“I resolved to live in hiding with ‘this ability.’”

How naïve her thoughts had been, she realized bitterly.

She was neither a girl who lived in an unknown mountain village, nor someone without connections to dukes, princesses, or northern dukes.

She had to accept reality.

Brody glanced at Aidan.

Whether she had caused a problem in the north or not, she now needed the power of the Ice Duke, that is, Aidan.

If he didn’t help, she would be caught by Jax or die.

And to receive his help, she had to go to the north.

“Ah, I really hate owing favors……”

Realizing that she had few options, she steeled her heart.

It was easier to explore what to do next if she accepted reality as quickly as possible, a fact she had learned from living spontaneously for a long time.

It was a kind of pragmatic resignation.

Brody dropped her shoulders.

And asked weakly.

“Your Majesty, how was the magic on me broken? It seemed like you did something.”

“Ah, that……”

As Aidan hesitated, Brody tilted her head in puzzlement.

Was his ‘ability’ a secret? Like Brody hiding that she’s a ‘plant magician’?

She felt somewhat left out, knowing that he was hiding something, even though her ability was known to all, but she understood.

He was the Duke of the North, after all.

“If it’s hard to say, just leave it. I understand that it’s difficult to tell anyone about Your Majesty’s ability.”

“Anyone?!”

Aidan suddenly furrowed his brows, raising his voice a little.

“No, absolutely not. You are not just anyone to me. It’s not that I didn’t trust you and tried to hide it.”

Brody, looking at Aidan puffing his chest with an aggrieved expression, opened her eyes wide and blinked.

She couldn’t guess why he was doing that for any reason other than what he had mentioned.

Aidan sighed and hesitated a bit longer before finally speaking, perhaps feeling that he shouldn’t let misunderstandings grow.

“That is…… I have the blessing of an ice spirit.”

“Ice…… spirit?”

Ah, that’s right. Brody remembered that he had once given her an ‘Ice Interpretation’ bracelet and mentioned ‘ice spirits.’

At Brody’s mumbled response, Aidan quickly continued.

“The royal family has the blessing of the sun spirit, a family that uses hot temperament. It seems that I could repel it because my power is in contrast to theirs.”

Brody nodded her head.

It was not a delusion that she felt the hot energy being pushed out by the cold energy.

“But can ice and the sun oppose each other?”

“The sun is the sun, and ice is ice. Fire can’t burn endlessly on ice.”

He spoke monotonously, but the fleeting smile revealed his confidence.

Having directly clashed with the power inside Brody’s body, he must have had a better understanding.

At any rate, it was now certain.

To avoid the princess’s magic, Aidan’s protection was necessary.

‘But why did he hesitate to tell me this? He said it wasn’t to hide from me, but……’

Brody looked at Aidan with puzzled eyes, but he only avoided her gaze, looked back, and smiled, saying nothing more.

‘Sigh……. It’s my turn now. I have to say something. But what should I say……’

As Brody rolled her eyes in anxiety, Aidan’s grave voice reached her ears.

His slightly stifled sound gave the impression that he had opened his mouth after much thought.

“Brody, you haven’t fully recovered yet, but will you consider going to the north?”

“…What?”

Startled by his words, Brody could only blink in response, unable to do anything but ask a counterquestion.

Aidan, perhaps thinking that Brody was pondering his request, hurriedly continued with a slightly anxious voice.

“It’s not that I’m unwilling. But the lands other than the North are now too dangerous. Though I grew up with you and it’s hard to think ill of him, he… just because I abandon you, it doesn’t mean he will be kind to you.”

Brody nodded her head.

Of course. What could she expect from someone who looked at her like an object?

But Ian was mistaken.

Even though it seemed like she’d given up, hadn’t Brody cherished Jax, him, for a long time? To the extent that she risked her life to infiltrate as a spy for him.

The emotional wound Brody must have felt, receiving a threat of assassination from such a person, Ian could not truly comprehend.

Surely, she didn’t want to return to him to gain his approval again.

Ian shook his head slightly.

That must not happen.

“I understand that leaving your homeland for an unfamiliar and cold place might be scary. But I’ll protect you. So that neither the North nor the royalty can touch a single hair on you.”

At his passionate persuasion, Brody sighed.

She was thankful that he had been the one to bring it up, so his attempts to persuade her were embarrassing.

She was choosing to head North only after her life had been seized as collateral. And yet Ian says he will protect her, even knowing who she is.