As Winter said, there were children in front of the house. Before the two adults arrived, the children had made a lot of snowballs and were preparing for a snowball fight. However, since they had made them roughly with their bare hands, they crumbled before they could even reach them.
Regardless, the kids were busy laughing and running away, excited by the very thing they had thrown. In the meantime, Violet had piled up the snow so high that it reached her ankles, and Winter threw the kids onto it.
The kids quickly lined up, finding it more fun to throw the balls than to fight. Soon, even the security guards who were looking after the kids all day joined in on the fun.
Meanwhile, one of the bodyguards, Shizu, approached Violet.
“Madam, I went to see Secretary Hayel for a moment. He asked me to deliver this newspaper to you.”
“What newspaper is it?”
Violet took the newspaper with a smiling face.
The Hanus Capital newspaper, published this morning, contained an article about the recent events in Rockround.
The article stated that the Lawrence family had put up three seats and asked that nobility be excluded from the list of candidates and that there were ten candidates in total, three of whom were of Kanik blood. As she smiled happily, the silver-haired, grey-eyed Shizu bowed in greeting.
"Thank you."
“What are you thankful for?”
“I know you gave people a chance. When I was a player, they didn’t do that to my other teammates, but whenever our foreigners did well, they would write articles with the word ‘gladiator’ attached to them.”
Before slavery was abolished in Rockround, gladiator was a profession reserved exclusively for slaves, most of whom were prisoners of war. Of course, that was at least hundreds of years ago, but the term could not be said to be without derogatory connotations if it was applied only to players of Kanik blood.
When Violet nodded silently, Shizu bowed again and continued speaking.
“The Kanik clan owes the little lady a debt. A big debt.”
Then Violet answered.
“I also owe my life to your God, so shall I consider that debt repaid?”
“Huh?”
As the bodyguard made a puzzled expression, Violet smiled gently and looked towards Winter as she answered.
“There is something like that.”
After the children played until they were tired, Winter made hot chocolate for Violet. He brought so many ingredients that he had enough to share with all the children and the servants who came with him. Everyone who tasted the hot chocolate had their eyes wide open and chattered about how it was the first time they had tasted something this delicious.
After the children had said their goodbyes and left, Violet asked Winter.
“Should we send the children... back to that house outside Alika?”
“That's what I'm talking about."
Winter rubbed the back of his neck and continued speaking.
“No one has anywhere to go. Besides, it seems like the sick kid was chosen by God to be the next Shaman. It seems like he’s ready to side with the mixed-bloods now. So I thought I’d leave it to my half-brothers.”
"Yes?"
“If those kids want to come to Rockround, they should at least be able to speak Rockround. And if they’re going to stay here, the Alika people are going to harass them quite a bit, so we’ll need someone to stop them. Those twins are both very learned and not bad at all. You can leave them to them.”
“That’s a good idea.”
“They can live here. I’ll hire them. And those little kids, and those damn twins.”
Violet looked moved by Winter's words. But that was only for a moment before Winter continued.
“I’m going to raise those guys well as my subordinates and completely open up this garbage area.”
“That’s a villainous plan.”
“Isn’t that obvious? The oldest one is thirteen. I was working hard at the time. I’ll take the hot spring water and investigate it when I get back. If I find even a little bit of good ingredients, I’ll start promoting it on a grand scale.”
“There will be strong opposition.”
Winter laughed at Violet's concern, feeling absurd. She told him that she thought of herself as weak, but in reality, no one in the world cared about Winter as much as Violet did. Winter said with a smile on his face.
“Princess, I’m a foreigner. Do you think people would have been kind to me when I was looking for good land, buying it, and building a building? Why would I, who hated noble behavior so much, hire Anjali? Even if they say they won’t sell it if I go, that bastard will. It’s much easier. At first, before my company grew, there was a bastard who set fire to the company because he was upset that it was founded by a foreigner. You don’t have to worry about me being discriminated against at all. There’s nothing new here.”
“But this is a completely closed area.”
“If I force my way in, what are I going to do? I’ve never lost a fight for power.”
Winter spoke boldly. Violet, who was worried that he might get hurt, felt slightly embarrassed.
The reason he got hurt was always because of something he had to do with her. The wounds he got from discrimination were usually brushed aside with a click of the tongue and he would pay back with a double amount to heal the wounds. That was typical of Winter Blooming.
Just when Violet was realizing once again that her husband was particularly weak towards her, Shizu brought her two more letters.
One was from the council, asking her, as second in line to the throne, to attend a meeting to amend the words 'all the islands' in the code, as suggested by Ash Lawrence.
Violet folded the letter again and unfolded the second letter.
It was a letter from the Duchy of Doss. When she opened it, it said that Sharon needed to get married as soon as possible, and asked if they could rent the warm Chiron Hotel even in winter. It was full of crying sounds like, 'You'd be angry, but how desperate must I be?', 'I'm crying right now, you have to be on my side.', 'I'll pay you back later, Violet!'
Winter said as he read the letter with me.
“She's a difficult friend.”
“I refuse. She has to deal with what she did herself.”
“I knew you would say that, so I wrote in the first line for us to read it together.”
“So why can’t she take responsibility in the first place!”
“It’s my hotel, so I can rent it out as I please.”
“Why are you so mean to my friends?”
“Why would that be?”
Violet sighed heavily, fiddling with the letter as Winter smiled, one corner of her mouth raised.
"Thank you."
“I’ll send someone to your friend. We’ll have to stop by the Chiron Hotel on the way back anyway, so let’s meet up there and get angry.”
“...I guess that’s how it should be.”
Violet bit her lips. Winter wrapped his arms around her in a soothing manner.
“Should we get ready to leave soon? We have a long way to go.”
“Okay. Let’s go. And... um.”
Violet coughed a few times as if embarrassed to speak, then opened her mouth.
“I decided to wear little makeup today.”
"Right."
“...”
“...I couldn’t understand what you were saying.”
“If you want to kiss in the carriage...”
“Can I kiss you? Because I don’t have any makeup to ruin?”
Violet nodded slightly. Winter twitched the corners of his lips at her appearance and said.
“What do we need to pack? The servants will take care of it. Let’s go straight to the carriage.”
“I see.”
Violet followed him, speaking softly. Winter put her in the carriage first, and as soon as he got in too, he hugged Violet's waist and started kissing her.
They continued their long journey to the Chiron Hotel. They had no time to get bored during the journey as they listened to Jen and Hayel, who had joined them in the middle, bickering about what had happened.
A few days later, the carriage returned to Chiron. When the couple got out, Sharon and Aus were there to meet them in front of the hotel.
The face of Aus, who had been running away from Perren the whole time, had become much more haggard, while Sharon's expression, on the other hand, was bright.
“Don’t be angry, Violet! I’m really having a hard time right now...”
“I'd be angry. You don’t look particularly distressed.”
“...By the way, can you laugh? It’s scary.”
Violet sighed in exasperation as Sharon blinked her eyes and made a cute expression.
Beside her, Aus was fidgeting, not knowing what to say. At that moment, Winter patted Violet and tried to comfort her.
“Don’t be like that. What can we do when she's born with no sense? It’s not like you didn’t know, right?”
Then Sharon pouted and asked,
“Sir, are you kidding me?”
“The Chiron Hotel schedule is...”
“Thank you. Feel free to tease me. My future husband is a very playful person.”
As Sharon quickly sold Aus, Winter said without hesitation.
“Even if Ms. Sharon could do that, I didn’t know you would do that.”
Then Aus paused and asked.
"...Yes?"
“No matter how much the person you love wanted you to be, you should have remained chaste until the end. Didn’t you even receive sex education?”
Winter shrugged, put his arm around Aus's shoulder, and squeezed his shoulder tightly as he spoke.
“Go. I’ll make you a tuxedo.”
“I want to do it myself.”
“The moment I enter the duchy, I’ll be killed by that heir. What can I do?”
“...But please.”
“Oh, did you propose?”
“...”
“You’re a couple who can’t get married without me. Hide, buy clothes, and rent a wedding hall.”
Winter shook his head and walked with force, dragging Aus. Aus really didn't want to follow, but the situation was so desperate that he cried and was dragged along.
Sharon, who had been looking at Aus, who had been caught up in Winter's schedule to spend time with the girls, quickly forgot about it and linked arms with Violet.
“You’ll take care of the flowers, right? You promised me when you were little.”
“I’ve done the sketch.”
“I knew it. Oh, I guess opposites are the best friends. You’re sincere, and I’m not.”
“It’s such a great honor.”
The two walked along talking. Violet asked worriedly.
“What about morning sickness?”
“Not really. Just no cheese. I wish there was no dairy at all, but that’s okay.”
“Is this okay?”
“Other than that, I eat well. My mother said it wasn’t that bad, and my grandmother said she hardly ever had it either.”
“Thank goodness. My mother had such bad morning sickness that there were times when she could only drink water.”
“Then you too will be severe...”
Sharon, who had been speaking absentmindedly, paused and then continued speaking as if nothing had happened.
“I’ll show you the dress. Let’s take a look and have some tea.”
“Yeah. Okay.”
Violet also smiled as if nothing had happened and answered. Then, she realized something that she had not thought about for a while because she had been having a fun and peaceful time at Alika.
The fact was that her period, which should have started while she was in Alika, was still delayed.
Regardless, the kids were busy laughing and running away, excited by the very thing they had thrown. In the meantime, Violet had piled up the snow so high that it reached her ankles, and Winter threw the kids onto it.
The kids quickly lined up, finding it more fun to throw the balls than to fight. Soon, even the security guards who were looking after the kids all day joined in on the fun.
Meanwhile, one of the bodyguards, Shizu, approached Violet.
“Madam, I went to see Secretary Hayel for a moment. He asked me to deliver this newspaper to you.”
“What newspaper is it?”
Violet took the newspaper with a smiling face.
The Hanus Capital newspaper, published this morning, contained an article about the recent events in Rockround.
The article stated that the Lawrence family had put up three seats and asked that nobility be excluded from the list of candidates and that there were ten candidates in total, three of whom were of Kanik blood. As she smiled happily, the silver-haired, grey-eyed Shizu bowed in greeting.
"Thank you."
“What are you thankful for?”
“I know you gave people a chance. When I was a player, they didn’t do that to my other teammates, but whenever our foreigners did well, they would write articles with the word ‘gladiator’ attached to them.”
Before slavery was abolished in Rockround, gladiator was a profession reserved exclusively for slaves, most of whom were prisoners of war. Of course, that was at least hundreds of years ago, but the term could not be said to be without derogatory connotations if it was applied only to players of Kanik blood.
When Violet nodded silently, Shizu bowed again and continued speaking.
“The Kanik clan owes the little lady a debt. A big debt.”
Then Violet answered.
“I also owe my life to your God, so shall I consider that debt repaid?”
“Huh?”
As the bodyguard made a puzzled expression, Violet smiled gently and looked towards Winter as she answered.
“There is something like that.”
After the children played until they were tired, Winter made hot chocolate for Violet. He brought so many ingredients that he had enough to share with all the children and the servants who came with him. Everyone who tasted the hot chocolate had their eyes wide open and chattered about how it was the first time they had tasted something this delicious.
After the children had said their goodbyes and left, Violet asked Winter.
“Should we send the children... back to that house outside Alika?”
“That's what I'm talking about."
Winter rubbed the back of his neck and continued speaking.
“No one has anywhere to go. Besides, it seems like the sick kid was chosen by God to be the next Shaman. It seems like he’s ready to side with the mixed-bloods now. So I thought I’d leave it to my half-brothers.”
"Yes?"
“If those kids want to come to Rockround, they should at least be able to speak Rockround. And if they’re going to stay here, the Alika people are going to harass them quite a bit, so we’ll need someone to stop them. Those twins are both very learned and not bad at all. You can leave them to them.”
“That’s a good idea.”
“They can live here. I’ll hire them. And those little kids, and those damn twins.”
Violet looked moved by Winter's words. But that was only for a moment before Winter continued.
“I’m going to raise those guys well as my subordinates and completely open up this garbage area.”
“That’s a villainous plan.”
“Isn’t that obvious? The oldest one is thirteen. I was working hard at the time. I’ll take the hot spring water and investigate it when I get back. If I find even a little bit of good ingredients, I’ll start promoting it on a grand scale.”
“There will be strong opposition.”
Winter laughed at Violet's concern, feeling absurd. She told him that she thought of herself as weak, but in reality, no one in the world cared about Winter as much as Violet did. Winter said with a smile on his face.
“Princess, I’m a foreigner. Do you think people would have been kind to me when I was looking for good land, buying it, and building a building? Why would I, who hated noble behavior so much, hire Anjali? Even if they say they won’t sell it if I go, that bastard will. It’s much easier. At first, before my company grew, there was a bastard who set fire to the company because he was upset that it was founded by a foreigner. You don’t have to worry about me being discriminated against at all. There’s nothing new here.”
“But this is a completely closed area.”
“If I force my way in, what are I going to do? I’ve never lost a fight for power.”
Winter spoke boldly. Violet, who was worried that he might get hurt, felt slightly embarrassed.
The reason he got hurt was always because of something he had to do with her. The wounds he got from discrimination were usually brushed aside with a click of the tongue and he would pay back with a double amount to heal the wounds. That was typical of Winter Blooming.
Just when Violet was realizing once again that her husband was particularly weak towards her, Shizu brought her two more letters.
One was from the council, asking her, as second in line to the throne, to attend a meeting to amend the words 'all the islands' in the code, as suggested by Ash Lawrence.
Violet folded the letter again and unfolded the second letter.
It was a letter from the Duchy of Doss. When she opened it, it said that Sharon needed to get married as soon as possible, and asked if they could rent the warm Chiron Hotel even in winter. It was full of crying sounds like, 'You'd be angry, but how desperate must I be?', 'I'm crying right now, you have to be on my side.', 'I'll pay you back later, Violet!'
Winter said as he read the letter with me.
“She's a difficult friend.”
“I refuse. She has to deal with what she did herself.”
“I knew you would say that, so I wrote in the first line for us to read it together.”
“So why can’t she take responsibility in the first place!”
“It’s my hotel, so I can rent it out as I please.”
“Why are you so mean to my friends?”
“Why would that be?”
Violet sighed heavily, fiddling with the letter as Winter smiled, one corner of her mouth raised.
"Thank you."
“I’ll send someone to your friend. We’ll have to stop by the Chiron Hotel on the way back anyway, so let’s meet up there and get angry.”
“...I guess that’s how it should be.”
Violet bit her lips. Winter wrapped his arms around her in a soothing manner.
“Should we get ready to leave soon? We have a long way to go.”
“Okay. Let’s go. And... um.”
Violet coughed a few times as if embarrassed to speak, then opened her mouth.
“I decided to wear little makeup today.”
"Right."
“...”
“...I couldn’t understand what you were saying.”
“If you want to kiss in the carriage...”
“Can I kiss you? Because I don’t have any makeup to ruin?”
Violet nodded slightly. Winter twitched the corners of his lips at her appearance and said.
“What do we need to pack? The servants will take care of it. Let’s go straight to the carriage.”
“I see.”
Violet followed him, speaking softly. Winter put her in the carriage first, and as soon as he got in too, he hugged Violet's waist and started kissing her.
***
They continued their long journey to the Chiron Hotel. They had no time to get bored during the journey as they listened to Jen and Hayel, who had joined them in the middle, bickering about what had happened.
A few days later, the carriage returned to Chiron. When the couple got out, Sharon and Aus were there to meet them in front of the hotel.
The face of Aus, who had been running away from Perren the whole time, had become much more haggard, while Sharon's expression, on the other hand, was bright.
“Don’t be angry, Violet! I’m really having a hard time right now...”
“I'd be angry. You don’t look particularly distressed.”
“...By the way, can you laugh? It’s scary.”
Violet sighed in exasperation as Sharon blinked her eyes and made a cute expression.
Beside her, Aus was fidgeting, not knowing what to say. At that moment, Winter patted Violet and tried to comfort her.
“Don’t be like that. What can we do when she's born with no sense? It’s not like you didn’t know, right?”
Then Sharon pouted and asked,
“Sir, are you kidding me?”
“The Chiron Hotel schedule is...”
“Thank you. Feel free to tease me. My future husband is a very playful person.”
As Sharon quickly sold Aus, Winter said without hesitation.
“Even if Ms. Sharon could do that, I didn’t know you would do that.”
Then Aus paused and asked.
"...Yes?"
“No matter how much the person you love wanted you to be, you should have remained chaste until the end. Didn’t you even receive sex education?”
Winter shrugged, put his arm around Aus's shoulder, and squeezed his shoulder tightly as he spoke.
“Go. I’ll make you a tuxedo.”
“I want to do it myself.”
“The moment I enter the duchy, I’ll be killed by that heir. What can I do?”
“...But please.”
“Oh, did you propose?”
“...”
“You’re a couple who can’t get married without me. Hide, buy clothes, and rent a wedding hall.”
Winter shook his head and walked with force, dragging Aus. Aus really didn't want to follow, but the situation was so desperate that he cried and was dragged along.
Sharon, who had been looking at Aus, who had been caught up in Winter's schedule to spend time with the girls, quickly forgot about it and linked arms with Violet.
“You’ll take care of the flowers, right? You promised me when you were little.”
“I’ve done the sketch.”
“I knew it. Oh, I guess opposites are the best friends. You’re sincere, and I’m not.”
“It’s such a great honor.”
The two walked along talking. Violet asked worriedly.
“What about morning sickness?”
“Not really. Just no cheese. I wish there was no dairy at all, but that’s okay.”
“Is this okay?”
“Other than that, I eat well. My mother said it wasn’t that bad, and my grandmother said she hardly ever had it either.”
“Thank goodness. My mother had such bad morning sickness that there were times when she could only drink water.”
“Then you too will be severe...”
Sharon, who had been speaking absentmindedly, paused and then continued speaking as if nothing had happened.
“I’ll show you the dress. Let’s take a look and have some tea.”
“Yeah. Okay.”
Violet also smiled as if nothing had happened and answered. Then, she realized something that she had not thought about for a while because she had been having a fun and peaceful time at Alika.
The fact was that her period, which should have started while she was in Alika, was still delayed.
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