Chapter: 137

“……”

Astelle said nothing more.

There was no emotion in her dry voice.

‘Well, it wasn’t a good memory.’

Kaizen silently recalled the memories of that day.

***

It was winter at that time.

It was when Kaizen went hunting in the forest a little far from the capital on his18th birthday.

Usually, women were not taken to the hunting grounds, but on that day the Crown Prince’s fiancee, Astelle, attended the hunt on the orders of the emperor.

His birthday, which was supposed to be fun, was uncomfortable from the start because of Astelle.

‘Annoying.’

However, his father, the emperor, sent her with him, so he couldn’t even refuse.

At the time, Kaizen was indifferent but was pretending to be a polite fiance.

Even without the emperor’s request, he would not be able to ignore Astelle, the daughter of Duke Reston.

He was forced to stay in the nearby castle for about a day before the hunt started, but that night misfortune struck.

It started to snow at night.

The snowflakes fell one by one before dawn came and the whole area turned white.

As soon as the day dawned, Kaizen put on his coat and walked out.

The castle’s backyard was connected with a wide forest.

He rode the horse with the party and went out through the door.

Against the backdrop of the bluish dawn sky, a dark shaded forest could be seen above the snowy field.

In the middle of the forest, there was a crowd. An old man told a legend about the lake in the forest.

Legend has it that if you go there and pray for your love to come true, the spirit of the forest will grant your wish.

“That’s bullshit.”

The man who was explaining the forest legend stopped speaking at Kaizen’s voice.