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“You don’t have to tell me if you are not comfortable,” Aden cautiously told her, but she just laughed.

“It’s okay now,” she said confidently, and he felt the beating of her soft pulse. “I don’t know why I have this ability. They say, my mother, my grandmother, and the generations before them, all had these kinds of dreams.” The origin of this ability was unexplainable. Instead, she told him about the incident that happened when she was seven.

“I saw my younger brother die in a dream. After that, in every dream with the mobile, everything came true,” Ilyin whispered. “Mother wanted to stop Sid’s death. Because she didn’t allow him near the terrace, he fell down the stairs instead.” Aden held her trembling hands tightly. “I’m scared I will have a bad dream again. Because if I foresee something, I cannot prevent it from happening.”

“You must’ve been terrified seeing the snow,” Aden said quietly.

“At least I didn’t see anyone getting hurt in that dream. So, it was okay.” Ilyin buried her face in his embrace. “Please don’t get hurt, Aden.” She held onto him and slowly shook her head. “I don’t want to see something awful again, whether it’s in my dream or a reality.”

“I promise I won’t get hurt.” He pressed a deep kiss on her neck and pulled her shaking body closer to him, embracing her tighter.

The hand that reassured her was gentle. It was so gentle that Ilyin momentarily forgot about the “punishment” from earlier that night and she giggled, “Naughty hand.”

His hand stopped and felt slightly disappointed. This was his third attempt, but Ilyin only laughed at him, and by the fourth “naughty hand” he was wiping the tears from her eyes.

Ilyin continued to tease him throughout the night and he attempted one small rebellion, but he eventually gave up after she scolded him, and they spent the remainder of the evening cuddling each other.

***

The succession was carried out as planned, to their relief. The elders of the three families were afraid that there would be problems at the succession, because of the strange experience that Ilyin had had, but Aden’s power was unmoving. However, they still needed to get to the root of all the strange phenomena.

Aden decided not to worry about confirming with the three elders whether or not the power had been restored correctly because his power had returned to him. So whether they cried at the thought of losing their protector, this was not his problem, and he broke into uncontrollable laughter.

Idith hurried over to ask him a question, “Your Highness, is everything alright?” He wasn’t worried about the Duke inheriting his power, nor the bride that had collapsed, but rather, his concern was his well-being.

Aden knew that without the power of being the head of a family, it would be difficult to survive in Biflten. Besides, the north-westerly wind was especially harsh that winter, and the Yester family, running wild, added to his concerns.

Aden knocked on the desk in frustration as he replayed everything that Ilyin had told him in his mind. After listening to her dreams and then hearing how Viscount Arlen had reacted, it was apparent that he had married the Viscountess without knowing about her ability to foresee the future. But it was also true that many women from the sunshine empire had become brides in the wintery lands.

He thought back to Idith’s briefing. In the records that Idith had dug up while Ilyin had been fast asleep, there were stories about the previous duchesses who had come from the sunny empire. If there was anything different about Ilyin, she only could foresee dreams, which stemmed from an unclear origin.

Aden opened his palm and pondered about the unanswered questions that he had. He wondered about the magical power that came with leading the family, because the source of that power was not known, as well as the abilities of the monsters that were said to be unable to survive in the sun.

“Idith.”

“Yes,” Idith replied immediately from outside the room.

“Find out more about Viscountess Arlen, especially the area where she came from.” He would’ve asked Ilyin directly, but the reason why he was asking would be too obvious, and he didn’t want to hurt her because of mere curiosity. Even during the previous evening, he didn’t pry deeper, instead, he’d just listened to what she had to say.

There were many instances when he’d wanted to ask her more questions, but he’d kept his mouth shut. As if she’d sensed that he’d been backing off, she’d given him an adorable smile, which had suggested that she understood.

After Idith left, Aden opened his palm once again and stared at the thin lines on his skin. After the succession, his power had become more stable, and therefore his residence became brighter; today, his house would be warm.

***

These days, the Arlen estate was booming. It was all thanks to the excellent achievements of the Viscount after he’d introduced a new crop from the south, known as “carrots”. The weather at the Arlen estate, which was close to the capital, was strangely hot. The four seasons were quite distinctive there, as was the case with the surrounding estates, but winter was particularly warm, and the summer was scorching hot, with never-ending sunshine.

Like the southern estates, there were few days in the year where there was heavy rain, and the Viscount took advantage of the climate to grow the crops from the south. This clever idea had unexpectedly come about after he’d asked doctors for help to take care of his mad wife.

When he’d been searching the south for assistance, it had been by pure coincidence that he’d heard about carrots, and it hadn’t been a struggle to find skilled doctors who could hold their tongue and keep quiet if need be. The seeds of the wonderful new crop could be planted anywhere, so the viability of the carrots was exceptional, and their plump roots were healthy rations.