The Ice Age Came And I Just Got Married - Chapter 47

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

Episode 47
Shen Haven.
One of the tourist destinations in the Granden Kingdom, famous as a resort town.
And there was only one surviving shelter in this place.
The Shen Haven Shelter, operated by the Countess of Winterdin.
On the surface, it appeared entirely peaceful.
Yet I couldn’t shake the feeling that something about this peace was subtly wrong.
That’s when Logan whispered.
“Something’s off.”
Logan spoke with the steadiness of someone who had understood everything from the start.
“Eve, do you know? When you’re trying to survive in hell, a person always clings to something. And hope has a way of becoming an addiction.”
Hope becoming an addiction—a sad thought.
“A shelter of this scale couldn’t possibly maintain itself so stably with just Red Stones alone. Not unless there’s another Winter Stone besides the Red Stone.”
I found myself thinking of how this town had an unusually large number of young people.
And to maintain a town stably with Winter Stones rather than Red Stones meant…
Surely not…
I turned to look at Logan again, and he let out a soft laugh.
“I knew you’d catch on.”
I stared at the Countess of Winterdin’s back with a look of mild shock.
Claire and Leon followed directly behind her, while Logan and I walked at a slight distance.
I kept pace with them, my mind turning the pieces over.
Soon the Countess of Winterdin led us to a noble estate.
A two-story villa built facing the shoreline.
Snow lay thick upon the roof, but the structure appeared to be in good condition.
The windows were intact, and a faint wisp of smoke curled from the chimney.
“This was originally a summer villa,” the Countess of Winterdin said.

“The owner of this villa never came.”
At those words, we all fell silent for a moment.
After the Ice Age, no one needed to ask what that meant.
The Countess of Winterdin opened the door with an impassive expression.
Creak.
Warm air flowed out into the cold.
A fire burned in the hearth, and fresh bedding and hot water bottles were already prepared inside.
“Guests are precious, after all,” the Countess of Winterdin said matter-of-factly.

“Especially guests who arrive alive.”
She gave the logs in the hearth one final inspection, then withdrew toward the doorway.
“Rest well. Tomorrow’s worries can wait until tomorrow.”
With those words, the door closed quietly.
Snow still fell outside, but within the villa, an almost eerie peace prevailed.
Outside the door, we heard the Countess of Winterdin’s footsteps crunching through the snow, growing gradually distant.
Once her footfalls had faded entirely, Claire spoke.
“Something about this place seems off.”
Remarkably, both Claire and Leon were sensing that wrongness too. Clearly people with sharp instincts.
We gathered on the sofa in front of the hearth.
Crackle-crackle—
Only the sound of the logs burning filled the quiet.
After a long silence, Claire finally spoke.
“The Countess of Winterdin. Her appearance seems somewhat different from what I remember.”
The Countess of Winterdin had been the Crown Prince’s tutor, so Claire, who had been close to the Crown Prince in their youth, would know her well.
I turned to look at Logan.
“Logan, you used to come to the Royal Court often when you were young, didn’t you? You’ve seen the Countess of Winterdin before?”
Logan nodded at my question.
“I can’t say for certain since it was when I was a child, but as Claire says—she’s different.”
Logan continued in a measured voice.
“The Countess of Winterdin I knew had trouble with her legs. She needed a cane to walk.”
“That’s right. She had an accident and needed a cane to move about. And…,” Claire added, her words trailing off cautiously before she lowered her voice.

“At that time, the Countess of Winterdin was already fifty years old.”
“Twenty years have passed since then. He’d be around seventy by now.”
Silence hung in the air.
Seventy.
The old man who had guided us to this estate looked nothing like seventy. I’d have guessed him in his early fifties at most.
I chose my next words carefully.
Then I broached the subject of the Winter Stone cautiously.
“It seems the Countess of Winterdin has the Winter Stone in her possession.”
Leon, who had been listening with the same impassive expression as Claire, opened his mouth.
“Are you referring to the Red Stone that you possess, sir?”
“Similar. One of that kind—the Violet Stone—has a property called Rejuvenation.”
I continued my explanation.
“The problem is that activating this Rejuvenation property is complicated. It doesn’t grant rejuvenation unconditionally.”
“What’s the condition?”
In response to Claire’s question, I lowered my voice slightly.
“It requires stealing youth from another person.”
“Then to become twenty years younger……”
Leon’s face had gone rigid, and his words trailed off.
“As far as I understand it, roughly five years of rejuvenation per person, though it varies. With the Countess of Winterdin, I’d estimate she’s stolen the youth of about four people.”
Claire expressed her doubt at my words.
“Where did that Winter Stone even come from in the first place?”
“I don’t know either. How it came to be.”
I could guess that it had been chiseled from the Heart of Frost, but that was only conjecture—not certain proof.
Though Logan and I were nearly convinced it was true, separate from what I could actually claim.
“I have unpleasant memories of the Countess of Winterdin, and the current situation troubles me deeply.”
Leon, who didn’t know her history, tilted his head at Claire’s response.
“Now that you mention it, what exactly happened between you in the past? The conversation you had with the Countess of Winterdin……”
Leon suddenly trailed off mid-question.
“Ah. My apologies.”
He continued after apologizing.
“That was an impolite question. Please forget what I asked.”
Claire blinked a few times before answering.
“It’s nothing much. I was acquainted with the Crown Prince in my childhood.”
“Is that so? Acquainted with the Crown Prince…… I’m sorry?”
Leon appeared not to have known, asking again with a surprised expression. Come to think of it, he’d been in the helm room when we discussed this.
Claire shrugged as if it were nothing.
“It’s in the past.”
“Ah. Yes. The past……”
Leon, staring at Claire with an expressionless face, spoke once more.
“Did he dump you, or did you dump him?”
Cough. The bluntness of the question caught me off guard, and I couldn’t help coughing.
He asked that with a serious face?
“It’s an important question.”
How is that important?
Claire answered in a flat tone, as if responding to an equally trivial question.
“He dumped me.”
“Then you’d have justification.”
Justification for what?
Leon stroked his chin thoughtfully and answered.
“The world’s already ended. Who would criticize you for challenging the Crown Prince to a duel?”
They probably would.
“He must have survived with his retinue. He’s the Crown Prince, after all.”
I couldn’t help but ask Leon, curious where he was going with this.
“Ah. A surprise attack would give you a good chance of winning.”
“I thought you said a duel.”
“On an uneven playing field, my principle is to avoid fair duels. In those situations, a little cowardice is acceptable.”
Pfft.
At that moment, Claire suddenly burst out laughing.
“Ah. Don’t go to such extremes. That’s enough.”
I was just realizing that she was capable of making expressions.

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