Ch.228228. Wishes in the Snowy Winter (2)

Renias, using the cold as an excuse to get closer, was on the verge of smirking with satisfaction.

Her heart was pounding rapidly.

There was a time when she would get flustered just from a hand touching her shoulder, so this advancement in skinship was enough to make her heart race.

But she couldn’t be satisfied with just this.

-‘You know Junon’s personality, right? When you pretended to hurt your leg earlier, he immediately carried you like a princess. If you look cold, he’ll subtly pull you close and hold you.’

-‘Especially since you’re wearing a long sweater. You’ll look so delicate and cold. He might not just pull you by the waist but even wrap his coat around you!’

-‘And then naturally nestle into his arms? If you use the cold as an excuse, anything is possible!’

It was truly admirable that she had accomplished all this with her first step, but even as satisfaction washed over her, what could she do about the numerous next steps that awaited?

Her senior was popular.

People frequently mentioned him in conversations, and someone had even confessed to him before. She’d heard that a female student was preparing a gift for him for this parade.

So it wasn’t time to feel secure yet.

She needed to move to the next step and develop their relationship.

‘Hmm! This is also an opportunity to advance to the next level! Don’t get nervous, just like Senior Senia taught me…!’

But contrary to her inner thoughts about staying calm, her body wasn’t cooperating.

Renias was so tense that her heart was still pounding just from being close to Junon. At this rate, they would just walk together until the parade ended.

As they continued walking, she felt a faint warmth on her shoulder, and her vision swayed slightly.

“Renias, Renias.”

“Huh! Y-Yes!”

“What are you thinking about so deeply? I called you several times, but you didn’t respond.”

“Eh? Did I?”

“We’ve already arrived. You were standing still for quite a while, so I was wondering what was wrong.”

Only now did Renias see what was in front of her.

It was a solid rock that she would have crashed into with a thud, possibly resulting in a baseball-sized bump, had she continued walking straight ahead.

She had been standing in a daze at a spot where one needed to bend down to pass through, which is why he had shaken her shoulder, finding her behavior strange.

While she was inherently an innocent girl, today she looked particularly pure, prompting her senior to ease her tension with a slightly mischievous expression.

“If you had kept walking straight, Renias might have grown a round horn on her forehead.”

“Eh? A h-horn?!”

“Hmm, that might have been interesting to see. Maybe I shouldn’t have told you.”

“Senior! Are you secretly enjoying this? Fine then, I’ll have to show you what a horn really is!”

“Huh? Hey! Using magic to create a horn on your forehead is cheating! Besides, you were the one lost in thought!”

“This is payback for teasing a lady deep in thought?!”

“Ouch, ouch! I’m sorry, I said I’m sorry!”

The tension in her body began to dissolve, starting from the small spark of playfulness.

Panting, Renias chased after Junon and finally extracted a surrender from him by poking his back with the blunt horn she had created with magic.

“Ow, ow…”

“Haa, I’m tired. That’s what you get for teasing me!”

“But at least you’re less tense now, right?”

“Huh? Tense?”

“I don’t know if it was because of the cold, but you seemed really stiff. That’s partly why I teased you. Two birds with one stone.”

Noticing this unexpected consideration, the silver rabbit returned to her girlish demeanor, lightly hitting him with a powerless fist as if throwing a tantrum, and cutely pouting her lips.

“If that’s the case, you could have just told me.”

“Anyway, are you completely relaxed now?”

“Yes. Thanks to a very kind senior.”

“Well, since we’ve arrived, should we focus now?”

Focus after relaxing? Renias opened her eyes wide in surprise.

“We’ve already arrived.”

The place they had reached after running along the designated path from the rock where they had stopped was some kind of street vendor.

But it was too large to be just a vendor—emitting a sweet aroma and set up to receive people in a straight line.

“I saw it briefly earlier. According to the pamphlet, the goal is to collect 10 stickers. It’s like a mission.”

“Wow, I just noticed. And it says two people have to succeed together.”

“That’s why I said we need to focus. So we can move on to the next one.”

Junon pointed at the vendor with his thumb.

Indeed, each sticker held by the vendor was proof that they had correctly participated in the Real Winter Parade.

All ten spaces, each in different colors, needed to be filled with different stickers.

The milestone indicated by the pamphlet required completing at least 10 missions to receive a total of 10 stickers.

“Sniff, sniff. There’s a sweet smell. What’s the mission here?”

“Hmm. I think I know. It’ll probably require a lot of concentration.”

The vendor was set up to receive people in a straight line, where they would have to bend over and focus on heating and melting something.

“Welcome! Two of you? Then both of you need to succeed with the same pattern!”

The vendor with a hood presented a box. When the lid opened, neatly arranged molds in pairs were revealed.

Then he brought a heavy scoop from a large sack and placed it in front of the two.

“Hmm? This powder is… sugar?”

Yes. The source of the sweet aroma was dalgona, made by melting sugar.

This was all they were given.

Molds that each challenger could choose. The sugar provided by the vendor. Simple cooking tools to melt the sugar, and finally, a needle to carefully break the dalgona and create the pattern.

A needle. This might be a challenging mission for Renias.

***

Crack.

“Aaaahhhh!!!”

The dalgona broke instead of forming the pattern within the mold. Renias clutched the needle tightly and let out a scream of frustration.

After her outburst, she drooped like a wilted antenna.

“Ugh… really. Why isn’t this working…”

It was bound to be difficult.

It wasn’t for nothing that they were giving out stickers for this activity. All around, there were sounds of dalgona breaking and people bitterly tasting their failed attempts while commenting that at least they tasted good.

Some people tried a few times and then gave up, moving on to the next course.

‘Haha… so the heat being emitted was actually anger.’

She hadn’t imagined this at all.

She couldn’t help but laugh wryly.

“Well, at least you’re determined to see it through, unlike others. But is this your last attempt?”

“What?! Is it already that bad?”

“Look beside you. There are 19 pieces piled up, the same number you’ve broken.”

“Hiiing… I thought I still had more chances.”

“Rules are rules. If you fail this time, you’ll have to move on to the next course. Give it your best shot.”

The pile of dalgona beside her were all the ones that had broken under her needle.

Meanwhile, right next to the broken pieces, there were 19 perfectly formed ones that matched the mold. And the 20th one was just being completed.

“Here, it’s done.”

“Wow, you’ve already finished? You’ve got quite the skill.”

“Senior is so good at it. Why am I… hiiing.”

Well… dexterity varies from person to person.

Although she had held a staff on the battlefield, that was for magic, and it was unlikely that a noble girl would have experience with such delicate handiwork in everyday life.

So Junon just watched her adorably.

Renias, who screamed and made sad faces with each failure.

Seeing her persevere without giving up was admirable in its own way.

‘The last one is… a heart shape, which is quite difficult.’

A heart shape, surrounded by curved lines rather than straight ones, might seem simple but is definitely not.

It wouldn’t be good if the silver rabbit lost her motivation after failing from the start. Junon approached Renias, thinking that if she failed, he would consider it a joint failure.

“Renias. Can you wait a moment?”

“Huh? Sure. But… Senior, why…”

With a soft touch, Junon’s hand overlapped Renias’s.

“Let’s do it together. I’ll help you.”

“Okay. Got it!”

Another hand overlapped hers as she held the needle.

The girl’s fluctuating heart now beat much faster due to her senior’s close touch.

But it wasn’t urgent. With a steady, even rhythm, the final heart-shaped dalgona was beautifully completed.

“I, I did it…! Senior, I succeeded!”

“Well done. You made it beautifully.”

“Kyaa-! I was so worried about failing!”

Without realizing it, she burrowed into Junon’s embrace.

Despite the many onlookers who might make her feel embarrassed, she was currently too immersed in her sense of achievement to care, reveling in this joy.

Then, suddenly noticing how close they were, she let out a startled “Hah!” and returned to her shy mode, removing her arms and fidgeting with her fingers.

She must have been so happy that she was still beaming.

“Hehehe. Since I did well, could you pat my head?”

Asking for a head pat as a reward for success. Looking at her bright, smiling face, Junon found it hard to refuse and reluctantly patted her head.

Strangely, she seemed to forget the cold once her senior held her hand, and she couldn’t take her eyes off the heart-shaped dalgona.

After a while, someone cleared their throat to get their attention.

“Miss, I understand you’re happy about succeeding, but shouldn’t you collect your sticker?”

“Right, the sticker! Mister, please give me the sticker!!”

“Here you go! Congratulations to both of you.”

The dalgona shop owner raised the corners of his mouth, hidden beneath his beard, in a pleased smile as he congratulated them and attached the sticker.

Renias, excited, hopped along holding Junon’s hand, while Junon matched her pace, looking at her with fondness.

The two of them had barely cleared the first hurdle and were now heading to the next course.

“Phew…”

“Huff…”

A couple who had been watching the scene sighed in relief.

“That’s such a relief. It would have been really unlucky if that broke. You know what I mean, Kain?”

“Of course… Lumia, you’re talking about that rumor. The one that says if a couple breaks a heart-shaped dalgona, they’ll break up. I was so nervous about that too.”

“Exactly! When I think about that time… ugh~!”

As they laughed together, they noticed that Junon and Renias were already far ahead.

“Oh no, we’ll be late! Let’s submit this quickly and follow them!”

“Y-Yeah… If we lose them, Senior Senia will scold us…”

***

Rustle, rustle.

Papers being turned one by one in the office.

While others from the duchy were enjoying the parade to the fullest, Muniher was still going through documents.

He was filling in for the Grand Duke’s absence.

However, it should have been Ophelia, the Grand Duke’s daughter, taking on this responsibility, but she was nowhere to be seen.

-‘I’m sorry. It seems to be related to my father’s health…’

Before the ship departed, Ophelia had earnestly requested this.

Since it was related to her father’s health. Although he had waved it off, saying it was fine and that he would recuperate at the Lantana Duke’s residence, blood ties were undeniable.

For this reason, Muniher had taken on this pile of documents.

“Hmm… there really is quite a lot.”

If he could process all these documents during this parade and organize the ledgers, he would be able to breathe a little easier for a while.

Looking forward to the coffee break he would have shortly, he picked up the last document.

“Hmm?”

His eyes narrowed. He wondered if he had seen it wrong.

“Why is all of this missing?”

This was a ledger sent by the hospital regarding the medical expenses of academy students.

A student’s hospital bill, which had been piled up, was now reduced to 0 won. He couldn’t help but narrow his eyes.

“Heh. This kid. I had expectations after seeing him prominently featured in the newspaper, but he’s having mischievous thoughts.”

For the first time, he clicked his tongue, having never placed any expectations on students throughout his life.

He had wanted to see with his own eyes what this boy would accomplish in the duchy in the future. But this boy was preparing to drop out of the academy once again.

It wasn’t the time to be drinking coffee.