“So you know.
You were there, after all, were you not?” Callis began.
“The Lady Saint is a divine being, a celestial entity descended from the heavens.
She is different from us common nobles.
Lady Begonia is apparently unable to comprehend this and chased her away with a barrage of demeaning insults.”
“She did no such thing,” I said defensively.
“How is that?”
“She merely asked the Saint not to treat me as a spectacle.
You have to admit, it is quite presumptuous on the Lady Saint’s part.”
Callis furrowed his brow.
“That may be true, but the situation calls for—”
“The situation?
What situation?”
“Damn it, Seria,” Callis muttered in frustration as he ran his hand through his hair.
“I take it you are that fond of this dress?”
“Yes,” I admitted, trying to keep my voice as neutral as possible.
“I see.” After a short silence in which he seemed to be measuring his next words carefully, he said, “But Lina—”
“You mean the Lady Saint?” I asked icily.
The nerve of him to refer to another woman in such familiar terms!
And in front of me!
“I misspoke.
Forgive me, Seria, but please try to understand.
I have been chosen as her guardian,” Callis explained, his voice becoming desperate.
“Oh, is that so?” I was not able to suppress my sarcasm.
It was yet another detail from the novel.
Seria Sterne, driven by her jealousy of Lina, whom she’d always wanted to squash like a bug, had lost control of her anger when the respectable Callis Hanneton was appointed as Lina’s guardian.
In her rage, she had stormed into Lina’s residence and hurled a vase, injuring Lina and igniting Callis’s wrath.
Such a loss of control was a surefire way for the villainess to meet her downfall, so I knew I needed to keep my emotions in check.
I simply smiled and steadied my voice.
“I understand.”
“Thank goodness,” Callis sighed, visibly relieved.
“I was worried that you might be angry.
Sleep well, my beloved.”
He pressed his lips to my forehead and left.
Once again alone in my room, I sat back and gazed at my wedding dress for a long time.
* * *
Just before lunch the following day, Callis sent his aide to deliver a message.
“Lady Seria, the Marquis expresses his regret, but he will be unable to join you for lunch due to unforeseen circumstances.”
“Unforeseen circumstances?” I repeated.
“It seems the Lady Saint’s divine energy has yet to stabilize.”
Of course.
Lina, once again.
I nodded at the aide’s insufficient explanation.
“The Marquis sends his assurance that he will not be late for dinner!”
“Is that so?”
I found it hard to believe.
Divine energy was not something that could be stabilized in half a day.
In fact, Lina had suffered long, tiring struggles in the early half of the book due to her unstable divine energy.
The early parts of that narrative were rather bleak.
After all, a heroine has to experience hardships in order to become who she’s meant to become.
So rather than once again enduring the humiliation of another last-minute cancellation, I decided to beat Callis to the punch.
“Inform the marquis that I must cancel our dinner plans as I have a prior engagement,” I instructed.
“Oh?” The aide looked surprised.
“Do you have dinner plans with someone else?”
“Indeed I do.”
“With whom?” the aide inquired, his curiosity piqued.
“Must I divulge my personal affairs to you?” I raised an eyebrow and flicked my head toward the door.
The aide retreated sheepishly.
I should just head to the castle now.
Now that I didn’t have to wait around for Callis, I could leave at my leisure.
I took a moment to survey my bedroom first.
It was befitting of a high noble, sumptuous in every way and exceptionally spacious.
Thanks to my status as a Sterne, even though I was only visiting the Archduke of Berk’s domain for the wedding, I had been given the best annex in Castle Berk.
The owner of the castle and the ruler of this region, Archduke Rouche Berk, was both picky and not picky.
He was meticulous when it came to his duties and his Order of Knights, but when it came to entertaining noble guests or wearing formal attire, he seemed rather indifferent.
A truly fastidious noble would scrutinize every detail about a visiting guest—their status, position, influence, the size of their territory, whether they were married or single, even their gender—and provide accommodations accordingly.
However, Rouche was the exact opposite.
I was assigned the best annex, closest to the main estate, simply because I was the first to arrive at Castle Berk.
Well, even if that hadn’t been the case, I would have been assigned a top-tier annex.
After all, I was a Sterne, and House Berk never neglected the Sternes.
As such, I was able to quickly reach the main estate and meet with Sir Elliot, House Berk’s Knight Commander.
“Lady Seria, why do you look so unwell?” Sir Elliot asked.
Do I look that bad?
It must be because of Callis.
“I suppose it’s due to my cold,” I lied, feigning exhaustion.
“You seem to catch a cold every year, my lady.”
“So it seems.”
Sir Elliot was the first to open his heart and offer help when I became the reformed Seria.
What was it he had told me?
Something about how there are no bad people among those who repent their bad deeds.
I’ll have to pray for that if I want to stay alive.
Apparently, spending all his time brandishing a sword had made Sir Elliot rather naïve.
How can one survive in this harsh world with such blind innocence?
“But where are you going?” he asked.
“Where?
Have you lost track of time, Sir Elliot?”
“Is it time for the glacier already?
Are you going to do your rounds?”
“That’s correct.”
“Even with a cold, you still intend to visit the frozen lake in this frigid weather?
You have been there every day this week.
I am sure you’ve done enough.”
“But winter is not yet over,” I argued.
“And neither are my duties.”
The dominion of House Berk was home to a lake that was anything but ordinary.
It was a body of water of such significance that it had not been named.
It was simply referred to for what it was—the frozen lake.
At its center was a glacier, also no ordinary thing, for it served as a tomb for beasts.
Truth be told, given its vast expanse, even calling the frozen lake a lake was an understatement.
It was so broad that one could not see from one end to the other.
Stumbling across it unknowingly, one would certainly assume they had discovered an arctic sea.
It was the duty of House Berk, handed down through generations, to ensure the integrity of the glacier’s barrier.
Only a woman bearing the title of Sterne could perform this task, which was why all Sternes received special treatment.
That, and there were not many Sternes to begin with.
It was partly due to this that Seria had been able to wreak havoc all these years and get away with it.
The frozen lake was one of the most important elements of the story.
One day when the lake was due to be checked, Seria had thrown a fit and refused to do her duty.
The reason for her tantrum?
Lina.
The Saint had appeared out of nowhere, stealing all the spotlight and thus enraging her.
This wouldn’t have been so bad, except Seria’s failure to uphold her role had led to the emergence of a beast from the lake.
Normally, a single beast would not have been a problem for the knights of Berk to vanquish, but, like most stories, this one had its fair share of convenient coincidences.
The beast went on to terrorize local residents.
Later, an incident occurred in which a couple who had lost their child to the beast ran into Seria.
Out of vengeance they threw a stone at her, opening a deep gash on her forehead.
Being the terrible, vindictive person that she was, Seria was livid.
This world strictly adheres to a system of social order.
The commoners who had dared to throw a stone at a Sterne, unmindful of their place in society, were promptly executed.
So, I just need to make sure I go out and check every couple of days.
No problem…
“If you insist, my lady, let us go together,” Sir Elliot suggested.
I happily accepted, and Elliot and I went to the stables.
My beautiful white horse whinnied joyfully upon seeing me.
“Hello, my darling,” I cooed as I stroked her mane.
“I’ve returned.”
“Must you call it that?” Sir Elliot asked disapprovingly.
“Does it sound too villainous?”
Sir Elliot just looked at me and shook his head.
I smiled as I mounted my horse.
Despite her frail appearance and inability to lift a sword, Seria Sterne’s equestrian skills were quite remarkable.
One needed to know how to ride well in order to navigate the vast territory of the lake.
Doing my duty as a Sterne can only work to elevate me in their eyes.
Gosh, that sure sounds like something a villain would say.
They have to be cunning, after all.
* * *
The frozen lake was incredibly vast and foggy.
Sir Elliot and I tied our horses at a designated spot and began walking along a well-worn path.
I exhaled sharply, watching as my breath crystallized in the frozen air.
Sir Elliot’s expression went suddenly dark.
In an instant he grasped the handle of his sword and turned around.
“Your Highness?” he called out.
I turned around as well, not nearly as quickly as Elliot, and was surprised by what I saw.
“Your Grace,” I said, with a slight bow.
Standing there, shrouded in fog, was Rouche Berk.
He was draped in his distinctive red cloak and brandishing a huge sword.
Rouche studied us each in turn before speaking.
“What exactly do you two think you are doing here?”
“Your Highness, Lady Seria and I just came to conduct the daily rounds,” Sir Elliot responded, a barely perceptible quiver in his voice.
Rouche grimaced and turned his eyes on me.
“Lady Seria Sterne, would you care to explain why you insist, against all common sense, on venturing out to the lake when you have not yet recovered from a severe illness?”
He could be truly terrifying when he was agitated.
Though I preferred not to engage with him when he was in this mood, I mustered the courage.
“My cold is not severe, Your Grace.
And this is a duty I am bound to fulfill as a Sterne.”
“Since when have you become so diligent in fulfilling your duties?” he said curtly.
As expected of a central male character, he was sharp and quick with his words.
Despite my unflagging dedication to my glacier duties since arriving at the castle, he still always looked at me with a hint of distrust, as he was now.
“Perhaps it is merely your intention to attract your own fiancé’s attention with the symptoms of a terrible sickness?”