Chapter 1
The Enar Grand Ducal House—the strongest guardian knight family in the Empire.
Early in the morning, the servants of the grand mansion gathered in front of the hall, whispering among themselves.
“What is this?”
In the sacred main hall, where sunlight poured down brightly,
a gigantic ice sculpture stood proudly, sparkling brilliantly.
It was the upper body of a man, displaying raw physical beauty.
A massive chest that looked ready to burst, solid six-pack abs, and bulging biceps that gleamed impressively.
Some young maids, too embarrassed to look directly, peeked through their fingers instead.
“Ah… how indecent.”
At that moment, the head maid walked over and scolded them.
“What are you all staring at blankly for? Hurry and get back to your work!”
She clicked her tongue.
“Tsk tsk… Who in the world put such a bizarre thing in the main hall… I must report this to His Grace immediately.”
“But, Head Maid!”
One maid bravely pointed at the sculpture’s head.
“Look at its face! That face is… definitely…”
“The face?”
The head maid slowly lifted her gaze toward the sculpture—and froze in shock.
“Oh my goodness! Who would dare do such a thing?!”
The face of the muscular sculpture…
was none other than the sacred master of the mansion—
the Grand Duke of Enar himself.
Kaid Enar, the guardian knight of the snowy mountains!
Unlike other guardian knights of the Empire, he considered exposing a strong physique to be vulgar.
And yet…
to mock him like this!
Soon, the servants gathered like clouds, whispering among themselves.
Someone had insulted the Grand Duke!
The head butler stepped forward and declared:
“This is a grave crime. We must find the culprit immediately!”
Then the head maid added:
“If it’s the culprit, I have someone in mind.”
At her words, the servants all nodded at once.
At this moment, everyone could only think of one girl.
“The troublemaker of the Enar Grand Ducal House!”
Hearing this, the butler shouted loudly:
“Find Jenuiere immediately! Hurry!”
“Yes!”
The maids began to move busily.
Hidden behind the sculpture, watching everything, I smiled in satisfaction.
‘Good!’
I clenched my fist tightly, joy rising inside me.
‘This time… I’ll finally be thrown out, right?’
My heart pounded.
At last, I could escape from the Enar Grand Ducal House!
My name is Jenuiere.
I am an ice ability user.
I can create and control ice freely with my hands.
This giant ice sculpture—clearly meant to insult the Grand Duke—
was my creation.
Not long ago, my ability caught the Grand Duke’s attention, and I was brought here as his ward.
But I wanted to escape.
‘As soon as possible!’
Before the original heroine arrives!
I had already tried every possible way to escape, but nothing worked.
So there was only one method left.
To change the Grand Duke’s mind.
After all, he only kept me here to refine and use my ice ability.
And not just that—
once the heroine appears and the Grand Duke learns the truth of my ability,
he will definitely kill me.
Because that is my fate in the original story.
‘I don’t want to be used.’
And of course—
I don’t want to die either!
If my ability goes out of control and insults the Grand Duke,
his noble personality would surely make him abandon me without hesitation.
‘Then I can avoid my doomed ending!’
I watched the servants searching for me throughout the hall.
‘Alright… time to get caught.’
Just as I was about to stand up—
someone suddenly came up behind me and asked:
“…Does the Grand Duke of Enar really look like this?”
I nodded confidently.
“Of course.”
Well… I did exaggerate the muscles a bit to mock him…
But still, I nodded.
Then the gentle voice replied:
“I don’t know… it looks a bit lacking to me.”
“Oh… really?”
“I am much sturdier than I appear.”
At that absurd answer, I turned around—
and froze.
“…Huh?”
Kaid Enar.
The Grand Duke of the snowy mountains—
the very person who had bound me to this place—
stood there, smiling beautifully as he looked down at me.
In his mid-thirties, wearing his usual high-collared silver uniform, with long silver-gray hair flowing down—
he looked as noble as a priest.
But that wasn’t the problem.
“Still, it’s an impressive piece, Jenuiere.”
His blue eyes softened as he looked at the sculpture, as if he truly liked it.
‘There’s no way he means that!’
He should feel insulted.
But instead…
he stepped closer.
Knock, knock.
He tapped the sculpture lightly.
“Very solid and sturdy.”
Then he gently patted my head.
“As expected of the one I chose. Jenuiere, your work moves people. Perhaps… my taste in clothing might change.”
‘Ahhh! This isn’t right!’
Something was wrong.
I had designed this to shock him mentally—but he didn’t seem shocked at all.
‘Is it because my ability looks impressive?’
Then…
I had no choice.
‘I’ll reveal the truth of my ability right here!’
Servants began to gather again.
I raised my head calmly.
“Everyone, look!”
I lightly tapped the base of the sculpture.
And then—
CRASH!
The massive ice sculpture, which reached the ceiling, collapsed instantly like powdered sugar.
A cloud of snow-like dust filled the hall.
“Cough! Cough!”
The servants coughed, then stared in shock.
The giant sculpture had completely disappeared.
I shouted:
“Look. I’m not a real ability user. If it were real ice, it wouldn’t break so easily!”
The heroine’s “real ice” could purify evil and was as hard as a diamond.
But mine?
It could crumble anytime I wanted.
Because mine was fake.
‘That’s the difference between my fake ice and the heroine’s real ice.’
Now they would know.
There was no reason to keep me anymore.
‘I should’ve done this earlier!’
I bowed politely.
“Your Grace… everyone.”
“Thank you for taking care of me. I will accept any punishment.”
Silence filled the hall.
I swallowed nervously, imagining being dragged out—
Then a shadow fell over me.
The Grand Duke bent down.
Pat, pat.
He brushed the snow off my head.
“Jenuiere… what a pity.”
…He sounded disappointed.
“Well, I liked it.”
“…What?”
“Next time, make it sturdier.”
I looked up, stunned.
He smiled beautifully and patted my shoulder.
“Actually… this works out well. It was too big for the hall anyway.”
Then he looked around at the snow.
“There’s quite a lot of snow.”
“…Yes.”
“I heard you once envied children who made snowmen with their families.”
“…Wait… did I say that?”
“Then shall we make a snowman?”
“…What?”
I stared at him in disbelief.
But his smile was warm.
And before I knew it—
he grabbed my hand and started rolling snow on the floor.
“Head Maid, bring gloves for Jenuiere.”
“Yes!”
“Everyone else, leave.”
“Yes, Your Grace!”
The servants quickly withdrew.
I stared in shock.
‘What is this…?’
In no time, the Grand Duke was seriously rolling a huge snowball.
“Jenuiere, come help.”
My mind went blank.
…Whatever.
I sat down in the snow and started rolling it too.
At the same time, I thought desperately—
‘I have to figure it out.’
‘A way to completely disappoint this Grand Duke… and escape this place!’
(To be continued)
