He felt something very fragile fall against his body, and a lady's white hands press against his chest.
He could feel his breathing stop in surprise, his pale thin arms did not belong to Biflten as they seemed weaker than thin twigs breaking against the winter winds.
Then he saw something fall from his head as the woman took a step back in surprise.
‘Who is it?’ The strong winds blew as if they wanted to crush the little woman.
She looked at him and her deep violet eyes shook, he saw that she was a human.
As she breathed in and out, Aden smelled a welcoming, fragrant scent that was absent in Biflten.
A woman who shivered like her couldn't bear the winter here, but somehow she was standing in the snowstorm.
Suddenly, a mollie ambushed her.
Aden instinctively raised his sword to stab it and the monster screamed in agony as it fell to the ground and died.
The woman's heartbeat was weak and her voice was shaking.
Aden discovered what the fallen object was, it was the Northern Blue Divine Object, soon Aden came to his senses.
He narrowed his eyes and leaned into the woman's side, his presence almost overwhelming as her fragrant scent filled the space between them.
He dropped the blue cloth over her head and felt disappointed when her scent was hidden by it.
‘What am I doing?’ He had rescued the woman by coincidence.
While he didn't know her, she was of noble blood, at least enough to use a Divine Object.
He should turn around, thinking that the Blue North owed him a favor.
However, he couldn't do it and it was then he noticed that she smelled like summer.
"Sir!"
He heard a knight shout at him and saw the woman lower her gaze.
Aden looked at her and thought that she is possibly thinking that she shouldn't meet my eyes, probably because of the story that claimed that someone had frozen after looking at the duke in the eyes.
The woman didn't seem to realize who she had just met.
The Winter Duke had been a monster, at least in Biflten, and that story wasn't a big lie.
The smell of summer slowly faded away and Aden strangely yearned for it.
***
Aden only briefly met the woman in the middle of a raging snowstorm and didn't know why he remembered their encounter so vividly.
He almost thought it was an illusion and even if she was real, he wouldn't meet her again as she was from the Blue North.
Did you come from the sunny lands, he thought at the time 'of the Empire?'
The woman seemed much more alive in the mansion and the smell of summer emanated from her.
“I am Ilyin Arlen, of the Empire,” she said confidently.
Aden now knew that she had sent the letter, this was his fiancée and he looked into her violet eyes that were clear and direct.
She didn't belong in winter, Aden had already met someone else like her.
This person smelled like dry winter.
That person was her mother, who always asked her to take her out of Biflten.
He thought that those of the Empire would crumble under the harsh winter conditions.
“I’m Den from Red Delroses.” Aden didn't like that he was hiding things from her, who came from the sunny lands.
“Thank you for saving my life” she said politely.
Her voice hit his head and he could see she wasn't from the Blue North, with her fragile cleavage and weak laugh.
Her violet eyes narrowed as she smiled and her eyelashes trembled from the cold, which confirmed that she didn't belong here.
“You shouldn't stay in winter for too long.” It was his last gesture, as he didn't want her buried here.
The words of the letter stuck in his mind[I will become your bride].
However, he didn't think she would stay and when he found her again, she was much more used to winter but still smelled like summer.
“Are you planning on staying here for a long time?” Den questioned.
"Yes." She responded bluntly.
The woman did not hesitate in her response.
She was chased by mollies and almost died the first day here, besides she was really scared.
However, she chose to stay and he thought she was a fool.
“Even if the Duke isn’t interested in you?” He said with a questioning look on his face.
“If I can stay here safely, then yes.”
You can, if you approach the Blue North.
The thought disgusted Aden enough to want to rip the blue cloth from his head.
“What if you can’t see his face forever?” He persisted.
“Of course I will still become your bride.”
Aden had thought the conditions were too absurd to warrant his attention, since no one would stay here under them.
‘Could she?’
“What will you do if the Duke refuses to marry?” He was warning her, but she just smiled.
“I’ll think about it if they turn me down.”
His eyes were clear, unlike his mother's; her smile was also bright and fresh.
Aden held his breath for a minute.