First Night in the Snowfield Igloo
“Alright, hurry up and start packing the snow! We have to finish before the sun goes down!”
With gold-haired Kyra’s excited shout, my forced labor—no, the construction of our love hideaway—began.
The reason we launched straight into work without so much as a proper rest, even though we had only just fled here in a panic, was simple.
The sun set far faster than expected out on the snowfield.
And when the sun dropped that quickly? The temperature around us would plummet exponentially.
So before it got any colder, we had to keep hauling snow while fighting the chill.
Of course, I said “we,” but nine-tenths of the actual labor fell on Kyra.
“Heave-ho!”
Every time she rolled a snowball bigger than her own body, her hair swayed with the motion.
From the outside she looked like a child thrilled to be building her very first snowman.
The results, however, were nowhere near child’s play.
KWA-AAAANG—! THUD.
Whenever Kyra laid an alchemical circle on the ground and slammed her palm down, the snowballs compressed and rearranged themselves into solid blocks of ice that stacked neatly one atop another.
Once those ice bricks had taken on a reasonably impressive shape, a thought struck me: this igloo we were building might not be ordinary at all.
Even at a glance it had the size and fortification of a small fortress.
“Headmaster, isn’t this a bit much? Three rooms for just the two of us?”
I grumbled as I carried another ice brick. She widened her eyes a fraction.
“My, what are you talking about? We need a master bedroom, a study, and a guest room just in case!”
“We’re really sleeping in the same room? And who exactly is going to visit us in the middle of this snowfield…?”
“Who knows? A polar bear might drop by to play.”
She hummed a little tune as she poured more mana into the work.
As she circled the igloo, the tips of her hair had already taken on a pale golden sheen.
A sign that another personality was mixing in.
That made me vaguely uneasy.
When that one came out, she seemed to turn into something of a child…
“Okay! Time for the interior!”
Kyra snapped her fingers.
Inside the igloo, a plush magic carpet unfurled over the ice floor.
Warm-toned mana stones embedded in the walls took the place of lamps.
And then the pièce de résistance—the bedroom.
“Ta-da—! Well? This is the bed that will take responsibility for our honeymoon… I mean, our life on the run!”
“…….”
The sight before me left me speechless.
A massive bed frame carved from ice.
That part was fine.
The problem was the shape: blatantly, shamelessly heart-shaped. And the blanket draped over it was an aggressively red velvet.
“Headmaster, that might be a little over the top.”
“What is? You said you wanted to date an outstanding woman. If you’re going to be with a lady who can pull off something this amazing with a flick of her finger, don’t you think we need at least this much atmosphere?”
She bounced onto the bed and rolled around.
Golden hair spilled across the crimson covers.
“Besides, nights out here get really cold, you know? If we’re going to sleep all cuddled up, the bed has to be both spacious and cozy. It’s scientific design.”
“Can’t we just sleep separately?”
“Tsk. Are you underestimating the snowfield’s cold? Do you want to die of hypothermia?”
“Headmaster, your mana capacity is larger than the entire mana reservoir of Rahelon. You could just set up a heating magic circle or something.”
“Ah-ah! No more backtalk. Get over here and lie down. We’re testing the cushioning.”
She lifted the corners of her eyes and stretched a hand toward me.
“We agreed to be lovers, didn’t we? Aren’t you going to cooperate?”
Half threat, half coquetry.
I had no choice but to kick off my shoes and climb onto that burdensome heart-shaped bed.
Flump.
“…Oh.”
I had expected a hard ice slab, but some magic must have been woven into it; it sank softly like a latex mattress.
As I perched awkwardly on the edge, Kyra sidled closer.
“Erevan.”
“Yes.”
“Be honest with me.”
She propped her chin on my shoulder and looked up.
Eyes that mixed gold and silver-gray bored into mine.
“You don’t hate this situation, do you?”
“…Pardon?”
“The continent’s most beautiful mage… well, that sounds a bit embarrassing. Anyway, you’re trapped alone in a snowfield villa with a pretty decent woman. Isn’t that the kind of scenario every man dreams of at least once?”
Her lips curled into a mischievous smile.
“And that woman is being this proactive right now. Don’t tell me you feel nothing?”
“That’s…”
I was about to answer when a chill ran down my spine.
Truth Binding.
I felt that damned authority tightening around my throat once again.
No. If I say something weird here, I’m socially dead.
I clamped my mouth shut.
If I simply didn’t answer, it would be fine.
Silence is golden.
But Kyra had no intention of letting me go.
“Not going to answer? Is my charm only worth that much?”
She pouted as if wounded.
The moment I saw that expression, the feelings I had been forcibly holding down burst out like a dam breaking.
“Honestly… I’m so fluttered I’m going crazy.”
“…Huh?”
“If a beauty like the Headmaster comes on this strong and a guy feels nothing, that’s a eunuch, not a man. The bed’s soft, you smell good, and I just thought it’d be nice if time stopped right here.”
“…….”
Ah, damn it all.
I wanted to snatch the words back out of the air.
My face burned.
Belatedly mortified, I hung my head and scrubbed my face dry.
Then I glanced at Kyra, who was staring at me blankly with a slightly vacant expression, and muttered,
“Please forget that. It wasn’t of my own free will.”
“…….”
Silence.
Only the crackle of the fire filled the igloo.
A long while later a small “pff—” sounded beside me.
I turned my head. Kyra was covering her mouth, face flushed, laughing.
“Ahaha… really, I can’t handle you, Erevan.”
The gold slowly drained from her hair, returning to a calm silver-gray.
But the tips of her ears were still red.
“I didn’t expect you to come in that straight. You’re surprisingly bold.”
“Please don’t tease me. This is because of your authority, Headmaster.”
“I know. I know, but…”
She lightly laid her hand over the back of mine.
Her once-cold fingers had already grown warm.
“It also means it wasn’t a lie. That doesn’t feel bad at all.”
She rested her head on my shoulder.
“I’m tired today, so let’s sleep early. Starting tomorrow… hellish training begins.”
“Hellish training?”
“You said you were going to hunt Outer Gods. Your current skill isn’t nearly enough. I’m going to work you Spartan-style, so prepare yourself.”
Her voice grew increasingly drowsy.
Outside, a fierce blizzard howled, but inside the igloo it was snug and warm.
A heart-shaped bed.
A crimson velvet blanket.
And the continent’s strongest mage, already beginning to breathe evenly against my shoulder.
In the midst of this unreal situation, I slowly closed my eyes.
…I don’t know about the training, but yeah. This isn’t bad.
That was the first night of our strange yet sweet cohabitation in the snowfield.
At that same hour, Serene Roelina—who had been racing south across the continent in search of traces of Kyra Bell Arenas and KJH—suddenly realized she had bolted from the empire without a word of notice. She altered course and turned her steps toward Roelina.
“Your Majesty!! Where in the world have you been?!”
“Good heavens! The palace barrier was breached and the Celestial Palace vanished—do you have any idea how frightened we were?!”
The moment she arrived at the imperial palace, the aged chancellor and the ministers came running out barefoot, tears streaming.
With the emperor’s bedchamber empty and the Celestial Palace gone, of course the entire empire had been thrown into uproar.
Serene, however, merely waved a hand as if their reaction was tiresome and shooed them away.
“All of you, be silent. We have merely gone for a short stroll; do not make such a fuss.”
“A-a stroll, Your Majesty? Don’t tell us the perpetrator of the Argentina disappearance incident is…?”
“Hush. We are very tired at present. Admit no one until tomorrow morning. With the exception of the nanny.”
With a frigid glance she sealed the ministers’ mouths, then headed straight for her bedchamber.
A short while later—
Click.
The door to the emperor’s chambers opened carefully, and a white-haired old woman entered carrying a teacup.
Serene’s nanny and the palace’s head maid: Madame Bernie.
“Your Majesty, you called for me.”
“You have come, Nanny.”
Serene, who had been sitting on the edge of the bed, lifted her head.
The majesty of the empress who commanded the world was nowhere to be seen; her face was filled with deep worry and a sense of injustice.
Bernie set the teacup on the table and smiled kindly.
“Your expression is dark. Did something unpleasant happen on your stroll?”
“…Unpleasant doesn’t begin to cover it.”
Serene heaved a long sigh, hugged a pillow to her chest, and began to grumble.
“We journeyed all the way to Argentina to meet the man who sang of loving Us… only to have him stolen right before Our eyes by that lunatic Kyra.”
“Oh my.”
Bernie’s eyes rounded.
“So such a man truly exists? A youth who can make Your Majesty’s heart race—how remarkable.”
“Yes. We could not see his face because of the recognition-hindering magic, but even from the look of him he was terribly cute. And yet…”
Serene bit her lip.
“Kyra struck first. She declared ‘KJH is mine’ and simply absconded with him before We could even lift a hand.”
Injustice welled in her eyes.
“Nanny, speak honestly. Do We lack charm compared to Kyra, the master of Argentina?”
“Impossible. Your Majesty is the sun of the empire and the most beautiful flower in the world.”
“Right? Then why did that man not run to Us the moment he saw Us, but instead take Kyra’s hand and flee?”
“Perhaps… the situation was simply too urgent?”
“No. Upon careful reflection, We have concluded that Our seduction skills are insufficient.”
Serene gripped the pillow with a resolute expression.
An emperor who had lived her entire life as a woman of iron.
Maxed out in conquest and rule, yet not even level one in romance—a complete beginner among beginners.
With the slightly loosened demeanor and flushed face she showed only to her nanny, she hung her head and spoke in a voice that dwindled almost to a whisper.
“Therefore… We wish for you to give Us counsel and aid.”
“Pardon?”
“How to capture a man’s heart in an instant. Things like… fox-like behavior, or techniques for wrapping a man around one’s finger.”
“…….”
Bernie stared blankly at the emperor for a moment, wondering if she had misheard, then slowly curled her lips into a sly smile.
In her youth she had been a legendary femme fatale who dominated the empire’s social circles.
When it came to charming men, she was without equal.
“Oh my, Your Majesty. You’ve come to exactly the right person.”
Bernie rolled up her sleeves, eyes sparkling.
“I’ll help you at once. Madame Bernie’s One Hundred Ways to Bewitch a Man—special lecture. Tonight I’ll pass them all on to you until dawn.”
“R-really?”
“Of course. First we correct the gaze. Not the ‘I will kill you’ look you have now—lower the corners of the eyes just a little… make them moist…”
“L-like this?”
“No, that’s just sleepy eyes. Again!”
That night, it is said, the emperor’s bedchamber rang until late with cries of “Oh my, that’s far too lewd!” and “That’s the point, Your Majesty!”