Chapter 106

“Why are you sighing so much?”
“It’s nothing, I’m just worried that I misunderstood and we’re just wasting our time.”
“It’s only been two days. Don’t be so anxious, Adeline.”

Kael tried to appease Adeline, but her expression was still dark.
The blue moon did not appear when they first arrived at the cabin, and yesterday there wasn’t even a yellow moon let alone a blue one. It felt like the time for the blue moon to appear was imminent, so they put aside ten days to come here. However, it was the second day without anything happening, so she worried they had come here for no reason.

“I think the weather is bad again today.”
“The weather in the North is impossible to figure out. Even though there are so many clouds, the sky can clear up at any time.”

It was time for the sun to set, but the clouds covered the sky so they couldn’t even see the sunset. The surroundings quietly grew dark.

“Could it be possible that the clouds are causing the blue moon to be hidden?”
“That’s not going to happen. The book said the sky changes when the blue moon rises.”
“That’s a relief. I’m worried about everything.”

As Adeline was particularly anxious, Kael pulled her closer to his side and leaned her against his arms. The distance between the two completely disappeared.

“Everything will be fine. Don’t be impatient.”

There was conviction in his low, sweet voice. Adeline dug further into his arms and nodded. There was nothing special about his words, but she felt much better after hearing them.

“There’s still time for the moon to rise. Do you want to sleep a bit?”
“No. I just want to stay like this.”

As Adeline leaned closer, Kael hugged her by the shoulders. It felt good to just be embraced like this without saying anything.
Apart from having to worry about when the moon would rise, or whether it would rise, their time in the cabin was nothing short of peaceful and relaxing.
There was no work piled up like a mountain, and there was no one to interrupt them. There was only time for Kael and Adeline to focus on each other.
“Kael. Those marks. Were you marking your height?”

Adeline, who was leaning against his arms, pointed to the wall next to the fireplace. She was looking at the blazing flames and shifted her gaze for a moment. As soon as she turned her eyes, she noticed some very cute markings.

“Correct. I marked it during my stay here.”
“How old were you?”
“Twelve? Thirteen? Around that age.”
“Wow. You were tall back then, too.”

Adeline marveled as she approached the wall. Kael smirked, thinking that Adeline’s reaction was very cute.

“But this one…”
“Ah, that one is marking my brother’s height.”

Adeline was a little surprised when he mentioned his brother.

‘She knows. She kept reading books about the history of the North for a while.’

Kael realized from Adeline’s reaction that she had learned everything about the war.
The story of his father and brother that was bound to hurt him. Consequently, Adeline was also very careful to ask about it.

“Have you seen the records? About the Battle of Telmar?”
“… Yes. I saw them.”

Adeline nodded, and Kael reached out his hand. He was telling her to come back to his side and sit down. Adeline grabbed Kael’s hand and sat down by his side again.

“What was written? In the books?”
“It’s not written in detail. It only says that you lost your father and brother in that battle, and that’s why you inherited the grand duke’s title.”
“Only the main point is written.”

Kael smiled, but it didn’t seem like he was smiling in the slightest. Adeline grabbed his hand tightly in a sorrowful mood.

“It was also that day. The day I was cursed.”

Adeline’s eyes widened when she heard something she had never thought about.

“Before it started, my father was reluctant to go to war.”

After taking a moment to breathe, Kael slowly began to talk. It was a story he had never told anyone. He had never spoken about it before.
The wounds were that deep, and it was an event that shook Kael’s life. It wasn’t easy to organize it and tell it to someone else.

“Everyone said it would be easy to win. Actually, that’s what I thought too. When we gathered all the information, it didn’t seem complicated.”
“…”
“But my father kept saying that something felt odd. Perhaps it was the experience and insight of having spent a long time on the battlefield that alerted him.”

His father’s anguished expression was still vivid in his mind.

“Everyone was overenthusiastic. There was no reason not to go, so they were frustrated. His Majesty said that he wanted us to take part in the war as well. So my father did. He prepared an advance squad, saying that he couldn’t send all his troops, and my brother and I were included.”
“…”
“But that was a trap. While the previous emperor was distraught because of his illness, the nobles who kept my father in check started moving.”

Adeline’s eyes shook as she calmly listened. It was something she didn’t know.

“It was an operation to raid the stronghold of the Lans. But the place where the advance squad went was a sanctuary, not the stronghold.”

After speaking, Kael took a moment to catch his breath. He went to the location marked in the map, and he remembered being taken aback as it was a completely different place.

“Most races have a sanctuary. Unless you plan to exterminate that race, you should never mess with it. For them, that is the heart of their kind.”
“…”
“It was an operation to scare them away, but it turned into a full-scale subjugation. As they rushed at us with their life on the line, we had no choice but to fight to the death too.”

It was one of the most devastating battles Kael had ever experienced. There was blood everywhere and fire everywhere. The Lans didn’t look much different from humans, so the battlefield looked even more brutal.

“They were exterminated. The Lans, and our army.”
“…”
“Only one person survived on each side. For the Lans, it was a female priest, and for our army… it was me.”

In that place covered in ashes, the two faced each other. Neither the woman nor Kael were unscathed.

“I still remember. How that woman looked at me, shedding bloody tears. Maybe I was the same. I was crying in front of my father and brother’s corpses, covered in blood.”
“…”
“That’s when she cursed me. I didn’t understand the language of the Lans, and she didn’t know the language of humans, but I could clearly hear that it was a magic curse.”

[Everything you want to have, everything you love, will die in pain, and you will struggle with that pain until you die. But even that death will not be easily allowed.]

The curse that had been uttered out of evil lingered in his ears.

“The second party rushed to us when they realized that the operation had gone awry, but it was already over. I was rescued by them.”
“…”
“When I woke up, I was in the castle in the North. Without my father and brother.”

There was a deep sadness in his blue-grey eyes. The moment his heart froze when he realized that he had been left alone in the whole world was still vivid.

“This is why Kasus said he owes me. Kasus was the one who said that the emperor wanted my father to take part in the war. My father trusted most of what Kasus said.”
“…”
“That’s why Kasus rebelled. Because the disoriented emperor and his aides played with him, he sent an old friend to death, and made even his family suffer.”

One by one, the pieces of the puzzle snapped into place.

“Actually, I’m still a little scared. I’m scared that my curse will take you away. The people I love always leave my side… I’m afraid you’ll do the same.”

Kael frankly revealed his anxiety. Then, Adeline reached out and held Kael’s face carefully.

“I won’t leave. No matter what.”
“…”
“I will stay by your side unconditionally. With all my strength. I will never give up, never get hurt, and never die.”

Adeline looked at Kael, begging for her sincerity to be conveyed.
It was such a heavy pain that she couldn’t even know how to comfort him, or even if it was a pain that could be comforted.
That was why the best thing Adeline could say now was promising to stay by Kael’s side by any means possible.

“Me neither. No matter what happens, I will protect you without leaving your side.”

Kael kissed her hands touching his face and swore again.
The moment their gazes met, they kissed. It was a slow but warm kiss.

“…”
“…”

Kael’s hands gradually reached for the straps of her dress, and as Adeline tried to cling closer to Kael, their surroundings lit up.
They stared out the window in surprise as they were about to get drunk on each other.

“Kael. Let’s go.”

Kael and Adeline left the cabin holding hands.
The moment all the clouds disappeared and the clear sky embroidered with stars was revealed, Kael and Adeline were all speechless.
When the great blue moon emitted its light, something they couldn’t believe even though they were looking right at it happened.

A huge ice castle. A huge and beautiful ice castle appeared where the blue light of the moon had shone.
Repositio. The repository of time, which had been told only in legends, appeared in front of Kael and Adeline.

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