He returned to his room to prepare for their quick outing.
Elric grabbed the fur cloak, which had been neatly folded on his bed.
‘If I keep hesitating, I might never be able to give it to her.’
Elric prided himself in the fact that he knew himself well.
He had already tried to find the right moment to give her the gift by going into the study, wherein he had only fallen asleep while reading a book.
If he continued hesitating like this, he would end up making a fool of himself again.
That wouldn’t do.
He would just hand it to her as they left.
With that thought, he headed outside.
As he arrived at the entrance to the first floor, he saw that Tyria was buttoning up her old fur coat.Her gaze slowly turned to Elric’s arms.
“I see that you’ve gotten a new one, Milord. That’s a good choice. The winters in Wiven are particularly cold, after all.”
Her nonchalant attitude, which didn’t even seem to consider the possibility that it was a gift, was getting on Elric’s nerves.
“Shall we go?”
The door opened.
The snow that had freshly fallen was beautiful.
She stood out dressed in black.
With that kind of outfit on, he felt like he could find her anywhere in this winterland.
Pushing aside those kinds of thoughts for a moment,
“Milady.”
Elric stood in front of her.
He took a couple deep breaths to compose himself, and then he cleared his throat.
“This coat, it’s not mine.”
“Yes?”
“Give me a moment.”
He unfolded the coat.
Eyeballing it, it seemed to be the perfect fit for her.
Pulling off her cloak, he revealed a small body under the puffy fur.
She shivered in the cold.
Elric draped the new cloak over her shoulders, hiding his nervousness as best he could.
“Seven years… no, now that it’s a new year, that coat is more than seven years old. That’s annoying.” [1]
While she was speaking, he tied the string around her neck in the shape of a ribbon.
He was too embarrassed to look at Tyria’s face properly.
“I-It’s just a gift. Just a gift. There’s no special reason for it. I just wanted to give it to you.”
He stammered as he spoke, and then he raised his head.
She looked surprised.
He could certainly feel that she was facing an unexpected situation.
He smiled slightly, pleased.
Well… now that he thought about it, he wondered about why he had been so worried about something so trivial.
He asked, feeling relieved.
“Will you accept it?”
Tyria brushed her hand across the cloak.
It was a dazed gesture.
Her gaze went to the hood, then to herself, and then back to the ribbon-shaped string.
The tip of her nose turned red.
He hoped that it wasn’t just because of the cold.
She opened her mouth,
“‘…Is this a gift?'”
It was a question.
Elric answered.
“Yes, it’s a gift.”
“So suddenly…”
“There doesn’t have to be a reason for me to give you a gift. It’s just a gift.”
‘So please don’t ask why. Please don’t ask questions that I can’t answer.’
She didn’t ask anymore questions, as if his desperation had reached her.
Just, the corner of her mouth twitched.
It was a strange expression as it wasn’t a smile, but it wasn’t a frown either.
“Thank you.”
“Would you like to leave now?”
Elric roughly put on the old fur coat that she had been wearing.
The coat ended at his shins.
It was quite short, but he wasn’t cold.
The cloak had retained her warmth.
Not only that, her scent was also lingering. It felt like he was being held by her.
To put it mildly, it reminded him of the night they had slept together in the same bed in the capital.
Compared to back then, he felt even more butterflies in his stomach.
“Let’s go now.”
He naturally reached out and took her hand.
Tyria held his hand especially tightly, as she buried her face in the thick hood, hiding her expression.
Chik–
The snow crunched under their feet like a gentle whisper.
The wind was so calm that it was hard to believe that there had been a blizzard that raged until the morning.
With no other houses near the mansion and with the servants all being inside, it was so quiet in the garden that it felt like they were the only two people left in the world.
Tyria kept stroking the ribbon.
It was a careful movement.
She didn’t want to untie the knot Elric had made for her.
Fortunately, befitting his nature, the knot was tied tightly and refused to come undone.
She glanced over and saw him with his gaze fixed on something in the distance.
His breath scattered in long wisps.
His cane sunk deeply into the snow, leaving a trail beside his footsteps.
This was the first time.
She had received many things from him that could not be seen with the eye, but this was the first time she had received something that remained in its form.
It felt quite different.
It was merely a cloak made from the fur of a beast, but it felt like gold to her.
For seemingly no particular reason, she felt excited and couldn’t help but love it.
She even foolishly wished that the winter would last forever.
If she was given the opportunity to choose between this year’s crop harvest in Wiven or the cold winter that would allow her to wear the cloak, she would choose the latter.
It seemed that she would never be able to throw away this cloak, even ten years later, or even twenty years later.
Tyria let out a small sigh, ashamed of her own feelings.
It was in that moment,
“Is the cloak too heavy?”
Elric asked.
“Now that I’m wearing your cloak, I can more accurately judge its weight. It’s quite heavy.”
Tyria shook her head.
“It’s light. Much lighter than what I was wearing before.”
“That’s good to hear.”
That was as far as the conversation went before it ended.
This happened from time to time
Most of the time, the silence would be awkward because they didn’t share any common interests.
But today, the silence seemed a little less awkward.
It must have been because she was warm.
“Are you still feeling sleepy?”
“I’m a bit sleepy because of the cold. Uhm… I’m sorry about what happened in the study. I couldn’t help myself and fell asleep.”
“That wasn’t necessary.”
She was the one who should be sorry.
Tyria felt her face flush as she recalled what she had done with his sleeping head on her lap.
She felt a pang of self-loathing as she thought about how she had gently poked his cheek, touched his earlobe, and stroked his lips with her fingertip just enough as to not wake him.
She felt like she had become a perverted, depraved person.
At one point she had been terrified that he had woken up and caught her.
Judging by his reaction, she was relieved that he hadn’t.
She hoped that they would stop talking about the study.
It was embarrassing.
“How is your knee?”
Tyria changed the subject to a familiar one.
Elric replied with a chuckle.
“It’s getting better. I guess time really is the best medicine. I think that I’ll be able to put down my cane in another month.”
“Your health is the top priority. Please keep that in mind.”
“Thank you for your concern.”
As they were chatting,
Huff! Huff!
The sound of a man’s labored breathing could be heard from somewhere.
“Be more stealthy! Like a snake!”
They heard shouting close by.
She looked up and saw that it was coming from the building reserved for the Knights.
“…They must be training.”
“…”
Elric didn’t answer her.
There was an unusual expression on his face.
If she had to call it something, she would say that it was a look of pity and frustration.
Tyria stared at him for a long time.
The voice got closer.
“Huff! Huff!”
“Good! That’s how you do it!”
“Yes! Huff!”
Two figures emerged from behind the building.
Danal, the leader of the Seolyeong Knights, and Veron his squire knight.
Veron was crouching down and walking in a duck walk while Danal was walking next to him, carrying a bullwhip.
The two men spotted Tyria and Elric.
Veron sprang to his feet, beaming.
“Milord, Milady!”
Beside him, Danal started hiccupping.
Elric asked.
“What on earth are you two doing?”
“Oh! The captain was teaching me the stealthy gait of a knight! Right, Captain?”
Tyria thought for a moment.
What was the connection between knights and stealth?
She had no idea.
“…Please keep the noise down.”
When Elric said that, Danal knelt down on the snow.
He knelt down with such force that a loud thud was heard on the snow that should have made a soft sound.
“Milord!”
“Please leave that salutation out next time.”
“Yes, Sir!”
For some reason, it seemed that Danal was afraid of Elric.
Tyria didn’t quite understand it.
What could be so frightening about someone so innocent and playful?
Suddenly, their eyes met.
He bowed his head quickly.
Tyria then spoke,
“…You’ve worked hard even on this cold day. Thank you for always working hard. Take it easy and go inside to warm up. I’ll have meat brought out for dinner, so eat well.”
[1. This took a shit ton of time to figure out. She’s basically complaining about the fact that she hadn’t used it that much yet and was already getting a new one.]
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