Jade shouted angrily.

“Hey!”

“Take good care of the house. You don’t need to go help at Ollie’s house today. The road there will be difficult.”

“Tell me! Where are you going!”

By the time the door opened, Axel was already on his horse.

Their eyes met and he smirked. As always, his eyes softened gently and one corner of his mouth quirked up crookedly.

At first, he had only looked fierce and mean, but after getting to know him, it was just a comfortable smile.

“I’ll tell you when I get back. Don’t look at me with those pitiful eyes.”

Leaving a sulky Jade behind, Axel rode off with his horse at lightning speed. The dark figure quickly disappeared into the distance.

Jade stood in the front yard, which he had already meticulously cleared of snow, and grumbled.

“When did he clear the snow again.”

For someone who likes to sleep in, he sure is diligent.

Jade scratched her head and yawned.

The road to Ollie’s house was deeply covered in snow, and Axel had left the house.

If that was the case, all she had to do was be lazy.

That was clearly her thought, but before long she got bored. Writhing in the silence, Jade made a few attempts to go to Ollie’s house.

She was confident that when the sun rose high, the snow would melt a little, and then she could push through it well enough on her own.

Of course, that confidence was easily broken. After about twenty steps, Jade gave up completely.

“Ugh, cold. So cold!”

Since there was no particular reason to go, her will easily crumbled. With her calves soaked, she quickly returned home and warmed herself in front of the fireplace. This was barely around noon.

How could time pass so slowly?

It had been a while since she had this thought, as lately every moment spent in the forest was so enjoyable that there was no time to feel bored.

Jade buried herself in the armchair and flipped through the pages of a book, but reading a history book alone felt only tedious.

On a day like this, Nina probably wouldn’t come to play either, right?

Yawning with bored eyes, Jade busied herself stirring the potion hanging over the fireplace a few times and bottling it, but that didn’t last long either.

In the end, she took a nap for the first time in a very long time.

The forest, covered entirely in snow, absorbed many sounds, so nothing disturbed her.

Jade woke up because of a loud door sound.

Startled, she looked towards the door to see Axel shaking off the snow piled on his head. His now-longer bangs stuck out above his eyebrows.

“Oh…”

Jade, still immersed in a sweet dream, rubbed her eyes and stood up unsteadily. Seeing this, Axel laughed.

“Did you sleep the whole time?”

“Not the whole time… I’m not sure how long I slept.”

Jade was confused. A nap, what a luxury.

Outside, there was too much pressure and too many things to do, so she couldn’t take naps. She didn’t particularly want to either, as she had to wake up soon after very short sleeps.

But here, she had fallen into a deep sleep as if forgetting all that. It was both surprising and bewildering how comfortable she felt in this space now.

Looking around, there was still some soft light remaining, making it difficult to gauge the time.

In place of the confused Jade, Axel approached, lit a candle, and pressed her shoulders to make her sit down again.

“Don’t stagger, just sit. How well did you sleep that you can’t even keep your balance?”

He strode to the kitchen and poured out something from a leather bag onto the table. Jade, staring blankly at his back, blurted out.

“You look in a good mood.”

“Ah… Is that so?”

Axel trailed off with an ambiguous voice and suddenly clamped his mouth shut. His hands were busy pulling out and organizing the items.

Jade, now completely free from the effects of her dream, also approached.

“There’s so much stuff.”

What he had brought was food. Most of it was smoked meat wrapped in cloth, but there was also white bread made from refined wheat.

“Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve seen white bread.”

As Jade lightly touched the surface in wonder, it made a crisp sound, well-baked.

“Shall we slice it for dinner? We have some cheese saved. With some alcohol too.”

“We should. This is too difficult to store.”

“Where did it come from?”

As she sat in a chair and started to inquire in earnest, Axel answered willingly.

“It’s a bit far, but if you go west, there’s a real hunter living there.”

“Are there real hunters and fake hunters?”

Glancing at Jade’s amused face, he nodded.

“I guess I’m the fake one.”

It was interesting that he rarely expressed himself like this about what was now an open, not-so-secret secret.

“I see. It’s hard to become real. But with your skills, couldn’t you be called real now?”

“I thought so too, but when I saw the real hunter’s food storage, I realized I’m not there yet.”

As Jade giggled, Axel also laughed briefly.

“So, you went to the real hunter’s house and received these?”

“Yes.”

“Why did that person give you such things?”

“I taught him how to hunt before, maybe some of that affection remains. I do have to help out a bit, but even considering that, he gave me a lot.”

Jade, with her eyes wide open, genuinely marveled.

“He taught you? Weren’t you good at hunting from the beginning?”

“I could catch things from the start, but I didn’t know what to catch each season or how to manage it at all.”

“So you did have a time like me after all.”

“No. It wasn’t a time like you. As I’ve said many times, I was always better.”

Glaring at Axel who firmly denied it, Jade finally grabbed the cloth pouch pushed to the corner of the table.

“Anyway, that attitude of yours never changes. But what’s this? Is it precious? It’s wrapped so prettily.”

“Ah.”

Inside the white cloth she held, something like stones seemed to be rattling.

However, Axel suddenly turned away from Jade again and moved around. That movement had a clearly conscious aspect to it.

Jade tilted her head.

“What is it? Can I open it?”

There was no answer, but enough time had passed to know that this meant consent.

Jade carefully untied the string bound to the cloth. What came out was indeed a stone. But not just any stone.

“Um… Is this lapis lazuli?”

The peculiar blue dots scattered on it were certainly lapis lazuli.

Lapis lazuli was the most popular ore for magic stone materials. While it couldn’t hold spells as stably as dillidot, it was relatively easier to obtain and simpler to manage.

Of course, the most important part was that it was a ‘relatively’ obtainable item, something she had never even thought of acquiring in the Athanase Forest.

Where would there be a mine in this forest? No, even if there was one, who on earth would work there?

Anyway, regardless of who mined it, its shape wasn’t pointy and the edges were well-trimmed, making it look perfect for carrying around.

Jade could already think of more than five experiments she wanted to try with these three lapis lazuli stones.

“What’s this? Where did it come from? Did that hunter give it to you?”

Jade asked in a bright voice, but Axel didn’t answer for a long time. He just kept repeating a gesture of tapping something.

Finally, just as an impatient Jade was about to speak again, his lips parted slowly.

“Well, there won’t be much to do all winter. There will probably be many boring days.”

He mumbled, barely audibly, in an indifferent attitude, completely avoiding Jade’s eyes.

“It looked like something you’d enjoy playing with. That hunter said he didn’t particularly need things like this anyway.”

After saying that, Axel pretended to be busy, repeatedly tying and untying the cloth-wrapped meat to a string. His large hands even fumbled.

But Jade, hearing his answer, was also taken aback and couldn’t react for a moment. Usually, she would have jumped for joy at such good fortune.

Seeing how strangely he was acting, it was clear that he had gone out of his way to get it for her.

Of course, even though they had been together for several months now, so he could show such kindness.

Why, why are the areas under my eyes burning like this?

This is probably because his ears have turned red.

The two of them spent a long time near the table, looking in opposite directions and fidgeting. Until finally, Jade felt her cheeks had cooled down enough and mumbled words of thanks.

“Um, thank you. I’ll use them well…”

“It’s nothing. You’re the only one in this forest who would use such things.”

Axel, having done something kind, became very gruff.

Recognizing this, Jade was busy controlling her twitching lips. Even after several fake coughs, it didn’t improve at all.

My fingertips are tingling. No, my nape and toes are tingling too. Why am I tingling all over for something so trivial? Is it because of Axel’s embarrassed face?

Jade had a lot of experience receiving gifts from outside. Although there were many other conditions, she was, after all, the only heir to the Broen territory, so people who had nothing to inherit from their families always clung to her, aiming for the position of fiancé.

Also, in the subjugation unit, there were many knights who aimed for the seat next to her, a magician without a pair.

They would often gift her flowers and letters full of flowery words praising her beauty, but most of the time when she received them, she thought:

‘How can I get rid of this appropriately without hurting their feelings?’

That was certainly the case, but she couldn’t understand why these insignificant stones made her smile so much.

It felt as if someone was gently tickling her entire body with soft leaves.

Clearing her throat once again to steady her voice, Jade spoke, trying to sound calm.

“I guess I’m the only magician in this forest, after all?”

“Even if that weren’t the case, you’re the only one interested. Everyone else would just pass by even if they tripped over such things.”

“Uh… hehe.”

“Why are you laughing like that?”

Finally, Jade slammed her fist on the table and burst into loud laughter, but Axel, who would normally have scolded her immediately, stood for a long time avoiding her gaze.

The redness that had been confined to his ears had now spread to the corners of the man’s eyes.