The Ice Age Came And I Just Got Married - Chapter 87

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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 87
“Julian and my parents went missing, and the Everhart Family was ruined completely. I was drowning in debt and spent five years trying to pay it off—I couldn’t even graduate from the Academy.”
Once I’d laid it all out like that, I could feel in my bones just how bleak my situation had been.
“Right before I was going to be sold off to some old man, Logan saved me. Some fellow named Count Derby.”
“What? Count Derby? Hold on—sold off…?!”
Graham shot to his feet.
Chipi, passing by, startled badly and hurled the acorn he was holding at Graham’s leg, though the impact was harmless.
“I resented you so much.”
I continued, my face bitter.
“My parents and Julian disappeared, and then you left to study abroad and went silent. I didn’t know if you were dead or alive. For five years, I was completely alone.”
Graham took off his glasses and buried his face in one hand.
His neck had flushed a deep red. He looked like someone trying to hold back a flood of emotion.
My own feelings surged up in response, and I swallowed hard. My heart had begun to pound fiercely again.
An awkward silence hung in the greenhouse for a while, until finally, some time later, he lifted his head.
His eyes were bloodshot.
“I’m sorry.”
He spoke quietly as he put his glasses back on.
But I noticed his hands were trembling as he did.
“I…”
His voice was shaking now too. He paused, swallowing his words, and fell silent.
As if pushing down that tide of emotion once more.
After a moment, he spoke again.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to protect you.”
Hearing that, the last five years came crashing down all at once.
The empty mansion where no one ever returned.
Letters I kept waiting for that never got an answer.
I told myself I hadn’t been abandoned, that I should laugh it off as if nothing was wrong. All those days of self-hypnosis.
All those times when I wanted to fall apart but had no one beside me to fall apart with, so I just had to endure alone.
That was when I realized it.
I’d thought I was fine, but I wasn’t fine at all. I was lonely. I wanted someone there with me.
“It’s too late.”
My voice cracked miserably.
“So much too late.”
With those words, the tears came pouring out.
Graham rose and carefully drew me into his arms.
The moment I felt his embrace, the last shred of composure I’d been barely holding onto crumbled away.
A sob escaped.
The sound of crying spilled from between my lips.
How many years had it been since I cried like this?
Graham held me and wept alongside me.
In that moment, I felt like I was truly meeting my eldest brother again for the first time.
Yes. Now it really felt like my brother had come home.
.
.
.
“If Whiteveil was looking for me, why did they leave me alone for five years? They’re still leaving me alone even after the disaster happened.”
“I think they couldn’t be certain it was you.”
I returned to Eve House with Graham and we continued our conversation.
In the Eve House reception room, it was just me and my brother, while Logan came and went, preparing food.
Graham adjusted his glasses and spoke with a grave expression.
“There were other candidates they suspected. It’s one of the few pieces of information I picked up while I was being held captive by them for five years. Count Derby is also Whiteveil.”
“What kind of woman were they looking for?”
“They called her the Administrator. I was always puzzled about what she was supposed to administer, since I could never figure it out.”
Logan glanced over at us. I could tell he was listening intently to our conversation as he passed by, his ears open.
“But seeing you work with Winterstone, I understand now. You were the Administrator.”
“…Did Whiteveil create Winterstone too? I know that Winterstone is composed of fragments derived from something called the Frost Heart—a massive mana stone. Right now Julian has gone somewhere to destroy that Frost Heart.”
“Wait, what? What do you mean by that?”
“Yeah, actually I was meaning to ask you about that too. What did that even mean?”
I told him about Julian that I’d seen in my dream. When I finished, he grew serious, lost in thought for a moment, then opened his mouth again.
“It’s probably something like Silvermere Lake.”
“Where is it?”
“I don’t know the exact location. It’s a legendary lake, after all. There’s a legend that during the First Ice Age, an entire city was submerged beneath it. That’s just something I heard from those Whiteveil people.”
“Why did Whiteveil keep him locked away in Norcellan for five years?”
“Everything is an experiment to them.”
Graham exhaled deeply and continued.
“I was… their hostage. Leverage to use you and Julian, essentially.”
“So this Ice Age is also their doing…?”
“No. Just one thing—I don’t think they caused this. They had absolutely no preparation for the Ice Age.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I was there when disaster struck. They all died there. It was utter chaos. There was no way they expected the Second Ice Age. Maybe they thought they could control it, but their behavior proved otherwise.”
Ah. Only then did I nod in understanding.
An awkward silence fell between us again. Most of my questions about Graham had been answered.
In the meantime, Logan brought out the food.
Graham looked momentarily flustered, his eyes darting between Logan and the table.
“…It seems Eve has been doing well.”
Graham stared at the table for a moment, then spoke with a troubled expression.
“Thank you, Your Grace.”
Logan remained silent for a moment before answering in a low voice.
“Taking care of my wife’s family is only natural.”
He replied without hesitation and calmly took his seat to begin eating.
Graham said nothing more and quietly arranged his place at the table.
The awkward meal began.
“Logan, where is everyone else?”
“They’re eating together outside. Things are still unsettled.”
“I see.”
With Logan’s words, an awkward silence descended once more.
“Our Eve…”
Then Graham opened his mouth.
“She likes foods with sweet flavors. Things like butternut squash soup.”
Suddenly?
“There’s a misunderstanding that she’s sickly because she has nosebleeds, but she’s quite healthy. I even worried once whether she ate stones.”
“Brother.”
No. If you expose trade secrets like that, what will I do?
“She dislikes ambiguity. Her patience is rather short—she can’t handle being told to wait.”
Am I a dog?
“Please treat her well. She’s a child raised with much love.”
“Of course.”
Logan answered briefly. Graham studied him for a long moment, as if he didn’t quite believe that answer.
“Eve trusts people far too easily.”
His voice was quiet and steady.
“She extends her hand first even to those everyone else has abandoned. And in doing so, she often gets hurt herself.”
Graham’s deep violet gaze turned toward me with a different intensity than before.
“So. If this child ever attempts something reckless, please stop her.”
A moment of silence hung in the air.
Logan set down his fork and knife, dabbed his lips lightly with his napkin, and after rinsing his mouth with water, gave a brief answer.
“I cannot do that.”
“…”
“…”
The kitchen fell silent. I turned my head to look at Logan, who sat beside me.
Even so, I felt a twinge of disappointment.
As that thought crossed my mind, Logan spoke again.
“Because she won’t listen even if I try.”
Graham’s eyebrows rose in displeasure.
Logan continued in an even tone, unperturbed.
“Instead, I won’t let her go alone.”
What?
“If she goes to die, I’ll go with her. If she wants to return alive, I’ll do whatever it takes to bring her back safely—together. And that, too, is something I’ve long wished for.”
Graham said nothing for a long time.
Then he let out a small, quiet laugh.
“That’s all I needed to hear. Only someone who truly knows Eve could say such a thing.”
The tension that had hung thick in the air moments before seemed to ease, just slightly.
Thanks to that small mercy, the meal concluded more peacefully than expected.

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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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