Chapter 3.2

“Ugh, it’s cold.”  

At that moment, a snowflake landed on her head.  

Lyla slowly lifted her head and looked up at the sky.  

The light snow quickly turned into a heavy snowfall, blanketing the world in white.  

Her insides were burning black, but the world outside was turning a pure white, and she hated it so much.  

Would I freeze to death if I fell asleep right here? 

If so, she wished her body would melt away with the snow the next day.  

‘You must grow stronger, Lyla.’  

At that moment, Lyle’s voice struck her heart like a hammer.  

“Brother…”  

Lyla clenched her fists tightly.  

She resolved to freeze her heart with this cold.  

So that she would no longer feel any sadness.  

At least this damned cold would last forever.  

Lyla made up her mind. She would survive, no matter what. At the same time, she believed that as long as she lived, her family would continue to live within her.  

She had to endure, even if it was just like this.  

***

“You’ll regret not handing over the title to me, Lyle!”  

In the end, she didn’t hand over the title.  

After that, Lyla pushed herself into dangerous situations to avoid being consumed by sorrow.  

When her body was exhausted, unnecessary thoughts didn’t come to her. It wasn’t that she considered memories of her family useless. But it was clear that they didn’t help her survive.  

She volunteered for dangerous tasks like hunting wild bears or destroying bandit gangs.  

Of course, she didn’t have the skills to handle them on her own. She took on menial tasks like laundry and cooking while temporarily employed by mercenary groups.  

If she were to die in a place where even her body couldn’t be found, it would be a good death. Without evidence of her death, Lyla—no, Lyle’s title wouldn’t be inherited.  

It was her final act of revenge against her uncle, who had always been eager to devour her.  

‘Let him struggle to find my body. If I’m going to die, I’ll die in a place no one can find me.’  

She lived with such pitiful thoughts buried deep in her heart. In the end, even her revenge could only be carried out in a way that destroyed herself.  

‘Do I want to live, or do I want to die…?’  

Sometimes, she wondered about that.  

One day, as she continued to live a shaky, aimless life, unable to grasp even her own heart—  

“Have you still not finished moving everything?”  

The commander approached Lyla, who was struggling to move items alone, and scolded her.  

“I heard the Cardia family has produced outstanding knights for generations. That’s why I hired you, but…”  

The commander’s only redeeming quality was his ignorance of the rumors in the North. As a wandering mercenary, he surprisingly held the Cardia family in high regard.  

He wasn’t wrong.  

The Cardia family had consistently produced Imperial Knights, earning its place as a distinguished noble house. But that was hundreds of years ago, during times of frequent war.  

In this peaceful era, there were no opportunities to prove valor, and in the most recent war, her father had been falsely accused of desertion.  

And the last remaining child of the family was—  

“I heard that kid was attacked by a bear in the forest as a child and couldn’t protect his sister. He was so traumatized that he can’t even hold a sword now.”  

A mercenary approached and started talking without being asked.  

The commander frowned, clearly even less pleased with Lyla now.  

Hearing the sigh that followed, Lyla felt her chest tighten.  

She wasn’t worried about being kicked out of the mercenary group. What hurt was the insult to Lyle’s name.  

Lyla lowered her head and swallowed her anger.  

‘Lyle isn’t weak. Lyle is stronger than anyone. He protected me! Lyle…’  

He had sacrificed his life to save his family. And yet, what had she done…?  

She was the weak one.  

The weak one was Lyla. Yet the world blamed Lyle.  

And as long as she lived, this would happen again and again.  

She felt her heart, which she thought had frozen solid, begin to crack.  

Lyle had given her a chance to live a new life, and she couldn’t let him be branded a coward.  

Lyla suddenly raised her head. She straightened her back and spoke with determination.  

“You said you needed a volunteer for the mission. I’ll do it.”  

A few days ago, a request had come in to eliminate a bandit group threatening the local villagers. The problem was that the bandits’ hideout was deep in the mountains and hard to find.  

If too many people searched at once, the bandits might notice and relocate. So, it was decided that one person would search the area on a moonlit night like tonight.  

“Don’t be ridiculous. This isn’t a job for you.”  

The commander firmly refused, glaring at her.  

But Lyla didn’t back down and met his gaze with her own fiery determination.  

Her usually hollow eyes burned brightly, but it wasn’t enough to convince the commander. To him, her behavior seemed like a momentary act of recklessness.  

That’s when the other mercenaries chimed in.  

“Just let him do it, Commander. He’s volunteering…”  

“Exactly. Why send someone else when there’s already a volunteer?”  

The forest was notorious for its predators, like snow leopards, wolves, and bears, especially at night. Even seasoned mercenaries were hesitant to search it alone.  

“I’m small, so I won’t stand out. And I’m confident in my running speed.”  

“Yeah, yeah. Lyle, you’re small, but you sure can run fast.”  

One of the mercenaries grinned, revealing yellowed teeth, mocking her cowardice.  

Lyla clenched her fists and looked at the commander.  

After a long moment of contemplation, the commander finally nodded, as if giving up.  

He pulled out a map and compass from his pocket and handed them to Lyla.  

“Don’t do anything reckless. You’re still just a rookie.”  

***

‘Where… am I…?’  

When she opened her eyes,  

Lyla was trapped inside a cage.  

The bright moon that had illuminated the path had already turned into the sun. 

Had a day passed? Then had I been unconscious all night?  

“Idiot.”  

A harsh insult pierced her ears.  

The first thing she heard upon opening her eyes was someone calling her an idiot. When Lyla weakly raised her head, she saw a boy sitting across from her.  

His white hair, as if made of snow, shone under the sunlight, and his red eyes gleamed menacingly. It was an eerie gaze, unbefitting a child. If a snow leopard were to take human form, it would look like this.  

“You… were you captured too? Are you alright?”  

“Who’s worried about who? And why aren’t you speaking properly?”  

Startled by the boy’s sharp tone, Lyla instinctively hunched her shoulders.  

He looked to be about ten years old, much younger than she was. Yet, his commanding demeanor seemed second nature to him.  

Ah, she remembered now.  

There was only one boy in the North with such an appearance.  

‘Kadis Wolfgallion!’  

The legitimate heir of the Wolfgallion family.  

One day, he would become the Duke of the North. In a rush to pay her respects, Lyla scrambled to her feet—only to hit her head on the low ceiling of the cage.  

Thud!  

“Ouch!”  

Lyla clutched her head and collapsed back down.  

The pain was sharp enough to bring tears to her eyes, and her head throbbed painfully. Perhaps the only silver lining was that the pain helped her regain full consciousness.  

Peeking through one eye, she examined her surroundings. Iron bars tightly enclosed her and the boy in a small cage. The space was so cramped that standing up was impossible.  

‘Is this a cage for trapping wild beasts?’  

Lyla groaned and closed her eyes again.  

“Oww… it hurts.”  

“Pathetic.”  

Kadis sneered and then abruptly yelled.  

“What were you thinking, barging into a bandit hideout alone?”  

So this was indeed the bandits’ base.  

Now that she understood the situation, fragmented memories began to resurface.  

After thoroughly searching the snowy mountains, she had spotted black smoke and flickering flames rising into the sky. Marking the location on her map, she had cautiously descended the mountain.  

That was when she had run into a patrolling bandit.  

What happened after that wasn’t worth recounting—it was obvious.  

“I—I came to locate the bandit hideout.”  

“And what were you planning to do after finding it?”  

Lyla, who had been timidly answering, suddenly clenched her fists and raised her voice.  

“Of course, I was going to help wipe them out! The mercenary group that took the request is nearby—”  

“So, you’re a mercenary? Forget it. If you’re this stupid, your comrades can’t be much better. They’ll all die anyway.”  

Kadis interrupted her coldly.  

Unfortunately, Lyla couldn’t refute him.  

The mercenary group wasn’t a ragtag bunch; it was led by a veteran commander, and the members were above average in skill.  

The problem was that the enemy’s numbers were far greater than expected. The bandits had doubled in size, likely reinforced in the meantime. Frankly, this was a situation that warranted the intervention of the Northern Guard.  

“But there’s no choice. The Duke doesn’t send guards to small villages…”  

“Are you blaming my father now?”  

Lyla, who had been grumbling, quickly shut her mouth.  

“N-No, that’s not what I meant…”  

“Yeah, he’s an idiot.”  

Kadis suddenly burst into laughter. Lyla froze, shocked by his words.