Home/The Ice Age Came? And I Just Got Married?!/ch 52

Chapter 52.

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Clare and Leon safely herded the innocent shelter residents into the community hall.

The bewildered people gathered in the hall, waiting for their leader, Countess Winterdean, to appear.

Meanwhile, Logan headed straight for the Countess's residence.

To see Eve.

The front door was firmly locked. He tried the handle roughly, but it wouldn't budge—the door had frozen shut in the cold air.

Logan stared at the door for a moment. He had no time to find another way in.

His patience had reached its limit.

CRASH—!

With a deafening roar, the frozen door was blown clean off its hinges, flying into the house.

Splintered wood and ice shards scattered everywhere.

Logan rushed inside.

"Eve!"

He ran down the corridor, yanking open every door he passed.

If one didn't open, he kicked it down.

CRASH!

CRUNCH—!

The door ripped off its hinges.

He scanned each room—and when he didn't find Eve, he moved on.

The interior was quiet.

Not silent—just no voices. But he could hear the faint rustle of fabric.

Logan hurried toward the sound.

Bang—!

A gunshot rang out in the distance—from the direction of the community hall. But Logan ignored it. Clare and Leon would handle it.

After passing a short corridor, he reached the sitting room. The door was half open.

Creak—

He pushed it open and took in the scene at a glance.

Countess Winterdean was struggling with her hands frozen to the table. Three young men and women were stuck to the floor, their mouths also covered in ice—which was why they couldn't scream.

And in the middle of it all, a woman sat elegantly at the table, sipping tea.

It was Eve.

She glanced at Logan, smiled, and greeted him.

"Right on time. I was waiting."

"What happened?"

"Want some tea?"

She raised the cup she'd been drinking from with a calm face.

Then, as if remembering something, she shook her head.

"Ah—this one isn't very good. It has poison in it. I'll get you another."

"...What? Eve—did you just say poison?"

Logan stopped and looked at the tea on the table.

Eve set down her cup and shrugged.

"Don't worry—I'm immune to poison."

Logan couldn't process that immediately.

Eve was immune to poison?

He'd never known—she'd never had the chance to be poisoned before. She'd died by other means.

Regardless, having poison immunity was fortunate.

But why?

Why would a delicately raised young lady have poison immunity?

The Everhart family was a well-regarded noble house.

"Drink up. I was thinking about what to do with the Winterstone while having tea."

Eve brewed him a fresh cup, then pointed to the large Violetstone on the table.

It emitted a faint purple glow and was about the size of a child's head.

"Ah—I brought it up from the basement. They hid it in such an obvious place."

Eve said calmly, then gestured to the Countess and her subordinates.

"In a little while, their skin will start to necrotize—so I thought about releasing them. But could you knock them out first?"

She pointed at the struggling people.

Their skin was already turning blue—they seemed to have frostbite.

Logan nodded, and Eve melted the ice.

"Hnnngh..."

"Ughhh!"

"Hrk."

They all collapsed, their numb lips unable to form words.

The Countess was no exception—as soon as the ice melted, Logan knocked them all unconscious.

Leaving them on the floor, they sat down to share freshly brewed, poison-free tea.

"So—what's the plan?"

At Logan's question, Eve pointed at the Violetstone on the table.

"First, I'm going to absorb this."

She explained that after returning to Acorn Village, she'd extract the absorbed power and store it in its original mineral form.

The Violetstone also had a property that accelerated plant growth. Thanks to the greenhouse, crops already grew fast, but with the Violetstone, they could grow them even outside the greenhouse.

Then Eve gestured to the unconscious people on the floor.

"Next, I'll retrieve the Winterstones absorbed into their bodies. Then the people who had their youth stolen will get it back, and these people will return to their true age."

Neither Logan nor Eve felt sorry for them.

A brief silence fell.

After taking a sip of freshly brewed tea, Eve spoke again, her voice slightly subdued.

"The more Winterstones I absorb, the heavier the sense of responsibility feels."

"...What responsibility?"

"I feel pressure to help find a way to end the ice age."

At Eve's quiet answer, Logan's jaw tightened.

Then, with stubborn conviction, he said,

"You don't have to."

"...The problem is, the more power I gain, the less I care about ending the ice age—and the more I just want to find my missing family."

She sighed softly.

"Am I being too selfish?"

Logan looked at her without a word.

"No one would call that selfish."

Eve fell silent, as if reaching back into her memories. After a long pause, she spoke.

"My eldest brother built up my poison immunity from a young age."

Logan frowned.

She'd trained poison immunity in that frail body that seemed like it would break with the slightest pressure?

"Back then, I thought it was just overprotectiveness—or maybe he secretly hated me."

Eve recalled the past as if even she couldn't understand her eldest brother, Graham.

"Do you think he knew something like this would happen and prepared me for it?"

Hearing that, Logan had his own thoughts. Eve's missing brothers had never appeared even in his past lives.

He wasn't curious about their circumstances.

They were Eve's brothers—and instead of protecting her, they'd gone missing like cowards.

"One thing's for sure—if I ever meet your brothers, I doubt I'll be able to let them walk away unharmed."

Eve burst out laughing at Logan's answer. He looked at her, troubled, and finally said,

"Fine—I don't like your brothers... but putting what you need to protect above saving the world is only natural. So don't blame yourself."

Eve felt relieved—because those words came from Logan, the man who prioritized saving her over the world.

Seeing her relieved expression, Logan's own tense face softened.

Eve placed her hand on the Violetstone. Each Winterstone had a different color, property, and shape.

Inside the deep purple crystal, a light pulsed rhythmically like a beating heart.

Thump.

Thump.

Watching it, it felt almost alive.

The moment her fingertips touched the stone's surface—

Hmm—

The Violetstone vibrated lowly.

At the same time, violet rays rose from within the stone.

Crack—

The surface of the Violetstone split. Cracks spread instantly in all directions.

As if it had been waiting for this moment—as if it had found a new master.

The light surged like a massive wave, swallowing Eve whole.

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