[Better not touch that!]”

That was all it took. I threw the letter onto the table like it was on fire.

Winter inspected the letter opener.
“Is this pure silver?” he asked Lottie.

She froze mid-step toward the door, then nodded stiffly.

Winter immediately stabbed the letter with the opener, pinning it to the wooden table.

Seconds later, the edges began to burn black — then black flames roared up, twisting into the shape of a face.

A low, sinister laugh echoed from within the flames.

I clenched my teeth and jumped back. Winter’s face was as grim as mine.

That voice…

It was definitely Agrisen’s.