Episode 74
“…”
Doyul bit his lips until they bled.
Meanwhile, one of the Snow Sword Unit members discreetly called out to Doyul.
“Your Highness?”
Doyul looked at the Snow Sword Unit member as if asking what was going on.
Swallowing nervously, the Snow Sword Unit member asked a question.
“Did Your Highness already know about all these outcomes?”
“I knew… well.”
Doyul turned his gaze back to Yerin on the training ground.
Yerin, seemingly tireless, continued her sparring without a break.
“I couldn’t be sure.”
“What?”
“But I thought she would improve somehow.”
As Doyul replied, he felt his mood sinking even more.
‘This is not good.’
Narrowing his eyebrows, Doyul attempted to distract himself by trying something else.
That something else was challenging the Snow Sword Unit members.
He suddenly extended his palm towards the Snow Sword Unit members.
“Enough of that, let go.”
“What?”
“Your Highness, what are you talking about?”
The Snow Sword Unit members looked down at Doyul’s hand with puzzled expressions.
“Just one thing?”
As if urging the members, Doyul shook his hand a couple of times.
“Give me a silver coin each.”
“…”
“…”
The members were thus, like the sky, robbed of a silver coin each by the noble-like Crown Prince.
—
And so, after a considerable amount of time passed.
“I’ve learned a lot.”
“No, it’s the other way around. I’ve learned from Lady Yerin.”
A Snow Sword Unit member, looking at Yerin with admiring eyes, politely bowed.
“It’s truly astonishing.”
“I’m just overestimating simple skills; it’s embarrassing.”
“Well, Lady Yerin, if you say that, other evaluation indices might feel unjust.”
Yerin had just completed three consecutive sparring sessions.
Her win-loss record was 2 wins and 1 draw.
It was truly an astonishing achievement.
Of course, those who faced Yerin were junior members, but the Snow Sword Unit members had practiced martial arts for at least ten years.
In contrast, Yerin had been practicing for only about a year.
The fact that Yerin, with such limited experience, could stand on equal footing with the Snow Sword Unit members was impossible, or so it seemed.
“Huah.”
Yerin sighed deeply as she stepped out of the training ground.
“I’ve shown the new vegetarian diet naturally through several sparring sessions.”
Those who were observant would naturally gain insights on their own.
As evidence, the Snow Sword Unit leader stared at Yerin with a serene gaze.
“More sparring! Let’s spar!”
“Where’s my wooden sword?”
Some Snow Sword Unit members gripped their wooden swords and rushed toward the training ground.
Watching their figures, Yerin smiled satisfactorily.
“Well, the skills of the Snow Sword Unit members are not that bad.”
Having faced them directly this time, Yerin observed that the Snow Sword Unit members had considerable skill.
“Worth the provided vegetarian dishes.”
And at that moment, the Snow Sword Unit members rushed towards Yerin and grabbed her.
“Lady, what was that vegetarian diet you showed us earlier?”
“Could you please explain?”
“Is this the correct posture?”
Gazing at the gathered Snow Sword Unit members, Yerin smiled awkwardly.
“Well, this should be enough for Sejin’s investigation as a dog meat inspector.”
Sejin’s mischievous voice seemed to linger in her ears.
“Even the teacher occasionally acts like a noble.”
At that moment, Doyul offered Yerin a glass of cold water.
“Are you thirsty? Here’s some cold water.”
“Oh, thank you.”
Yerin, who was about to drink water without much thought, asked with a puzzled voice, “What do you have in your sleeve?”
This was because Doyul’s sleeve noticeably sagged, as if something heavy was inside.
“Oh, this?”
Doyul put his hand into his sleeve and pulled out a silver coin. “I made a bet.”
“A bet?”
“Yes. The bet was whether Lady Yerin would win against the Snow Sword Unit members more than once or not.”
Yerin looked at Doyul with a bewildered expression.
‘Wait, a bet? How did that innocent and kind girl end up like this?’
What’s even stranger is that there seemed to be some deeper concern.
‘Even though he won a lot of money, why does he look so troubled?’
It seemed like there was some big dilemma.
However, dilemmas are dilemmas, and money is money.
“Hmm.”
Yerin, with narrowed eyes, unexpectedly extended her palm.
Doyul looked puzzled.
“Why are you doing this?”
“You should give me half.”
“What?”
“No, why are you so surprised?”
Yerin grinned wickedly.
“Thanks to me, you managed to win that much money, right?”
“…”
“So, half. I won’t ask for more.”
Doyul was dumbfounded.
However, Yerin gave him a look that said, ‘What can you do?’
In the end, Doyul was robbed of half the money he won from his celestial-like wife.
—
After that.
Yerin, after being held by the Snow Sword Unit members for a while, was finally able to break free.
“Now that we’re here at the Snow Sword Unit, shall we take a look around?” suggested Doyul.
“Sure.”
At Doyul’s suggestion, the two of them, along with the spirit, turned around to observe the Snow Sword Unit.
“…”
Yerin observed the halls steeped in the traces of time. The atmosphere was serene. There was not a corner in the Snow Sword Unit untouched by memories.
‘Seojin!’
From Seojin’s cheerful voice calling her to the inquiries about her vegetarian diet, and requests for her to visit the Snow Sword Unit more often.
‘Lady, have you come?’
‘I keep finding flaws in unfolding the vegetarian diet…’
‘Really, please come to the Snow Sword Unit more often.’
The past appearances of the Snow Sword Unit members were vivid in her eyes.
Swoosh-
The wind blew in, scattering memories throughout the halls. The sensation of wind passing through her hair brought a pleasant feeling.
“Seojin.”
Yerin, with a deepened gaze, reminisced about numerous memories scattered throughout.
“Even though you’re no longer in the Northern Ice Palace.”
In that moment, Yerin’s breath became irregular.
“And the descendants of your descendants and those who followed you faithfully.”
Her long eyelashes quivered with numerous emotions.
“…And because I am here in the Northern Ice Palace.”
So, please rest peacefully without worries.
Yerin sincerely wished for that.
At that moment, someone broke the silence.
“Lady.”
It was Doyul.
Doyul stared at Yerin with a silent gaze.
“During the recent test with the Eternal Frost Spirit, may I ask what happened?”
“…Pardon?”
Yerin suddenly stiffened.
Doyul lowered his eyes and looked at the Eternal Frost Spirit.
There was a subtle emotion in his eyes.
Hostility.
– Hey, you impudent brat! Where do you get off with those disrespectful eyes!
The Eternal Frost Spirit leaped up in protest.
However, Doyul didn’t react to the rebellion of the Eternal Frost Spirit.
“I may be overreacting. But since that test, I’ve felt that… you seem distant.”
“…”
“I might be overly sensitive. But since that test, you’ve felt distant to me.”
Yerin felt her words caught in her throat.
She seemed to understand why Doyul was feeling that way.
“It might be my fault.”
During the trial of the Eternal Frost Spirit, Yerin encountered Seojin.
However, she chose the reality with Doyul and returned to Doyul’s side.
In that case, she should have been faithful to Doyul.
But the memories of that time were too nostalgic and warm, so she missed them.
So…
“I haven’t completely shaken off the nostalgia for Seojin and the past.”
Yerin closed and opened her eyes with strength.
Longing for the past is not inherently wrong.
However, if being immersed in that longing makes people around her uneasy…
“That would be my fault for not being faithful to reality.”
Moreover, Doyul was the person she considered most precious in this world.
That person was now looking at her with a fearful gaze due to the growing distance between them.
After a brief silence, Yerin spoke.
“I apologize for causing concern.”
“…Lady.”
“But there’s really nothing for you to worry about.”
Yerin smiled playfully.
“I’ll be by your side, after all.”
Looking at Yerin, who was like that, Doyul responded with a visibly relieved expression.
“Now you’re looking at me properly.”
“…That.”
For a moment, Yerin hesitated, but instead of answering, she grabbed Doyul’s hand.
The warmth transmitted from the small hand and Yerin’s gaze looking straight at him.
“At last.”
Yerin felt that she was entirely by his side.
Now she could finally relax.
With a firm grip on their joined hands, Doyul spoke with a defiant tone.
“Even if you try to avoid giving me a straight answer, would you let it pass?”
“Oh, caught, didn’t I?”
At Yerin’s playful response, a slow smile appeared on Doyul’s lips.
“What kind of test did the Eternal Frost Spirit conduct?”
“Well…”
Yerin, rolling her eyes, smiled mischievously.
“I had the happiest dream in the world.”
“A happy dream… was a test?”
“Yes. It was a dream I didn’t want to wake up from.”
Doyul’s whole body stiffened at her answer.
Then Yerin, holding his hand, shook it.
“Even though I couldn’t completely shake off the nostalgia for Seojin and the past.”
She seemed to understand why Doyul felt that way.
“It might be my fault.”
Nevertheless, Yerin continued to hold Doyul’s hand.
* * *
Meanwhile, the Eternal Frost Spirit, who had quietly followed the two, nodded silently.
– Admirable.
Even though its personality was unruly, it treated a great spirit like a puppy and gave it the terrible name ‘Cotton.’
Still, it seemed that it didn’t choose the owner entirely wrong.
The Eternal Frost Spirit thought so.
