This world was inside a novel called 《The Winter of the Northern Duke Never Ends.》

A clichéd story about a war hero who roams the battlefield and loses his humanity due to prolonged war, but regains it through love.

Catherine is this war hero Duke Helen’s former wife.

That is, she’s the sickly ex-wife who dies a year after their marriage. That was Catherine.

She realized this world was inside a book when her father went to the battlefield. Catherine then understood that her father would go missing and never return. Her father went to the battlefield and disappeared, and they never met again. After that, she lived a difficult life between her stepmother and stepsister…… but Catherine sadly dies young.

“Catherine Milden. The former wife who dies after just one year…?”

Her husband Lorendis remarries ten years after Catherine dies, and all that’s described about Catherine is that she dies young.

Catherine Milden, without a single ally in the world.

Her stepmother schemes to sell the young girl as a concubine to an old nobleman, and her stepsister mocks her.

Fortunately, Lorendis steps in as Catherine’s guardian during this time and even marries her, but…… to die after just a year.

‘Life truly is fleeting.’

Catherine carefully examined the inside of the carriage.

‘Is this the road to Helen’s duchy?’

Lorendis had barged into the residence, leaving it in disarray. Her stepmother and sister had fainted, and Catherine had escaped with just her body. Everything was a complete mess. Even amid all this, Catherine rested her chin on her hand and gazed out the window, while Lorendis sat quietly.

“Your Grace.”

The chief aide, Brady, unable to contain his curiosity, called out to him.

“Is this Viscount Milden’s daughter?”

“Yes.”

“She doesn’t look much like the viscount. The viscount had a more upright impression……”

Catherine leaned her head against the carriage and opened just one eye. Brady, who had been smiling rather warmly, took out a blanket and offered it to Catherine.

“Please take this. The carriage seems cold; you’re trembling slightly.”

This was all because Lorendis’s aura was too sharp. Perhaps due to his long time on the battlefield, even when still, a terrifying pressure seeped from him.

Brady left the carriage, saying they should be comfortable alone, and Lorendis unfolded a thick blanket. It looked like a blanket used by knights.

The brown, rough blanket was thick. It wasn’t a soft fur blanket, but a warm blanket was something she hadn’t had in a long time.

“Cover yourself with the blanket. Catching a cold would hinder our long journey.”

* * *

The carriage came to a stop. The sky had cleared up beautifully. The night sky was serene, and the sounds of insects chirping could be heard here and there.

Catherine looked up at the clear sky through the window and smiled broadly.

‘Freedom gained in my final life.’

Fleeting. Life is futile, meaningless, and desolate. In that languid feeling, her body sank lifelessly.

‘Helen.’

The Helen territory was located beyond an entire mountain from here. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the entire northern land belonged to Helen. And Catherine would have to live there from now on.

Catherine had already glimpsed the end of her life. The end she faced at Helen was still vivid before her eyes. Whether she was inside a book or a dream, she couldn’t quite remember, but that end was lonely and desolate.

‘Now I’m going to Helen.’

The surroundings grew quiet, and only the chirping of insects—chirp chirp—echoed. This feeling of emptiness was greater now than when she realized she had limited time.

“I wonder why.”

At that moment, Lorendis grabbed Catherine’s chin from across. His posture sitting in the carriage was straight. Their gazes met in mid-air. His pitch-black eyes seemed to dissect a person piece by piece.

“Why?”

“You look like someone who’s about to die.”

His soft whisper ignited a fire in Catherine’s heart. She curled her fingers and smiled broadly.

“Does that displease you?”

“It’s not a matter of liking or disliking. Never mind. I have no intention of sending you back to that house anyway.”

Lorendis still doesn’t know. Catherine will die in a year. Even if there are a few more months of grace period, it’s still short.

Since Lorendis doesn’t know that future, he probably volunteered as Catherine’s guardian and took her out of the residence.

‘You don’t know my future. If you knew such a future, you wouldn’t bring a wife who’s about to die into your household.’

Catherine held a small mug and looked up at the clear sky. The moonlight was bright. Despite the heavy rainfall earlier, the sky was now spotlessly clean.

“I have something I want to ask you, Lord Lorendis.”

“Speak.”

“Please be honest with me now.”

Catherine clutched Lorendis’s clothes. The back of her hand that subtly touched him was hard. Lorendis remained motionless for a while, as if bound by that slight gesture.

“Why are you taking me to the duchy?”

Lorendis crossed his legs and looked down at Catherine. Then, with a sigh, he continued speaking gently.

“As I said earlier, we’re on our way to the Helen duchy, and I am the master of Helen. I’m taking you to the duchy under the pretext of being your guardian, and you’ll live there. Have you understood this far?”

“Yes.”

“And you’ll stay at Helen Castle as my ward before we hold a wedding. I’ll propose once we reach Helen Castle. Unfortunately, you don’t have the right to refuse.”

Catherine has no right to refuse.

“Do you understand?”

“Yes. But why me?”

“Everything must be under my control. It’s better if the influence from your family is weak, if the wife is within my reach, and if her family is far from power. I chose you as my ward because the viscountial family is easily controllable by me, and you’ll gain that much power in exchange for losing your freedom.”

“I never had freedom at the residence anyway. I understand well.”

This means everything is flowing exactly according to the plot. Yes. It flows according to the plot. When her stepmother tried to sell Catherine to an old nobleman, Catherine had already anticipated this development.

She doesn’t question it. She knew this would happen, and having seen it in the book, she merely realized anew, “Ah. So we’re getting married.”

She thought she’d feel sadder when hearing those words directly, but that wasn’t the case. Rather, her heart settled calmly. It was like being hit hard on the back of the head with a reality she had forgotten.

“So we’re getting married.”

“Anything else you’re curious about?”

“No. Hmm. Everything just got resolved.”

As Catherine was immersed in wistfulness, clasping her hands as if in prayer, Lorendis muttered.

“Strange.”

Lorendis, clad in his silver armor, hunched forward and casually placed the back of his hand on Catherine’s forehead. The metal armor touched her skin so naturally that she remained motionless.

“Are you getting motion sickness from the carriage?”

“What? No?”

“We need to travel for two more days; will that be possible?”

“I was just a bit surprised today. We can continue moving tomorrow.”

Even Catherine doesn’t know how much longer this life will last. The Catherine in the book dies at a young age. That period is one year.

It’s better to spend the remaining time comfortably. To live comfortably and end beautifully.

‘Let go.’

And tonight, her heart was settled.

“Hey.”

When Catherine spoke, Lorendis opened his eyes. His body, which had been leaning against a tree, turned toward Catherine.

“What kind of place is the northern land?”

Lorendis blinked a few times. After a brief silence, Lorendis opened his mouth.

“It’s like a massive fortress. Winter is exceptionally long, and spring, summer, and autumn pass by fleetingly.”

The north was a region where winter was particularly long. When it snows, it can continue for an entire month, and when winter ends, flowers bloom brilliantly only to be buried by untimely snow.

“I’d like to see snow at least once before I die.”

“Do you like winter?”

“I may not know about winter, but I like snow.”

In a short life, it would be nice to see snow once before departing.

‘One year……’

It’s not a long time. Nor is it a short time. It’s too short to do something, but too long to let it pass without doing anything. At this rate, she might get married as if swept along and end this life.

“If it’s going to happen anyway, it doesn’t matter who brings it up first.”

If the future can’t be avoided, it’s right to choose it oneself.

“Will you marry me?”

“What?”

“Let’s do it, that marriage.”

I brought it up first, not you. Remember that. I chose this.

“That proposal, I’ll make it.”

“……”

“Just as you chose me, I chose you too.”

She needs a protector who can protect her, even temporarily.

“Because you don’t seem like a bad person.”

“Seem?”

“I’m glad.”

This is Catherine’s choice.

With this marriage, Catherine will gain a solid shield. Then, for the remaining year, she could stay under his protection, and when the time comes, find a place to recuperate and leave. Lorendis might be a bit gruff, but he wasn’t a scoundrel. That was at least fortunate.

As Catherine smiled broadly, Lorendis asked uncertainly.

“Is this your usual personality?”

Chirp, the sounds of insects gradually subsided.

“I just, gathered my thoughts a bit.”

If Catherine had the luxury and power to refuse the marriage, she might have chosen a different path. Without such freedom, the Catherine in the book lived her life being swept along. Controlled by her stepmother in childhood, she was led by the cold-blooded Lorendis to become the mistress of House Helen, only for her life to end year later. She had no will of her own.

“Cold-blooded……”

Lorendis would barely show his face a few months before Catherine’s death. With her husband becoming a war hero and wandering the battlefield for a year, Catherine was destined to die young under her husband’s indifference.

So what?

Her family had abandoned Catherine too.

Choosing family would only result in being thrown as marriage merchandise and sold as a secondary wife to another old nobleman. Rather than such a family, a cold husband is better for Catherine.

* * *