I didn’t answer. Before I could say anything, Espen realized the answer himself. He hadn’t blown ice into me, a jokjeibi, directly.

Through direct contact.

“Damn it!”
Espen immediately kicked the chair he was sitting on. Due to the anger, his surroundings froze rapidly, and the grass under his feet broke with a cracking sound.

Espen, with dilated pupils, glared at Hadel and hysterically shouted, “I never liked you from the beginning! I would have preferred it if you couldn’t bear it and burned to death, but you stubbornly survived!”

Ice extended toward him. This time, the roles were reversed, and I stood in front of Hadel. Despite shivering all over due to the cold, I couldn’t step back.

“If Hadel is gone, I’m gone too! I clearly said that!”

The ice froze my toes. Unable to push the ice away like Hadel with strong flames, I began to turn blue in an instant.

Seeing this, Espen gathered the ice himself.

“…Come here. I want to confirm what you said.”

Saying so, Espen started walking unsteadily. He gestured to the knights far away.

“Confine the prince to the palace!”

This is the last moment I can freely meet Hadel.

Realizing this fact, I turned around, enveloped Hadel’s face in my hands, and pressed my lips to his.

“Hadel.”

There was no time for the usual playful kiss. Espen, who saw us, distorted his face fiercely.

“You…!”

The cold air emanating from his body caused the surrounding temperature to drop again in an instant. I raised both hands and faced Espen.

“I recharged mana. Since we won’t be able to meet for a long time.”

“…….”

A clicking sound came from Espen’s jaw, but he didn’t show anger anymore. Before following Espen, I looked back at Hadel one last time.

‘Wherever I am, Hadel can come to my side.’

His red pupils shook in various directions. Leaving him behind, looking anxious, was a challenging task for me, but now was the time to step back.

‘Just a moment, goodbye.’

Hadel brushed away the hand trying to pull him to the palace.

“Let go. I’ll walk in with my own feet.”

Honestly, his physical condition wasn’t good enough to the extent that he needed support from others. However, he didn’t want to show a weak side to Espen’s people. As Hadel walked towards the room, Marian’s words echoed in his mind.

“The prince of the birds has come. It seems he’ll come again tomorrow.”

It was the day Espen first came.

“He doesn’t try to enter at regular intervals. There must be some kind of magic barrier.”

It was a short moment, but Marian keenly observed Espen’s actions. And handing over a pre-prepared map, she earnestly pleaded.

“This is a secret passage to the palace. If Espen had seized the palace 100 years ago, there would probably be no one left who knows about this secret passage.”
[While I freeze time, try to find a way to save your family. It’s not too late. Anyway, he will have to keep both you and me alive.]

At the plea that only your safety matters and others are not important, Marian smiled a little happily. Then she shrugged her shoulders and replied.

I have to do well until the end.

It was a very characteristic remark from her.

Hadel gritted his teeth.

‘Just wait a little. I’ll go.’

Guided by Espen, I was confined in another palace.

‘In the end, it’s the Jade Palace.’

I remember refusing to come here at first. I felt uncomfortable that it eventually turned out the way Espen wanted, going in circles.

Entering, a huge wall made of white jade greeted me, just like its name.

‘It seems a bit different from when I was young?’

While Changgung looked exactly the same as I remembered, the Jade Palace was not.

‘I wonder if the secret passage has changed too?’

To find out the truth, I had to explore the palace more, but without that chance, I was guided to the largest room.