Chapter 51
Inside the passenger ship heading to Lautzen.
After traveling for several days by carriage, they arrived at the port. From there, they boarded a ship and had been sailing for a long time.
It had already been weeks since Reina last stepped on land. She was sick of ships. Instead of endless ocean in every direction, she just wanted to stand on solid ground again.
Feeling cramped inside her cabin, Reina went up to the deck.
The scenery had completely changed.
When they first left, the land was deep green and the sea was dark blue. But now, it felt like they had entered another world. All the colors looked pale and cold.
The sky and the endless sea were lighter in color. The mountains were incredibly tall, as if competing with each other. Snow still covered their peaks.
Even the trees were different—tall, straight trees crowded the mountainsides, unlike those in the capital.
“Is Lautzen… still in winter?”
When they left the capital, it had been late spring, almost summer. But here, snow still lay on the distant land.
The weather had grown colder and colder as time passed. Reina hugged herself and shivered.
“It’s… colder than I expected.”
She knew Lautzen was cold, but not this cold. While the capital was heading toward summer, this place still felt like winter.
She had made a mistake wearing only thin spring clothes with a shawl. The strong northern wind cut through her clothes and touched her bare skin.
Only after boarding the ship did she understand what Kalheil meant when he said it would be hard to return after autumn. In winter, Lautzen’s cold was strong enough to freeze even the sea.
‘How can saltwater freeze?’
It sounded impossible—but Lautzen’s cold made it possible. A land so cold that even the ocean froze.
They hadn’t even arrived yet, and Reina was already worried.
At least she didn’t get seasick on this large ship. If she had been seasick too, she might have wanted to abandon everything—including her secret as a saint—and run back to the capital.
‘Still, once we reach Lautzen, I won’t have to see those things anymore.’
That was one small good thing.
The black caterpillar-like creatures only she could see—the ones clinging to people’s necks and smelling awful. She wouldn’t have to see them in Lautzen.
Some envoy members had those creatures, and Kalheil dealt with them the same way as before—by grabbing Reina’s hand and swinging it like a club to smack their necks.
People protested loudly, but Kalheil declared no one could board the ship unless it was done. So they obediently offered their necks.
Since they were going to Lautzen, they had no choice but to obey its lord.
Each person was hit once—some twice. They complained, but Kalheil ignored them. He didn’t care about getting along with them.
Because of this, the relationship between the envoy and Lautzen only grew worse.
Reina once asked if it was okay to treat an official imperial envoy like that. Kalheil simply said it didn’t matter.
‘Even if they’re unhappy, what can they do?’
Reina, who thought Blair was the scariest person in the world, didn’t understand at first. But over time she realized something:
In Lautzen, no one could challenge Kalheil.
Lautzen was the roof of the continent and the shield protecting the capital. Kalheil was its master. In his land, no one could touch him.
Except maybe monsters.
“It’s so cold. If spring is like this, how bad is winter?”
Just then—
“Are you alright, Your Grace?”
Amy handed her a cup of steaming hot drink.
Reina accepted it. Amy placed a coat made from squirrel fur over her shoulders. The warm coat blocked the wind, and the honey water warmed her stomach.
“Thank you, Amy. I feel alive again.”
“It’s colder than I expected. Can you really survive winter in Lautzen, Your Grace?”
Reina nodded seriously.
“I’ll have to.”
Her contract marriage with Kalheil lasted two years. No matter what, she had to endure that time.
“But I think I’ll survive better than them.”
She nodded toward a group of people huddled together on the deck, shivering.
“Aren’t they the southern people who followed Aisen? Why are they standing there?”
“The Grand Duke ordered everyone in the envoy to take turns guarding the deck. He said flying monsters or sea monsters might attack. But so far, we haven’t even seen a dolphin.”
Amy shook her head.
“People who lived in the warm south all their lives… now in the north.”
Reina clicked her tongue.
“They get cold easily, yet they didn’t even bring winter clothes?”
“They left in a hurry. They thought they would return before summer.”
Reina felt a little sorry for them.
‘Dragged all the way north because of a reckless young lord…’
“Can’t they borrow clothes from Lautzen people?”
Amy waved her hands.
“Don’t even say that. The Grand Duke must have given orders. The people of Lautzen won’t even talk to the southern envoy. And the envoy members don’t try either.”
Reina remembered—Kalheil had hit them as soon as they boarded.
Still, she suspected there was another reason. Even though the southern people no longer had black caterpillars on their necks, Kalheil had still hit them to avoid suspicion.
North and south were already divided.
“…They’ll have to see each other every day from now on…”
She couldn’t interfere.
Nearby, she overheard the southerners talking.
“Why… why is it this cold?”
“This is supposed to be warm spring?”
“If it’s like this now, how will we survive autumn and winter?”
“I heard our term is one year. That means we must survive one winter.”
“One year?! We followed because Lord Aisen ordered us… but one year…”
“Can’t we just go back?”
They were terrified.
Reina couldn’t understand why Aisen insisted on coming north.
Then she thought of something.
‘Is it because he’s the original male lead?’
In the original story, Aisen never gave up on Reina—no matter what.
‘Even after seeing her drugged and in another man’s bed, he still chased after her.’
Was it some kind of male-lead obsession written into his DNA?
If so, that was exhausting.
She once considered him as a potential husband because he would only look at her. But now she was married to Kalheil. That setting didn’t matter anymore.
‘Life in Lautzen won’t be easy.’
She sighed deeply.
Just then—
“Wow!!”
Amy gasped in awe.
Reina followed her gaze.
The peaks of the Lautzen mountain range were glowing gold as sunlight broke through the clouds.
“It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” Amy whispered.
“…Yeah. It’s incredible.”
The emerald sea looked like a giant clear lake. The blue sky and snow-covered mountains shimmered brilliantly.
It felt like standing inside a painting.
Everything she had seen before felt ordinary compared to this.
Then Reina narrowed her eyes and pointed.
“Amy… doesn’t that part look strange?”
“Where?”
“There. Doesn’t the snow look different?”
Amy leaned forward.
“Huh? You’re right. The mountain’s side is… pink?”
Among all the white snow-covered mountains, one had pink snow along its middle.
“Does Lautzen have special snow?” Amy wondered.
“Special snow…?”
And they stared at the pink-colored mountain.
