Winter Wolf - Chapter 1. Part 2

Chapter 1. Part 2

“You could have simply stopped being a noble,” he said.

“Don’t simplify it like that,” she replied.

“Why not? Why not?”

Terrence scooped up his soup and smiled.

Lysithea looked at the unappetizing soup, hard bread, and tough meat in front of her. The meal was unimpressive and tasteless.

“I was engaged to Prince Jade.”

“Oh, you weren’t able to join the revolution?”

“Of course, I couldn’t do it to my parents.”

“I see, and how are your fiancé and parents?”

Lysithea glared at Terrence, her violet eyes narrowing.

Two months ago, a revolution broke out, resulting in the thorough purge of all royalty and nobility. The nobility had an extremely low survival rate, and Lysithea was the only survivor of the Marquis of Armand.

Her fiancé, Prince Jade, had been executed by guillotine. It was a fact everyone knew.

“You… why do you provoke me?”

Lysithea spoke calmly, but her heart was filled with anger. Terrence gazed with interest into her violet eyes, which burned with anger.

“Because I’m curious about what kind of person you are.”

“Why does my personality matter? We are only connected through our trade, and in a few more days I’ll be leaving for the port, too.”

“Oh, that would be great.”

Terrence said wistfully, putting down the bread he was eating.

Lysithea, you came here this winter because the port beyond that snowfield is floating, right?

“Yes.”

She failed to escape the border and had only one option left: to smuggle. She is fleeing to the Duchy of Landus, where her aunt lives.

It was the dead of winter, and most ports were frozen. The few floating ports that remained open for provisions were her only hope and her only way out.

“It’s freezing.”

“What?”

“The sea is cold this winter. They predict that the ship will be unable to sail at all in three days.”

Terrence continued eating as Lysithea stared blankly at him.

“Look, so instead of sitting here eating, we should go…”

“Do you want to go to the port now?”

“Yes, we should go!”

Lysithea exclaimed. Her heart was racing. Terrence laughed as if he had heard a joke.

“If we could go, I wouldn’t have asked you to come tonight. I should have instructed you to come during the day instead.”

“Well, come to think of it… why…?”

“The horse.”

Terrence gestured with his fork as if he wanted to poke Lysithea’s heart.

“We only have one horse left since you left yours out there.”

He explained by pushing a knife through the sliced meat.

“You don’t know the way. You can’t ride your horse to the harbor without me. If we rode together, the horse would collapse from tiredness and we wouldn’t make it in one day. You can’t walk the three-day journey on horseback and call me crazy.”

Lysithea thought desperately as the possibilities were shattered.

“You go to the nearest inn… and get another horse… and then we can go to…”

“It takes a day to get to the inn with the horse. Therefore, the round trip takes two days, and it will take us three days to get back to the harbor. In total, it will take five days. By then, you will be able to walk on water, if not to sail.”

Smuggling is not possible.

Lysithea bit her lip. She felt her strength draining away.

There is no escape after all this time, money, and trouble.

“Why are you telling me this now? If you had told me during the day, I might have gone out and found a horse.”

He shook his head as she glared at him with displeasure.

“The snowstorm is crazy, and it puts me in a pretty bad situation, and there are worse things to do.”

“What, again.”

“It’s just a rumor, and it’s not something I need to tell you.”

Terrence tapped his fingertips on the table. He wanted to check if Lysithea was hesitating. She had lost her appetite and was tearing at a piece of bread with a puzzled expression.

Terrence spoke up.

“A friend in the Revolutionary Army told me this story.”

The story didn’t sound enjoyable. Lysithea frowned. However, he didn’t seem to be bothered by it.

“It is difficult to search for nobles who have fled like you, as it has been a while since the revolution broke out and their numbers are unknown.”

“So, will they stop rounding up nobles?”

“No, the executive branch has decided to be more efficient.”

“Efficient means….”

“A hundred revolutionaries are not as effective as a few experts in hunting down nobles.”

“Experts?”

Terrence said, rubbing his chin.

“They are known as Caretakers or Killers, and are sometimes referred to as Phantoms.”

 Lysithea was horrified by the Phantoms. They were the best assassins in the kingdom.

She didn’t know a lot about the Phantom, but she knew that he was highly popular with the nobility.

“I asked him to bring me one finger, but he returned with a ring on his fourth finger, which was presented in a leather box.”

Lysithea felt nauseous. She recalled Prince Jade’s pleased testimony. If such a great killer was targeting them, and if he had started killing nobles…

“Aren’t you eating?”

Terrence’s voice surprised Lysithea as she looked up. His carefree and relaxed smile made her stomach clench even more.

“In this situation, do I still have the appetite to eat?”

“No, I don’t understand why you’re taking it so seriously. The story about the killers is only a rumor. That’s why I didn’t want to tell you.”

He said, but Lysithea eventually pushed her plate away.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t today.”

“Don’t blame me later; I won’t get up in the middle of the night to cook your food.

“I know, I wouldn’t want to be rude, but could you tell me where your room is located?”

“My room is next to yours.”

Lysithea was quiet. Terrence laughed in amusement.

“Why did you react that way? It’s good that our rooms are next to each other; in case a killer comes in, I can watch over you.”

“I didn’t realize you were so kind.”

“Don’t give me that look.”

Terrence stood up and walked over to Lysithea. He blinked at her as he skillfully arranged the plates with his large hands.

“Behave yourself tonight, and everything will be fine.”

“Behave?” Lysithea raised an eyebrow.

“What do you mean by behave? Are you saying I’m trying to seduce you?”

“No, no. Don’t be sensitive; I just mean, please avoid waking me up while I am sleeping. Don’t take offense; I just want to sleep undisturbed. I have not had a good night’s sleep in a long time.

“Okay, I won’t wake you.”

“I hope not.”

Lysithea looked up at him.

He seemed as big as a mountain. It would be comforting to have a man like him protecting her. However, he could be more dangerous if he had the wrong idea.

“Terrence, regarding our earlier conversation,”

Lysithea said with a hint of hope in her voice.

“You said you heard a funny story three days ago. What was it about?”

Lysithea was human. She wanted to cook for him as a way of returning the favor.

Since she had no appetite, she decided to ask him to share a funny story to lighten the mood in this desperate situation.

“Ah, the story.”

Just as she’d hoped, Terrence was amused.

“Lysithea, this mansion is haunted.”

“There’s a ghost here.”

“Yes, there is a ghost. About a hundred years ago, the original owner of this mansion was the biggest drug dealer in the continent.”

“Oh, a drug dealer…”

“He used to throw wild parties here every day, but eventually he was stabbed to death by people he had a grudge against, and the mansion has been haunted ever since.”

Lysithea did her best.

“Terrence, you said it was a funny story? where is the fun in this story?”

“The funny part is that the ghost still haunts the place at night, and I hear it makes noises.”

“There’s no such thing as a ghost in this world.”

“Wanna bet?”

Terrence leaned back slightly at the table and looked at her.

Lysithea glared at him as he confidently crossed his arms, confident and cool.

“Do you want to bet on whether there is a ghost or not? You are no longer a child.”

“On the price of stowaways.”

Lysithea stopped talking. He had no other option but to smuggle money at the moment.

Terrence made a generous offer.

“If there are no ghosts here, I won’t take your money,” Terrence said.

“Is it worth paying so much for something like this? Are you a gambler?”

“Not really, but I do gamble occasionally, and I’ve never lost.”

That was either well-founded confidence or bravado, but either way, it was a tempting offer.

Lysithea asked cautiously.

“So, what happens if there is a ghost and I’m forced to believe in it, even if I don’t believe in it?”

“You would still need to pay for the smuggling, and in addition, you would need to pay me.”

“I am unable to provide any additional funds beyond this amount here….”

“Do you have any non-monetary compensation to offer?”

Lysithea cringed. Was this man trying to trick her into revealing how much she had, so he could kill her and take her money?

Terrence immediately asked, with a suspicious gleam in his eyes.

“What are you suspecting?”

“You seem suspicious. Suddenly, you want to make an unusual bet.”

“There’s no reason. I’d rather make a bet than be bored here. It’s not like I’m expecting anything.”

“Then… let’s do it.”

Lysithea finally nodded.

“There won’t be any ghosts or anything, anyway, and I like gambles where I win.”

“Ha, I see you’re coming out that way.”

Terrence smiled and held out his hand to Lysithea. She looked up, flustered. It was the first time a man had ever touched her, aside from a dance request.

He smiled without hesitation.

“The game begins now. We will continue until we leave this house.”

Lysithea hesitantly took his hand. Her arm shook a couple of times in the handshake, which was far from the etiquette of a gentleman. The handshake was brief, but the force of the grasp was so strong that Lysithea stiffened involuntarily.

“You go on upstairs, I’m going to clean up a bit.”

Terrence let go of Lysithea’s hand and turned to leave. Quickly, Lysithea spoke.

“Wait, I have a favor to ask, just in case we don’t make it, could you lend me a map or something? I’d like to check the geography.”

“Take it from the table in my room.”

Terrence walked coolly towards the kitchen. Lysithea observed his every move before standing up.

She felt hungry, anxious, and haunted by the ghost, but one thing was clear.

The harbor will freeze over within three days.