Chapter 2.1 – First Snow

On the day the first snow blanketed the roof and garden of the small log cabin halfway up the Ferindale hill in pure white.

Rian returned from delivering a knitted garment as a birth congratulatory gift to the village chief’s house, blowing on her frozen hands as she pushed open the front door.

“Hmm?”

Inside the house, which she expected to be empty, a warm atmosphere and the delicious smell of roasting meat greeted her. As she looked around the house in confusion, the storage room door suddenly opened.

Kaiden stepped over the threshold, smiling subtly at Rian.

“Welcome back, Rian.”

“Weren’t you supposed to visit your place today?”

Unable to hide her joy, Rian raised her eyes sweetly.

“I’ll go tomorrow. Just staying one more day.”

Kaiden wrapped her cold hands in his large, warm ones. As his warmth seeped into her ice-cold fingertips, a sweet tremor spread through her chest.

“……”

The two stood silently for a moment at the door, holding hands. Then, caught in a sudden thirst, they hurriedly joined their bodies without even taking off their clothes.

“Rian…”

“Ah, ah…!”

“Stick out your tongue. Let me taste your saliva.”

“Oh, no, it’s dirty…”

Thud, belatedly, the door closed, and the sound of snow falling echoed.

“Spread your legs and sit on my face. Ugh, take me in your mouth, ha, ugh, like that…”

Their relationship had already lasted over a month.

Kaiden said he was staying in Ferindale to write a book about his hometown. He traveled back and forth between his mother’s house and Rian’s house every few days, writing and holding her.

While staying at Rian’s house, he indulged in her every day, filling the house with warm heat. She hardly felt the cold of the winter with its unusually heavy snowfall.

He was absorbed in her day and night, like a beast in heat.

Rian’s fear that he might soon lose interest and leave was unfounded, as his fiery desire showed no signs of waning.

“Rian.”

“Mm…”

“Rian, are you asleep?”

“Ugh…”

“Haha. Okay. I won’t bother you anymore.”

Kaiden laughed easily, unlike a noble.

As night deepened, he held her in her bed and slept together. It seemed like a sacred ritual that had to be completed, sucking and biting her entire body before holding her exhausted form in his arms.

Like the red berries ripening in the winter forest, Rian grew more alluring each day. And Kaiden, like a young beast adapting to hunting, became more skillful and persistent by the day.

When he reached his climax inside Rian, he trembled with joy, spilling sweet words of affection.

Take me. I will take you too.

However.

“…When will you return to the royal capital?”

Rian could not help but be aware of that day. The day this warm and satisfying life would end.

Kaiden O’Connell was a knight serving the King’s orders in the capital. Coming to Ferindale was just a brief ‘holiday.’

“Hmm… In spring.”

Kaiden casually answered, twirling Rian’s red hair around his fingers playfully. His indifferent reply pierced her chest like the biting winter wind.

Indeed, he would leave soon….

Barely two months left.

Rian had no confidence she could let him go gracefully.

What should I do? How can I…

* * *

Winter seemed to fade as soon as it deepened.

“Are you not busy?”

“Well? What’s the matter? You touched me first.”

“I just wanted to hold you.”

When Rian touched Kaiden’s firm shoulders or arms, he reacted instantly as if she had caressed him intimately. His lower body sprang to life, pressing against the fabric of his trousers, eager to enter her.

He breathed heavily, as if undergoing a painful trial, avoiding her gaze.

“…Didn’t you send me to my room saying you had to knit tonight?”

“I’ll knit tomorrow. Today, I want to hold you.”

“Ha… If you allow me to enter right now, ah… Rian…”

The sensations his hot, solid body provided were all she could have.

Rian could not fully possess Kaiden O’Connell.

Even if he spoke possessively during their passionate moments, she knew better than to trust promises made by a man blinded by desire. They hadn’t made any special promises.

A noble marrying a commoner was a fairy tale. A respectable knight joining with a country girl, a traveler settling with someone from a strange town….

Such things were rarely realized fantasies in reality. Her parents, Dein and Brianna, were like those in fairy tales, knights and ladies, now only meeting in true fantasies….

“Lift your hips more. Look at me, Rian. Suck my tongue…”

“Mm, good. More, more…”

“A little harder, is that okay?”

“Yes, harder, give it to me tight, deeper…”

“Like, this? Putting it like this… ugh, doesn’t hurt?”

“Ah, ahh…! It hurts, too big, big and good, ahh…”

Her fantasy shattered into pieces.

“Ah, darling…”

She whimpered in ecstasy, and Kaiden momentarily flinched, stopping his movements.

“……”

Though brief, the embarrassment he felt seemed to transmit directly to her through the pulsating member deep within her.

Then, as if nothing had happened, Kaiden continued his thrusts. He asked no questions.

He didn’t ask why she dared to call him that.

“Whew, huh…”

“Mm…”

Rian did not speak again until the long, messy act ended like any other day. She merely whimpered, biting her lips to avoid revealing unnecessary feelings.

* * *

“…Hey, Rian.”

Rian, dozing off against Kaiden’s arm, opened her eyes suddenly. She looked up at him blankly, and he turned his gaze, giving a vague smile.

“No, it’s nothing. Go to sleep.”

He pulled the blanket up over her shoulder, stopping his words.

What was he trying to say? Did he feel bad? It must have been strange to call him ‘darling’ out of the blue when we weren’t married… He probably didn’t like it.

Rian curled up, feeling dejected. Even his gentle hand stroking her hair felt sorrowful.

Why did I do that? Unintentionally. There was no one else I called ‘darling.’

I just liked hearing Dad and Mom call each other ‘darling’ tenderly when I was a child. I remember saying, ‘I want to call you darling too!’ and joining in, only to get a playful flick on the forehead from Mom.

Darling.

The simple language Dad and Mom used to call each other felt so happy….

Rian tossed and turned, unable to sleep with regret, quietly wiping her tears after Kaiden’s hand patting her back fell silent.

I hate it….

I hate you for leaving me. I hate you for casually saying you’d leave in spring. You shouldn’t have been so kind from the start. Making me love you, fall deeply, and then leave coldly.

Ah, it would be nice if we stayed in winter forever.

* * *

“Rian. I caught some fish, shall we grill them for lunch?”

“Sounds good.”

“I shared some with Pin’s family since they have many people. It won’t be lacking, right?”

“Yes. I can’t eat a whole one anyway.”

“You should eat more. You need to be stronger.”

“Yes.”

“Again, you’re just answering casually.”

“……”

She began to speak a little less than before. Even if she shared deep stories and desired him more, the fleeting past and the disappearing future made her sorrowful.

“Ha, ah…, does it hurt?”

“It’s okay, yo. Mm! Kai…”

Yet, letting him go was even more impossible. Clinging to his warmth and kindness as he embraced her tenderly, she wished winter would last just one more day.

“More, give me more. Give me everything. I want you more, Rian.”

Droplets fell from the eaves, leaving dark marks around the small log cabin. They froze overnight, and when stepped on in the morning, they shattered with a crunching sound.

“Take me, Rian. Don’t spill a drop.”

Spring was approaching quickly.

* * *

The days grew noticeably longer. The last snow of this winter had melted into the streams, and several weeks had passed since then.

Rian, terrified like a thief caught stealing, hurried to the physician to hear the final verdict.

“You’re pregnant, Rian.”

“Oh…”

Her vision went black and distant.

“Have you told him?”

Though they were practically living together, the townspeople were aware of Rian and Kaiden’s relationship, but they were too afraid of the high noble to openly define or meddle in their affair.

It wasn’t wrong for a young unmarried woman and man to date.

Only when the physician diagnosed Rian’s pregnancy did he offer worried advice, but Rian couldn’t understand what she was hearing.

What should I do? What will he say if he knows?

It was two months since her menstruation stopped. Sometimes it was delayed, so she waited for it to start, but after an unusual dream last night, she went to the physician, resulting in this.

Telling him about the possibility of pregnancy…?

Just imagining it frightened her.

There are heartless men in the world who turn cold and abandon their pregnant lovers. There was once a rumor in Ferindale about a young man who fled from his pregnant lover, and Rian’s father chased him down and beat him up.

No. Kaiden isn’t that kind of irresponsible man. He won’t abandon his child and run away.

But…