The magic that had been evenly mixed between Leopold and me gradually began to change. The fierce red energy slowly subsided and soon wavered weakly like thin smoke. Unable to bear the anxiety, I shouted at Kien.

“If Leopold’s magic completely disappears, his life force will end too! At this rate, my husband will die!”

However, he didn’t take his eyes off the magic flowing out of the circle, watching it closely as if it were water leaking from a broken jar. With his serious expression, all I could do was worry anxiously.

Eventually, Kien took another handful of ice stones from the jar. He went to the broken part of the circle, knelt on the ground, and sat down. His intense gaze was fixed in the air. It was at that moment that I followed his gaze back to the magic.

“Kien!”

The thin remnant of Leopold’s magic completely disappeared outside the circle. Startled, I called out the shaman’s name loudly.

“Shh!”

But he hushed me and moved quickly. The ice stones, which had slipped from his wrinkled hands and were delicately scattered, swiftly settled on the ground. The broken circle was returning to its original form. At the same time, the spiraling bond between Leopold’s magic and mine calmed as if nothing had happened. Soon, the flow of energy began to move in one direction.

“Ah…!”

I let out a small gasp. Through the hand I held with him, my magic flowed endlessly into Leopold. Yet, it didn’t feel like it was being taken away; instead, it felt the same as the ‘healing’ sensation.

“It’s almost over,” Kien spoke cautiously. Nodding slightly, I turned my gaze to Leopold, who still showed no movement. Perhaps it was just my imagination, but his breathing seemed much more stable.

As the arduous night passed, the sun rose fully, letting light seep in from all around. It was bright enough to see clearly without torches. A bit of color began to return to Leopold’s face, which had been paler and more transparent than the white snow. I couldn’t contain my trembling heart. Could he really survive now?

“You can let go of his hand.”

“Is the spell finished?” I asked, slightly excited by a heartbeat that couldn’t tell if it was from tension or anticipation. The shaman answered gently.

“Not completely, but for now, let’s say it is.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll explain when he wakes up.”

He bent down and began to pick up the ice stones. I carefully laid down Leopold’s hand and helped him. The shaman glanced at me once and said in a low voice, “You mentioned magic. In my life, I’ve blessed many couples, but I’ve never actually seen such power.”

“You’ve never seen it before?” I couldn’t help but ask. He seemed to handle the situation quite calmly for someone experiencing magic for the first time. He poured the handful of ice stones back into the jar as he explained.

“Our tribe shares only the pure life force that we are born with.”

“I assumed you had experienced it before because you handled it so adeptly.”

“At this age, no matter how difficult the situation, you learn to find at least one solution with intuition.”

Was that why he captured and detained the entire knight order? Did he really think that a sacrifice would be the solution? I muttered to myself, “But a sacrifice is such a harsh solution…”

“There’s a basis for that too. Didn’t we just offer blood? I tried to cure Lea’s illness in a similar way. By giving blood and channeling strong life force into the child.”

There was no hesitation in his explanation. Even though I knew I should be grateful, a part of me felt uneasy, so I closed my mouth.

By the time we had cleared away all the ice stones, the chieftain returned. He looked quite exhausted, glanced at the jar in the shaman’s hand, and passed us without a word. Watching his retreating figure, Kien spoke up.

“Now it’s your turn. Save Lea.”

“Of course. Oh, by the way, about that incense, when did you start using it?”

Suddenly, I recalled the chieftain mentioning that she had already lost two children. If it wasn’t a coincidence, there was a high possibility that those children also lost their lives because of the incense.

“It was given by Wessen, the chieftain’s husband. He probably didn’t know it would turn out like this either.”

“That incense is strictly controlled in terms of sales and distribution, so how…”

Due to concerns about paralysis, only merchants authorized by the royal family were allowed to sell it, and even then, sales were restricted to titled nobles.

“It was when they discovered they were pregnant with their first child. Wessen left the icy lands for quite some time, promising to bring back a special gift to celebrate the pregnancy.”

“He left his pregnant spouse alone?”

“It’s not that surprising. Once a successor is expected, the whole village takes turns attending to the chieftain. Anyway, he returned, boasting about how difficult it was to acquire the incense.”

“How did he manage that?”

“He said he met a noble with a peculiar hobby by chance. Apparently, the noble collected bird feathers.”

That sounded vaguely familiar. Leopold would surely know. As I tilted my head in thought, he continued his story.

“There was one particular bird feather the noble desperately wanted, and it just so happened that Wessen knew where that bird lived, thanks to his lifetime of hunting.”

“So he got it for him?”

“Yes. In exchange, he received the incense, which was supposedly a rare item.”

“It is indeed rare if only nobles can even see it…”

I trailed off bitterly. That noble must have been aware of the precautions regarding the incense. And he likely knew Wessen was unaware of them.

If any issues arose later, the noble would probably brush it off, claiming he assumed the other party knew. It was a typical, distasteful behavior of some nobles who looked down on those of lower status. However, I couldn’t bring myself to say any of this. Kien, knowing nothing, reminisced about the past.

“The chieftain was very pleased. She suffered from terrible insomnia at the time but would fall asleep immediately with the incense. So she kept it by her side constantly. But who knew it would become a problem…”

He closed his eyes tightly, as if in regret.

“Where is Wessen now?”

I wanted to know the noble’s whereabouts. The actions of those trying to offer sacrifices stemmed from his minor misdeed.

“…He’s dead.”

“Dead…?”

I looked at the shaman in shock, my eyes wide. He sighed once and then slowly explained to me.

“It was when we lost the second child and had Lea. The chieftain was more fearful than ever, and so was Wessen. Not just the two of them, but the whole village was worried. Anyway, Wessen was desperate to gather food, as if it were the solution…”

Kien paused for a moment. I was curious yet anxious about what came next.

“Even if you’ve lived in harsh conditions, enduring the cold is never easy. Wessen was an excellent hunter, but even for him, the northern winter was always brutal.”

“Yes. We should have stopped Wessen then, right, Kien?”

“…Chieftain.”

The sudden voice made me turn around to see the chieftain holding her daughter’s hand. She moved to the head seat with the child and sat down.

“For several days, there was a severe snowstorm. We still had some stored food, but we were out of meat. Wessen wanted to feed me meat. I failed to stop him, and he went hunting alone and disappeared. Lea… never got to see her father.”

Her tone was calm, but sadness seeped through. She gently stroked the child’s head. The child nestled into her mother’s embrace, looking at me with curious eyes.

“I’m sorry…”

“It’s not your fault.”

“Indeed.”

Though I wasn’t born a noble, I felt an unnecessary guilt due to being part of the duke’s family. Should I confess everything to her? While I hesitated, the chieftain spoke first.

“Now, heal my daughter. It seems the spell is over.”

“…Alright.”

Yes, taking care of the patient was the priority.

I approached Lea and extended my hand. Perhaps having been told in advance, the child neither avoided nor seemed unfamiliar with me, and she took my hand with a bright smile. Somehow, it felt like a heavy stone had dropped inside my heart.