It was so…cold.

Her body trembled at the cold she’d never felt before. She couldn’t muster any strength, like she’d frozen solid. The more she tried to move, the more languid and weak she felt.

Rachel barely lifted her heavy eyelids and forced her eyes open, only to gape at the world spread before her.

A snowfield stretching out like the ocean’s horizon. The world within the raging blizzard was dyed completely white.

What on earth was happening?

Rachel found her situation strange—trapped in this winter field, unable to move an inch.

She wanted to call for help but couldn’t move at all. Perhaps because of the extreme cold she’d never experienced before, her body felt heavy like a lump of lead. She tried to open her mouth to say something, but no voice came out either.

Though her head felt hazy, Rachel struggled to recall the situation she’d been in before losing consciousness.

She thought she’d been captured by kidnappers…

Her last memory was definitely in front of the Haverton estate. There, she’d been seized and kidnapped by suspicious men, then lost consciousness after that.

But where did the kidnappers go, leaving her alone to die in a snowfield?

The Haverton Barony was located in the capital, a place where you could barely see snow. It snowed so rarely that you might see it once every three years.

In the Avalon Empire where she lived, the only place with this much accumulated snow was the north. So judging from the current situation, the kidnappers must have been trying to sell Rachel off to someone in the north.

Who exactly were they trying to sell her to?

The absolute ruler of the north was the Duke of Waterford.

Though his notoriety was high, she’d heard that separately from that, the northern region had excellent public safety. They created strict rules and immediately imposed severe punishment on anyone who broke them.

That was why imperial citizens could live in the north despite the low temperatures and proximity to monster habitats.

So human trafficking couldn’t easily occur in the northern region. Not many people could take such reckless action while evading the surveillance of the Duke of Waterford, rumored to be strict and cruel.

No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t understand why she’d collapsed in a snowfield, but come to think of it, now wasn’t the time to worry about such things.

Rachel’s body continued freezing. At this rate, even her heart would freeze, so she needed to get up quickly and go somewhere.

However, her languid body still wouldn’t move according to her will. Even when she tried to gather strength, only a groan escaped her lips. The more she squirmed, the more strength drained from her body.

Was she going to die here?

In this situation, she couldn’t see any hope of survival. Who would recklessly wander around in this severe weather with its raging blizzard?

If this state continued—barely clinging to life, no different from a living corpse—death was certain. The moment she recognized her chances of survival weren’t high, fear of death instinctively washed over her, but more than dread, she felt regret.

The reason was that Rachel had always lived a lonely life. Though she’d felt brief moments of joy, she’d almost never thought herself happy.

Had she ever received the same treatment as other noble ladies, born as the eldest daughter of the Haverton Barony?

After her mother passed away, her father neglected her, her stepmother treated her like a maid, her younger sister made her a target for venting frustration…

From them, forget love—she only had memories of being mistreated.

The only pleasant memories were when maids occasionally secretly slipped her sweet desserts and chatted with her, but even those times weren’t long.

To live only a miserable life with happy days countable on one hand, then meet her end freezing to death…

The more she thought about it, the more pitiful her unfortunate life felt. She was so sorrowful she could cry.

How diligently had she worked alone to find happiness? How much had she anticipated that someday she’d grasp happiness in her hands?

Yet she had to die like this without ever living such a life! It was unfair and regrettable.

‘Why should I die like this! Can’t I be happy too?’

If only she could live, she wanted to find happiness even now, but the reality before her eyes was cruel. All Rachel could do was slowly die. Even her consciousness grew hazy now.

‘So I’m dying after all.’

Just as her eyes were about to close while resenting the gods, she faintly heard a man’s voice.

“Found you, my bride.”

Though it was a voice with a chilling aura, somehow it also seemed to sound warm.

Was he a savior of life or a reaper of death?

Rachel looked up at the man with dimly opened eyes. Since he was armed in black armor from head to toe, he felt like a grim reaper come to kill her.

‘Has he come to take me away?’

Just as she thought the reaper of death had come to fetch her, she belatedly sensed something strange about his words.

‘Bride? Is he talking about me?’

She’d only received one marriage proposal in her life. But since she’d rejected even that, there was no man who would marry Rachel. Yet he said bride?

Could she possibly be becoming the bride of a reaper?

Given the situation, she thought the reaper of death was playing a mischievous prank before taking her away, but the moment she heard his next words, she realized that wasn’t it.

“Now that I’ve come to rescue you, you don’t need to worry. You’ll be fine once we go to the castle and warm your body.”

She couldn’t presume carelessly, but the nuance he gave off seemed like he’d gone out searching for a missing bride and was mistaking Rachel for that woman.

His gesture of lightly lifting Rachel was clean and restrained without excess.

‘No, I’m not your bride!’

She was truly grateful for the help, but since he was misunderstanding, she didn’t know what to do.

She tried to struggle and show her refusal, but her frozen body wouldn’t move as intended. Not only could no voice come out, her vision still swam.

She didn’t know who he was, but if she followed this man like this, something terrible would happen. All sorts of ominous thoughts rushed in.

‘No. I’m not your bride!’

The moment she tried to open her mouth, her head spun and her vision turned yellow. After that, voices seemed to come, but she couldn’t hear anything. Rachel’s eyes slowly closed.

She felt she shouldn’t lose consciousness like this, but she couldn’t help it.

* * *

“Ugh. Ugh.”

Her eyelids trembled. Rachel barely opened her eyes that wouldn’t lift and slowly blinked.

“Are you awake?”

Before long, voices of people she’d never seen before reached her. Rachel carefully looked up and down at the woman looking down at her. She was a middle-aged woman wearing the servant’s uniform of a noble household.

‘Who is she?’

“You don’t know how worried we were when you wouldn’t open your eyes.”

Without minding Rachel’s confused expression, the woman smiled brightly and chattered. Then the middle-aged maids standing beside her also agreed with her words.

“That’s right. Thank goodness you came to your senses safely like this.”

An unfamiliar space. An unfamiliar atmosphere, unfamiliar people…

Rachel could only be bewildered by the unexpected hospitality. Who are they to welcome her like this?

Is this what heaven feels like?

Since everyone was treating her so well that it would be absurd if it wasn’t a dream, Rachel blinked her eyes countless times.

Just as she tried to look around with a bewildered face, she realized the air touching both cheeks felt cool.

Only then did Rachel feel the external cold seeping inside. To be this cold even with flames blazing in the fireplace.

Unless you came to the northern region, this was frigid air you couldn’t feel.

Could it be…

She carefully surveyed the room. Seeing the luxurious and antique room she’d never seen before, the plush bed, and the high-quality furniture, you could tell at a glance it was a noble’s room.

Was collapsing in the snowfield not a dream, or was this a continuation of a terrible nightmare? To call it a nightmare was also strange since she felt warm and comfortable.

She wore a puzzled expression and tried to get up from her spot, but couldn’t move as she wanted.

It… hurts.

Her entire body throbbed like someone had beaten her. When she’d collapsed in the snowfield, she thought she couldn’t move because her body was frozen.

But that wasn’t it.

“You still can’t move yet. You were in an accident, so they said you still shouldn’t overdo it.”

Only after hearing the maid’s words did Rachel realize she had bandages wrapped around her arms.

“We were worried you might not wake up from the carriage accident, but thank goodness you’re safe like this.”

A carriage accident? Her?

Rachel’s eyes widened at the unexpected words.

“You might not remember, but my lady, you were in a carriage accident. But fortunately, you didn’t suffer major injuries. They say the snow acted as a protective barrier so you weren’t badly hurt. The bruises on your body will heal within 2-3 days.”

According to the maids’ words, she was riding in a carriage when an accident happened and her body was thrown out, but she fell into a snowfield so she wasn’t seriously injured?

Rachel had no memory of riding in a carriage in the first place. Yet a carriage accident?

Could it be the doing of those who kidnapped her? Did the kidnappers have an accident while bringing her to the north?

However, the current situation felt strange. Who would provide such devoted treatment after kidnapping someone?

Ah!

At that moment, Rachel recalled what the man had said before she lost consciousness.

‘My bride.’

‘Could he have brought me here thinking I’m his bride? Good heavens!’

Since her mind had been hazy, she’d wondered if it was a dream. But that was real?

Then this situation meant a noble man living in the north had mistaken her for his bride and brought her here.

She didn’t know the reason, but if what was happening to her now wasn’t a dream, that was the only explanation.

She’d prayed to the gods to let her live, but she didn’t want this kind of situation. To survive by being mistaken for someone else’s substitute… Did that even make sense?

The more she thought about it, the more questions arose, but she was certain of one thing. She shouldn’t be here!

Rachel thought she knew who the man who brought her here was. If the person she suspected was correct, she had to get out of here somehow before things got bigger.

“Y-you can’t move. You need to stay still.”

Though pain felt like a huge boulder pressing down on her body, Rachel somehow tried to get up from her spot. However, since the maids stopped her, she had no choice but to lie back down on the bed.

‘What should I do?’

Unable to move as she wished, her mouth went dry.

“Please calm down. Let me introduce myself. I’m Marie, who will be in charge of your exclusive service from now on. If you need anything, please feel free to tell me anytime.”