Ilyin thought that if she was to meet Viscount Arlen again, and if he was to abuse her verbally, even worse than before, she would close her ears instead of trying to shut him up. It wasn’t because she loved the Viscount, but rather that she had a fear of him. “In ten years?” Ilyin thought about the strange question. And the first thought that popped up was that he’d still be living his life.

“Yes. If it’s complicated, then I’ll help you a little more.” Aden stood up from his chair, went around behind Ilyin, and hugged her. He then whispered into her ear, “What would you think if, in ten years, Viscount Arlen has higher honor, a good position, and is living very well?”

The first feeling she had was one of discomfort, and Ilyin’s lips closed tight as she pulled a face. Aden laughed, “Do you have any love left for him as a family member?”

Ilyin recalled when the Viscount had asked, “Did you ever have a dream of me?” She thought she’d left that memory at the mansion, and she shook her head in response to Aden’s question.

“Then it’s okay to make it much worse,” Aden said as he looked at her. He then bent over and kissed her forehead gently and whispered again, “It’s not a bad thing either. Do what you want, Ilyin. Do what your heart desires. Whatever you do, you won’t be able to leave the winter region now that you’ve seen my face.”

The whispering voice was so sweet and reassuring, and Ilyin knew what he meant by that. It seemed like he was threatening her, but in reality, it was the opposite. Aden was comforting her and letting her know she belonged with him.

“No matter what you do, I won’t let you go. So it’s your choice. Do what you want,” Aden promised her. “If it’s too difficult to answer now, it won’t be too late to decide when we are in the warm region.”

Ilyin lowered the gaze a little. It would be a lie if she didn’t think about awful things happening to the father, who wasn’t like a father, and her siblings who’d made her life in the mansion a living hell. She didn’t want them to be well. The only reason she didn’t do anything untoward in the mansion was that she didn’t have anywhere else to go. But things were different now. In ten years, she wanted all the bad things to happen to them that had happened to her. Ilyin was surprised at that sudden thought.

Aden held onto her clenched fist and spoke, “You’re not a bad person. It’s them that are bad.” He hugged her tightly again, “But it’s okay if you’re still anxious. If you go to the warm region with me, I will show you just how bad of a person I am.” Then he looked deep into her big eyes and winked, “But you don’t have to be as bad as me.”

***

The majority of the winter region people never left the area. Many centuries ago, the Milton tribe used to be in the southeast, so the human settlement in the winter region moved further inland. The Biflten castle was closer to the warm region before the Milton tribe became a force to be reckoned with a thousand years ago. But now, it was just an abandoned settlement.

Since then, in the winter region, people chose to stay away from the warm region. But this changed depending on the personality of The Duke at the time. The overall understanding was that the warm region and the winter region were separate. To them, the fact that the Duke of winter was one of the citizens of the empire was useless information and forgettable.

There was no reason for the warm region emperor to come to the winter region and the winter region had its law. Of course, going to the warm region required a large number of supplies and a lot of manpower, so only people with certain statuses could go there. And there weren’t too many brave souls that wanted to risk traveling through the snowstorms either.

Also, the winter region’s magical ability was better than the warm region thought, so they weren’t too curious to explore that land. Thanks to all of that, the warm region was unknown territory to the winter region people.

The Delrose maids were shocked when they heard the news. They never thought that they would ever go to the warm region in their lifetime! So they were running around confused at the order to pack for the trip and were also told to pick someone that would take care of Aden’s wife in the warm region.

There were a few maids that had experience in traveling to the warm region. They had served the last Duke of Biflten, who had had ties with the warm region, but not Aden. In his generation, most of the people that had experience going to the warm region were gone.

“How about Sieh? She’s almost the same age as the Lady,” one of the maids suggested.

“That child doesn’t have much experience for a position like this,” another maid said.

The position of serving Ilyin while in the warm region was being debated by the maids. And they struggled to decide who’d be the better fit. Because the Delrose’s didn’t force an order, the maids could choose whether or not to go to the warm region. Etra was in charge, so she didn’t have a choice, unfortunately. And she had to start studying about the warm region pronto!

The day before departure, the maids who had some knowledge about the warm region started packing Ilyin’s bags. “Isn’t this too thick?” One of the maids whispered.

Ilyin thought she could take only a few items like she had when coming to the winter region. But from the maid’s perspective, that was not going to happen. First of all, there were many skincare cosmetics. Although Ilyin said that she didn’t need the products, they still had to pack them.

It was usual for the lower ranks to bring along ten items even though the higher-ranking person would only use one.

“How about this?” Nessi, a Delrose maid, asked as she lifted a thick jacket. It didn’t have a thick cotton lining like the winter region jackets, but it looked like it was warm enough to survive the winter in the warm region.

“Isn’t it too thin?” The maid, Mito, felt the jacket and then shook her head at Nessi. She went into the dressing room and then brought another one out. It was an item of clothing worn in the winter region in late January or early February when it wasn’t as cold as it was now.

“How about this?” Mito asked.

“Isn’t this too thick?”

“Then how thin should it be?”

“It’s winter in the warm region too.”

“Do you think that winter is the same as April here?” Nessi and Mito were confused, and they started bickering. Between the two winter maids, they couldn’t decide on what to pack for the warm region.action

“Do you need some help?” Someone asked. Nessi and Mito, who were still bickering, frowned at the sudden interruption.

“You can’t touch anything regarding the Lady,” Nessi said.

“Go get permission from Miss Etra,” Mito instructed.

“Okay. I will do so.”

The quiet voice seemed familiar. And when the two maids turned around, they were surprised. It was Ilyin standing behind them.

They jumped in fright and exclaimed simultaneously, “Oh my, ma’am!”