“You made the right choice! Right? You’re still too young to get married!”

“Just live with us forever!”

“Oh, really? Let’s see how long you keep saying that.”

Aillen let out a soft laugh and smoothly changed the subject. The twins, still holding her hands, spun her around in circles, delighted. She indulged them for a while before gently guiding them out of the forest as the last of the sunlight faded away.

Ultimately, her fear of encountering Calix had been unfounded.

He had already left the inn.

After being rejected, it seemed that he had packed his belongings and left immediately. Only a single note remained on the counter.

‘I will write once I return to the North.’

If he had been too embarrassed to stay, he could have left without saying anything. Aillen clicked her tongue softly and dropped the note into the bin under the counter.

Come to think of it, the first time had been the same. After she accepted his proposal, they left for the north of the country immediately. Once they arrived, he had been so busy that he kept her shut away in a room and rarely came back.

Perhaps this was for the best.

If he was that busy, he wouldn’t have time to come back south. Maybe he wouldn’t even have time to write a letter.

Would he really send a letter?

She doubted it. She dismissed the note as nothing more than an awkward gesture of courtesy and forced herself to push the matter from her mind.

Yes.

It was truly over.

Although she could not pinpoint exactly what had ended, she was certain that something had.

As evening fell, the light bulbs flickered on one by one, seemingly taking the place of the setting sun. After a moment, they emitted a steady glow. Staring at them for too long made her eyes ache due to their brightness.

All her life, Aillen had believed that a sunlit path would stretch endlessly before her, just as it had during her childhood. She had imagined herself dancing, singing and laughing with others forever, surrounded by warmth and light. She thought it would always be that way, no matter where life took her.

But the sun sets.

She had expected darkness to follow.

Instead, however, there was only a pale, artificial glow.

She was still alive.

Life would continue somehow.

The Grandel Inn had been returned to her, and her family were as warm and welcoming as ever.

And yet, Aillen could not shake the feeling that something inside her had changed forever.

As dinner guests and lodgers made their way downstairs, the hallway filled with noise and life. Shouted orders, easy laughter, and the heavy rhythm of footsteps on the stairs filled the inn with restless energy.

“Aillen? Why are you standing there so blankly? Are you hungry?”

She could no longer remember who had spoken to her.

Maybe he was just one of the inn’s regulars who she had grown close to, as she always did.

How strange.

Several months had passed.

Time that had vanished — yet remained within her, unmistakably.

Aillen realized that she could no longer cross back over that river.

A distant dizziness swept over her. She bit her lip, then forced a small smile.

“I suppose I am.”

***

In any case, Aillen had decided to live by the words she had once told the twins.

She would put any longing for adventure to one side and devote herself to running the inn.

As for trains, she had had more than enough of them for the time being.

She would stay here.

She would put down roots.

Although she had never seriously considered this future before, looking back, it felt so natural that she could not understand why the thought had never occurred to her before.

Time passed steadily, indifferent to her quiet resolve.

Aillen believed that, no matter how unsettled she felt inside, she had not changed much on the outside. But this belief seemed to be nothing more than an illusion.

She had merely been standing by the window, as she often did, yet people looked at her as though she were a fragile teacup, trembling on the brink of shattering.

Just as the servants at the Aeinham estate in the north handled delicate teacups, afraid they might crack at the slightest touch.

“Why?”

Ultimately, her question was more pointed than she had intended.

The twins flinched.

Seeing their reaction made her feel guilty for taking out her frustration on them. But she was tired — in fact, she had been tired every single day since Calix left — and she no longer had the strength to control it.

It had started with the twins.

Then there was her father, who kept slipping juice or small snacks into her hands as though trying to hide them there. He looked at her with quiet pity.

Then there was her mother, who was constantly urging her to rest and insisting that she take a break.

Then there were the townspeople, who took it in turns to ask if she was all right and why she looked so downcast.

Each question built upon the last until her throat felt tight, as though she might choke on the answers she could not give.

Eventually, the twins’ chatter led her parents to find out about Calix’s proposal.

At least she could understand that much.

But why did the townspeople, who knew nothing, treat her the same way?

Even Miriam, whom she had not yet confided in, suddenly appeared at her side, gently asking if she was troubled.

What on earth had she been like before?

“No… I just mean, if you’re going to stay so gloomy…”

“Maybe you should go with that man…”

Even Haila and Riman began to mumble uncertainly.

Watching them struggle through their words, Aillen could only press her palm to her forehead.

“Good grief… my head.”

Riman lifted his moist eyes to her, his small fists clenched tightly.

“I didn’t know you’d be that heartbroken, sister… I was only thinking about us…”

“Yeah. If you want to go, you should go. I don’t like that man… Actually, I wouldn’t be satisfied with anyone—but if you’re that upset, then we have no choice. We’ll let you go!”

With expressions as solemn as parents sending their daughter off to be married, Haila and Riman nodded gravely.

It seemed they had reached this decision after much consideration. Despite everything, Aillen burst into laughter.

“No, no. You’ve got it completely wrong. I’m just… feeling a bit of winter blues.”

“You?”

“You?”

The twins stared at her in disbelief, their eyes wide with shock.

This only made her laugh harder. It had been such a long time since she had laughed like that — bright and unrestrained. Fresh air rushed into her lungs, and for the first time in a long while, she felt as though she were truly breathing.

The twins tilted their heads, uncertain whether they were more confused by her words or her sudden burst of laughter.

They were absolutely adorable.

Aillen found herself smiling once more.

“Why? Am I not allowed?”

“You’ve never been like that before!”

“Well, I suppose I’ll try it this time. That’s what being an adult is.”

She swept back the hair that had fallen forward while she was laughing and pretended to be slightly proud. The twins gaped in astonishment, then narrowed their eyes suspiciously.

From across the kitchen, the sound of guests’ voices and laughter could be heard.

She liked that sound.

“Really, it’s not because of that man. There’s no need to worry. Everyone has days like this. Once the weather warms up, I’ll feel better.”

Saying it aloud made it seem almost true.

It was as though the pale light within her would someday fade and the sunlight would return.

Yet deep down, a voice insisted that this was wishful thinking.

It felt almost like a premonition.

Swallowing, Aillen managed a thin smile.

“…You’re sure?”

“You’re not going, right?”

The twins were perceptive. Even if they could not put it into words, they must have sensed that something was wrong from her expression, because they clung to her stubbornly, as if refusing to let her slip away.

The first question was one she could not answer with certainty.

But the second—

— she could answer.

Aillen nodded firmly.

Only then did the twins break into bright smiles. They glanced at each other and nodded, like children who had just received the birthday present they had wished for all year.

Aillen quietly turned her gaze towards the window.

It was too dark to make out the scenery beyond, but the wind occasionally shook the glass, the faint rattling sound settling softly at her feet.

Life returned to its steady rhythm of gathering laundry, serving meals, cleaning rooms, minding the counter, and helping in the kitchen. The days were astonishingly calm.

During the quiet moments between tasks, Aillen would sit with Miriam and carefully and hesitantly tell her about Calix’s proposal and her refusal.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

Miriam pouted, hurt at first. But she understood.

“You’ve always been a composed little troublemaker.”

“Me?”

“Yes. So even if you had accepted his proposal, I don’t think I would’ve been that surprised.”

As Miriam clasped Aillen’s hand, she was briefly overcome with regret at not having chosen this path from the outset.

As she gathered the laundry, she would sometimes feel the crisp, stiff fabric of the clothes that had been dried in the sun, silently reproaching herself beneath the afternoon sun.

If only she had stayed with this warmth from the beginning.

Even so, her heart drifted quietly with the passing days. Gradually, people grew accustomed to her newfound calmness.

Then, one otherwise ordinary day, a guest arrived at the inn, bringing with him the biting chill of a northern winter.

***

No matter how loud the chatter, the honed instincts developed from a lifetime of working at the inn meant the sharp ring of the doorbell could be heard the moment a guest arrived.

“Welco—”

Aillen turned away from the counter and offered her usual practiced smile, but her voice faded before she could finish her greeting.

The man who had just stepped inside hadn’t said a word, yet everything about him suggested that he was from the north.

In a place where the walls and even the air seemed bathed in bright summer colors, his grey clothing stood out.

Not a pale grey—

—but a deep, subdued shade with a hint of navy.

His garments fell in clean, straight lines along his frame, and the fabric was heavy and immaculately tailored.

Was that style called a robe-tailleur?

It was a style that Aillen had never worn and was unlikely ever to wear. But she knew it well enough. She had been told that it was quite common in the north of the country.

She had heard that from Calix’s mother.

Having been reprimanded more than once for not owning a proper outfit, she could certainly recognize the style.

The door closed behind him and a thin draught slipped into the room. Yet his long, straight black hair, which fell past his waist, did not so much as sway.

It was as though a trivial breeze like that were unworthy of disturbing him.

There was something about him that reflected the sharp, austere temperament she had come to associate with people from the north.

His thin lips were pressed into such a firm line that there seemed to be no room for interruption.

Above all—

those eyes.

They were a blue-grey color, like storm clouds gathering across a winter sky. Even under the dim lighting of the inn, their color remained vivid and piercing.

They suited his cool, detached gaze perfectly.

The chill that clung to him reminded her of the north she had left behind. It sent a faint shiver down her spine. And yet, despite herself, Aillen found a single thought rising unbidden:

‘He’s beautiful.’

The realization startled her the moment it formed.

Just then, the guest finished surveying the inn and turned his head.

Their eyes met.