Chapter 11

“U-Udis? Hahaha…!”

Even if it was the adorable White Bunny, it would be ridiculous for Udis, who was specialized in heavy tasks, to wear ribbons or lace. A fluttering maid’s apron would be even more out of place.

Elcia, forgetting how tense she’d been in front of Ian, laughed brightly as she usually did.

The smile on Elcia’s kind face was much brighter than the sparkling light from the silver candlestick the butler had set out. Ian, just as he had felt when he was with her before, sensed something vivid flowing in his chest again. Like a spring stream trickling beneath the ice—such liveliness.

He turned both his gaze and his thoughts to the wreath, urging Elcia.

“…Let’s finish the wreath first.”

“Yes!”

Elcia held the nearly completed wreath frame, and Ian tightly bound the prepared branches, so that two winter wreaths were finished. The poinsettia branches had also been trimmed just enough, so the remaining pot didn’t look unsightly, which made them even prouder.

Elcia and Ian sat side by side with the wreaths, gazing out the window at the endlessly falling snow. As the day grew darker and the world outside the window turned pitch black, he suddenly asked,

“Is it cold in here?”

“No, it’s so warm it’s almost hot.”

Before she came in, he’d put in all the firewood he could, so the parlor couldn’t possibly be cold. Of course, the biggest reason was that she was sitting next to the man she liked, so she didn’t feel cold at all. Ian, like someone intent on sending Elcia back quickly, asked her various things, then handed her one of the wreaths with his good left hand.

“Here.”

“…You’re giving this to me?”

“If a wreath is hung on the door when the first snow falls, happiness and luck for the year are said to enter. So hang it on your door before you sleep. Then… before the night gets any deeper, you should go to bed. I’ll walk you back.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Elcia answered quickly, eager to receive the wreath he’d made, but her mind was busy wondering if she had any preservative in her luggage. A wreath made of fresh flowers wouldn’t last long before withering, and she wanted to preserve it forever so she wouldn’t forget today’s happiness.

Even before the wreath they’d made together passed from his hands to hers, Elcia was already happy.

To Elcia, Ian was like a bluebird—a symbol of happiness.

From a distance, Haden watched the two walking side by side back to Elcia’s bedroom and smiled. Seiran lightly patted Haden’s back.

“You gave up a chance to go home for the holidays just to wish for something like that from the master? Just to watch the first snow with Miss Bennett?”

“What do you mean ‘just something like that’? Small memories help stabilize the mind so much, Sir Knight, you really don’t understand anything.”

Seiran’s expression, as he watched their retreating figures until they disappeared, was somewhat bitter.

“It’s true the master has become brighter since Miss Bennett arrived, just as you said. But… if a small meeting could fix things so quickly, we wouldn’t have had to flee all the way here. I did everything I could back then, but I couldn’t bring the master’s wild temperament back. Until the master returns to the capital, we mustn’t let our guard down—so you should stay sharp too.”

Seiran’s words, shaped by all the hardships he’d experienced since knowing Ian, carried deep meaning.

“Come on, don’t say things like that. The master has suffered enough and gotten back up, so won’t everything be resolved when spring comes? Hehe, Lady Elcia is as beautiful and gentle as a messenger of spring from a fairy tale, isn’t she? I believe everything will turn out well.”

Despite Haden’s intelligent and cheerful words, the shadow didn’t leave Seiran’s face.

“We’ll see… If the master isn’t just forcing himself, that’s naturally good, but I’m not sure yet. If things turn out as you say, I couldn’t wish for more, Haden. It’s late, so you should get some sleep too.”

That night, Elcia couldn’t fall asleep easily.

She spent the night applying diluted preservative to the wreath Ian had given her, blowing on it to dry it well. After blowing on the scented solution for so long that her head began to ache, she finally thought of Udis. She called Udis and asked to finish it neatly, then lay down on her bed.

‘Ian… Thank you.’

She didn’t know why he had suddenly taken care of her on the night of the first snow, when she’d barely seen his face before. Even this wreath he’d made with his injured hand.

Watching Udis in the distance, fanning the wreath to dry it, Elcia drifted into a wistful dream.

Someday—

She dreamed that Ian would open his heart to her, that they would hold hands, embrace warmly, and walk together through the snowy garden, talking.

And that one day, they would become a couple bound by love, always facing each other.

That even on the last winter night of their lives, they would be together, holding hands, walking side by side forever….

Elcia fell into a deep sleep, the happiest woman in the world.

‘Ian…’

After the night of the first snow, countless snows fell, froze, and melted at Usley Castle as the seasons passed. Lost in the dream of sharing the same space with the beloved Ian, Elcia didn’t even notice how time flew by. Luckily, she didn’t catch a cold, and every day was filled with joy.

In the mornings, she dressed with Udis’s help, ate breakfast, and enjoyed light walks around the castle. Though the library wasn’t large, she had permission to use Ian’s study, so she could read undisturbed.

Her favorite day was Saturday morning. She’d promised to have White Bunny’s checkup once a week, so she was guaranteed to see Ian.

「Good grief, after all the chances I gave you, you still haven’t managed to see his face every day? Foolish Elcia, you’re satisfied with such trivial encounters? How long has it been since I mentioned kissing, and you still haven’t done anything! Just lean in and give him a peck on the cheek! If he gets serious, just call it a New Year’s kiss!」

It was now the last week of January.

So White Bunny’s suggestion was too late to use anyway.

With Elcia’s timid nature, such grand plans were impossible from the start.

“Quiet!”

Elcia clamped her hand over White Bunny’s mouth, but the stubborn rabbit doll bit her hand hard and complained.

「Hmph, fine. I warned you so many times, but you kept acting like a proper young lady and messed everything up. Ah… I dreamed of making a rabbit playroom in the grand Marquis’s mansion and playing every day.」

“I’ll make it for you someday.”

Unlike Udis, who was the first doll created and showed relatively little emotion, White Bunny, imbued with an ancient spirit’s soul, was quite sensitive. Hearing the doll’s words, Elcia felt a bit sorry for not having provided a comfortable resting place whenever she summoned it.

White Bunny smiled.

「Forget it, I know how clumsy you are, so I wouldn’t expect that. Let’s just hurry to the Count’s room.」

“Bunny, I’ve been meaning to ask—please be careful what you say in front of the Count. He’s a patient, you know.”

The rabbit doll shook its head as if fed up.

「Ugh, you’re hopeless. Who’s the patient here? You’re the one with a hopeless lovesickness! Stop worrying about that healthy man and take care of yourself! And don’t unsummon me so often—keep me by your side more.」

Ian’s checkup went smoothly as scheduled. White Bunny, sitting upright on the chair, gave him a thorough examination and declared him healthy, which relieved Elcia.

“I’m glad there’s nothing wrong.”

“…”

Unlike most Saturdays, he didn’t say anything. Usually, after the checkup, he would thank White Bunny for the effort or politely invite Elcia to have tea before leaving. Then Elcia would linger a little longer by his side, enjoying a moment of happy daydreams.

She always wanted to stay close to Ian, no matter the excuse, but sensing his mood wasn’t good, Elcia quietly left.

Following White Bunny’s request, Elcia didn’t unsummon the doll and kept an eye on it even in her bedroom. She expected it to protest, saying things like, ‘What, after all that effort checking his condition, you’re dumping me as soon as spring returns?’ or ‘I’m quitting this treatment!’ 

In fact, White Bunny had once refused to treat a patient who’d ignored Elcia with arrogance at the Tyr Church temple, no matter how much Elcia pleaded. She eventually had to give up.

The contemptuous look Nersian had given her then…

She didn’t even want to think about it.

“Bunny?”

「Something’s strange.」

“Hm?”

White Bunny sprawled on a small cushion atop the fur rug and muttered.

「Something’s off today, the Ice Count. His body is perfectly fine, but it looks like there’s been a big change in his feelings…」

“It’s probably just because spring is coming.”

Elcia dismissed White Bunny’s warning.

After all, she’d already scheduled Ian’s treatment to resume in February, once the weather warmed up, through Seiran. Ian claimed he wasn’t interested in the position of Holy Knight Order Commander, but once he recovered, he would return to the capital, wouldn’t he? Then he’d have to face Nersian, and also the Crown Prince Conrad. Not to mention his family, whom he’d left behind so suddenly.

Thinking about all those things would naturally make his mind complicated. Ian, having always drawn people’s attention since birth, would have it even harder. Since he hadn’t come to Usley Castle through a normal retirement, he had to handle the aftermath alone.

Even if, as White Bunny said, there was some change in Ian’s feelings, Elcia couldn’t immediately get involved in his worries. Unless he reached out and asked for help, things wouldn’t change.

‘Ian… What can I do for you? If you just ask me to stay by your side, I’ll follow you anywhere.’

Elcia’s desperate, star-like feelings didn’t reach him at all.

That evening after the checkup, Ian sat alone in his bedroom. His eyes, flickering in the lonely lamplight on his desk, were full of sorrow.

‘I’m glad there’s nothing wrong.’