Home/The Ice Age Came? And I Just Got Married?!/ch 117

Chapter 117.

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"...Since Logan absorbed a subordinate mana stone, I thought finding the Heart of Frost might restore his memory."

I turned my head to look at the Heart of Frost in the corner of the greenhouse.

Since we were on the subject, why not take a look?

I rose and approached it, pulling off the cloth.

The black mana stone still sat there like a dead rock, emitting no light.

The voice was gone too.

"Hmm—you said the Heart of Frost kept telling you to reclaim the Winterstones?"

Julian asked. I nodded.

"I don't hear it anymore."

I wondered why.

If all subordinate mana stones exposed to the Heart of Frost obeyed me like Logan did, could I bring the Heart of Frost before snow monsters and command them too?

But realistically, that was difficult—the Heart of Frost was too large to carry.

Flash—

Huh?

I stared into the black mana stone—something seemed to glint inside...

"Eve—your pocket is glowing."

Logan said. I rummaged through it and pulled out the compass—the three-thousand-year-old relic.

Its needle spun wildly, then suddenly pointed toward a direction—outside the greenhouse.

"Huh...?"

What was this—I felt like I should follow it.

"Eve, where are you going?"

"It feels like it's telling me to find something. It was like this when I found Julian."

Logan looked down at the compass, remembering.

Aiden, Marcus, and my brothers followed me out of the greenhouse, looking puzzled.

The compass pointed to the back of Eve House—toward the shed. The small, old tool shed Luca had mentioned.

"What is it pointing at?"

Julian tilted his head, so I explained.

"Luca said he used this shed to go somewhere else—and met a mage there."

"So there really is something here."

Just then, Luca ran out from the back door of Eve House.

"Ma'am-lady! Are you going into the shed?"

"Huh?"

He must have been watching from inside. He grabbed my hand and said,

"I thought about it—what if you hold my hand and go in?"

"Why do you think that?"

"I found this!"

Luca handed me a notebook.

It was old, worn—the notebook of Acorn Village's first chief. More precisely, a village rulebook.

The rules we'd found in the greenhouse seemed to have been torn from this notebook.

It detailed the village's districts—each location's purpose, management, and rules.

There were sections on the chief's house, the greenhouse, the chapel, and even the caves below the cliffs.

"Luca, where did you get this?"

"I don't know—it just appeared by my bedside."

It sounded impossible—but this village was magical, so maybe it was true.

I opened the notebook. On the first page, a message was written:

[To the lost mage—

Though winter may silence all life, the young soul never loses its light.

When lost, keep those stars close.

Their laughter awakens frozen magic; their curiosity reopens sleeping paths.

When the heart's breath weakens, rest near the young light.

Ancient magic remembers the warmth of pure life.]

As I read it silently, Logan tilted his head.

"Eve—what are you looking at?"

"Huh?"

I pointed to the note.

"Can't you see this?"

"See what? It's blank."

His answer sent a chill down my spine.

Marcus and Aiden said the same—it was blank.

But Luca came over and said,

"I can see it."

I looked down at him. He looked back with steady eyes.

"That's why I brought it—I thought the 'young souls' meant kids like me."

Ah—now I understood why only children could open the portal.

It was another rule of this village.

[To the mage who has just awakened their power—

I regret that you have no teacher by your side.

May this village be a small lamp to guide you from losing your way.]

I pondered the final lines.

This village was meant to help me grow as a mage?

Was I really a mage—a broom-riding mage from fairy tales? No way?

While I was flustered, Luca took my hand.

"I'll go with you—don't be scared."

"What are you talking about? Eve's not going anywhere."

Logan grabbed my other hand.

"Forgot? I lost you even when we were holding hands."

Ah.

"You're not going anywhere."

I hadn't even said anything yet.

Julian, listening, frowned and scolded Logan.

"What gives you the right to tell Eve what to do? Just because you're her husband?"

He pointed at Logan and turned to Graham.

"I really don't like him."

"He wasn't this rude before he lost his memory."

Ah—that's exactly what Logan hates hearing.

"I am Eve's husband—and I don't think those who abandoned their sister for five years have any right to say that."

Logan struck Graham and Julian's most painful spot.

They both frowned and glared at him.

As the three men engaged in a silent standoff, I huddled with Marcus and Aiden.

"What should we do?"

"If the compass is pointing there, there must be something—like when we found the Heart of Frost. My gut says it won't lead Her Grace into danger."

"Luca's gone back and forth several times, so it can't be that dangerous..."

Aiden and Marcus offered their thoughts.

I turned to Luca.

"Can you tell me more about where you went? You said you met a mage."

Luca nodded.

"When I opened the shed door, a path led to a dark underground passage."

He explained calmly.

"There was a man in a strange cloak and hat—with a staff."

I didn't know why all mages wore such stereotypical attire—but three thousand years ago, cloaks, pointed hats, and staffs seemed to be the mark of a mage.

"Do you remember where it was—the place where that man was?"

"I don't know—the place changed every time."

"It changed every time?"

So the location wasn't fixed—but the mage was always there?

"If the place changed, the mage wasn't there—I had to open the door many times before I reached him."

The mage was only in a specific place. The underground passage led to a highly developed city with a complex structure.

That sounds like the city submerged beneath Silvermere Lake.

Luca's description resembled the city I'd seen.

"Ah—I've seen this in ancient texts."

Julian clapped his hands as if recalling something.

"It resembles the 'portals' mages used three thousand years ago."

Portals?

Everyone tilted their heads. Julian explained calmly.

"Space-travel magic—mages called it a portal. Some called it a warp gate."

If Acorn Village really was built by mages, I wasn't surprised anymore.

Creak—

The shed door swung open on its own.

Julian stopped talking and looked toward it. Silence fell.

"Did anyone touch the door?"

Marcus asked. No one answered—no one had.

Logan quietly took my hand. I looked up—he said with a blank expression,

"I told you—you're not going anywhere, Eve."

"Locking me up or being a tick."

Logan paused at my words.

"You said you'd choose the latter for now."

He looked at me incredulously—as if to ask why I was bringing that up now.

But I pressed on.

"Hold tight—what if you lose me again?"

His grip tightened.

"Should we go in?"

At my question, he stared at the door thoughtfully.

"I'm tempted to switch to the first option."

"No take-backs."

Before he could answer, I reached for the doorknob.

FLASH—

At the same time, a burst of light exploded from inside the shed.

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