Ch.14950. Marital Fate (3)

I paused briefly at that thought.

In that moment, Akemi glanced at me cautiously. As a villager, she was naturally concerned about me, the Snow Woman’s groom.

If I didn’t truly love Yuri, this village would be engulfed in a curse.

And pretending to love someone when you don’t is actually quite common in relationships between men and women.

I ignored Akemi’s reaction and asked, “Has the village often experienced the Snow Woman’s curse?”

“Not extremely often, but the curse did fall upon the village four generations ago. However, that curse was so powerful… it only began to fade during Lady Reika’s generation.”

The Snow Woman was known as a yokai in this region simply because of her obsession with her partner.

The grudge of a truly loved one who betrayed her feelings. That resentment, which penetrated to her very soul, became an extremely powerful curse that brought natural disasters to the area.

Akemi’s expression was filled with fear as she told the story. I reassured her.

“You don’t need to worry. If I didn’t have feelings for Yuri, I wouldn’t have come to this village with her.”

“R-really! That’s a relief!”

Akemi placed her hand on her chest and sighed with relief. She continued.

“The Moon Shrine, where you’ll form a marital bond with the Snow Woman, is an extremely sacred place. There, the Snow Woman can read all of the groom’s emotions. That’s why even those who falsely claim to love the Snow Woman cannot hide their true feelings.”

I was momentarily speechless at her words.

‘Unable to hide one’s feelings?’

Apparently, like mind reading, the Snow Woman could exercise supernatural abilities at this Moon Shrine.

‘So if I’m not sincere, Yuri will immediately know my true feelings there?’

I felt a bit tense inside at that thought. If that were the case, Yuri might fail to awaken as the White Sage.

After all, I was walking a tightrope between several women with whom I had connections.

But hiding my true feelings, I said to Akemi:

“The Moon Shrine, huh. What an interesting place. If she can read all my feelings there, Yuri will be happy. Because I love her.”

“Oh my, oh my.”

Akemi’s face turned bright red at my embarrassing words.

“I knew it! Even I can see that you two are truly well-matched lovers! Not just the village chief, but everyone in the village says so. And what man wouldn’t love someone as beautiful as Lady Yuri!”

As expected of the Snow Woman’s village, their reverence for Yuri was remarkable.

‘Well… Yuri is indeed that beautiful.’

I, who had genuinely fallen for Yuri, knew that fact very well.

Meanwhile, Akemi continued explaining about the wedding ceremony that would take place at the Moon Shrine.

“The Moon Shrine is a place that only the Snow Woman can enter in this village. Except for the groom who may enter with her during the wedding.”

And she said there were specific dates when the ceremony could be performed at the shrine.

The full moon. So that would be four days from now.

‘Four days, huh. If Yuri completes her awakening by then, we can join up with the Tokyo group just in time.’

I didn’t consider the possibility of Yuri failing to awaken as a Sage.

There’s still time.

I had to form a bond with Yuri to ensure she could become the White Sage and to prevent the Snow Woman’s curse from activating.

‘If I can truly come to love Yuri in these four days, there won’t be any problem.’

Of course, since human emotions can’t be controlled so easily, it was somewhat of an unreasonable thought.

Right now, even I wasn’t certain about my feelings for Yuri.

The complicated emotions of looking at an ex-girlfriend. And knowing that this ex-girlfriend still loves me.

In that situation, my current feelings were a complex tangle of a man’s emotions.

But what I needed to do was clear. For the next four days, I needed to think only of Yuri. Then everything would be resolved.

I came to that conclusion on my own. Then I asked Akemi:

“So, Akemi. Are there any special procedures for the wedding ceremony?”

“There are procedures, but the most important thing is arriving together at the Moon Shrine. There aren’t any particularly difficult procedures. However…”

Akemi’s expression darkened at my question.

“There is a bit of a problem. It’s about reaching the Moon Shrine.”

“A problem? What kind of issue?”

“The heavy snowfall covering the village is even worse near the shrine. So getting there…”

“Yuri is a mage who uses ice magic. And I’m a fire mage, so snow shouldn’t be a big problem…”

Akemi shook her head at my words.

“That snow… it doesn’t seem to be ordinary snow. Ever since the dimensional fusion recently…”

And so Akemi began to tell me about the recent events in the village.

***

Yuri and I left the mansion together.

The time was past evening, entering night at 10 PM. Outside, it was as cold as midwinter.

The two of us began walking together along the rural path of the village where heavy snow was falling.

“This heavy snowfall. They say we can’t reach the Moon Shrine unless we solve this problem.”

Yuri gently took my hand. When I grasped her hand in return, she quickly interlaced our fingers.

“I heard the same from Akemi.”

Akemi had spoken about some enormous entity.

‘Not just the village chief, but the shrine priests of this village have concluded that this snowfall isn’t the Snow Woman’s curse. But the heavy snow blocking the shrine… the entity creating this snowfall is said to be as powerful as the Snow Woman herself…’

This was definitely something we couldn’t ignore.

Four days later, Yuri and I absolutely had to spend the night together at the shrine.

“I don’t care what it is. If it’s something trying to prevent our wedding, Minsu, I’ll definitely eliminate it.”

Yuri spoke in a cold voice. It was a voice filled with such fierce killing intent that even I felt a chill.

Since getting off the car and entering Setsu-no-mura, Yuri’s demeanor had completely changed.

When her gaze turned to me, her eyes sparkled in a way that made it hard to believe she was the Yuri I knew.

Though Yuri had always been very awkward at expressing her emotions, now she was overflowing with affection toward me, almost to the point of being coquettish.

But as just now, there were also times when her voice would suddenly turn cold.

That was hostility toward anything that might interfere between Yuri and me. That’s why I hadn’t mentioned Flame at all since entering the village.

Though I was worried about Flame’s guild members heading to Tokyo, bringing that up would inevitably lead to talking about Soso and Arini.

‘It’s definitely better not to mention it at all.’

Yuri’s current appearance was that of the Snow Woman herself. It was evidence that the blood dormant within her was awakening.

And the flow of mana around Yuri’s Nivis had also changed.

As a fellow mage, I could tell. The mana she was manipulating was comparable to that of a 7th-rank mage.

‘Secretary General Choi Seung-hoon was 7th-rank.’

The 7th rank was practically the highest level that mages could realistically reach.

Mages who reached the 8th rank appeared only once every few hundred years in Ailetan. Such 8th-rank mages were called Archmages and were said to have revolutionized the magical history of Ailetan.

‘If Yuri like this transforms her Nivis to its third form… and awakens as the White Sage…’

Right now, Soso’s Heavenly Demon Divine Art had also reached the 8-star level.

Both of them were major characters in the original work. If these two became rapidly stronger through the special quality of being Sages, it meant we could create a spark to stop the reviving Evil God.

‘So I…’

I absolutely cannot give up on Yuri. That’s why I needed to love Yuri from now on.

Until now, I had given my heart to all the women connected to me.

But at least here in Setsu-no-mura, for the wedding ceremony, I needed to look only at Yuri.

‘Yes. Focus only on Yuri.’

I reminded myself once more of Arini’s last words to me—not to feel guilty.

But while I was briefly lost in these thoughts, I hadn’t properly heard what Yuri was saying beside me.

“…are you listening?”

Yuri noticed. Suddenly, her voice turned terribly cold.

“Don’t tell me you’re thinking about another woman?”

I squeezed Yuri’s hand firmly and shook my head.

“Of course not. For me, there’s only you, Yuri.”

“W-what are you saying so shamelessly!”

But even as she said that, the corners of Yuri’s mouth turned up. Still, she pretended to be upset and turned her head away.

“But when I’m talking to you earnestly… if you’re not focusing… it makes me anxious.”

I stopped for a moment. And let go of Yuri’s hand.

“I-I’m sorry! I wasn’t doubting you…”

Yuri was extremely sensitive to my smallest reactions. When I let go of her hand, she seemed startled, worried that I might be upset.

I firmly grasped Yuri’s shoulders. And silenced her surprised lips with mine.

“Mmph…? Mmm…”

Soon our tongues were intertwined. Yuri quickly responded to my kiss. After sharing a brief kiss and separating our lips, Yuri’s eyes became dreamy.

“You don’t need to worry. I really only have you.”

“…Mmm… me too…”

Saying that, Yuri nestled deeply into my arms. I stroked her head, then took her hand again.

“Shall we continue on then?”

Yuri shook her head vigorously.

***

The two of them continued walking to the outskirts of the village.

Setsu-no-mura was a village built along a ridge deep in the mountains. The Moon Shrine was located quite far from the village.

They continued walking along the path the village chief had shown them. Then the two stopped.

“Something is blocking the path beyond here.”

Yuri said. And she looked at Minsu’s face beside her.

‘He’s so handsome…’

The Moon Shrine was a very important place where their wedding would be held. So the couple, who would be married in a few days, came together to check the path to that place.

But Yuri couldn’t stop her pounding heart right now. It had been like this ever since coming to Setsu-no-mura.

Her head was so full of Minsu that she couldn’t think of anything else.

‘Am I… really going to become Minsu’s wife?’

Though they came here for the purpose of the Sage manifestation, they also came to form a bond together.

Since Minsu knew that meaning and accompanied her to Setsu-no-mura, it was as good as the time for their feelings to bear fruit had finally arrived.

‘I’ll really… know Minsu’s true feelings. On that day.’

Yukiyo, the village chief, had told Yuri:

‘At that Moon Shrine… you will be able to perceive the true feelings of the person who is to be your partner, Lady Yuri.’

Yukiyo was very cautious when saying this. She also told her about the Snow Woman’s curse at the same time.

So Yuri who heard those words became really anxious. But that worry was probably unfounded.

‘But Minsu definitely… likes me. He just said so earlier.’

He clearly said there was only her. Since he said that.

‘Yes. When I know Minsu’s heart for certain on that day, I won’t have to be anxious anymore. Whether it’s Yeon Soso or Seong Arini.’

Minsu had always told her that those two women were just people he was pretending to be friendly with for his goals.

In four days, she would be able to confirm the truth of those words. On the day she and Minsu would become one.

“This is troublesome.”

At that moment, Minsu spoke. Yuri also looked where Minsu’s gaze was directed.

Some enormous power could be felt nearby. That power was blocking the path to the Moon Shrine.

‘Could it be a great demon like Crosel?’

Since it was something that could artificially create natural disasters like this, demons naturally came to mind.

But at that moment, Minsu said:

“But I think I know what kind of power it is. Shall we head back then?”

“A-already?”

Minsu turned around. The reason the two had left the village late at night was to check the source of the heavy snowfall before them.

So as Minsu said, if he had already figured out its identity, there was no immediate need to stay here longer.

‘But I want to be with Minsu more.’

Though they had been alone together since leaving Nagoya, she wanted to monopolize Minsu even more.

So she had actually asked Yukiyo, the village chief, if she could share a room with Minsu.

But since the two would have their first night at the Moon Shrine in four days,

until then, staying in separate rooms and keeping their bodies pure was the custom before forming a bond, she said. There was no helping it.

‘If we go back now, I’ll have to be separated from Minsu again…’

Yuri found that fact too disappointing. That’s when Minsu extended his hand to her and said:

“It doesn’t matter if we return to the mansion a little late, right?”