The Ice Age Came And I Just Got Married - Chapter 8

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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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Episode 8
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Whiiiiiiii—
Beyond the outskirts of Rosebrook.
A faint bell rang out through the blizzard.
Soon a dark shadow emerged across the pristine snow—a dog sled bearing the crest of the Cheswind Family.
The hunting dogs lashed to the front were so gaunt their ribs showed through.
The condition of the man riding the sled was far worse.
His fingertips had turned black with frostbite, and the others who had ridden with him on the sled had long since stopped breathing.
With each breath the corpses took, the weight of the sled buried them deeper in the snow; only their gloves and identifying belongings had been left behind.
Tears froze the moment they fell, so even grief had to be swallowed in silence—a journey made barely alive.
Nathan, Logan’s Adjutant, who held the leads of the hunting dogs, clenched his teeth.
At least the sun was still up, so they could move outfitted with cold-weather gear. If night fell, it would be dire. He had to find shelter quickly.
Once the sun set, one couldn’t venture out at all.
[Welcome to the port city of Rosebrook.]
At last a sign marking the beginning of the city district came into view.
Tears welled in Nathan’s eyes.
He should have heeded Logan’s warning to make for Rosebrook before the world fell apart.
If he had, they wouldn’t have been walking this knife’s edge between life and death, grinding themselves down to nothing.
‘But thank goodness the Duke left behind the dog sled and those well-trained hunting dogs.’
Nathan had even participated in the Northern Region Exploration Project. Back then, he’d ridden dog sleds across the snow—something rarely seen in the Southern Region.
“Do you place importance on principle?”
It was the first question Logan had asked when they first met. Nathan had answered then that he valued adaptability over rigid principle.
In conversation with nobility, one should have emphasized principle and propriety. He’d thought he’d made a mistake.
But Logan had actually liked that about him.
“To serve me is to serve the Everhart Lady as well. Keep that always in mind.”
Logan and the Everhart Lady had no connection.
They’d attended the Academy together later, but there was no real interaction between them even then.
Yet Logan spoke as though the two of them would soon be engaged.
‘Perhaps he’s with her now in that mansion—with the Duchess of Cheswind.’
Nathan hadn’t known they would actually marry.
A week before the disaster struck, Logan had warned him again to head for Rosebrook, but just then the royal court had made contact.
They’d questioned Logan’s marriage—an unprecedented situation where the ducal house had announced the news in the papers without informing the Crown first.
At the time, Nathan had thought he’d shown admirable adaptability by attending to something more pressing than Logan’s warning.
That adaptability Logan so valued.
But when the disaster actually struck, Nathan realized his decision had been wrong.
When he saw Logan again, he’d have to apologize first. But before that, he needed to survive.
He gritted his teeth and tugged harder on the hunting dogs’ leads.
* * *
After the commotion had settled.
Logan and I sat across from each other at the table again, drinking tea.
Fortunately, my body showed no particular abnormalities.
Except that I could now use the properties of Redstone directly.
I gazed quietly at the teapot, then held my finger toward the Tea Candle beneath it.
Snap—
A spark leaped from my fingertip and ignited the Tea Candle.
“Wow.”
I felt like a sorceress.
‘What on earth is this?’
Winterstone was supposed not to be absorbed into a person’s body. You always had to carry it with you, and I remembered that many survivors had complained of the inconvenience.
But it had been absorbed into my body.
And now I could use it as though it were my own power.
Moreover, it seemed the strength I could exert depended on how much Redstone I’d absorbed into my body.
“……Hm.”
Logan pressed his palms against his face, looking bewildered.
“There’s been no case like this until now.”
Hearing his murmur, I understood his confusion. Even on his tenth Regression, this was a situation he’d never encountered before.
I recalled the Types of Winterstone.
‘If I absorb all of them, do I actually become a sorceress?’
As I entertained that carefree thought, I suddenly wondered whether there might be side effects.
I looked down at my hands. My body felt faintly warm. Warm enough to be almost uncomfortable.
“Eve, is there anything else unusual? Any part of your body where you feel strain?”
“Not so far.”
At my answer, Logan finally released a relieved breath.
I realized his face, which had been scrutinizing my hands and complexion, had somehow drawn very close.
Yes, even if the world was chaos itself, we newlyweds were really far too proper—
Rumble-rumble-!!
That was when Chippy started to fuss.
Logan and I jumped up and stepped apart as if scalded.
The squirrel was at the greenhouse entrance. Standing before the greenhouse door, it churned and growled outward as though something were bothering it.
“Chippy, what’s wrong?”
Chippy is the squirrel’s name. I learned it from the novel. Logan didn’t give him that name—rather, I learned it from the omniscient narration of the author’s perspective.
What was remarkable was that when you called this creature by his name, he’d transform from a prickly, temperamental terror into something docile.
As expected, the creature who had been bristling with irritation at our closeness suddenly composed himself, pressed his little paws together, and looked up at me with gentle eyes.
Anyone seeing him would have thought he was a well-mannered squirrel from the start.
Then, with that mild expression on his face, he began tapping the greenhouse door with a paw no bigger than a bean.
Logan, who had been watching the squirrel quietly, finally spoke.
“Something seems to be out there.”
Could it be people from the Cheswind Family?
Agreeing with Logan’s words, I opened the greenhouse door.
Chippy stepped aside politely.
The greenhouse’s guardian, unable to venture beyond the boundaries of its domain, poked his head out and watched over us.
After stepping out of the greenhouse and surveying the Village Chief’s Mansion’s garden, I turned my head toward the front gate.
That was when Logan positioned himself in front of me.
“Wait. Someone’s there.”
Logan immediately drew his Greatsword.
His eyes had turned fierce. It wasn’t just his eyes—his entire presence had shifted.
Though I understood it came from overprotection, standing beside him felt like I might get caught in his blade, so I stepped back a little.
That was when it happened.
Knock-knock—
Someone was tapping at the gate.
“……Are you……there?”
It was a voice barely clinging to life.
‘Hm? This voice seems familiar somehow.’
It reminded me of Marcus Winston Rutherford, a senior from the Academy who used to harass me with cloying flattery.
“The voice is similar to his……”
Logan muttered something displeased as if he’d had the same thought, and that sealed it for me.
“You think so too, right? That’s Rutherford’s voice?”
“Let me check.”
True to form, overprotective Logan moved forward.
Click— creeeeek—
Logan opened the front door.
And there, sprawled on the ground below the entrance, were two men.
“It is Rutherford!”
I hurried over behind Logan and reached out toward the unconscious man.
But I couldn’t touch Marcus. Logan got there first, snatching him up like a sack of grain.
“How do you know what disease he’s caught? You’re frail—stay twenty paces away.”
At Logan’s words, I was left speechless.
“Aren’t you treating him like he’s contaminated?”
“Eve, to be precise, I’m the one being treated like contamination by this creature. For you, every human being except me is a potential murderer. Remember that. Trust no one.”
We’d been alone together with only the squirrel for so long that I’d almost forgotten—but he seemed to have gone quite dark.
I shook my head and looked at the man collapsed beside Marcus.
“That’s Marcus’s Adjutant. Let’s bring them inside.”
At my words, Logan cast an exasperated look at Marcus and his adjutant, then sighed and entered the mansion.
Logan laid them both down before the fireplace as though they were mere baggage and lit the fire.
Despite his gruff appearance, Logan was a man brimming with humanity—he’d do anything asked of him.
He had that warmth in him, that readiness to reach out a helping hand whenever someone in need appeared.
If I could absorb Winterstone into my body and wield its power freely, Logan wouldn’t have to worry anymore.
Then wouldn’t he return to being the man full of human kindness?
And wouldn’t that prevent him from becoming the villain of this novel, the one who dies at the hands of Crown Prince Aiden?
As these thoughts crossed his mind, Marcus’s eyes fluttered open, just barely.
「Eve’s Memoirs」Volume 1 – Types of Winterstone and Their Applications
Redstone is the most vital mineral for maintaining body heat. It can replace heating and furnaces, and during an Ice Age, it means survival itself.
And Goldstone enhances physical abilities and the durability of weapons.
The conclusion is simple: if you want to survive, gather Redstone; if you must fight, gather Goldstone.
Especially for someone like me—someone physically unremarkable—raising physical ability was the only path to survival.
Looking back at the Ice Age, among the various Winterstones, Redstone and Goldstone proved to be the most invaluable minerals of all.

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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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