As someone hesitantly spoke, it opened the floodgates for others to begin speaking in disarray.

“It’s hot, too hot for this season!”

“What’s happening here, how can this be…?”

“Am I going crazy? Or have we all gone mad at once?”

“Is the world coming to an end?”

Children, always the quickest to adapt to any situation, ran around the courtyard, their thin arms and legs flailing.

“Wow! This is fun!”

“It’s so warm, I love it!”

Their innocent joy gradually eased the frightened and confused expressions of the adults. Eventually, they too began to enjoy the unexpectedly pleasant weather. Laughter began to ring out from every corner.

“…”

Amy and Noah stood atop the outer castle walls, looking down at the scene. Amy’s gaze drifted past the village to the fields, where the snow was melting, revealing brown and green earth.

Amy thought to herself, ‘I really have returned to the past.’

It felt like she had been swept up in a whirlwind of preparation, racing against time to reach the north since her awakening. Now, standing here, she felt the full weight of her emotions crashing over her.

She had confirmed several times that the events of her previous life were unfolding as she remembered. But never had she felt such a thrill of realization.

Leaning on the rampart of the castle wall, Amy suppressed her rising excitement, her eyes shining.

‘Now, nothing can hold me back.’

The ducal castle buzzed with activity from the start of the day.

“Hey, kids, move aside. The stone is coming through!”

“Ahhh!”

As the stonemasons, carrying a marble slab, shouted with fierce faces, children herding goats and sheep screamed and ran away, followed by their animals in a clatter.

In the kitchen, the stove fire, left burning all night, continued into the morning. Amy’s newly hired cook stirred a large pot of soup, barking orders at the inexperienced apprentices. In a corner, maids and servants busily prepared a mountain of ingredients.

Across from the kitchen, in the storeroom, servants cut hanging sausages drying under the eaves, and young maids filled baskets with them to carry to the kitchen.

Robust servants tirelessly drew water from the well. Village boys with blackened knees loaded flour barrels onto carts, buzzing excitedly through the central courtyard.

“…”

Noah observed all this from the office window. Behind him, Joseph reported with emotion in his voice.

“The guards and village farmers left at dawn. They’ve gone south to fetch seeds.”

With the change in climate, the crops to be grown and harvested would also need to change. The north, once only able to cultivate frost-resistant plants by breaking the frozen ground, was now poised for significant change.

In the midst of this transformation was Amy.

“Where’s Amy?”

Noah turned away from the window, facing Joseph.

“Steward? I’m not sure, sir. Last I saw, she was at the guardhouse.”

“I should go see her.”

As Noah finished speaking, he briskly exited the office. Suddenly, he stopped dead in his tracks. Joseph, following closely, almost ran into his back.

Noah then took out a handkerchief, carefully placed dried apple slices and cheese chunks from a small basket on the table into its center, and wrapped it up.

“Your Highness? Why are you…”

Joseph asked, puzzled, but Noah didn’t answer and simply walked out. As he descended the stairs to the courtyard, passersby greeted him cheerfully.

“Your Highness! Did you have a good rest?”

“Hello, Duke!”
Everyone’s faces were radiantly bright. Just a change in the weather seemed to have altered people’s dispositions as well. According to the maid Rita, even Vince, the old man from the lower town of the ducal castle, known for his constant anger, has been smiling these days. Such was the tremendous power of warmth.

‘If only the entire domain, or better yet, the whole northern region, had warmed up.’

The effect of the magical device extended only to the immediate domain, affecting about a third of the territory’s climate.

However, fortunately, according to Amy’s inquiries, the land within this third was believed to be fertile farmland. So…

‘The harsh food shortage in the north might soon be a thing of the past.’

By purchasing seeds from the south and selecting crops suitable for this land, there would soon be no one starving in this domain.

“Wow, it’s Duke Noah!”

Noah cheerfully waved at the hopping children and quickly walked towards the guardhouse above the city gate. As he rounded the storage tower, he spotted Amy standing in front of the gate, deeply conversing with Dwayne and Jack.

“Amy…!”

He was about to joyfully call out to her but hesitated as Amy suddenly looked displeased and started thumping Dwayne on the back. Dwayne, feigning distress, hid behind Jack, pouting and muttering something. Then Amy held her forehead as if in pain.

Laughter erupted from the people surrounding them. The castle’s residents looked at them with affectionate eyes. Since Noah became the duke, they had only experienced good things, so their group was treated like a talisman or amulet by the people.