Chapter 48: Frozen Resolve

He hunted a subspecies Black Fang Wild Boar at the young age of ten.

Before even reaching adolescence, he had subjugated various monsters.

His abilities were recognized, and he became a Gold-rank adventurer at the age of seventeen.

Not only that.

As part of the Hero’s party, he played a significant role in confronting the Demon Lord one-on-one and contributing greatly to his subjugation.

Recently, he reacted immediately to the sudden rampage of the holy sword drawn by the Hero Lian, preventing a major accident.

After that, for some unknown reason, his body became even lighter and more agile.

Such a man.

That Logan couldn’t react at all.

Shshshshshk!!!!

!!?

To the fact that the ground beneath his feet was completely frozen by an eerie chill.

It happened in an instant.

The confession of the woman he had loved for almost his entire life.

After rejecting those words he had desperately wanted to hear.

On his way back to the person who had become his sanctuary.

“LOGAN!!!!!”

He coldly ignored her call-

And tried to continue forward.

However, at that moment.

He felt an ominous energy and turned his head, only to see a sight so bizarre it made him feel as if the entire world had frozen.

The scene that met his eyes was incredibly strange.

Irene.

The space within a few steps around her was frozen solid white.

And.

A path of frost, like a chilling line connecting her and him, stretched out and froze even beneath his feet.

!!!

Logan was horrified.

Because he knew instinctively.

If Irene had only willed it.

This suffocating chill would have frozen him in an instant.

Just then.

“Logan!!!”

Anastasia shouted in a desperate voice and ran towards him.

Next, upon confirming that the area around Logan was frozen, she shrieked in even greater horror.

“Logan!! Are you okay!?”

And her escort knight.

“What is this!!!”

Renate immediately reached for her scabbard to draw her sword.

Because her master had been generously letting things slide.

She thought she must punish this woman who mistook kindness for a right and crossed the line.

‘Even if Her Highness gets angry and punishes me, I absolutely cannot tolerate it this time!!!’

However.

“!!!”

Renate couldn’t draw her sword.

Because her instincts, honed over many years and countless near-death experiences, told her.

‘Absolutely do not draw it.’

‘The moment you draw that sword, it will be irreversible.’

For her master Anastasia-

Renate, who could willingly offer her life lightly.

But even for that master-

Her instincts strongly warned her that she must absolutely not draw this sword.

At that moment.

The very person who had horrified everyone like this.

Irene slowly withdrew the violently fluctuating mana.

Next.

She very politely and respectfully held the hem of her robe slightly and bowed elegantly.

“Your Highness the Crown Princess, thank you so much for allowing me a moment to speak with Logan today.”

It was the complete opposite of the arrogant and insolent attitude she had shown until now.

It was to the point where one wondered if this was really the same irreverent woman who had behaved so shamelessly in the past.

Moreover, with the area around her frozen white, it was an incredibly incongruous sight.

“I have spoken sufficiently with Logan, so I shall take my leave now, Your Highness.”

At Irene’s polite and formal departure, no one present dared to speak or move rashly.

Although outwardly she was very respectful and polite.

The bizarre situation she had created was not something to be casually overlooked.

“……”

“……”

The twin handmaidens, who always chattered cheerfully in any situation.

“……”

The escort knight who had witnessed her master’s garden being ruined with her own eyes.

“……”

Even Anastasia, who was directly receiving her farewell.

Thump, thump…

Irene calmly walked past Logan.

And she whispered in his ear.

“…Logan, I will never give up on you.”

Then.

Shrrr…

Her form faded like the morning mist and vanished.

In that situation.

“Ha…!”

A rough breath escaped Logan’s lips.

It wasn’t a sigh of frustration.

Nor was it a dry laugh of disbelief.

It was a sigh of relief.

If Irene had only willed it.

He would have become an ice sculpture in an instant, unable to offer any resistance.

And.

“Lo, Logan!!”

He didn’t know what might have happened to Anastasia, who was now rushing towards him desperately.

“Anya, are you alright?”

“Really, you! That’s what I should be saying!”

Anastasia, on the verge of tears, hugged Logan.

Her body was trembling violently like an aspen leaf.

She regretted it.

So foolishly.

Because Irene, drenched in rain, had looked so pitiful and wretched.

She had allowed her to be alone with him.

If things had gone slightly wrong, she might have lost him.

The same was true for Logan.

He thought he was always paying close attention to everything, putting his heart and soul into being vigilant every moment.

So foolishly.

He had underestimated the potential of Irene, with whom he had spent more time than anyone.

In their childhood.

Hadn’t he told her himself?

“Irene, you’re truly amazing!”

“You’re not someone who should rot in a rural village like this!”

“You’ll become a great mage, enough to be recorded in history!”

He had been too complacent.

He had let his guard down.

If things had gone wrong, Anastasia could have been in grave danger.

It was a fleeting moment, but.

That instant when Irene whispered before disappearing.

He remembered it clearly.

How she had looked at Anastasia.

‘I will never forgive you.’

‘I will destroy everything.’

‘I will completely ruin you.’

However.

Why.

If she had just willed it.

Even though she could have truly done as she wished.

Why did she disappear without doing anything.

He couldn’t understand it at all.

However, one thing was certain…

At this very moment.

Just as he had said in the past.

In a completely unexpected form.

A peerless mage worthy of being recorded in history had been born.

---

In front of the Prince’s palace bedroom door.

Thump, thump…

The attendant’s face turned very pale when he spotted Irene slowly approaching.

“M-Mage-nim!?”

Because he had heard she was resting in her room due to poor health, yet here she was.

Although it wasn’t officially announced that she had become Narcissus’s lover, they had been meeting frequently recently, and yesterday they were seen together in front of the commoners.

Narcissus might not care much, thinking of Irene merely as a pawn.

But that she probably considered the Prince her lover.

This attendant, who had served him closely, knew well.

Therefore, he asked in a trembling voice.

“Wh-What brings you here?”

“Hello.”

“Yes…? Ah, yes! Good day!”

The attendant was momentarily flustered by Irene’s polite greeting.

She wasn’t arrogant and insolent like the Prince he served, but she wasn’t particularly polite either.

“…Is Narcissus inside?”

“Ah, yes! But… His Highness is also not feeling well today and is resting!”

The attendant felt as if the situation where the Empress had barged in recently was overlapping.

Still, today’s situation was better.

Not only was the other party not that hag, but the shameless act, he presumed.

Seemed to be already over.

Still, he didn’t know what kind of f*ckery they might be up to, so it wouldn’t be good for her to go inside.

So he tried to dissuade her.

“Mage-nim… I apologize, but could you please come back another time?”

As expected.

“No, could you please tell him? That I need to see him.”

Irene shook her head and said firmly.

At this, the attendant nodded as if he had no choice and replied.

“Understood, please wait a moment…”

He sincerely hoped this poor mage wouldn’t get hurt by Narcissus.

---

Narcissus, who had been enjoying his amusement on the bed and savoring the afterglow for a while.

He frowned at the attendant’s report.

“What…? Irene is here…?”

“Yes, Your Highness. She says she really wants to see you… Shall I just send her away?”

The attendant hoped he would say yes.

Although he wasn’t openly naked like when the Empress came.

He was worried the mage would be shocked if she saw a scantily clad woman in thin clothes next to him.

However.

This rogue prince was a person with plenty of bad taste.

“Hmm… Yes, let her in.”

“Yes…?”

“Are you deaf? Let her in.”

“Ah, understood…”

In the end, the attendant had no choice but to let Irene in.

Thump, thump…

“Oh, Irene, what’s wrong? I heard you were sick, are you feeling okay?”

Narcissus asked Irene, who was entering, with a sly grin.

However, his body didn’t move an inch from the sofa, and he was groping the shoulder of the orange-haired woman sitting next to him.

‘Now, what kind of reaction will you show me?’

Narcissus waited with keen interest.

He heard she had shouted and gotten angry at that btch Anastasia several times…

‘Will she get angry and shout?’

‘No, no matter what, she wouldn’t dare raise her voice at me like she does to that lowly btch.’

‘Then will she shed tears and whimper?’

‘If so, it would be good to pretend to comfort her a little and spend a night with her.’

‘I should tell her to prove it if she really wants to win my heart.’

Although her breasts were on the smaller side, looking at her curvy pelvis.

‘Surely that too would have its own flavor.’

While he was having such lewd thoughts.

Irene’s gaze turned to the woman beside him.

At this, Narcissus thought, ‘as expected.’

And.

As if to further enhance his amusement.

The woman very brazenly stood up and greeted Irene with a seductive gesture.

“Oh my! Hello~ I’ve heard so much about you from His Highness~ Mage-nim!”

Anyone could see it was a deliberately provocative and teasing attitude.

“….”

However, Irene showed none of the reactions Narcissus had expected.

‘Tsk… What’s this? How boring.’

Narcissus was disappointed.

Because Irene’s expression didn’t change at all; she was expressionless.

‘Expressionless? No, wait…’

Narcissus momentarily felt a sense of unease from her appearance.

However, he soon raised the corners of his lips.

Because Irene, after briefly glancing at the woman beside him.

Soon looked at the alcohol table and opened her mouth.

“Narcissus, were you drinking with this woman?”

‘As expected.’

‘She must be jealous that I’m spending time with another woman.’

‘But unlike when dealing with Anastasia, she can’t dare to show her emotions to someone as noble as me.’

‘She must be desperately controlling her expression.’

Thinking so, Narcissus answered nonchalantly.

“Yes, I was so tired I was having a drink. With Marian here.”

“Kyaa~ Your Highness~”

Narcissus, deliberately to provoke Irene.

Groped the body of the orange-haired woman, Marian.

‘Now, what will you do?’

Narcissus waited in anticipation.

That this time, her face would surely contort.

However, contrary to his expectations.

Irene’s expression didn’t change at all.

But the words that came from her mouth met his expectations.

“Narcissus, get away from that woman.”

“Hmm?”

Narcissus thought that if Irene dared to continue and tell him not to associate with other women.

He would have to scold her severely.

But instead, he had no choice but to follow her words.

Because.

“That b*tch, she’s trying to kill you.”

She had uttered completely unexpected words!

“Wh-What did you say!?”

Thwack!

Narcissus reflexively stood up and pushed Marian’s body away.

“Kyaak! Y-Your Highness, why are you doing this!?”

Marian fell to the floor and cried out as if wronged.

“Me, trying to kill Your Highness! What are you talking about! How much time have we spent together!”

Narcissus hesitated at her words.

But these were the words of the mage from the Hero’s party.

In this Imperial Palace, rife with conspiracies and betrayals, it wouldn’t be strange for anyone to backstab him.

At this, Marian whimpered and appealed to him.

“You can tell just by looking at my body!”

There was no weapon or anything threatening on her body.

Her explicitly exposed, curvy body seemed to prove her innocence.

At this, Narcissus nodded.

“Th-That’s right… You’re right.”

Marian was a woman who had served him since he was confined in the detached palace.

If she had intended to assassinate him, there had been countless opportunities.

Thinking rationally, Irene’s words were too sudden and lacked persuasiveness.

Besides, wasn’t this the first time they had met?

‘Then, she must have blurted out nonsense out of jealousy.’

Thinking so, Narcissus was just turning his head to say something to Irene.

Shshshshshk!!!

He heard something freezing behind him.

Surprised by this, Narcissus hurriedly turned his head back.

“Hiiiiek!!!”

He couldn’t help but be terrified.

Because there, he saw Marian trapped in a transparent ice prison.