Ch.15050. Marital Fate (4)

At Minsu’s words, Yuri froze in place.

“Going back… late?”

Minsu nodded without hesitation.

“We finally get to be together like this. Since we both slept in, we probably won’t feel sleepy right away. Why don’t we take a walk around the village?”

At those words, Yuri’s face instantly flushed.

‘Without a doubt… this is an invitation for a date, right?’

And her mind went blank. Come to think of it, she had never had a proper date with Minsu.

Her past self at Ains was truly foolish, even in retrospect.

Yuri hated her father, Grand Duke Andrei. The Grand Duke had abandoned her mother and returned to his legal wife in the Kingdom of Slavia.

Later, after realizing the talent of the child born to the woman he had abandoned, the Grand Duke brought Yuri to the Kingdom of Slavia.

But Yuri had never once felt any affection from her father.

Even when the family members treated Yuri with such contempt, they only cared about whether she could continue as the heir or not.

The Grand Duke paid no attention to the terrible disdain that Yuri, an illegitimate child, received from the family members.

Yuri had grown up in such an environment. It was only natural that she couldn’t trust any man in the world.

‘But I was stupid. Minsu was… completely different from my father… no, different from any other man in the world.’

From the time she entered Ains, Yuri was famous.

It wasn’t just her status as the Grand Duke’s daughter and her near-genius magical abilities. Her appearance, which transcended her background, became even more of a topic of conversation.

But Yuri herself had no interest in her appearance. Unlike her noble status as the Grand Duke’s daughter, Yuri had actually grown up rougher than any boy.

‘To begin with, I was more familiar with hunting than makeup…’

Still, through the words of her maid Maria and the reactions of those around her, she intellectually understood that her appearance was exceptional.

So naturally, Yuri could only despise the boys of her age who were only interested in her outstanding appearance and background, without knowing anything about her inner self.

Yuri’s distrust of men grew deeper at Ains.

So even when Minsu approached her in her second year, she couldn’t open her heart to him quickly and doubted his sincerity.

‘Even though Minsu was different from those men… I was such a fool.’

Still, Yuri’s heart, which had always been like winter, gradually came to know the warmth of spring through the warmth someone was sharing with her.

Despite Yuri’s intense distrust of men, an exception began to emerge.

Lee Minsu. Every time she thought of him, every time she learned more about him, Yuri had no choice but to gradually revise the line she had drawn herself.

From slight familiarity to curiosity. The growing trust finally turned into affection. And by the time graduation approached, Minsu’s place in Yuri’s heart had grown to a surprising extent, even to herself.

To the point where even the cold Yuri couldn’t deny it.

‘Because by then, I was already in love with Minsu.’

But throughout her time at Ains, she had treated Minsu coldly.

More precisely, Yuri had no idea how to express her emotions. Instead, she knew well how to tear monsters apart and kill them.

So even after realizing her feelings, even while naturally spending time with Minsu, she had never had a proper date like normal young couples would.

‘That’s… still the case now.’

And just like at Ains, Yuri was still awkward with romance.

Just because her feelings for Minsu came first. No, because her love for him came first, all she could do was show those feelings without restraint.

Beyond that, Yuri had no idea what to do as a lover.

‘I might just be taking too much from Minsu without giving anything back.’

Not long ago, Minsu’s body was deteriorating to the point where his life was in danger. Fortunately, they said they had found a way to treat the disease related to the mana heart in Muguk.

While Minsu was going through that, she hadn’t been able to do anything for him.

‘And yet, Minsu promised to… become my husband.’

Still, it’s fortunate that there’s a way for Minsu to get healthy.

Then, now that she would become Minsu’s wife, she could make him happy for the rest of his life. For Minsu, she would gladly give everything she had.

It was then that Minsu gave her a puzzled look as Yuri hesitated for a moment.

“What’s wrong? Do you want to go back to the mansion and rest?”

“N-No, absolutely not!”

Yuri answered with a start. No matter how awkward she was, she couldn’t miss this moment.

‘I want to… spend more time with Minsu.’

Minsu interlaced his fingers with Yuri’s.

“Then shall we get going?”

“Yes!”

Yuri nodded vigorously.

***

Near midnight, the heavy snowfall that had been coming down on Setsu-no-mura stopped.

When Yuri and I checked the path leading to the Moon Shrine, there was an enormous energy blocking the way.

The energy that had been felt throughout the village was now concentrated around the shrine. That’s probably why the snow had temporarily stopped.

‘Instead, beyond that path to the shrine, the heavy snow is concentrated on that high mountain.’

I instinctively felt that if we headed to the shrine without any preparation, even Yuri and I would find it difficult to break through because of that unidentified energy.

But I wasn’t worried. It wasn’t an energy like demonic magi.

Rather, while the energy only blocked the two of us, it felt very familiar to me.

It was similar to the sacred energy I had felt in the temple of Shinwagyo, the temple that enshrined the Vermilion Bird.

‘This phenomenon is clearly related to Yuri’s sage awakening.’

I tried to step onto the path beyond, but it was impossible to pass through for now. However, the day we were supposed to form a bond at the shrine was four days away.

I felt that we could solve this problem by then. I decided to talk more with the village chief as soon as day broke.

‘Well, I guess it’s fine to take it easy just for tonight.’

Yuri and I were standing on a mountain ridge overlooking the village.

It seemed that Setsu-no-mura usually didn’t keep lights on at night, but as Yuri and I headed toward the shrine, lanterns lit up throughout the village.

Perhaps the village chief and the villagers were being considerate so that the two of us wouldn’t lose our way when returning late at night.

“It’s beautiful…”

Yuri exclaimed unconsciously as she looked at the various colored lights spreading out.

As she said this, Yuri squeezed my hand tighter. I found myself following Yuri’s face with my eyes.

Indeed, it was a face that could only be described as beautiful.

Sosodo and Arini were beautiful too, but Yuri’s mixed heritage and the unique atmosphere of Yuri, who was beginning to awaken as a snow woman, was filled with an inhuman, cold beauty.

For a moment, perhaps noticing my gaze, Yuri turned her head and tucked her side hair behind her ear.

“D-Do I have something on my face?”

To that, I calmly replied.

“No. You’re just pretty.”

Yuri was very flustered by those words.

“W-What are you saying! I-I’m not happy at all! S-Such words…”

But the corners of her mouth were already turned up. I embraced her in my arms again.

Though Yuri was embarrassed, she burrowed even deeper into my embrace.

“It’s warm…”

Saying that, Yuri buried her face in my chest.

I had never thought of Yuri as having an affectionate personality, but the current Yuri was lovable.

She wasn’t doing anything special for me.

Just getting embarrassed when our eyes met, and despite that embarrassment, still wanting to be held in my arms.

That way of showing her affection for me was cute.

In fact, though Yuri might not know it, I knew well that Yuri had always had this cute personality.

‘Though she’s really bad at expressing her emotions…’

Still, from some point on, she couldn’t hide at all that she had feelings for me.

I too was honestly surprised to learn that Yuri, who was famous for being such a perfect student council president at Ains, had such a careless personality.

And I came to love her more for that.

All of this was from our time at Ains.

‘A marital bond…’

In truth, even Yuri, who was so excited right now, was terribly broken inside.

If she were the cold-natured Yuri I knew, she would have definitely doubted the false hope I had given her.

Actually, before joining Flame, I had checked all of Flame’s achievements. Flame had no accident cases, whether in dungeons or when dealing with villains.

‘Yuri is a perfectionist.’

The fact that such a Yuri completely believed in the false hope I had given her meant that she was in a state where she couldn’t have any rational doubt about me.

The reason Yuri was so broken, the reason her mind was damaged by severe anxiety symptoms, was all because of me.

To create Flame, the place for me to return to, Yuri had worked beyond imagination.

And during the year I was unconscious, she had suffered from terrible anxiety.

‘I imagined never seeing you again. And because of that anxiety… I couldn’t sleep until morning.’

That’s what Yuri had told me about that year not long ago.

Of course, even after I regained consciousness, I was suffering from terrible PTSD.

So Yuri had been suffering from that anxiety for two years. Even after I joined the company.

‘If I were to die, what would happen to Yuri?’

It was certain that Yuri wouldn’t be able to endure it. But that shouldn’t happen.

As the White Sage, if she finds Epitheus and defeats the evil god, Yuri will have saved the world. She deserves to be happy.

So I decided to create the hope of a marital bond for Yuri.

‘Because of that snow woman’s blood, Yuri will never be able to meet another man in her lifetime.’

So if the memory of forming a bond with me becomes the driving force of Yuri’s life, I could gladly do that for her.

It meant becoming her husband, beyond being her boyfriend.

‘Yes, that’s enough.’

Anyway, Yuri would read my mind at the shrine, so I decided to open my heart that I had been suppressing.

For these four days in this village, I decided to be sincere to Yuri.

I wanted to create more memories for her. Here, where she would form a bond with me.

‘And this village…’

A village filled with memories of Yuri’s parents. I knew that Yuri deeply hated her father. Still does.

But I had already noticed the truth about Yuri’s parents that the villagers were keeping quiet about.

Reika, Yuri’s mother and the previous snow woman, did not curse this village.

Rather, she had erased the curse that had been passed down from the snow woman of several generations ago by bestowing a blessing.

So it means that Reika had fully completed her awakening as a snow woman. And the person who formed a bond with Reika at the shrine was Grand Duke Andrei.

In other words, it means that Grand Duke Andrei truly loved Reika. If that wasn’t the case, Reika would have cursed the village.

‘Yuri would never admit it.’

Though the rift between them might be deep, I hoped that Yuri’s misunderstanding would be resolved someday. After all, she was to become the future Grand Duke.

Yuri was still nestled in my arms. That unconscious act of seeking comfort made my heart flutter.

“Can you lift your head for a moment?”

At my words, Yuri shyly raised her head. Her snow-white cheeks were flushed. I kissed her forehead.

“That’s not my lips!”

As if disappointed, Yuri puffed her cheeks.

Since I had never thought Yuri could show such a cute side, for a moment, I had the manly thought of whether we should advance our marital bond sooner.

But I calmed myself for a moment and said to Yuri.

“It’s a bit awkward just standing here. Is there anything you’d like to do with me? Anything is fine.”

“Really?”

At those words, Yuri’s expression brightened. After thinking for a moment, Yuri hurriedly said.

“Ah! Rather than something I want to do, there’s something I want to hear…”

“What is it?”

Yuri tapped the snow-covered ground with her toes. It was a habit that appeared when Yuri was very embarrassed.

After hesitating for a moment, Yuri finally said.

“Um… I want to hear what you were going to say back then! What you were going to tell me after the graduation ceremony!”