Chapter 3.2

“If you two have so much energy, why don’t we go have a snowball fight? The snow has stopped, after all.”

Albert pointed outside the window. Rizle glanced out and saw that, indeed, the snow had ceased.

“A snowball fight? That’s so childish.” 

Rizle scoffed, showing little interest.

“Why? Are you scared? Well, you’ve never won a single time, so it makes sense.” 

Gilbert teased.

Rizle’s eyes flared with anger, and her fists trembled. His words were too accurate for her to refute, which only made her more annoyed.

“Come on, let’s go outside instead of standing here.” 

Albert said, grabbing his siblings’ hands and leading them out. 

The idea of having to play referee for his grown siblings struck him as a bit amusing. Still, he was relieved that they didn’t truly hate each other. Some siblings, despite sharing blood, went as far as poisoning one another. Compared to that, his siblings were quite endearing. 

‘Thanks to you two, I’ll probably still be having snowball fights even as a hunched-over old man.’

Albert chuckled at the thought.

The three Thruella siblings headed to the garden. It wasn’t too large or too small, making it a perfect spot for their frequent snowball fights. However, someone had arrived there before them.

“Count!”

Albert called out to the familiar figure. 

Heizen, who had been engrossed in something, suddenly realized their presence and appeared flustered. He hastily tried to hide what he was working on with his large frame.

“What are you doing?”

Rizle, of course, didn’t miss his suspicious movements. She quickly ran over, determined to see what he was concealing.

“Don’t…!”

Heizen seemed desperate to keep her from finding out, but Rizle nimbly dodged his flailing arms. Her reflexes, honed from years of wrestling with Gilbert, were sharp. 

“A snowman.”

The object he had been hiding was a snowman. Compared to Heizen’s large stature, it was surprisingly small. Embarrassed about being caught secretly building a snowman, the tips of Heizen’s ears turned red.

His reaction was adorable. Rizle clasped her hands behind her back and grinned as she teased him.

“Was it fun? You had fun, didn’t you?”

Her playful question seemed to make his ears redden even more. A sweet, lighthearted atmosphere began to form between them, but it was abruptly shattered when a snowball smacked into Rizle’s back.

The culprit was Gilbert, who was already crafting another snowball with his hands.

Rizle immediately began gathering snow to retaliate. The two started running around the garden, throwing snowballs at each other, while Heizen watched in bewilderment. 

Then, thud—a snowball hit Heizen’s leg. 

This time, it was Albert.

“Join us, Count! The winner is whoever lands a hit on someone’s head. We always bet on granting a wish!”

Hearing that Heizen would join, Gilbert’s eyes gleamed. He had been aiming at Rizle but suddenly threw his snowball at the unsuspecting Heizen instead. Heizen narrowly dodged it. 

Unfortunately, Gilbert’s snowball ended up hitting the snowman Heizen had been building, splitting its head in two. 

Heizen frowned deeply and turned to Gilbert with a sharp glare—a look reminiscent of the Heizen Warkliber seen on the battlefield. 

Realizing his mistake, Gilbert froze. Meanwhile, Rizle quietly snuck up behind him.

“Gotcha!”

Startled by her shout, Gilbert dodged. Deciding to leave Heizen alone for now, he turned his attention to attacking Rizle instead.

“Ahhh! Albert, help me!”

Failing her ambush, Rizle found herself under relentless attack. She covered her head with her arms and ran away. Albert, holding snow in both hands, chased after her to assist.

“All right, I’m coming to—ugh!”

Albert’s efforts ended anticlimactically when a light toss from Gilbert hit him squarely in the head, knocking him out of the game.

With no one left to help her, Rizle ran desperately. Despite her frantic sprint, the snow made her feet sink, slowing her down. Gilbert’s longer strides allowed him to close the gap quickly.

Just as Gilbert prepared to throw another snowball, Heizen grabbed his wrist. While Gilbert stood in shock, Heizen restrained both of his arms, rendering him immobile.

“Now, Rizle!” 

Albert, still brushing snow off his head, shouted.

Rizle grinned mischievously at the sight of Gilbert being held captive by Heizen. She gathered a large amount of snow to form an enormous snowball.

Gilbert, struck by a snowball the size of his head, dramatically collapsed in defeat.

“I won! I beat Gilbert for the first time!”

Rizle jumped up and down in delight before releasing Gilbert and rushing toward Heizen. This time, instead of tackling him, she hugged him tightly.

After laughing heartily, Rizle gradually became aware of her actions. Overcome with excitement, she had hugged him without thinking. But this wasn’t Albert—it was Heizen.

As she tried to pull away, Heizen wrapped his arms around her. Looking up into his eyes, she saw her reflection in his dark brown irises, which appeared almost black in the dim light. Her heart pounded. Though her nose felt cold, the warmth from his chest and stomach where they touched was comforting.

For some reason, she thought he might kiss her. She could feel his desire in his gaze. She didn’t mind. She liked the idea of a kiss. But doing so in front of her brothers was too embarrassing.

Reaching for the snow on the railing behind him, Rizle scooped some up and lightly pressed it against his right cheek.

“I won!”

Unable to face his reproachful gaze, she quickly turned her head and shouted. Her voice was louder than usual, an attempt to hide her flustered feelings.

“Albert, I want new gloves! And Gilbert, return the quill you took from me—it was my favorite!”

But as soon as she finished speaking, embarrassment crept back in. She could feel Heizen’s silent stare on the side of her face.

“Do you not have any orders for me?”

“It’s not an order; it’s a wish…”

For some reason, her voice grew quieter. She felt as though Heizen was accusing her of betrayal for stealing the victory after he had helped her. Though that wasn’t his intention, she couldn’t shake the feeling.

“If you have a wish, I’ll grant it.”

“…Anything?”

“Anything except calling off the proposal.”

Hearing this, Rizle looked at him. He didn’t seem as angry or resentful as she had feared. If anything, his expression suggested he was wondering if she might bring up the proposal again.

“Hmm.”

After a moment of thought, Rizle let out an “Ah” and grinned mischievously, making Heizen feel a twinge of unease.

***

Late at night, Heizen lay in bed, trying to fall asleep without even making a sound. About three minutes after closing his eyes, he suddenly opened them wide. He took a deep breath and shut his eyes again, only to reopen them less than a minute later.

He had been repeating this behavior for over two hours. His mind swayed like a fragile branch caught in a fierce snowstorm, making it impossible to sleep peacefully.

‘Go on a date with me.’

Contrary to his worries, Rizle’s wish wasn’t anything extraordinary. No, calling it “nothing special” wasn’t quite accurate for Heizen, whose heart was pounding so hard that he couldn’t sleep.

In the end, he didn’t get a wink of sleep before morning arrived.

“I’m exhausted.”

Even though he hadn’t slept, he had spent the night lying in bed. Yet his body felt as if he had been on a ten-hour guard duty. His head ached, and he longed for rest.

“Would I be able to hold my ground if she tackles me today?”

Heizen doubted it. He liked it when Rizle came charging at him with all her might. He liked catching her and, without losing his balance, naturally pulling her into a hug.

But today, he wasn’t in good enough shape to manage it.

“Count!”

However, the moment he saw Rizle, Heizen realized his concerns were unfounded. It was as if the heaviness in his limbs and the fog in his mind had been a lie—he felt light and refreshed.

The two of them rode a carriage together into town.

At the first shop they entered, Rizle chose a pair of gloves and had Albert’s name put on them. It was the item Albert had promised to grant as her wish. Afterward, they visited other shops to browse accessories, hats, and shoes.

Despite expecting something special to happen during their date, nothing out of the ordinary occurred. Heizen felt more like a knight escorting a young lady on a shopping trip than someone on a date.

Though he would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little disappointed, ironically, he felt at ease. He had never properly gone on a date with a woman before and had lost sleep worrying about whether he could do it right.

On the other hand, escorting a lady on an outing was something he had experience with. Having visited many shops, Rizle would soon grow tired and want to sit down for tea.

“Count.”

Sure enough, Rizle called out to him. Heizen prepared himself to carry her shopping bags in both hands and head to a nearby café.

When you could predict how things would unfold, there wasn’t much to fear.