A faint smile flickered across Calix's lips. Instead of the stern authority he displayed at the banquet, a strangely soft light now lingered.
A moment of silence fell between the two. Only the wind sweeping through the corridor filled the stillness. Odelia lowered her gaze and broke the silence first with a voice that sounded as if she were quietly catching her breath.
"Even so, thank you for today, Your Majesty."
“Shall we walk together?”
It was neither a joke nor an intentional act of kindness, but simply a suggestion that flowed naturally. Odelia, who was about to walk away, hesitated for a moment before quietly nodding.
The sound of two people walking side by side continued clearly over the shallow marble.
On the way to the courtyard, the night air was clear and cold. Then, at a certain moment, snowflakes began to scatter, cutting through the air. It was the first snow of the year.
Odelia stopped walking and looked up at the sky. Her gaze lingered for a moment at the sight of white snowflakes gently swaying and falling in the cold air.
Calix quietly watched her from beside her. Odelia's clear eyes looked up at the sky, the white snowflakes settling on her softly shining eyelashes... It spread faintly, like a scene etched in his heart for a long time.
***
The next morning, a dazzling snowfield stretched endlessly behind the imperial palace. The white fields met the deep blue forest in the distance, and even the high walls of the imperial palace appeared as nothing more than shadows in its presence.
Amidst the heavy snowfall, a trumpet rang out, signaling the start of the hunting competition.
Horsemen stood in a line at the starting line of the hunting grounds. They were the ministers and nobles of the imperial palace, and their children.
White breath shot up into the winter sky. Each held a splendid bow and spear in their hands, and their fingertips, armed with leather gloves, were determined.
Odelia stopped as she was descending the snow-covered stairs. The coldness tightening at her fingertips was unusual.
She took off her gloves to check, and sure enough, the leather was torn all the way to the crevices. Whenever the wind seeped in, a tingling pain dug into her knuckles.
"...I guess I can’t use it anymore."
With a short sigh, Odelia took off her gloves. She straightened the hem of her cloak with her bare hands and resumed walking.
As Odelia mounted the prepared horse, the eyes of those around her briefly brushed past her.
However, the gaze that lingered the longest was by far Calix's. Forgetting that snowflakes were piling up above his head, he quietly took in her image for a moment.
As the signal sounded, the horses galloped forward in unison. Their hooves kicked up a snowstorm as they scattered into the forest.
Cheers and shouts echoed briefly amidst the falling snow, and the horses, pushing through the thick bushes, scattered, each heading in a different direction.
Gradually, the cheers and shouts faded away, and soon only snowflakes and breath remained in the shade of the trees.
Odelia paused for a moment in front of the dense bushes. Her vision was blurred by the fluttering snowflakes, but above all, the problem was her hands, which were trembling with a tingling sensation as her senses had already dulled.
Just then, a servant approached silently and cautiously knelt near her.
"Lady Odelia, he says to make sure you wear gloves."
What he held out was a pair of thick leather gloves.
"...Ah. Thank you."
As she slipped her fingers in, a warm sensation seeped in from the inside. She liked how her hands would instantly thaw when they were numb with cold, but she soon realized the gloves were quite loose.
“It’s pretty big.”
Odelia looked down at the glove for a moment. It hung loosely, extending about a finger's length longer than her hand.
It felt as though her fingertips were wandering in the air every time she moved, but of course, it was much better than having bare hands.
Odelia tightly bound her wrists, fearing that the cold wind might seep through the loose gaps. Only then was she able to move again amidst the falling snow.
The faces of the noble sons, who were shouting that they would catch prey, actually showed more excitement than tension. Some squinted at the snowstorm while aiming their bows and burst into laughter, while others focused on playing with snowballs rather than hunting.
With laughter and shouts mingling with the sound of the snowball fight, the hunting competition had suddenly turned into a winter festival.
Odelia watched the commotion from a distance, then quietly dismounted from her horse. As she walked on the snow, a rustling sound quietly spread in her ears.
She did not go out of her way to aim her bow to score points, nor did she chase the deer that had run into the bushes. She simply inhaled the cold wind, walked across the snowfield, and took in the swirling snowflakes.
The sight of sunlight squeezing through the white trees and breaking against the snow caught her eye. Her fingertips were still bound in loose gloves, but the warmth rising from within gave her a strange sense of relief.
Nearby, young noblemen were teasing each other by throwing snowballs, but they all burst into laughter as they scrambled away to avoid the kicks of a horse that had been hit in the eye and was agitated.sh
Odelia stepped back from all the commotion and was enjoying the breath of the snowfield.
A snowflake gently settled on the hem of her dress. Odelia lightly brushed it off with the back of her hand and closed her eyes for a moment.
For some reason, at least for this moment, she felt as though she were standing simply in the middle of winter, forgetting both calculations and politics, just like a child again.
Tuk.
Suddenly, a cold sensation touched her shoulder. She brushed off the fluttering snowflakes and turned her head.
A little distance away, Calix was standing, holding a snowball in one hand.
As the snow flurries scattered, small snowflakes had settled thickly on his head.
"...Your Majesty?"
Finding his appearance strangely cute, Odelia called out to him in disbelief, but Calix smiled lightly without giving any particular reply.
Odelia's gaze shifted to his hand. The hand rolling the snowball was bare. The skin was frozen solid.
Ah. Realization settled in her heart like a snowflake falling quietly. Odelia held her breath for a moment and hurriedly took off her gloves.
"Your hands are turning so red... Please put on my gloves."
As she approached and held out a glove, Calix shook his head.
“No need. It’s okay.”
He declined, but Odelia still hesitated. She now knew whose warmth it was that had enveloped her hand—the warmth inside the glove she held. Even by rough estimation, the glove appeared to fit Calix's hand perfectly.
Odelia silently clutched her gloves and looked at him through the snowflakes.
To think that I... was wearing his gloves. A flush rose on her face, as if touched by a wind fiercer than the snowflakes. Beneath her nonchalant expression, her heart tingled strangely.
Odelia turned her gaze to look up at the snowy sky. However, her eyes could not linger long, and eventually came down to her hand.
He clenched his gloved hands as if gathering them together. As if trying to hide the warmth remaining at his fingertips, or as if trying to hold tightly to a heart he did not want to be discovered.
Calix watched the scene without saying a word. He seemed oblivious to the snowflakes piling up on her shoulders and hair, gazing endlessly only at Odelia's small movements.
"Father, I said stop flying!"
"Haha, if you can't even avoid this, how can you expect to serve your purpose later!"
Laughter from the other side was carried on the wind. The tension of the hunting competition seemed to have vanished long ago. Not only the children but even the adults were getting more enthusiastic about the snowball fight.
Odelia and Calix stared blankly at each other for a moment, then blended into the flow.
They aimed at each other while rolling snowballs, but instead of hitting each other, they ended up getting hit themselves, laughing roughly and freely just like in the days when they stood shoulder to shoulder on the battlefield.
"It's not as easy as the battlefield."
As Calix laughed softly, parting his white eyes, Odelia caught her breath and replied.
"Back then, arrows flew, not snowballs... Haha, you've gotten more dramatic..."
Suddenly, the ground beneath Odelia’s feet gave way. Her foot had fallen into a puddle hidden beneath the snowdrift.
Odelia, having completely lost her balance, landed in the snow, the cold snow dug up to her neckline.
"...!"
Before she could grasp the situation or regain her balance, a strong hand gripped her arm.
He pulled her up forcefully and stood her up on the snow. Snowflakes cascaded down from her hair and shoulders.
At that moment... Odelia was seized by a sense of déjà vu.
She didn't know the reason. She didn't know why this scene was overlapping with hers now. However, long ago, the hunting competition she had participated in with Allan and Gideon flashed before Odelia's eyes.
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