In front of the library, Commander Macrom was standing, holding a fur coat.
It seems he had come early and was waiting for us.
Chief Macrom, who was standing facing the library door, turned to us.
“Why are you coming now?”
“The story has gotten long. I told you to come with me, so why?”
Linel tapped Commander Macrom on the shoulder and said.
“There are so many people, do you need me to join?”
Commander Macrom seemed to already know the whole situation.
After all, there was no way that Commander Macrom would not know what Raphael and Stiane, who were close to Linel, knew.
I also felt relieved since I didn’t have to explain anything to the Commander separately.
“Let’s go in.”
Everyone went into the library at Linel’s words, and Stiane locked the library door from the inside again.
What was Linel trying to tell me here? What on earth was he saying that made him bring all his close associates here?
I looked around the library from where I was.
I’ve been to Linel’s personal library on the third floor, but this was my first time to the second floor.
The structure was similar, but the second-floor library was much larger than his personal library, and the number of books was overwhelmingly greater.
As my head returned to where it was while I was looking around the library, he calmly spoke.
“Am I... meeting him here?”
I slowly circled around in place and looked around the library again.
Could Joseph be in the library?
However, this wasn’t the kind of place where Joseph would be trapped in ice.
Could it be...?
I suddenly remembered the dark space behind the bookshelf I had accidentally discovered in Linel’s personal library.
The cold air was rushing up from under the stairs.
Yes, he’s beyond that bookshelf!
If my guess was right, there was a high possibility that the stairs in the space beyond the bookshelf would lead here.
I waited for Linel to tell me directly. However, my eyes kept glancing at the bookshelf on the wall in front of me.
“It’s here.”
He said, pointing with his hand toward the floor of the library.
I thought I knew what he meant, but I stared at him without any hesitation until my eyes met those of his associates standing behind him.
Stiane turned his head toward the bookshelf on the wall and nodded, and Raphael’s finger pointed to the same place.
Linel continued his explanation.
“There’s a secret room here. I brought Joseph there. Fortunately, the ice stopped growing in volume, but it didn’t shrink or melt.”
He barely managed to continue with a pained expression.
“The only thing Joseph can move in the ice is his eyes.”
I wanted to hug him right away, but I held back because of the associates watching us.
That wizard bastard named 'Phillike' who trapped Joseph in ice, if I catch him in my hands, I'll burn him from head to toe!
I made a vow to myself, clenching my fists and gritting my molars.
As I became angry, heat rose inside my palms and then disappeared.
"I wanted you to meet him before I left for the Continental Hunting Competition..."
"Oh, right. Because you won't see him for over a month."
"I haven't seen Joseph for over three years."
Linel smiled bitterly.
"Why?"
“When I approach Joseph, the ice becomes stronger. That wizard made it so.”
Wizard Phillike is so annoying, to the point of being vicious.
“Then was the last time you saw him in the Valley of Death, the last battlefield?”
He nodded weakly to my question.
His sad eyes made my heart ache.
His expression showed traces of countless times blaming himself for being powerless in the face of the curse.
“Since then, Raphael, Stiane, and Commander Macrom have been taking care of Joseph in my stead.”
At Linel’s words, I turned my gaze to the three of them.
“There’s nothing we can do for Grand Duke Joseph either. We just go in and deliver news of His Majesty.”
Raphael spoke in a gloomy voice, and Stiane added quietly.
“Even that can’t last long.”
“Philike, I will definitely kill that cunning bastard.”
Commander Macrom clenched his fur coat in his hand and ground his teeth.
The wizard Philike, who knows how to handle wyverns. The bastard who put Linel in a hypothermic curse, trapped Joseph in ice, and took away Commander Macrom’s eyesight.
Where on earth can I find him?
Ah, so that’s why Linel asked the lord of the magic tower with such a fierce expression about his whereabouts.
The lord of the magic tower didn’t seem to have very good feelings toward his former disciple Philike, but he wouldn’t say he didn’t know his whereabouts, even though he knew about them, right?
He quickly clenched his fist again as a flame rose from the center of his palm.
“The reason I couldn’t kill that wizard bastard is because of Joseph. I can live like this, but if I kill him, Joseph’s curse might never be lifted.”
However, Linel jokingly grumbled that if he had known that the bastard wouldn’t show up for so long, he should have just killed him then.
“Wouldn’t the lord of the magic tower be able to lift Grand Duke Joseph’s curse? Why don’t you ask him?”
He spoke to him carefully.
“I thought about that, too. But I still don’t know what kind of person the lord of the magic tower is, so I feel awkward showing Joseph.”
It made sense.
“I think it would be better to let him meet Joseph after he experiences the lord of the magic tower at the hunting competition.”
I completely agreed with his opinion.
“Yes, that would be good. I hope the lord of the magic tower can be helpful to us in many ways.”
“Yes. Now... are you ready to meet Joseph?”
“Of course. I want to see him soon.”
At Raphael’s words, Commander Macrom and Stiane, standing on either side of him, nodded simultaneously.
“I want to meet him soon, too. Please show me around.”
I held his hand and urged him.
“By the way, the temperature inside the room is very low.”
He said with a worried look
“It’s okay. I have a lot of body heat. I can withstand the cold inside the room.”
He smiled slightly at my confident answer, but his eyes still looked anxious.
“You should wear this.”
Commander Macrom handed me the thick fur coat he was holding.
“I don’t think I’ll need it...”
“But wear it anyway.”
Sharon quickly took the fur coat from Commander Macrom and draped it over my shoulders.
“You’d better wear it warmly. It’s a cold that’s hard to endure.”
Linel urged me as I opened the front of the fur coat that was draped over my shoulders.
As soon as I put on the fur coat, my inner incarnation started to rage, saying it was hot, but I held back my heat to ease his worries.
He finally walked over to the bookshelf on the central wall and pressed his palm against a mid-height shelf. Then, the bookshelf and the wall were pushed aside at once, revealing a dark space.
My guess was right.
I felt the coldness I had encountered before once again.
“Take care on your way...”
He raised his hand while sitting on the edge of the stairs.
It seemed that the distance he was sitting was the closest he could get to the room.
If they got any closer, their curses would harm each other.
“I’ll wait here.”
His expression, which was forced to smile, made him look even sadder.
I deliberately raised my tone and asked him.
“Your Majesty, is there anything you want to tell the Grand Duke?”
“Well...”
Linel thought for a moment, then lowered his eyes to the bottom of the stairs and opened his mouth.
“I’m sorry. Tell him that I’m very sorry...”
I nodded without saying anything.
“I’ll be back.”
I started to go down the stairs, guided by Raphael, Commander Macrom, and Stiane.
After going down a few steps, I looked back because he kept bothering me.
Linel was still waving at me from the stairs.
His appearance was so miserable that it made my nose sting.
I followed the three of them down the stairs, and soon I could see the end of the stairs.
There was a gray wall blocking the way.
The secret room was inside.
Commander Macrom stepped firmly on the end of the fourth and final step, and the gray wall leading to the secret room slid aside.
In an instant, the bitter cold inside the secret room blew out. It was on a completely different level from the cold I felt when the library wall first opened.
“This is it. Your Majesty, if it gets too cold, you should come out immediately.”
“Of course.”
I went into the secret room, tightly closing my fur coat in front to ease the worries of the trio.
My mouth fell open at the sight that was unbelievable even with my own eyes.
Although my body could not move, I could hear, and as soon as the secret room wall opened, I saw Joseph’s eyes moving toward me.
I walked to Joseph and stood in a position where he could see me well.
“Hello, Grand Duke Joseph. It’s only today that we get to meet. I am Empress Zelda, the wife of His Majesty and the sister-in-law of the Grand Duke.”
I introduced myself calmly.
Joseph’s pupils dilated as much as they could.
When I saw the young Grand Duke trapped in the ice with my own eyes, I became even angrier.
I didn’t know if it would be better to throw that son of a bitch, Philike, into the ice, burn him alive, or alternate between the two.
“You must have heard from Raphael, but the Continental Hunting Competition starts tomorrow. Why didn’t His Majesty tell me where the Grand Duke is today?”
I deliberately blamed Linel and made a regretful expression.
“If you had told me earlier, I would have come often. Actually, I don’t feel cold at all.”
Joseph blinked, wondering what nonsense his sister-in-law was talking about. I took off the fur coat I had on my shoulders to show my credibility.
Joseph opened his eyes wide, telling me not to do that.
“Don’t worry. I’m fine. My breath is coming out of my mouth, but I’m not really cold.”
Joseph finally seemed a little relieved.
“I’ll come every day after the hunting competition. You’ll become closer to me than His Majesty, yes?”
Joseph blinked repeatedly. It seemed like a good sign.
“Oh, and His Majesty asked me to tell you this. He said he was so grateful that you endured it well, and that he wanted to see you a lot.”
I interpreted Linel’s words, “I’m sorry,” differently.
Joseph probably wanted to hear Linel say that he missed him more than that he was sorry.
“What should I tell His Majesty in return?”
Joseph’s eyes darted in various directions as he pondered my question.
“Should I tell him that the Grand Duke also misses His Majesty?”
Joseph blinked twice in agreement.
“Oh, should I tell him that you love him? But I think the Grand Duke will love me more from now on. How about that? If you don’t mind, blink twice in succession this time.”
Joseph blinked twice again without hesitation.
“Yes, I’ll tell him that. It might be boring, but just wait a little. I’ll come back with lots of interesting stories from the hunting competition. I might talk about it all night.”
I placed both hands on the cursed ice and looked closely at Joseph.
I felt electricity running from my fingertips to the inside of my elbows.
I was startled by the electric shock and wanted to pull my hand away, but for some reason, I felt like I was losing to that wizard Philike, so I clenched my teeth and held on tenaciously.
Tingle-.
At that moment, I felt a sharp pain in the palm of my hand that was against the cursed ice.
It seems he had come early and was waiting for us.
Chief Macrom, who was standing facing the library door, turned to us.
“Why are you coming now?”
“The story has gotten long. I told you to come with me, so why?”
Linel tapped Commander Macrom on the shoulder and said.
“There are so many people, do you need me to join?”
Commander Macrom seemed to already know the whole situation.
After all, there was no way that Commander Macrom would not know what Raphael and Stiane, who were close to Linel, knew.
I also felt relieved since I didn’t have to explain anything to the Commander separately.
“Let’s go in.”
Everyone went into the library at Linel’s words, and Stiane locked the library door from the inside again.
What was Linel trying to tell me here? What on earth was he saying that made him bring all his close associates here?
I looked around the library from where I was.
I’ve been to Linel’s personal library on the third floor, but this was my first time to the second floor.
The structure was similar, but the second-floor library was much larger than his personal library, and the number of books was overwhelmingly greater.
As my head returned to where it was while I was looking around the library, he calmly spoke.
“Do you remember what I said about having a secret?”
“Yes...”
Of course, I remember.
Oh, is he finally going to tell me his secret?
When I tried to confess that I was the ‘acting Empress,’ he said that he had a secret that he couldn’t tell me.
Since then, I’ve often wondered what that secret could be, but it didn’t seem like it would be a secret for him, who seemed perfect.
Anyway, aren’t there too many ears to hear his secret here?
I looked at his closest aides, Raphael, Stiane, and Commander Macrom.
Judging from their expressions, they already knew what Linel was going to tell me.
“You know that I have a younger brother who is much younger than I, right?”
“Of course.”
“Before leaving for the hunting competition, I thought I should let the Empress meet Joseph.”
“Really? Actually, I’ve been waiting for it!”
He told me on the first night,
‘Joseph was cursed like me. I didn’t lose all my body heat to the curse waves sent by the wizard, but Joseph was different. He’s trapped in ice now...’
He only told me about Joseph’s situation and didn’t tell me where the Grand Duke was.
At that time, Joseph had clearly been trapped in ice by the wizard Philike, so why had he come to the library?
“Yes...”
Of course, I remember.
Oh, is he finally going to tell me his secret?
When I tried to confess that I was the ‘acting Empress,’ he said that he had a secret that he couldn’t tell me.
Since then, I’ve often wondered what that secret could be, but it didn’t seem like it would be a secret for him, who seemed perfect.
Anyway, aren’t there too many ears to hear his secret here?
I looked at his closest aides, Raphael, Stiane, and Commander Macrom.
Judging from their expressions, they already knew what Linel was going to tell me.
“You know that I have a younger brother who is much younger than I, right?”
“Of course.”
“Before leaving for the hunting competition, I thought I should let the Empress meet Joseph.”
“Really? Actually, I’ve been waiting for it!”
He told me on the first night,
‘Joseph was cursed like me. I didn’t lose all my body heat to the curse waves sent by the wizard, but Joseph was different. He’s trapped in ice now...’
He only told me about Joseph’s situation and didn’t tell me where the Grand Duke was.
At that time, Joseph had clearly been trapped in ice by the wizard Philike, so why had he come to the library?
“Am I... meeting him here?”
I slowly circled around in place and looked around the library again.
Could Joseph be in the library?
However, this wasn’t the kind of place where Joseph would be trapped in ice.
Could it be...?
I suddenly remembered the dark space behind the bookshelf I had accidentally discovered in Linel’s personal library.
The cold air was rushing up from under the stairs.
Yes, he’s beyond that bookshelf!
If my guess was right, there was a high possibility that the stairs in the space beyond the bookshelf would lead here.
I waited for Linel to tell me directly. However, my eyes kept glancing at the bookshelf on the wall in front of me.
“It’s here.”
He said, pointing with his hand toward the floor of the library.
I thought I knew what he meant, but I stared at him without any hesitation until my eyes met those of his associates standing behind him.
Stiane turned his head toward the bookshelf on the wall and nodded, and Raphael’s finger pointed to the same place.
Linel continued his explanation.
“There’s a secret room here. I brought Joseph there. Fortunately, the ice stopped growing in volume, but it didn’t shrink or melt.”
He barely managed to continue with a pained expression.
“The only thing Joseph can move in the ice is his eyes.”
I wanted to hug him right away, but I held back because of the associates watching us.
That wizard bastard named 'Phillike' who trapped Joseph in ice, if I catch him in my hands, I'll burn him from head to toe!
I made a vow to myself, clenching my fists and gritting my molars.
As I became angry, heat rose inside my palms and then disappeared.
"I wanted you to meet him before I left for the Continental Hunting Competition..."
"Oh, right. Because you won't see him for over a month."
"I haven't seen Joseph for over three years."
Linel smiled bitterly.
"Why?"
“When I approach Joseph, the ice becomes stronger. That wizard made it so.”
Wizard Phillike is so annoying, to the point of being vicious.
“Then was the last time you saw him in the Valley of Death, the last battlefield?”
He nodded weakly to my question.
His sad eyes made my heart ache.
His expression showed traces of countless times blaming himself for being powerless in the face of the curse.
“Since then, Raphael, Stiane, and Commander Macrom have been taking care of Joseph in my stead.”
At Linel’s words, I turned my gaze to the three of them.
“There’s nothing we can do for Grand Duke Joseph either. We just go in and deliver news of His Majesty.”
Raphael spoke in a gloomy voice, and Stiane added quietly.
“Even that can’t last long.”
“Philike, I will definitely kill that cunning bastard.”
Commander Macrom clenched his fur coat in his hand and ground his teeth.
The wizard Philike, who knows how to handle wyverns. The bastard who put Linel in a hypothermic curse, trapped Joseph in ice, and took away Commander Macrom’s eyesight.
Where on earth can I find him?
Ah, so that’s why Linel asked the lord of the magic tower with such a fierce expression about his whereabouts.
The lord of the magic tower didn’t seem to have very good feelings toward his former disciple Philike, but he wouldn’t say he didn’t know his whereabouts, even though he knew about them, right?
He quickly clenched his fist again as a flame rose from the center of his palm.
“The reason I couldn’t kill that wizard bastard is because of Joseph. I can live like this, but if I kill him, Joseph’s curse might never be lifted.”
However, Linel jokingly grumbled that if he had known that the bastard wouldn’t show up for so long, he should have just killed him then.
“Wouldn’t the lord of the magic tower be able to lift Grand Duke Joseph’s curse? Why don’t you ask him?”
He spoke to him carefully.
“I thought about that, too. But I still don’t know what kind of person the lord of the magic tower is, so I feel awkward showing Joseph.”
It made sense.
“I think it would be better to let him meet Joseph after he experiences the lord of the magic tower at the hunting competition.”
I completely agreed with his opinion.
“Yes, that would be good. I hope the lord of the magic tower can be helpful to us in many ways.”
“Yes. Now... are you ready to meet Joseph?”
“Of course. I want to see him soon.”
Does Joseph look a lot like Linel?
Does he know about me?
If he had told me in advance, I would have paid more attention to my face and clothes.
I looked at Sharon and asked if I looked okay. She fixed my hair and told me that I was okay.
“Grand Duke Joseph is very curious about Your Majesty, the Empress. We have told him a lot about you, Your Majesty the Empress.”
Does he know about me?
If he had told me in advance, I would have paid more attention to my face and clothes.
I looked at Sharon and asked if I looked okay. She fixed my hair and told me that I was okay.
“Grand Duke Joseph is very curious about Your Majesty, the Empress. We have told him a lot about you, Your Majesty the Empress.”
At Raphael’s words, Commander Macrom and Stiane, standing on either side of him, nodded simultaneously.
“I want to meet him soon, too. Please show me around.”
I held his hand and urged him.
“By the way, the temperature inside the room is very low.”
He said with a worried look
“It’s okay. I have a lot of body heat. I can withstand the cold inside the room.”
He smiled slightly at my confident answer, but his eyes still looked anxious.
“You should wear this.”
Commander Macrom handed me the thick fur coat he was holding.
“I don’t think I’ll need it...”
“But wear it anyway.”
Sharon quickly took the fur coat from Commander Macrom and draped it over my shoulders.
“You’d better wear it warmly. It’s a cold that’s hard to endure.”
Linel urged me as I opened the front of the fur coat that was draped over my shoulders.
As soon as I put on the fur coat, my inner incarnation started to rage, saying it was hot, but I held back my heat to ease his worries.
He finally walked over to the bookshelf on the central wall and pressed his palm against a mid-height shelf. Then, the bookshelf and the wall were pushed aside at once, revealing a dark space.
My guess was right.
I felt the coldness I had encountered before once again.
“Take care on your way...”
He raised his hand while sitting on the edge of the stairs.
It seemed that the distance he was sitting was the closest he could get to the room.
If they got any closer, their curses would harm each other.
“I’ll wait here.”
His expression, which was forced to smile, made him look even sadder.
I deliberately raised my tone and asked him.
“Your Majesty, is there anything you want to tell the Grand Duke?”
“Well...”
Linel thought for a moment, then lowered his eyes to the bottom of the stairs and opened his mouth.
“I’m sorry. Tell him that I’m very sorry...”
I nodded without saying anything.
“I’ll be back.”
I started to go down the stairs, guided by Raphael, Commander Macrom, and Stiane.
After going down a few steps, I looked back because he kept bothering me.
Linel was still waving at me from the stairs.
His appearance was so miserable that it made my nose sting.
I followed the three of them down the stairs, and soon I could see the end of the stairs.
There was a gray wall blocking the way.
The secret room was inside.
Commander Macrom stepped firmly on the end of the fourth and final step, and the gray wall leading to the secret room slid aside.
In an instant, the bitter cold inside the secret room blew out. It was on a completely different level from the cold I felt when the library wall first opened.
“This is it. Your Majesty, if it gets too cold, you should come out immediately.”
“Of course.”
I went into the secret room, tightly closing my fur coat in front to ease the worries of the trio.
***
My mouth fell open at the sight that was unbelievable even with my own eyes.
Although my body could not move, I could hear, and as soon as the secret room wall opened, I saw Joseph’s eyes moving toward me.
I walked to Joseph and stood in a position where he could see me well.
“Hello, Grand Duke Joseph. It’s only today that we get to meet. I am Empress Zelda, the wife of His Majesty and the sister-in-law of the Grand Duke.”
I introduced myself calmly.
Joseph’s pupils dilated as much as they could.
When I saw the young Grand Duke trapped in the ice with my own eyes, I became even angrier.
I didn’t know if it would be better to throw that son of a bitch, Philike, into the ice, burn him alive, or alternate between the two.
“You must have heard from Raphael, but the Continental Hunting Competition starts tomorrow. Why didn’t His Majesty tell me where the Grand Duke is today?”
I deliberately blamed Linel and made a regretful expression.
“If you had told me earlier, I would have come often. Actually, I don’t feel cold at all.”
Joseph blinked, wondering what nonsense his sister-in-law was talking about. I took off the fur coat I had on my shoulders to show my credibility.
Joseph opened his eyes wide, telling me not to do that.
“Don’t worry. I’m fine. My breath is coming out of my mouth, but I’m not really cold.”
Joseph finally seemed a little relieved.
“I’ll come every day after the hunting competition. You’ll become closer to me than His Majesty, yes?”
Joseph blinked repeatedly. It seemed like a good sign.
“Oh, and His Majesty asked me to tell you this. He said he was so grateful that you endured it well, and that he wanted to see you a lot.”
I interpreted Linel’s words, “I’m sorry,” differently.
Joseph probably wanted to hear Linel say that he missed him more than that he was sorry.
“What should I tell His Majesty in return?”
Joseph’s eyes darted in various directions as he pondered my question.
“Should I tell him that the Grand Duke also misses His Majesty?”
Joseph blinked twice in agreement.
“Oh, should I tell him that you love him? But I think the Grand Duke will love me more from now on. How about that? If you don’t mind, blink twice in succession this time.”
Joseph blinked twice again without hesitation.
“Yes, I’ll tell him that. It might be boring, but just wait a little. I’ll come back with lots of interesting stories from the hunting competition. I might talk about it all night.”
I placed both hands on the cursed ice and looked closely at Joseph.
I felt electricity running from my fingertips to the inside of my elbows.
I was startled by the electric shock and wanted to pull my hand away, but for some reason, I felt like I was losing to that wizard Philike, so I clenched my teeth and held on tenaciously.
Tingle-.
At that moment, I felt a sharp pain in the palm of my hand that was against the cursed ice.
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