Aden couldn't help but feel captivated by the Viscountess's silver hair, although that hair looked duller and straighter than he had become accustomed to seeing.
A strange feeling that he couldn't shake followed him the moment he entered.
“Greetings, I am Den of the Acid Merchant,” he said with a brief bow.
The viscountess smiled, it was a weak smile, which showed her tiredness, making her tidy facade disappear.
With that, the smell of summer that Aden smelled the moment he entered became stronger.
The smell was different from Ilyin's fresh smell.
The viscountess's scent was like that of old vegetation.
For Aden, it was a very unfamiliar smell.
If people in the hot region smelled this smell, they would describe it as moss that had been left in the sun surrounded by a large amount of moisture.
“I see she married a handsome man,” said the viscountess in a clear, authoritative voice that contrasted with her fragile temperament.
Viscount Arlen sighed and said softly to Aden:
“She’s always talking nonsense.”
‘I don’t think so.’ Aden ignored the viscount.
Viscountess Arlen also had the ability of foresight, the viscountess's voice contained certainty that she was not talking nonsense.
“Do not stop the child if he comes.” The viscountess spoke again.
With that, the viscount's sigh grew louder.
“I have something to give her.” The viscountess continued to speak in her clear voice, Aden quickly realized that the viscountess was talking about Ilyin.
‘Did the viscountess see something in a dream?’
"A light snack should be ready now.
Why don't we go downstairs and finish talking?" Viscount Arlen said to Aden trying to lead him out of the room.
The viscountess also turned to look out the window, as she seemed to have nothing else to say.
Aden said a brief goodbye and left the room.
As he left, he turned to check on the Viscountess one last time, she gave off a faint smell of death.
It was faint, but it was definitely there.
Before her mother passed away, she looked just like her.
***
‘When would summer in Arlen territory end?’ Aden was deep in thought.
“I see she married a handsome man.”
The Viscountess's tone was different from those who simply mumbled random phrases, there was a strong sense of certainty in that voice.
It was clear that she had the ability to predict the future, so there were two possibilities: the key to Summer was Ilyin or the Viscountess's entire bloodline.
Aden focused on the foresight ability that came from Ilyin's mother's side.
If the key was Ilyin herself, then this year would be the end of summer as her divine power was affected after the succession with Ilyin.
That meant it should have started to get colder.
But what if it was the lineage?
Viscountess Arlen also had the ability to predict, therefore, if it were the last, the summer would end when the viscountess left the place or died.
If what Aden saw earlier was any indication, it would happen soon.
The viscountess's room was already permeated with the stench of death.
His health was very bad.
Bad enough that there was no point in the Viscount bothering with a doctor.
Either way, Aden realized that the territory's summer would soon be over.
“How many years would you like the monopoly to last?” Viscount Arlen was clearly in a hurry to finalize the contract.
“3 years.”
Viscount Arlen's mouth opened into a wide smile, as did Aden's, although Aden did a much better job of hiding his joy.
The Viscount had ignored one part thinking it was a rare probability, but at the end of the contract it was clearly stated.
“Each year, if less than half of the first year's supply is sent, you must remit three times the first year's deposit amount.”
Viscount Arlen would slowly lose everything he had left.
***
"That sounds good.
However, the condition stipulated at the end caught my attention." Ilyin said after reviewing the contract.
The merchant building at night had no strangers, so Ilyin had taken off her black veil as she sat across from Aden.
“The Viscount didn’t even care,” Aden said with a soft laugh.
When the summer in Arlen disappears, this condition of the contract will become the poison that deals the fatal blow to the Viscount, his fate was sealed.
“It’s up to you if you want to start the business,” Aden said, “If it bothers you, you don’t have to sign it.”
He knew the Viscount's weakness, so he knew many ways to overthrow him, he didn't need the contract for that.
Ilyin raised his pen and looked at the contract, it looked strange.
Unlike the viscount, she knew what this contract meant.
The moment she allowed this arrangement, it would be as if a time bomb was placed on Viscount Arlen.
Ilyin hesitated despite herself.
To use Aden's words, she could not become evil.
“What was it like before?” Aden didn't rush her and instead asked her something else.
“In the bedroom.”
Ilyin remembered the meeting with him and the viscount.
Aden who always seemed so trustworthy and the viscount who looked so pathetic around him.
The viscount she saw under the veil was a small, pathetic man.
It was like he was nothing and it made her wonder why she allowed him to have so much power over her all these years.
Compared to Aden, he was nothing.
Aden reached out and stroked her silver hair.
Her hair, which had been tied up in a bun, was now loose, curvier than usual, and seemed full of life, unlike the viscountess.
He smiled when he met Ilyin's eyes, as if he knew what she was thinking.
"Ilyin, do what you want.
Achieve what you want.
So that winter becomes your tool."
"Don't worry.
The moment you married me, you got everything." His whispers were always so sweet.
He approached her and placed his forehead against hers, the contact spreading heat to both of them.
Aden slowly leaned in and placed his lips on Ilyin's.
As always, he brushed his lips carefully against hers.
Ilyin, as if giving permission, opened his mouth a little.
He smiled and let his tongue wander.
He attacked her lower lips and then tilted his head to deepen the kiss.
‘Leave the north wind to me and Ilyin can continue to be a warm person.’ When Aden broke away, his eyes were shining.
‘Viscount Arlen will lose everything.’
Everything depended on Ilyin now.