Aden let out a short sigh and thought about Idith's suggestion.
‘There is no other way if you want to find her without her knowing who you are.’
“Who told you that?”
“Milo from Red Delrose.”
“Ah, that’s…” Aden felt like his head was buried in snow for a moment.
In a wide field of snow, there were dangerous places where one could be buried in snow with a single false step.
When a person stepped on a place where snow had piled up in a crack, they were sucked into the hole, along with the snow.
However, he still spoke.
“Milo seems to have confused his manners, as he spent a lot of time in the Empire and may have been surprised to see her.”
Why would someone so sure of themselves be surprised?
Ilyin thought about things and remembered his state at the time.
She was only wearing a dress, albeit a thick one.
Furthermore, the Duke had left marks on her that surprised even the maids.
Ilyin covered his eyes while Etra made sure the marks were properly hidden, and come to think of it, Den also hesitated that day.
“I understand,” she replied as she nodded.
“If you are uncomfortable, I will forbid the knights from entering your room, which is what you are used to in the Empire.”
“No, it’s okay.” Ilyin sighed, and his voice was calm despite his flushed face.
“After all, I am in Biflten.”
She meant that she would follow tradition here and Aden placed his hand on his forehead as she slowly walked past him.
His heartbeat was faster than when he went out to fight monsters in enemy territory.
He felt buried in snow as he seemed to have taken the wrong first step.
Would it have been better to reveal herself on the first day she met Ilyin?
The same person who looked down in surprise upon hearing him call Den.
Aden sighed heavily.
“Etra, I want to ask you a favor.”
"Yes?"
“Can you send me someone who can teach me the ways of Biflten?”
Aden listened to the conversation between the two women as they walked away and his face turned white as he became serious for a moment.
He had to find this individual first, as Ilyin would have to learn the “new” ways of the Biflten lands that applied to her.
Therefore, he could have a say in what she would be taught.
***
How could she be so tired after such a short walk?
Ilyin opened his tired eyes and, although the bed was soft, he saw a gray sky instead of the ceiling.
Snowflakes big enough to block his view were falling in buckets.
She woke up, but had to jump back when she realized she was surrounded by monsters.
Her heart skipped a beat as she instinctively ran, but she didn't leave any footprints in the snow she initially mistook for a bed.
She was perplexed by it all.
“They’re coming this way!” someone shouted.
The red-scaled monsters she had seen before were hiding in the piles of snow, some camouflaged themselves to hide their conspicuous color, but they couldn't see her.
“Wait until they get closer!” another voice shouted.
She saw the familiar mobile among those shouting with hoarse voices, Ilyin exhaled while holding her breath, she was seeing the future in a dream.
She passed the monsters looking around and saw that the rest of the herd was hiding in a very high rocky cliff, she thought the monsters were waiting to ambush the people below, but their numbers were very small.
Then she looked at something that looked like a village below the cliff.
Although it was far away, she didn't think it was a human village, although it looked like one because of the building structures, she saw the soldiers marching on a long slope that led to the cliff.
The one leading them looked familiar, as his black hair and blue eyes were visible to her even through the snow.
It was Den.
“Get down!” she screamed in panic.
A moment later, the monsters beside her rushed forward with beams of bright blue light flashing above them.
Ilyin almost fell off the cliff after seeing the strange phenomenon and fell to the ground.
The monsters held long sticks with strange carvings and blue light came out from these sticks.
She wondered if it was magic.
Then, the ground shook.
She looked at the cliff in surprise and saw something unimaginable.
The ground, no, the snow was moving.
An avalanche had appeared to ambush the riders as if it had a mind of its own.
When the snow enveloped them, Ilyin woke up.