Chapter 27

Every step they took made the snow beneath their feet crunch softly.  

Charlotte, carefully walking along the snow-covered beach, admired the blue sea and white snow while making sure not to slip. She turned to Erhen, who was walking beside her, and asked,  

“How did you know about this place? I lived in Heringen for a year and didn’t even know it existed.”  

Unlike Charlotte, who walked cautiously, Erhen moved lightly over the snow. He replied,  

“I found it while taking walks when you were working.”  

His words were half-truth and half-lie. While he did maintain his stamina under the pretense of walks, it wasn’t in this location. This particular spot was one of the “Top 10 Romantic Date Spots in Heringen Only Locals Know,” a list reported to Erhen by Philip. Of course, it was Lida who had shared the information with Philip.  

Fortunately, Charlotte didn’t seem to doubt his words and playfully remarked,  

“Wow. Hearing you say that, it really feels like you have been relaxing, Duke. It’s only after two whole months that I feel like you’re fulfilling the King’s orders.”  

Charlotte giggled.  

By “the King’s orders,” she referred to the directive passed on through Earl Werner when Erhen first woke up in Heringen after the ambush: 

Duke Rosenheim is to recover with the help of Viscountess Lintz.

In truth, Erhen hadn’t been resting as much as Charlotte thought. While she went to work at Blumen, he would take the opportunity to handle tasks. He received daily investigation reports from Philip about the still-mysterious organization and read research papers whenever he had the time.  

Given the circumstances, he couldn’t bring himself to tell the cheerful Charlotte, who was happily chatting about how nice it was to focus on recovery, the truth. Instead, he offered her an awkward smile.  

As they talked, Charlotte suddenly looked at Erhen and asked,  

“By the way, is your magic okay? I heard from the doctor last time that a mage’s healing ability is proportional to their mana reserves.”  

Erhen paused briefly, caught off guard by the unexpected question.  

In reality, his mana had become unstable for unknown reasons after Michael’s ascension to the throne. The recovery rate of his depleted mana had slowed significantly, and his healing abilities had halved. However, as the greatest mage in Rohadin, Erhen’s mana reserves were still vastly superior to anyone else’s, so the issue hadn’t been a major concern during the relatively uneventful past year.  

But after the ambush, he was forced to take the matter more seriously. The fact that he had been unconscious for a week before waking up was concerning enough. Moreover, his slow mana recovery now required him to calculate more carefully to minimize mana loss, even for wide-area spells he would have cast effortlessly in the past.  

Still, there was no need to worry Charlotte unnecessarily.  

“Are you concerned about me?”  

Erhen smiled slightly, his gaze fixed on Charlotte.  

Startled, Charlotte quickly turned her head forward, her cheeks flushing red.  

“It’s called compassion for humanity.”  

“Oh. I was hoping for more.”  

“Don’t get the wrong idea.”  

Charlotte bit her lip and quickened her pace.  

She had asked the question out of pure curiosity, but she hadn’t expected the conversation to take such a turn.  

And what did he mean by her knowing better? The only thing that came to mind from that night was the memory of his firm muscles.  

It was a huge relief that Lida and Ras had disappeared from sight at some point.  

Lost in thought, Charlotte stomped through the snow, her lips pouting. Suddenly, a snapping sound came from behind her, and she stopped in her tracks, sensing something had changed.  

“Wow….”  

The white snowflakes that had been falling were now frozen mid-air, as if suspended in time.  

The surrounding scenery was the same. The snow that had been pouring down moments ago no longer fell, and the waves that had been crashing against the shore were now still, their foam frozen in place.  

On the snowy coastline where they walked, only Charlotte and Erhen were still moving.  

It felt as though they had stepped into a masterpiece painting. Charlotte’s eyes sparkled as she reached out to touch one of the suspended snowflakes. It crumbled softly at her touch.  

She spoke in an excited voice,  

“You didn’t need to show me; you could’ve just told me.”  

“This is nothing.” 

Erhen replied with a nonchalant shrug.  

Perhaps feeling reassured, Charlotte twirled around to face Erhen. Her bright eyes revealed how thrilled she was by his magic.  

“Did you stop time? This is amazing.”  

“Not exactly. Everything is still moving, but I’ve slowed time down so much that it appears frozen.”  

“Whatever it is, it’s beautiful. This is a wide-area spell, isn’t it?”  

“The range is too small to call it wide-area….”  

“Oh! Don’t get into the technical details. Just call it wide-area magic for simplicity’s sake.”  

Charlotte giggled and turned back around, skipping lightly as she walked. The crunching sound of her footsteps mirrored her childlike joy. Erhen followed her with a gentle smile.  

Then it happened.  

“Ahhh!” 

Charlotte let out a cry as she slipped on a patch of frozen snow.  

Erhen quickly rushed to her side, kneeling down. His voice was filled with concern.  

“Are you okay? You need to be more careful.”  

Charlotte felt her cheeks heat up again.  

Falling was embarrassing enough, but having her ex-husband rush to her side before she could even get up made it worse. Flustered, she grumbled,  

“You could’ve saved me with magic!”  

“This isn’t a battlefield.”  

“Think of it as a war against the snow!”  

Erhen let out a small laugh at her unexpected remark.  

The Duke of Rosenheim, laughing?

Charlotte didn’t even have time to marvel at the rare sight before she found herself momentarily dazed.  

Erhen’s disheveled black hair fell lightly over his forehead as he knelt in front of her. His deep blue eyes, reminiscent of the Heringen sea, gazed at her with concern.  

And then there was his dazzling smile.  

Charlotte realized she had seen Erhen smile more during the past two and a half months they’d spent together than in the two years of their contract marriage. 

Was he always this cheerful?  

Unaware of her thoughts, Erhen gently adjusted her bonnet, which had come loose during her fall. Her winter bonnet, adorned with wool, had slipped down and hung around her neck like a scarf, leaving her hair in a messy halo.  

Even her disheveled appearance seemed endearing to him. Smiling softly, he carefully fixed her hair and tied the bonnet’s ribbon.  

It was then that Charlotte spoke in a slightly awkward voice.  

“Stop attacking me with your face.”  

His hands paused. Tilting his head, he asked,  

“Is it working?”  

Caught off guard by her own words, Charlotte bit her lip and avoided his gaze. After a moment of hesitation, she admitted,  

“…It’s working.”  

Her heart began to race, almost painfully so.  

The cool yet warm air surrounded them. Snowflakes remained frozen in place, and the shimmering waves stayed still. After a brief silence, Erhen spoke with a low chuckle.  

“I’m honored.”  

He leaned closer, his lips brushing against hers in a soft kiss.  

Charlotte’s emerald eyes widened in shock.  

Meeting her gaze, Erhen murmured playfully,  

“Is kissing forbidden too?”  

“You’re crazy.”  

Flustered, Charlotte stammered.  

Erhen smirked.  

“Didn’t you know? I’m crazy about kissing you.”  

As soon as Erhen finished speaking, he gently tugged on the ribbon of Charlotte’s bonnet. The pull brought her lips to his, colliding softly. Erhen deepened the kiss, tenderly cradling the back of her neck and her hair with his hand.

Even with her eyes closed, Charlotte could vividly picture Erhen’s handsome face. She thought to herself, 

This isn’t just an attack with his face—it’s a full-on bombardment.

For someone who worked as a researcher in the Mage Tower, he seemed to have mastered the art of using his natural charms to maximum effect. 

How does he even know I’m weak against a good-looking face? This is totally unfair!

Despite her thoughts, she found herself responding cautiously to his kiss, closing her eyes and surrendering to the moment.  

In the frozen scenery—where heavy snow, waves, and shimmering light had all come to a halt—they shared warm breaths.  

***

And so, in Heringen, Charlotte found herself completely at the mercy of Erhen’s relentless “attacks,” enjoying peaceful and tender days. That was until one day, when an enigmatic letter arrived for her.  

To you, who has explored this world.

The letter was not addressed to Charlotte.  

It was sent to the soul of her previous life, the one who had first encountered this world before her current existence.