The Ice Age Came And I Just Got Married - Chapter 62

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

Chapter 62
* * *
Aiden marveled at the resourcefulness of the Dotori Village residents.
There was Rutherland, a man of considerable influence; Brian, a ducal official of the Cheswind Duchy; and Charlotte, daughter of a Navy admiral.
What’s more, the greenhouse was a space so impossibly surreal it defied reason, and the strange squirrel and bird within it were equally peculiar.
Yet even that peaceful admiration curdled into anxiety as Logan and Eve’s return stretched longer and longer.
Now that he thought about it, Marcus, Vincent, and Nathan were nowhere to be seen either.
“Do you think they’re all right?”
Charlotte murmured, her face creased with worry.
Brian patted her back reassuringly. “They’ll be fine. It’s Logan and Eve, after all.”
Aiden heard those words and glanced toward the window. The leather covering obscured any view beyond.
Soon, as the air grew heavier, they lit candles throughout the house.
They couldn’t afford to waste lantern fuel.
Now that he thought about it, the village had quite a stock of candles—as if someone had anticipated the end and prepared in advance.
Logan and Eve had apparently scavenged through Rosebrook Downtown in the wake of the Ice Age, gathering whatever they needed.
‘Hmm. It looks like they prepared beforehand.’
But that was merely his conjecture, so he set it aside and decided to focus on survival for now.
Whoooooosh—
The sound of a blizzard howling swept around the outside of the house.
Clang—clang—
Soon the windows and doors began to rattle.
Even though every gap and crack had been sealed and reinforced with leather and cloth, the shaking sound told him just how ferocious the storm was.
Aiden sat blankly on the sofa, lost in thought. Vincent would be safe. He trusted his bodyguard.
‘Logan and his wife, though… that’s another matter.’
Rutherland, whom he’d been watching with interest, was a concern as well.
‘I thought it was a marriage of convenience…’
What surprised him most was the relationship between Logan and Eve.
He had assumed that Logan would never marry a sickly woman from an extinguished family without compelling reason.
Yet what he’d observed directly suggested that Logan cared more deeply for Eve than she did for him.
Having spent four days at Eve House somewhat by accident, Aiden found himself growing increasingly curious about Dotori Village.
But that curiosity was short-lived.
As one hour passed, then two, the ease gradually drained from Aiden’s face.
* * *
Normally, regardless of how cold it was outside, the village maintained an internal temperature of about ten degrees below zero. But now, with the blizzard penetrating deep into the heart of the settlement, it had plummeted to seventy degrees below zero.
We learned this only because Logan carried a Thermometer with him at all times.
In any case, we gathered curtains, carpets, bedsheets, and tablecloths and fashioned a low tent in one corner of the room.
With the remaining cloth, we sealed the windows and door gaps, while Nathan and Marcus used shovels and axes to break through the floorboards and dig out the exposed floor underneath in thin layers.
At first, everyone wondered if this was really the right approach, but once I explained the Principle of Cold Storage, they worked without complaint.
When Logan finally pressed down the edges of the tent to secure it, our makeshift shelter was complete.
Outside, the storm still raged.
Crash!
Somewhere, something shattered. The entire house trembled faintly.
For a moment, everyone’s faces went rigid, but thankfully the house we were in remained standing.
We naturally gravitated toward the shelter beneath the tent. Five of us would normally have been cramped in such a space, but now that felt like a blessing.
We could feel each other’s body heat at close range.
Beneath the thick carpet serving as our ceiling, a faint but palpable warmth lingered.
Marcus reached out and waved his hand through the air, then spoke in amazement.
“It really is warmer.”
“What is?”
“It’s warmer than before.”
“It’s not just perception.”
I looked up at the tent ceiling as I spoke.
“We’ve reduced the space where heat can escape.”
Nathan nodded in apparent admiration.
“To be honest, I was skeptical at first.”
“Even now, aren’t you still a little unsure?”
“Well, I don’t think so anymore.”
He smiled sheepishly.
Then Logan lifted me up and settled me onto his lap. When I turned to him in confusion, he answered calmly, without batting an eye.

“Because it’s cramped.”
This seemed like it would only make things more awkward.
But looking at him, that didn’t seem to be what he meant by cramped.
He was helping me avoid contact with the others as much as possible.
Marcus and Nathan turned their heads away, searching for somewhere else to look, while Vincent continued to squint and groan softly.
Outside the tent, the storm still pounded at our makeshift shelter. Yet strangely, it didn’t frighten me the way it had moments ago.
The cold air settled along the ground, while the warmth of our bodies and a faint heat accumulated steadily within the tent.
With the RedStone’s power added to it, the space grew warm. If not for the RedStone, we would have barely managed to survive—warm, no, but not frozen to death.
But now it was genuinely warm, and I thought we might comfortably endure another four days.
Of course, Vincent seemed to believe it was all thanks to the RedStone placed among us.
He didn’t appear to sense the warmth emanating from me.
Sitting in Logan’s lap, I examined Vincent’s wound as he lay diagonally beside me.
Earlier, in the chaos, I’d had no choice but to overlook it, but now that I could see it clearly, his condition was worse than I’d expected.
When I rolled back his coat, I could see that the fabric around his leg was soaked with blood.
It looked like he’d struck his right leg.
Across the bruised, reddened skin ran a deep gash. I carefully probed the area with my fingertips.
“Ugh.”
Vincent furrowed his brow.
“There’s a good chance it’s fractured.”
“…….”
“Why do you look so grim? You’re not going to die.”
“I’m afraid that’s hardly reassuring, given that I serve the Crown Prince.”
I let Vincent’s words pass and turned to look at Logan.
“That thing we picked up from the weapons shop in Rosebrook Downtown last time—do you still have it?”
At my question about the PinkStone, Logan shook his head.
“It’s at Eve House.”
With Pipi around, I’d completely forgotten about it.
‘That’s my mistake.’
So many crises had been piling up one after another that I’d been in complete chaos.
Pipi had finished treating Nathan and, exhausted, was dozing in front of the RedStone, head nodding.
“It might be good to administer first aid…….”
At my words, Logan leaned his back against the wall and tilted his head to one side.
For a moment, he studied Vincent with a contemplative gaze, looking him up and down.
“We’ll need alcohol.”
At Logan’s words, Marcus leisurely raised his hand.
“I saw a dusty bottle of Strong Spirits in the kitchen cupboard. I don’t know how long it’s been sitting there.”
Marcus got to his feet, pulled his clothes tight, opened the door, and stepped into the kitchen. A short while later, when he returned, his body was covered in a thick layer of fresh frost.
Soon after, he closed the door and sealed every gap again.
I stepped out of the tent. Logan had made it clear he’d need to remove all of Vincent’s wet clothing.
Vincent, too weak to resist, seemed to surrender himself entirely to Logan’s care.
Though I didn’t see what came after, Nathan also came outside and stood beside me.
“I feel like I need to wash my eyes. I saw something I shouldn’t have in there.”
At Nathan’s words, I gave a soft laugh.
While Logan and Marcus worked on first aid inside, I had a light conversation with Nathan.
“The Duke is truly a good master.”
There was no wavering in Nathan’s eyes as he spoke those words.
A quiet statement, yet it carried within it deep trust in Logan and pride in serving the Cheswind Duchy.
“A good master…….”
There was actually a subject I’d been wanting to discuss with Nathan for some time.
“What about me?”
Nathan blinked for a moment.
“……Are you speaking of the qualities befitting a Duchess?”
“Yes.”
“I believe a Duchess is someone who oversees the internal affairs of the household.”
Nathan answered as if he’d been waiting for the question.
“She presides over social gatherings, receives distinguished guests, directs the servants, and maintains the family’s honor and order. Additionally, while the Duke governs his lands, it is also the Duchess’s important role to watch over the household’s inner workings so they do not falter, and to assist in whatever areas require it.”
Nathan rattled off those words as if he’d been eager to say them to me.
I’d more or less expected it. How he saw me.
“That’s right. But do you know what?”
I smiled.
“It’s easy enough to just manage a household. An accountant can keep the ledgers, and a steward can receive guests.”
Nathan’s eyes flickered.
“A family’s affairs don’t run on ledgers alone. It’s not about doing everything yourself—it’s about moving people, ultimately.”
“…….”
“A good mistress of the house isn’t someone who manages everything alone. She’s someone who enables every person to do their role.”
The world had come to this state, so what did the qualities of a duchess’s wife truly matter, honestly?
Nathan seemed to value such things now, so she’d simply matched his rhythm and spoken accordingly.
It wasn’t that she didn’t know.
She didn’t do it because wielding such status and authority offered no advantage to survival.
Nathan would have to understand that now.

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