Home/The Ice Age Came? And I Just Got Married?!/ch 50

Chapter 50.

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Logan was in an extremely foul mood.

"Do we really need a plan? I'll just sweep them all away and retrieve the Winterstone."

"Logan—if you solve everything with force, we'll end up isolated."

What was wrong with being isolated?

He'd prepared Acorn Village precisely so he could be isolated with her.

It was a dark night.

They slipped out of the villa with only a single lantern.

With temperatures dropping to minus sixty degrees and no sun, moving around at this hour was practically suicide.

But Eve had the Redstone's power, and Logan had brought extra Redstones from Acorn Village, so even Clare and Leon could use them.

In other words, there weren't many people who could move around at night.

The person watching the villa must have had a Redstone too.

Considering the Redstones embedded in the large tree at the village center, it wasn't a difficult deduction.

"We need to retrieve the Violetstone."

Clare and Leon, whom Eve had expected to object, readily agreed to help.

They said it was because they owed their lives to her and Logan.

And above all, the confidence radiating from Eve had a strange power that put others at ease.

Enough that the two soldiers trusted and followed her without hesitation.

At night, temperatures plummeted sharply, making it impossible to stay outside for long without a Redstone.

But waiting until sunrise wasn't a guarantee of safety either.

So it was better to help Eve retrieve the Violetstone from Countess Winterdean now and leave this shelter quickly.

Besides, Clare practically loathed the Countess.

After hearing that the Countess had stolen youth from others to rejuvenate herself, Clare insisted she must be punished.

Clare had a deeply troubled history with the Countess.

And at the center of that conflict was Crown Prince Aiden.

Aiden...

Logan thought about Crown Prince Aiden. Objectively, he was an excellent crown prince—capable, intelligent, and of good character.

The one flaw people often pointed out was his hidden lover.

And the same people who gossiped about that also had plenty to say about Logan and Eve's marriage.

"Lieutenant Wayne—do you still have feelings for the Crown Prince?"

It was the first personal question Logan had ever asked anyone.

But Clare answered without a moment's hesitation.

"I don't want to talk about that son of a bitch, sir."

"...Right."

If she'd said she still had feelings, he would have advised her to give up.

Crown Prince Aiden was unlike Logan—a man who could not give up what he had, even for the woman he loved.

Logan didn't really care, but it was Leon who was flustered.

"Lieutenant Wayne loses her composure whenever the Crown Prince is mentioned. Allow me to apologize on her behalf, sir."

"I was holding back worse language."

Hmm. Logan looked between Clare and Leon with interest.

She hadn't objected when Leon apologized on her behalf.

Eve, with sparkling eyes, seemed to share the same thought.

The moment Logan saw her face, his expression softened.

Clare and Leon also fell silent.

A quiet stillness settled, filled with different undercurrents.

Logan glanced at Eve.

He was still afraid of losing her—but this time, something was different. It wasn't just Eve.

The Winterstones.

And the creatures with strange abilities.

Logan looked at the baby bird perched on Eve's head, nodding off.

These creatures with special powers were helping Eve. He didn't know why.

The giant mammoths they'd met during the day were the same. In his memory, giant mammoths didn't like humans.

They didn't particularly dislike them either—nor did they see them as prey, like wolves. They simply weren't interested.

Yet, simply because Eve was there, they had protected all of them.

In the future, monsters called "snow beasts" would appear. Eve's abilities might prove invaluable then.

Just like before...

Eve didn't seem human somehow.

Even without the Winterstones and the special creatures—even when she was just a frail girl—there had always been something peculiar about her.

Logan suddenly took Eve's hand. She looked up at him in surprise.

"What?"

"Nothing."

He gripped her hand tightly, as if not to let go.

It was too late—far too late to let go of this hand. Whoever she was, whatever happened, Logan had no intention of releasing it.

"I'll watch over you. Do what you want."

Logan scanned their surroundings casually.

If he wanted, he could turn this entire shelter into ruins in an instant.

But Eve didn't want that—so he held back.

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I glanced up at Logan.

He showed no tension at all—as if he'd just come out for a walk.

After nine regressions, Logan had lost his humanity. His morality was also lacking.

On the surface, he seemed fine—but I knew he was deeply broken.

I couldn't stand by and watch a man who had regressed nine times for me become a villain.

Come to think of it, in the novel, Clare had been trapped in Sunhaven before joining Crown Prince Aiden's survival base.

She despised Aiden—yet she joined his base for one reason:

She owed him her life.

"We're almost there."

At Clare's voice, I looked up.

As she said, we'd arrived at the shelter's central square.

A large tree stood there, and the Redstones embedded in it glowed with a faint red light, radiating warmth.

Stepping into the square, I felt my breath ease—it was slightly warmer.

"See you all in a bit."

"Honestly, I'd say about thirty minutes."

Leon and Clare answered in turn and disappeared. Logan stroked my head and said,

"I'll be waiting."

I nodded. He smiled and vanished.

Logan, Clare, and Leon would now neutralize the shelter's forces.

And I would enter the Countess's residence and retrieve the Violetstone.

It shouldn't be too difficult.

I looked around the quiet square and walked forward slowly.

Behind the central tree, a wide road led up to the Countess's quarters.

I walked up to the door and knocked.

Knock, knock.

But even though a light was on inside, the door didn't open for a long time.

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