Chapter Index





    Ch.14850. Marital Fate (2)

    I froze in place at that moment.

    ‘Yuri…’

    Her atmosphere was completely different from her usual self.

    Yuri always wore formal attire at Flame. So when coming here, she was dressed in her usual clothes.

    But now Yuri had changed into the village’s traditional clothing.

    A snow-white yukata. And the wide blue sash wrapped around her slender waist. It matched perfectly with her silver-white hair and blue eyes.

    And to complement the outfit, unlike usual, Yuri had put her hair up.

    I couldn’t help but stare at that clean nape of her neck. Perhaps noticing my gaze, Yuri’s face turned red.

    Even that expression was different from her usual expressionless face. Her face was filled with an uncharacteristic purity.

    ‘What am I thinking?’

    For a moment, I felt like I could fall for Yuri.

    No, “entranced” would be more accurate. The Yuri before me looked literally like a snow woman. As I stood still, the female village chief sitting next to Yuri spoke to me.

    “Please have a seat.”

    The village chief, being considerate of me, spoke in Japanese close to standard dialect. I sat down across from Yuri.

    Not just the village chief, but it seemed that people who held positions in the village had gathered here together.

    The village chief continued.

    “Everyone here has served the previous Snow Woman, Reika… no, those who have served since Yuri-sama’s maternal grandmother, the Snow Woman from two generations ago.”

    Then the village chief briefly talked about the legend of the Snow Woman passed down in the village.

    The Snow Woman was a revered figure in this village. She was both the spiritual pillar of the village and a priestess who worshipped snow.

    It was similar to the people of the Mythic Religion who worshipped fire. The Snow Woman was also a special position and bloodline passed down through generations.

    “When Yuri-sama was taken away from this village by that foreign nobleman, we thought we would never see the priestess of snow again.”

    Right after Yuri’s mother, Reika, gave birth to Yuri and passed away, Grand Duke Andrei dispatched knights from the Snow Field Order to this village.

    The villagers tried to protect Yuri, who carried the Snow Woman’s bloodline, but the Snow Field Order was the elite knight order of the Slavic Kingdom.

    ‘They’re even comparable to the Special Division of the Association in terms of skill.’

    Just being a member of the Snow Field Order made one comparable to at least an A-rank hunter.

    So even if there were awakened ones in the village, they couldn’t stop those knights.

    However, Yuri had finally returned to this village as if by fate. The feast welcoming Yuri’s return was very lavish.

    I turned my head slightly to look at a frame.

    In that frame hanging on one wall of the room was a photo of someone who looked exactly like Yuri.

    The eye color was black, but apart from those eyes, she was a beautiful woman who looked exactly like Yuri.

    ‘No, Yuri must resemble her.’

    The village chief said.

    “Yes. The person in that photo is the previous Snow Woman, Reika-sama.”

    So for the people gathered here, this must be a deeply moving time. The conversation continued along with the meal.

    Of course, the village chief and villagers were the ones leading the conversation. Yuri only answered according to their questions. They kept glancing at me but didn’t speak to me first.

    After some more time had passed, the village chief’s question finally turned to me.

    “Yuri-sama, if it’s not too impertinent, may we ask about your relationship with this Lee Min-soo?”

    Yuri was flustered by those words. Unlike her usual calm demeanor, she waved both hands frantically in the air.

    “I, I, I… M-Min-soo and my relationship?”

    “Yes, Yuri-sama. This might be rude to both you and Lee Min-soo-sama… but the romantic relationships of one who will become the Snow Woman are very important, so we cannot overlook this matter.”

    Saying this, the village chief bowed her head politely to me.

    I understood what she meant, knowing how the Snow Woman shows obsession toward her one and only partner and mate.

    In the meantime, Yuri, who had been blushing and hanging her head low, finally answered.

    “Min-soo is… my boyfriend.”

    “By boyfriend, do you mean he is your lover?”

    At those words, Yuri looked directly at me. And the other people attending the meal also looked at me simultaneously.

    I nodded. Yuri’s expression brightened.

    “Yes, village chief. Min-soo is my lover.”

    I didn’t deny those words.

    ***

    The meal was over.

    Since both Yuri and I had stayed up all night, the village chief, being considerate, quickly provided us with sleeping quarters.

    Yuri whispered something into the village chief’s ear as if embarrassed, but the village chief shook her head.

    “Yuri-sama. You understand what it means that you’ve brought your lover here, don’t you?”

    Yuri nodded at those words.

    “I would give everything to fulfill your request, Yuri-sama. But for the sake of that day, it’s proper to give you separate rooms now. It’s the custom of this village, please understand.”

    When the village chief spoke politely, Yuri was disappointed but heeded her words.

    “Then see you later!!”

    Saying that, Yuri turned around shyly and left me. I could guess what she had said to the village chief.

    ‘She must have asked for us to share a room.’

    But the village chief refused, saying it was for “that day.”

    I recalled in my mind the legend of the Snow Woman and the customs passed down in this village.

    As I had already discussed with Yuri, I came here to form a bond with her.

    I wanted to think more about that matter, but I couldn’t resist the sleep that was overtaking me. I returned to my assigned room, guided again by Akemi.

    When I woke up after getting some sleep there, it was already evening. Outside, it had already grown dark.

    I briefly checked my physical condition. I hadn’t used magic while coming here. Still, the aftereffects of having the 4th seal released were severely felt.

    ‘Phew… but I can endure this much…’

    The pain subsided a little when I soaked in the open-air hot spring outside the lodging. And in my mind, I recalled what I needed to do here in Setsunomura, the village of the Snow Woman.

    ‘The Sages of the East. Among them, Yuri would be the White Sage.’

    The sages who would find the incantation Epitheos, as Jeon Tae-hyun and Jerfield had mentioned.

    And I was the Colorless Key who would awaken those sages. Soso, the Black Sage, had completed her sage awakening in the battle with Lee Sun-woo.

    The evidence was the Fayeong Sword, the sacred object of the Cheonma Divine Sect, which I had reclaimed from Lee Sun-woo.

    Soso had successfully transformed the Ancient Gear, the Fayeong Sword, into its third form, fulfilling the conditions of a sage as written in the prophecy book.

    ‘The same goes for Arini.’

    Arini is the Pink Sage. She awakened as a saint at that holy ground where I accompanied her. She also fulfilled the conditions of a sage.

    Since I, the Colorless Key, was directly involved in both of those events, only Yuri remains.

    ‘I need to transform Yuri’s gear, Nivis, into its third form.’

    Ancient Gears are weapons with their own will. And they respond to their owner’s will.

    A powerful realization strong enough to awaken Nivis’s true form. Yuri’s potential being released would naturally be in the form of a complete Snow Woman.

    ‘And the custom passed down in this village is…’

    After finishing my bath, I put on a yukata again. Then Akemi called me from outside.

    “Lee Min-soo-sama. May I come in for a moment?”

    “Yes. Please come in.”

    Akemi entered my room. Bringing simple drinks and snacks, she talked about the very custom I had been thinking about.

    “I’ve also heard that you are Yuri-sama’s lover.”

    My heart wavered for a moment at those words.

    I had already affirmed this fact during mealtime. Even before coming to this village, Yuri had been thinking of me as her lover.

    In truth, that was a false hope I had given to Yuri.

    I was currently giving my heart to three women, no, four women connected to me.

    Yuri and Soso. And Arini and Seohwa.

    ‘Actually… it’s not easy to properly love even one person.’

    But I was giving my heart to as many as four people.

    I had countless worries about that matter.

    And I, with my limited time left, instead of having complicated worries about those emotions now, had postponed that matter until after my death.

    I said to Akemi.

    “Yes. That’s right.”

    “I thought so. Then may I tell you about this village’s customs… about the story of the Snow Woman’s groom?”

    I nodded. Akemi began her story.

    “A woman with the Snow Woman’s bloodline chooses only one man as her partner for her entire life. And as you know, the previous Snow Woman, Reika-sama… chose Grand Duke Andrei of the Slavic Kingdom as her partner.”

    During the recent mealtime, there was much talk about Reika, Yuri’s mother.

    But no one there talked about Grand Duke Andrei, Yuri’s father. It felt like everyone was hushing it up.

    “As you’ve seen, there are young men in this village too. It was the same when Reika-sama was young. But the Snow Woman’s bloodline has always chosen outsiders as their partners.”

    However, even among outsiders, Reika was the only prospective Snow Woman who chose someone who wasn’t Japanese.

    “As you can see, this is a village where old traditions continue to this day. Outsiders might think it’s outdated, but for the villagers, those customs are still considered important.”

    “That’s the atmosphere I sensed.”

    “Yes. That’s right. So the foreigner Grand Duke Andrei… especially with his Western appearance so different from Japanese people… I heard he wasn’t welcomed in the village.”

    But Reika chose Grand Duke Andrei as her partner. And she formed a bond with the Grand Duke here in Setsunomura.

    “Forming a bond means forming a marital bond. And a woman with the Snow Woman’s bloodline awakens as a true Snow Woman through that first night (初夜). That’s how it was for Reika-sama too.”

    To summarize, a woman with the Snow Woman’s bloodline chooses a partner, formally weds, and then spends the first night together.

    That is the condition for the Snow Woman’s awakening. Reika continued.

    “So when Yuri-sama came here with a man, Min-soo-sama, not only the village chief but all the people in the village were very surprised.”

    There seems to have been some talk because I’m Korean, not Japanese.

    But rather, everyone was relieved by the fact that I was a fellow East Asian, not a Westerner. And although this is such an isolated and forgotten village,

    The villagers all knew that a fierce war with villains was taking place outside. So they were actually very welcoming of me, who would become the Snow Woman’s partner.

    “The absence of a Snow Woman means the extinction of this village. Because Setsunomura is a place where the Snow Woman’s blessing and curse coexist.”

    Heavy snowfall was falling in this village.

    Not only such heavy snow, but various natural disasters occur periodically in Setsunomura, she said. The power that prevents such natural disasters is the Snow Woman’s blessing.

    And what makes such natural disasters more severe is the Snow Woman’s curse, she said.

    Even the dimensional fusion that occurred in the nearby mountains recently was thought by the villagers to be the Snow Woman’s curse.

    “Only the Snow Woman can prevent the Snow Woman’s curse. And coincidentally, now was just before the blessing of Reika-sama, the previous Snow Woman, was about to disappear.”

    That was another reason why the villagers welcomed Yuri and me more.

    “If Yuri awakens as the Snow Woman, she can bestow blessings on the village again.”

    “I see.”

    Akemi nodded. But she suddenly wore a worried expression.

    “What’s wrong?”

    “Well… as I said, if the Snow Woman chooses the right partner and forms a marital bond… certainly that Snow Woman can bestow blessings on the village.”

    Come to think of it, Akemi hasn’t told me yet why the Snow Woman’s curse occurs.

    “You mentioned not only the Snow Woman’s blessing but also her curse, right?”

    “Yes, Min-soo-sama.”

    “Then why does that curse occur?”

    Akemi carefully studied my expression. It seemed like content that was difficult to speak about easily.

    “Well… that…”

    “If it’s difficult for you to say, you don’t have to.”

    “No, no! The village chief instructed me to make sure to tell you about that story as well.”

    I waited for Akemi’s words. After taking a moment to catch her breath, she finally spoke.

    “The Snow Woman’s curse… occurs at the moment of forming the marital bond, if their hearts are not aligned.”

    “By hearts not being aligned, you mean…?”

    “Yes. The Snow Woman always chooses only someone she truly loves as her partner. But the opposite is not necessarily true.”

    “You mean even if they somehow form a marital bond, there are cases where the male partner doesn’t truly love the Snow Woman.”

    “Yes. If such a case occurs, the Snow Woman cannot contain her anger.”

    Akemi’s expression turned pale.

    “To the extent of covering this world with snow.”

    I understood those words. And I became perplexed.

    ‘So to avoid the curse… I must truly love Yuri from the bottom of my heart?’

    There was only one conclusion.


    0 Comments

    Heads up! Your comment will be invisible to other guests and subscribers (except for replies), including you after a grace period.
    Note
    // Script to navigate with arrow keys