The Ice Age Came And I Just Got Married - Chapter 10

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 10
Bewildered, I stepped into the Greenhouse, and the creature tugged at the hem of my dress.
Dragged along by it, I came to a halt in the middle of the garden.
Then it began digging frantically at the base of a tree with its paws.
After some time, it handed me something.
It was a Winter Stone.
And not just any Winter Stone—a Gold Stone, different from the one I’d found underground.
“You’re giving this to me?”
Chipi didn’t answer my question, but its tail wagged back and forth.
I’d just received a Winter Stone proposal from a squirrel.
Cancel that bit about Chipi being a contrary squirrel. This one was full of romance.
‘Was there ever a mention in the novel about a Gold Stone being in the glass Greenhouse?’
From what I could recall, there was only mention of finding a Red Stone in this Estate.
Curious whether the Gold Stone would be absorbed immediately, I decided to consult with Logan before experimenting.
So I was about to set it on the table for the moment.
Whoosh—
Without warning, the Gold Stone blazed with golden light and was absorbed into my body.
I immediately recalled the Gold Stone’s properties.
When held in hand, it enhances physical strength by ten percent, and when attached to a weapon, it increases durability by the same amount.
But what would happen if I’d absorbed it directly into my body rather than merely holding it?
‘If my strength has been enhanced, I should be stronger, right?’
Thinking I could test this by lifting something heavy, I glanced around and spotted a terracotta planter.
A lemon tree grew in it—the kind of planter that normally required two adult men to lift.
The old me would have struggled just to push it aside. But this time, it moved.
Quite easily, in fact.
I conducted several other experiments after that.
I couldn’t lift and carry the planter, but I could bend a shovel.
Something felt off, though.
There were limitations, certainly, but overall the enhancement to my strength was excellent news.
Drip…
Even if my nose bled every time I used the power.
‘The nosebleeds are the same as before, but something’s different.’
I felt no dizziness or anemia. If anything, I felt brimming with energy.
I spent time learning to wield the power of both the Red Stone and Gold Stone in various ways.
I wondered why I’d gained such abilities, but finding the answer was as difficult as discovering why I’d been reincarnated into the world of the Harsh Winter Chronicles.
I was sitting before the Greenhouse table, lost in thought, when it happened.
Chirp!
The squirrel Chipi scampered over to me.
“What is it, Chipi?”
At my question, it straightened up and placed its paws together respectfully at attention.
Anyone watching would think I was drilling the creature for discipline.
Apparently, this one regarded me as something like a captain.
But strictly speaking, the owner of this Greenhouse is Logan.
The Estate was purchased under his name, after all.
Even so, Chipi kept moving forward, then turning back to look at me, then forward again, then back to look at me—trying to get my attention.
It meant for me to follow.
I rose from my seat and followed it.
And I was startled to see the crops had grown far more lush in the time I hadn’t been watching.
The seedlings had been in the ground for only a month, yet they’d already grown enough to harvest.
I knew the Greenhouse’s guardian could make crops grow well, but I hadn’t expected it to be this dramatic.
Looking at Chipi with amazed eyes, it placed its paws on its hips and puffed out its chest proudly.
Charmed by this, I reached out to stroke its head.
At which point it began gnawing on my finger.
It was no longer charming.
While I was distracted sparring with the stubby squirrel using the Dual Palm Technique, causing minor chaos—
“Eve? Are you in here?”
Logan entered the Greenhouse just then. Marcus was right behind him.
I combed my slightly disheveled hair down with my hand and waved, still with Chipi gnawing on my finger.
Logan strode over and picked Chipi up by the scruff of its neck. Fortunately, it released my finger without protest.
There was no blood. Its teeth were still too small and insignificant, being just a young creature.
“Eve, I appreciate you reminding me of our first meeting, but he’s no ordinary creature. Next time, be more careful.”
Marcus was gazing around in astonishment at the squirrel and the Greenhouse.
Behind him appeared his secretary, Jack Harper.
“Ah, good day to you, Miss. Or rather—Duchess Chesswind now, I suppose.”
Jack Harper’s courteous greeting seemed to have pleased Logan considerably.
“You’ve got yourself a decent secretary.”
By now I was no longer surprised at how biased Logan could be.
“I never would have imagined a great noble like yourself retiring to farming in a place like this.”
Marcus murmured as he surveyed the Greenhouse.
He seemed to have sized up our situation quite accurately. We did look rather like an elderly couple living self-sufficiently on a farm in a rural village.
We settled around the table in the Greenhouse and brewed some tea.
Jack continued to blink wide-eyed in bewilderment, taking in the surroundings.
Marcus and Logan, meanwhile, locked eyes in a silent battle of wills.
“I have no intention of letting anyone into this village except Eve and my secretary.”
Logan’s deeply rooted distrust of humans had surfaced once again.
‘At first, I’d planned to send him away too……’
After recalling what sort of person Marcus was in the novel, my thoughts had been gradually shifting.
I knew from experience what it was like to survive alone with Logan in a place devoid of people.
And yet the result remained the same. My death.
‘Perhaps it means I need to completely change my survival strategy. In a direction I’ve never tried before.’
Marcus listened to Logan’s words while regarding me quietly.
“Eve, is that what you think too?”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“Logan is the owner of this house.”
Marcus then fixed me with a reluctant expression. He seemed to deliberate for a moment—
and suddenly smashed his forehead against the table with a bang.
What?
“Please accept me, Duke.”
I’d expected Jack, his secretary, to be flustered by Marcus’s sudden outburst, but he showed no signs of dismay.
As though this were something Marcus did quite habitually.
Ah. That was when I remembered—Marcus was the sort of man who would do anything for money.
Which was why, at such a young age, he’d amassed a vast fortune and become the chairman of the Railroad Company.
“I refuse.”
Logan answered without blinking an eye.
I watched Logan and Marcus in turn, then opened my mouth.
“What can you do, Marcus?”
Along with Logan, I posed the question as though we were conducting an interview for a new farmhand on a rural estate.
Marcus then looked at me with wavering eyes before answering.
“I’m skilled at managing and repairing buildings. I know how to manage a farm too. I’ve done all of it since I was young.”
‘In the novel, the protagonist did keep wanting to scout him as a talent.’
In fact, Marcus’s real strength lay not in building repairs but in negotiation. He was the sort of talent a survival camp desperately needed.
“And you?”
I asked while looking at Jack, and he snapped to attention, placing both hands firmly on his knees.
“I—I have studied medical techniques! I possess some medical knowledge!”
“I see.”
I turned back to Logan.
“Let’s give each of them a house in the village for now and observe them. What do you say, Logan?”
“Of course I hate it, Eve.”
Logan answered firmly, then narrowed his brows and let out a sigh.
“……Eve, you trust people far too easily.”
There was much I owed Logan for.
I was grateful for how blindly devoted he was, willing to throw away his life for me.
But in this life, I would build my strength. By absorbing the Winter Stone.
And I would not lose my humanity.
I had to keep myself centered.
I did not want Logan to lose his humanity, become a villain, and annihilate mankind.
I still did not know whether Logan loved me—
or whether he was merely obsessed with someone he’d lost nine times over.
But either way, the result was the same.
He had regressed nine times for the sake of saving me.
Whether it’s obsession or twisted love, I can’t stand by and watch someone who sacrificed everything for me crumble into darkness.
Haven’t I said this before? If by the ninth life he’d abandoned everything and succumbed to that darkness on the tenth, then he should never have cared whether I lived or died.
“So you dislike it?”
He’s asking if I dislike myself for trusting people so easily.
Logan falls silent at my question. He won’t dislike it. That’s why he fell for me in the first place.
“No. That’s why I love you.”
“Then trust me.”
Logan’s expression crumbles at my words. Over nine lifetimes, he must have given me countless chances like this.
Each time, all that came back was my death.
“This time will be different.”
Yes. This time will truly be different.
“I have the Winter Stone.”
I’m going to gather a lot of Winter Stones. A great many.
The moment I mention the Winter Stone, Logan’s eyes finally focus on me, wavering with something like hope.
“That is different, I’ll admit.”
He murmurs softly.
“…Yes. This time does seem a little different.”
I shrug and turn to Marcus and Jack, who’ve been watching our exchange in confusion.
“In that spirit.”
My eyes brighten.
“Let’s start digging up potatoes.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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