The Ice Age Came And I Just Got Married - Chapter 42

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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 42
I stared at Claire in surprise, and she tilted her head, clearly puzzled.
“Is something the matter?”
“Ah. Lieutenant Wayne, I wonder if…”
I had started to bring up Aiden, but caught myself and fell silent.
Was it really appropriate to ask?
After a moment’s hesitation, I spoke carefully.
“You know the Crown Prince, don’t you?”
She froze.
“I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean.”
“I must have been mistaken.”
I decided not to press the matter. It was clear Claire didn’t want to discuss it.
Claire was Aiden’s first love—the protagonist’s great love. But she was the illegitimate daughter of a minor house, a station far beneath the Crown Prince.
Their love was impossible, so in the end, Claire had enlisted to forget him.
‘So her feelings still linger.’
The fact that she didn’t want to talk about it must mean her heart hadn’t truly healed.
As I reached that conclusion, Claire let out a heavy sigh.
“I apologize. Truth is, we do know each other. But I’d rather not talk about that bastard.”
“…I beg your pardon?”
I stammered in confusion.
In the novel, Aiden still thought of his first love with an aching heart, so I hadn’t expected this reaction.
The protagonist believed Claire dead, and the story depicted him making great efforts to forget her.
And true to his role, he became entangled with various women. Only later did Aiden discover Claire was alive and they reunited—but by then, another woman already stood at his side.
So Claire let him go cleanly and remained by his side only as a member of the Survival Base, where she performed brilliantly.
Yet Aiden had wanted to win her back, torn between his current love and his past—a typical love triangle of sorts.
“It seems you two didn’t part on good terms.”
Since she hadn’t confirmed her relationship to Aiden, I played ignorant.
“As a soldier, I shouldn’t call the Crown Prince a bastard—that’s court-martial material. But given the state of things, is there even a royal court left to try me? Is there a military command? If I can’t call a bastard a bastard, then who the hell am I supposed to curse at?”
She’d already said it four times.
“But how did you know I know the Crown Prince?”
Logan looked at me too, equally curious.
“I think I saw an article about it once.”
“The Royal Family suppressed and confiscated every copy the moment it circulated. Quite a find.”
Claire smiled bitterly as she spoke.
In truth, I hadn’t seen it myself—I only remembered it from the novel.
“What happened between you and the Crown Prince?”
“I cannot discuss that.”
Claire’s refusal was firm, her expression apologetic. So I couldn’t press further.
Whoosh—splash.
The sound of the ship cutting through seawater pierced the heavy silence.
I lifted my head numbly.
In the novel, Aiden was depicted as remarkably righteous and magnificent.
A paragon of justice, a hero. But through Claire’s eyes, he was a bastard.
‘Maybe what I know and reality are different things.’
The thought struck me suddenly.
I shouldn’t blindly trust the novel—I should treat it more as a ‘reference guide.’
Then, white snow filled my vision—or rather, a frozen sea with snow piled upon it.
This meant we’d have to moor the ship and continue on foot.
“How far have we come?”
I asked Claire while studying the map.
“When I checked the instruments earlier, we seemed to be passing through this area.”
Claire pointed to a section of sea on the map—waters near Rosebroke.
Chirp.
Just then, Peepee, who’d been sleeping in my jacket pocket, emerged with a yawn, chirping softly.
Then, with a pop, the little bird appeared and fluttered its wings.
“It’s remarkable that a living bird exists.”
“It’s not exactly an ordinary bird.”
As I finished speaking, Peepee landed on my head and began pecking at my scalp. It seemed the bird took my remark as an insult.
“You’re cute. Stop that.”
At my words, it uncannily stopped and flew about again. Claire, watching the exchange, said softly:
“A remarkable bird.”
That seemed to be the end of his appreciation.
Just then Peepee cried out in a frenzy, flapping wildly.
Squawk! Screech! Screech-screech!
What’s gotten into him?
I’d never seen Peepee this excited before. He seemed genuinely frightened.
In that moment, we witnessed something extraordinary.
A massive creature was walking across the frozen sea.
It resembled the animal called an elephant that I’d seen once at an amusement park in childhood, except it was covered entirely in fur.
Long ivory tusks protruded below its trunk. And there were far more than just one or two.
They moved in herds, walking toward some distant destination.
“What in the world are those……?”
As we gaped at the enormous procession of woolly elephants, the observation vessel lurched to a halt.
The ice had become too thick to pass through.
“We’ll have to disembark and proceed on foot from here!”
Leon’s voice rang out from the helm.
* * *
Norton, a city on the outskirts of Rosebroke.
The shelter situated in the heart of the urban district had once been a noble’s mansion.
But now it served as the temporary command center of the kingdom, with Crown Prince Aiden and his staff in residence.
The conference room was no different.
A long meeting table occupied the vast space that had once been a banquet hall.
The paintings that had adorned the walls had been taken down long ago.
In their place hung regional maps, supply manifests, and the migration routes of refugees, all crammed together.
The windows were sealed shut with thick wooden planks.
Cloth and wool were stuffed in every gap, yet cold air still seeped through relentlessly.
A massive cast-iron stove stood in the center of the room.
Heat and the sound of burning coal poured from it, but the warmth proved insufficient to heat the entire sprawling conference room.
The staff members sat through the meeting layered in coats.
Maps and documents covered the table, along with coffee cups.
Everyone’s breath hung visibly in the air.
Spread across the meeting table was an enormous strategic map.
Red pins marked survivor strongholds; black pins marked cities that had gone silent.
And regions studded with pristine white pins were places already swallowed entirely by ice.
Seated before it was a beautiful man with waist-length ash-blonde hair loosely bound, Crown Prince Aiden.
Since the Apocalypse, the Crown Prince had remained there constantly, receiving reports from across the realm.
He sat not on the golden throne of the royal palace, but on a worn oak chair.
As Aiden conferred with his staff in the conference room, he suddenly turned to look behind him.
There was no one there.
“Is something the matter, Your Highness?”
Vincent, the guard knight, asked.
“Nothing. It felt as though someone was speaking about me.”
Aiden tilted his head, then straightened his posture and began reviewing the handwritten reports before him.
“What is the situation in Rosebroke?”
“The reconnaissance team has reported witnessing something curious.”
“Something curious?”
“As I mentioned before, there was a massive Tidal Wave frozen solid just before it engulfed Rosebroke.”
“That’s right.”
“It has vanished.”
Aiden’s pen came to a stop.
“……I’m not sure I understand.”
Vincent withdrew a large pouch from his belt and placed it on the conference table.
A red stone peeked out from within.
“I refer to what Your Highness named the ‘Winterstone.’ Remarkably, the people of Rosebroke call it by the same name.”
“A curious coincidence indeed.”
“Indeed. And Duchess Cheswind appears to command the power of the Winterstone at will.”
Vincent’s words sent a stir through the conference room. Aiden rested his chin on his hand and nodded. A silent gesture to continue.
Vincent resumed his account.
“During reconnaissance, she was observed vanishing along with the Tidal Wave that had engulfed Rosebroke. We believe no other witnesses survived to confirm it.”
“Increasingly curious about what sort of woman she is.”
With those words, silence fell over the room.
Aiden, who had been tapping his fingers against the table, finally spoke after a long pause.
“I need to meet Cheswind myself.”

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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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