The place where Ludmila newly settled was an ordinary village with high mountains at its back.

Unlike the Empire where most villages built walls and became urbanized, the Kingdom of Islau preserved its past form intact.

There were no gates or walls blocking between villages. Anyone could walk or ride a horse to visit anywhere they wanted.

Though the roads were not as well-maintained as in the Empire, one could feel peace physically while passing through tall trees lining the dirt and gravel paths.

Ludmila, who crossed the frozen land and the border to meet a man named Angar and reached this village of Huisen, was given a new identity here.

The identity of a nomad of the Khan tribe and Beressa’s cousin.

Unlike the Empire which frequently raided and attacked causing damage, the Khan tribe did not touch the Kingdom of Islau.

This was because among the ancestors who founded the kingdom, there was one born with Khan bloodline.

Moreover, thanks to the Khan tribe’s persistent attacks on the Empire, the Kingdom of Islau was able to grow peacefully without thinking of checking the Empire.

As a result, many of the Khan tribe’s nomads often came here to settle.

The man named Angar was also a Khan who had settled here in the past and was also a man who owed Beressa a debt of gratitude.

“It’s already been almost a month since you settled here. How is life here?”

Ludmila, who brought out tea at the visit of Angar, a middle-aged man dressed as a neat country gentleman, did not immediately answer the question thrown as soon as she sat down.

Instead, holding the teacup, she paused for a moment and cast her gaze outside.

From the residence Angar had prepared, looking out the window, one could see a lakeside far away between the thick trees.

Five villages including Huisen were living around that vast lakeside.

Ludmila, who moistened her lips with the teacup she was holding, soon smiled faintly.

“I’m satisfied. It’s quiet and not noisy.”

For her, every day she faced here was the daily life she had always dreamed of.

In the morning, everyone woke up energetically to start the day, and at night, they went home to avoid the deeply fallen darkness, illuminating with torches and lamps to end a warm day.

Ludmila, who always wanted to live quietly, was able to achieve the daily life she desired according to her own wishes.

If there was anything regrettable, it was the weather.

“If I had known it was such a cold place, I regret not bringing thicker clothes.”

Angar smiled politely at the added bit of grumbling.

“You can consider half of the year to be winter or close to it. It’s the best place for those who dislike heat, with short summers and long winters.”

He continued speaking while rolling his eyes. The pile of firewood set up next to the fireplace was already showing its bottom.

The winter here was quite harsh, so burning wood logs in the fireplace was essential.

“I’ll send someone to chop firewood.”

“It’s okay. I’ll do it myself.”

At her words, Angar’s eyes reflexively rolled down. The slender wrist placed on the table.

Looking at that wrist and arm that was like a twig in vulgar terms, it was hard to imagine the scene of swinging an axe to chop firewood.

It was worrying whether she could even lift the axe, let alone chopping firewood without getting hurt.

Ludmila, who rolled her eyes down following Angar’s gaze, smoothed down her rolled-up sleeve with a faint smile.

Angar, feeling awkward, cleared his throat and nodded.

“Yes, then we’ll do that.”

After exchanging a few words of greetings to end the conversation, Angar emptied his teacup and stood up.

“Oh, Ms. Ludmila. I see Mr. Angar was here too.”

It was then that a voice greeted Ludmila and Angar as they came out following him opening the door.

It was Bionia, a middle-aged woman living next door with just a fence between them.

The crying of a child that occasionally came from her house, where she lived with a late-born daughter, used to ring through the quiet night.

Ludmila gave a polite greeting to Bionia, who came out today also holding a child in her arms, then turned her gaze to Angar.

“You don’t need to visit so often. I have no problems living here.”

“…Is that so.”

Angar was quite a famous man in this area, a local notable who owned land across five villages. As a result, there were many people associated with him.

Moreover, he was a middle-aged man who had lived until now without a wife.

It’s natural that a man with quite a lot of money needs a woman.

As there were many who coveted that position, the number of women keeping a close eye on Angar was considerable.

“I understand. Then, next time I’ll visit by letter.”

Fortunately, Angar was a man with enough tact to realize what Ludmila was concerned about.

He stepped back, keenly grasping her intention to avoid rumors by being entangled with him.

Angar, who politely bowed in greeting, put on the fedora he was holding and turned around.

Ludmila silently watched his back disappear across the road, then turned her head to face Bionia, feeling the gaze from beside her.

And she gave a dry smile to the intriguing eyes.

Just then, the trees made a rustling sound in the wind that blew. The sound of a child waking up and bursting into tears followed.

A peaceful midday.

Leaving behind the tranquil noises tickling her ears, Ludmila entered the house.

Ludmila had fled. With that alone, the war that was preparing to ignite reached a somewhat stalemate.

Aden canceled the mobilization order and Habertz sent people to the imperial court to inform them of this fact.

The imperial court, unable to believe this, sent an inspection team to conduct an internal audit, but Ludmila could not be found anywhere.

Meanwhile, based on the testimony of the guard who saw Ludmila crossing the frozen land, the two-week inspection was terminated and it was officially confirmed that Ludmila had fled.

However, even so, Habertz was not without fault.

The public opinion that this happened in the first place because Aden had kidnapped Ludmila was very strong.

Clearly, that alone would have been enough to be found guilty, but… the Crown Prince no longer pursued this matter.

Since Ludmila, who had been a problem between the families, had disappeared, they could no longer be charged with a crime.

Using the reason that they had not gained any benefit, the Crown Prince intervened directly in the trial and dismissed it.

The nobles raised their voices saying it was absurd, but the Crown Prince was firm.

It was an unusual behavior that couldn’t be seen as the Crown Prince who valued communication with the nobles more than anyone. In the end, everyone could only remain puzzled.

“How satisfied are you now?”

Except for the person involved and Aden, who had taken charge of handling this matter.

“Now sign this.”

Jeffrey pushed the pre-written contract towards Aden.

While Aden stared down at the contract, Jeffrey opened a box and took out a cigar with a dissatisfied face. He cut off the end.

While glancing at Aden, he sighed softly, dropping his shoulders, and put the cigar in his mouth.

Until he lit the end, took a puff, and exhaled. Even then, Aden remained silent, not signing the contract, making Jeffrey frown.

It had already been a month.

The bolt from the blue that struck Jeffrey, who had been spending satisfactory days thinking everything was going well, was.

The demand to return Ludmila through Kurto and the instruction to pressure Aden to absolutely prevent him from stepping down voluntarily were being kept firmly.

Just a little more time and the advisory period for the ultimatum would end, and they could declare war.

But in the meantime, Ludmila had disappeared.

The fact that the target of the war had disappeared meant that there was no justification for war.

In the end, the ultimatum fizzled out and declaring war was far from even dreaming about.

However, not giving up, they tried to formalize the imperial court’s intervention in Habertz territory by imposing punishment for smuggling Ludmila out.

Along with that, they tried to achieve the goal of Duke Cellano by dispersing the property rights of the territory.

It was then that Aden came to see him.

With a letter that Ludmila had left for him before she left. What was in it was the content that he was so concerned about, that gave him the biggest headache.

Vicious wench.

With an innocent face, she had been making all sorts of brutal calculations in her head.

Ludmila knew that even if she used that information, she couldn’t stop the war. In the end, it would be meaningless in front of a common enemy even if public opinion was stirred up.

Therefore, Ludmila left that information as a negotiation card to absolve the original sin that Habertz would bear.

Ludmila’s information. And Aden’s information.

Jeffrey had no choice but to accept the negotiation of the man who held the most certain knives to pierce his lungs in both hands.

From then on, he lit the cigar he had put out again and cracks began to appear in his smooth expression. He only wanted to put an end to this matter quickly.

“Is there something you don’t like?”

However, in the situation where only that final period remained, Aden was taking his time.

An irritated voice dispersed with the smoke. Jeffrey’s body jerked once and then he leaned forward.

“If there is something, tell me. I’ll check it.”

Of course, he had no intention of listening. He wanted to put an end to this matter as soon as possible.

The cigar had burned down and turned to ash by half already.

Jeffrey finally frowned, displeased with Aden who remained silent until then.

“Look here, Duke. What are you…”

Just as Jeffrey’s voice was about to burst out unable to hold back anymore, Aden’s hand moved.

As he put down the contract with the signature completed, Jeffrey took it and scanned the contents. After confirming the completed signature with nothing missing, he raised his eyes.

Jeffrey twisted the corner of his mouth at the sight of Aden leaning back in his chair, blankly staring out the window.

What’s the big deal about losing one mere wench?

Jeffrey couldn’t understand, but if this removed one weakness that was strangling his neck, it was a gain.

“In the end, we all got what we wanted.”

As Jeffrey, organizing the contract, lazily continued speaking, Aden’s gaze returned.

Jeffrey pushed up the corners of his mouth widely and jerked his chin.

“I got the secret, the Duke got money, the Marquis got public popularity and fame. And Ludmila got the freedom she so desired.”

A perfect ending that everyone wanted.

“Isn’t this much an excellent conclusion?”

Even to that impeccable ending, Aden could not answer and only quietly looked out the window.