The Ice Age Came And I Just Got Married - Chapter 96

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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 96
The impact of the collapsing roof had only just begun to settle.
I pushed myself up slowly with my hands.
Everything around us lay in shadow.
Splintered wooden beams and shattered furniture were scattered in all directions, and above the collapsed ceiling, fresh snow had piled up without a single gap.
The hole through which we had fallen was now sealed by the avalanche of snow that had buried it—not even a trace remained.
“We’re completely trapped.”
I heard Aiden’s low murmur and turned slowly to survey my surroundings. This was the sitting room of some mansion.
A fireplace, a worn sofa, and an overturned table still remained in place, as if time itself had stopped.
But where the entrance ought to have been, there stood only a wall of snow that towered well above head height.
I grabbed the door handle and pulled.
Creak—
The door didn’t open even a handspan.
Snow that had been forced through the gap had frozen solid, cutting off the building from the outside world entirely.
“So that’s why people used the second-floor windows to come and go.”
At Aiden’s words, I nodded and turned to face him.
Only then did I notice drops of blood scattered across the floor. It was Aiden’s blood.
I walked toward him quickly and asked, “Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re bleeding.”
“Ah.”
Aiden nodded as if it were nothing and let out a sigh.
“It’s nothing serious.”
It looked as though he’d struck something when we fell.
Chirp—
At that very moment, as if on cue, Pipi poked his head out from my pocket.
He must have caught the scent of blood.
The little creature fluttered his wings and took flight.
Then he began circling around Aiden.
“Sit down for a moment, would you?”
I melted the frozen sofa using Redstone Power, then added more warmth to render it completely dry like fresh cloth.
Aiden looked at me with an expression of disbelief at what he’d just witnessed.
He’d never directly seen me use Winterstone Power before, so his astonishment was warranted.
“My lady, how did you do that?”
“Perhaps we should tend to your wound first, and I can explain afterward?”
I set down my bag and pulled out several Redstones—those I kept with me for medical supplies, beyond what I’d absorbed.
As I spread them thickly around the sofa, a warm, gentle heat began to suffuse the air.
“Would you remove your shirt for me?”
Aiden looked up at me with startled embarrassment, his face flushing.
“Just the area around the wound.”
Apparently self-conscious, he averted his gaze before finally slipping off his coat without protest.
The garment, heavy with snow and dust, fell to the floor with a soft thud.
He then unfastened several buttons of his shirt, exposing his shoulder—and a gash far deeper than I’d anticipated came into view.
Crimson blood was flowing slowly down his arm.
“And you said this was nothing serious?”
“It doesn’t hinder my movement.”
“That’s your assessment, not mine.”
I drew clean cloth from my bag and carefully pressed it against the wound.
Pipi hovered nearby with concern before eventually settling on Aiden’s shoulder.
As Pipi beat his wings, the wound gradually began to fade.
I completed what Pipi couldn’t finish on his own.
Not, of course, because I found Aiden handsome.
If I didn’t tend to his injury now, his condition could become a liability for both of us.
But Aiden’s interpretation seemed to differ from mine.
“To be honest, at first I couldn’t understand why the Duke would marry you.”
At Aiden’s soft voice, I looked up. Our eyes met.
“You’re a remarkable woman, my lady.”
He smiled gently.
“The more time one spends with you, the more one realizes you possess a certain charm that draws people in.”

The quiet voice that filled the silent room held a peculiar power—it commanded attention.
It was an unexpected thing to hear.
I hadn’t expected to be told by the Crown Prince himself, and the protagonist no less, that I possessed charm.
‘I never thought our paths would become this entangled.’
Then Aiden rose from his seat.
“I’d like to repay you for your help.”
He rotated his treated shoulder with an air of curiosity, working out the stiffness in his body.
Presently, after retrieving the Redstone and returning it to me, he drew something from his pocket.
It was a Goldstone.
“A token of my gratitude.”
“Are you certain? I tend not to let go of things once they’ve fallen into my hands.”
After saying that, I added another thought.
“Ah, but if you shed a single tear for me, I’d reconsider. A beautiful woman’s tears do wound the heart.”
At my words, Aiden’s eyes widened in surprise before he burst into loud laughter.
“Ah, you truly are charming, madam. I find myself quite taken with you. Genuinely taken.”
To think I’d become the sort of talent that the protagonist himself coveted. It was an honor.
I accepted the Goldstone without protest.
Despite having already witnessed my use of Winterstone Power, Aiden refrained from asking specific questions about it. It was his way of showing consideration.
And instead of prying into my methods, he was likely thinking of recruiting me.
Moments like these made me understand why the characters in the novel trusted and followed Aiden. Of course, that understanding didn’t necessarily extend to my own feelings on the matter.
He couldn’t be compared to Logan.
‘I wonder if Logan is all right.’
Before I lost my memory, I would have worried that my absence might emotionally break him, but the Logan I know now…
Honestly, I’m not sure. In fact, I was starting to think he might be fine.
I looked up at the ceiling again. The mansion’s marble slabs were collapsing in layers, suspended just above our heads.
It was nothing short of divine fortune that we hadn’t been crushed beneath them.
Considering the building was four stories tall, even Logan would have difficulty clearing away all those marble slabs and rescuing us immediately.
“We need to find another exit.”
At my words, Aiden nodded.
He pulled on the clothes he’d removed and gathered his things. Then.
“You need only follow me, madam. I shall handle anything requiring strength.”
“But as you’ve seen, I also possess—”
Aiden cut off my words and shook his head.
“Preserve your strength. When help is truly needed, that is when you should assist.”
Aiden spoke with great courtesy and firm resolve. In truth, before he was Crown Prince, he was the protagonist of the Harsh Winter Chronicle. He was a man whose martial prowess rivaled Logan’s own.
Moreover, like Logan, he wielded a sword.
Where Logan swung his greatsword with overwhelming force to crush his opponents, Aiden practiced a Swordsmanship that missed no opening—striking with surgical precision at vital points.
His was an elegant and accurate technique, one that emphasized skill over raw power.
If Logan’s blade was a storm, then Aiden’s was an awl.
I didn’t protest further.
He possessed more than enough strength to handle this.
In any case, we began searching in earnest for a way out.
Though Aiden had given me the Goldstone, he hadn’t surrendered all his Winterstone.
Since he too needed to survive, he decided to keep the Redstone for himself.
Aiden used the Redstone to melt the snow that had blocked the salon’s entrance.
Snow accumulated over such a long time had hardened considerably, but even melted into a path by the Redstone, it didn’t collapse.
‘The sun seems to have set.’
If so, the temperature outside would be sixty below zero.
Though the Redstone shielded us from the cold, it couldn’t substitute for our physical endurance.
As night deepened, our search would only grow more perilous, and Logan would surely continue his search even after dark.
We had to reunite with Logan and Graham as quickly as possible.
Aiden melted the snow to clear a path, and I followed behind him.
Snow was piled high beneath our feet, and when I nearly stumbled over something hidden within it, Aiden quickly grabbed my hand to steady me.
Our eyes met again.
An awkward silence fell between us.
“Thank you, Aiden.”
Aiden simply smiled faintly and turned back to the path ahead.
‘We both attended the Academy, yet somehow we never crossed paths.’
But as I’ve said, during my time at the Academy I was too foolish to notice anyone but Logan, so I paid no attention to the other students.
Now, looking back, I found myself wishing I had.
I feel like I didn’t really enjoy my time at the Academy the way I should have.
‘I wish this Ice Age would end soon.’
I want to return to my normal life.
I want to go back to ordinary days and fall in love with Logan again. The longing rose up in me once more.
Aaaah—!
And somewhere, a scream tore through the air.
* * *
Bryan was drenched in cold sweat.
Graham and Logan walked ahead of him, moving slowly and studying their surroundings.
As though they wouldn’t miss a single clue.
The atmosphere was tense. Graham, who had lost a beloved sister. Logan, who had seen his love slip from his grasp right before his eyes.
Bryan walked through the suffocating silence until he saw Graham come to a halt.
“We should look for another entrance to this mansion, but no matter how hard we search, I can’t find one. We need to try a different approach.”
At Graham’s words, Logan stopped as well, his gaze sweeping across the space around them.
Both Graham and Logan.
Their eyes held a dangerous edge.
It was a powder keg waiting to ignite.

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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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