Brody couldn’t say anything in response. She just trembled, gazing into his deep green eyes.

He didn’t move away but averted his gaze. He lowered his head.

As naturally flowing locks tickled Brody’s forehead, his hesitant voice sounded.

“But I felt really embarrassed. Showing you this North like this.”
Through Aidan’s tightly closed eyes, the desolate landscape they had just seen came to mind.

“It was a grand view, they said. What’s so good about that place that they insisted on taking you there? In the current situation, it’s no different from burdening you with heavy baggage. Originally, I didn’t have much to offer you.”

“Your Grace…, it’s not like that. Right now, you’re protecting me, and…”

Aidan hushed Brody’s words with a low voice.

“Protecting you? I’ve created a situation where you have to be protected. I should have let you go when you tried to escape. But because I wanted you… because I wanted you, I…”

If Aidan hadn’t gone to find Brody, she might have been living well without being noticed by Jax.

He recalled the scenery he had seen in the South. The face full of vitality amidst the lush green, the house built on a tree, the expression brightened by a cool drink with beads of sweat, and the environment surrounded by plants that were no different from his own.

All erased by Aidan.

“But I couldn’t bring myself to tell you. I hid the truth from you because I was afraid you might resent me. I thought protecting you was not a reward, but something I should naturally do. It’s a delicate situation to receive help from the North. Didn’t you want to live leisurely? So, for three years, I hoped you could rest as if on vacation, without any worries, without any concerns.”

Brody blinked.

She understood what he was saying and why he had such thoughts.

“But I am different…”

A while ago, Brody remembered the moment when Aidan tracked her using the ice elemental’s ability.

It was awkward. It was absurd to be told that tracking was possible wherever she was with ice.

“But when I was captured by Jax, there was ice, so tracking was possible, and that’s how I survived. Jax might have discovered me independently of your actions. In that case, I might have been dragged to the Empire like a puppet.”

As she thought about it, she didn’t feel as bad as she expected.

No, maybe because she didn’t feel bad, she was able to think that way.

Brody looked up and gazed at Aidan.

His face, stained with regret and apology, looked somewhat tilted in distress.

“It’s really a big deal.”

Looking quietly at his face like this, she couldn’t get angry.

From appearance to atmosphere, there wasn’t a single aspect that wasn’t to her liking.

“So, I keep losing to him.”

When she met him in the South, she was just embarrassed.

It seemed strange that her personality, clear-cut in making decisions, became emotionally entangled with Aidan’s affairs.

Unable to properly push him away, she even allowed him into her nights.

Every time he approached, she couldn’t deny that she swayed.
Brody reflected on her own feelings and smiled wryly. She opened her mouth with a complicated expression.

“So, what do you want me to do?”

“…….”

Aidan hesitated to respond. So Brody spoke again.

“How about you and I, in this awkward situation, leave the desolate North aside, and spend some time in the room alone, taking a half-bath and la la la?”

Aidan groaned, sighing, covering her face.

Already suffering from a headache, her deeply shaded forehead seemed to deepen.

“…It’s stifling.”

At the low pitch flowing like a crawl, Brody felt anger welling up unexpectedly. She grabbed Aidan’s hand covering her face, saying,

“Your Grace, please. I’m sorry if I’ve offended you, but please stop being stubborn.”

“Fine. I know it’s stubborn.”

Aidan, holding Brody’s hand in response, surprised her with his sudden firm touch and warmth. Aidan lifted his head, meeting her gaze.

Although his expression was still filled with distress, there was determination in his eyes.

He spoke.

“At first, I didn’t want to accept your help. Frankly, I felt embarrassed about the North being like this. Even if I didn’t ask you to make the mountains and trees of the entire North grow again, I did think about how much I would need the abilities of a plant mage. The North is…”

As his voice gradually intensified, Aidan paused for a moment, taking a deep breath.

“The North is originally under my jurisdiction and my responsibility as the Grand Duke. I thought I should solve the North in this state, that I should be the one to solve it. I thought I wouldn’t ask for your help, that I didn’t need it… It was pride in this situation.”

“…”

“And I get it now. I just had a meeting. I was arrogant. I didn’t know you so much.”

He laughed awkwardly.

“River and I, it was something we could never do. And unless you’re a fool, you can’t help but know that it’s a great opportunity given to the North. I can’t pretend not to know that fact as the owner of the North. So, I arrogantly clung to my pride.”

Brody understood what he was saying.
After lifting her up once, Aidan bowed and pressed his forehead against her hand’s back.

He hesitated for a moment.

Why wouldn’t he? His current decision was a complex emotional experience. It was recognizing Brody’s determination but also acknowledging that, in the end, Brody was taking a step into danger for the sake of the North.

Aidan squeezed his heart, facing reality. He had to admit what needed admitting and then do what he had to do, what he could do.

In the midst of his torment, yet determined not to burden Brody with his suffering, he spoke with a firm voice.

“As the Grand Duke of the North, I implore you. Your help is desperately needed. Please, Brody, I hope you assist the North.”

“…….”

Whish. The cold northern wind blew, sweeping over the cliff.

Along the wind’s path, Aidan’s thick cloak draped over Brody’s shoulders swelled up.

Perhaps her colored hair scattered, catching the fading sunset light along its strands.

The majestic silhouette of a slender woman and the humble shadow of a giant warrior looked like a scene from a legend.

Brody looked at the great Grand Duke of the North, who knelt before her.

Soon, she spoke.

“Whatever happens to the North doesn’t concern me.”