Winter Field Chapter 4

Rensley, having crawled into the bed, groaned as if in pain without realizing it. A dry, plush, and thick warmth, different from when he had submerged himself in the hot bath, softly enveloped his entire body. He moved his limbs slowly under the blanket as if treading water, wanting to savor a comfort he had never tasted in Cornia, where it was warm all year round.

‘This must be happiness I can feel only because it comes after nearly freezing to the brink of death.’

Though Rensley had doubted he would be able to sleep given his troubled situation, his body, exhausted from the long, cold journey, soon melted like cheese set upon a flame and tried to release his consciousness.

He must not sleep too deeply. He had to wake up early. Because no one else must enter the bedchamber while he was asleep, he had to rise before anyone else, put on his attire, and hide his appearance…

No matter how far back he searched his memory, the only time he could recall ever feeling cold in Cornia was when he had played too long in the valley stream and his body grew chilled. Even that chill would vanish quickly if he lay on a dry rock warmed by the sun.

The cold and the warmth of Oldenland were both tenacious and deep. Thinking that the night here would be the same, Rensley closed his eyes without resisting the wave of drowsiness washing over him.

∞ ∞ ∞

“Hah…”

Like someone waking from a nightmare, Rensley opened his eyes, gasping for breath. The bedchamber, its thick curtains blocking out light and drafts, was dark and silent.

After checking his surroundings, he clicked his tongue sheepishly once. Far from a nightmare, he had slept soundly without even dreaming. So soundly that he felt a self-deprecating twinge at his own audacity for a man on the brink of death.

‘I meant to wake at dawn and get dressed. What if someone peeked in during that time?’

Suddenly worried, Rensley burrowed deeper under the blanket instead. With only his eyes peeking out, he spent a long time examining his surroundings, trying to sense any presence. But at least for now, there was no one in the bedchamber.

Just as the Archduke had said, that the warmth would last until morning, the bed, warmed by the lingering heat and Rensley’s body temperature, was still warm. However, the fireplace had died down considerably, making the air in the bedchamber somewhat damp and chilly compared to the night before.

Rensley carefully rose. He put on his coat, draped the fur shawl that had been placed on a chair over his shoulders, then covered his face with the veil and approached the window.

When he pulled the handle of the wooden shutter meant to block out all light, the glass window on the outer wall and the decorative metal grille were revealed. On the glass, a beautiful frost pattern had formed, so lovely one could believe it was silverwork crafted by an artisan into the shape of leaves. At the mysterious design created by the northern cold air, Rensley, forgetting his situation, let out a brief exclamation of admiration.

The clouded glass did not clear easily even when rubbed with his sleeve. Left with no choice, he opened the window, and the outside scenery came fully into view.

“Damn…”

Rensley spat out a curse, his shoulders slumping. The sun, high in the sky, greeted him.

Indeed, the northern sun, unlike the southern one, had a pale and intensely cold air about it, but still, the sun was the sun. It was not lacking in its role of illuminating the world.

Sigh. Letting out another sigh, Rensley, as if resigned, propped his elbows on the windowsill and gazed outside. The view of the Archduke’s castle, Loudkhen, which he had not been able to see properly in the darkness the night before, and the sky of Oldenland unfolded before his eyes at a glance.

Perhaps because the sun was pale, the sky was also overcast and gray without any hint of blue. Well, seeing the snow piled everywhere, clear days must be rare. When he had left Cornia and headed north, ever further north, seeing snow for the first time, he had even been excited, forgetting his situation. But now, having arrived at his destination, he had already grown accustomed to the snowy landscape.

‘What if I run far away before the wedding ceremony?’

However, the rear wall of Loudkhen was also the rampart that guarded the northernmost edge of the continent. Rensley knew nothing of the unknown world stretching out beyond it.

The wedding would soon take place, and even if it were possible to escape the castle before then, he would only freeze or starve to death somewhere in the vast snowfield. If he stayed in the castle, he could at least hope for the miracle of the Archduke showing mercy, but during his journey here, Rensley had learned firsthand that the northern cold had no mercy.

The people visible outside the window were diligently preparing for their day. Rensley took in the sight of them one by one: a person carrying a water yoke, people heading somewhere to work carrying pickaxes and shovels, people carrying jars and baskets, small carts coming and going in the courtyard, and even children playing with spinning tops and marbles.

The way children played was not much different even after having traveled practically from one end of the continent to the other. Rensley smiled faintly, looking down at them. The tip of his nose stung from the cold air coming through the window, but still, Rensley did not give up on sightseeing outside.

Just then, the child who had been crouching and rolling marbles suddenly raised his head as if sensing a gaze. There was no time even to duck out of sight. The child sprang up from his spot, his mouth agape, and looked up at the window.

Rensley shut the shutter like lightning. He smoothed down his pounding heart and stepped away from the window. He had been on the verge of lifting his veil for a moment because his face felt stuffy; it was a great relief that he had not.

He scooped water from the jar next to the fireplace, poured it into the washbasin, and washed his face. After smoothing back his hair and straightening his clothes, Rensley approached the bedpost to pull the cord but flinched, stopping his hand.

‘Is there really a need to draw attention by calling the maids?’

Rensley, having fallen into thought tapping his chin, soon reached a conclusion. He would let it be known that the princess, exhausted from the long and arduous journey, was holed up in her bedchamber sleeping in. Even if he stretched out on the bed for a long while more, no one would suspect a thing.

The protagonists of stories who meekly wait for their wedding, meet their partner, and live happily ever after were always noble, true princesses. It was an ending that would never be given to a false bride like Rensley Malosen. If he hoped for a hole to escape from this desperate situation, he at least had to find where that hole was.

Creeeak. He opened the firmly shut door of the bedchamber. Rensley examined the situation outside through the narrowly opened crack.

The corridor, with no one passing by, was quiet, and two guards stood at a distance. As expected, it seemed he could not leave through the main door.

After closing the door just as quietly as he had opened it, Rensley hurried his movements. He stripped off everything—the gown, the coat, and the veil—and then, after beginning his disguise as a woman, changed into the men’s clothes from the bundle he had carried with him all along. Even though they were men’s clothing, they were Cornian garments, so the people here would find them out of place if they saw them, but it would be safer than going outside as the prospective Archduchess.

“Ugh, it’s cold.”

Even indoors, the thinner clothes let the chill immediately seep into his body. Shivering, Rensley quickly approached the fireplace. He added a few more pieces of firewood and poked at it a few times, and commendably, the flames quickly revived.

As he warmed himself for a moment, a small mirror placed above the fireplace caught his eye. At the tense man in the mirror, Rensley flashed a grin for the first time in a long while. His gloomy mood improved upon facing his own smiling face.

“Hello, handsome Rensley Malosen. Don’t worry too much. If luck is with you, who knows? You might just live a better life.”

Rensley moved around the bedchamber, carefully examining every corner, then opened the small window in the innermost corner.

Below the window, which faced a somewhat secluded western side of the castle, there were neither children playing nor servants working. Perhaps because the window was not large, no grille had been fitted either.

He neatly folded all the clothes he had taken off and placed them in the gap between the inner wooden shutter and the outer glass window. Unlike in Cornia, the windows here were of a double structure, and the space between the inner and outer panes was quite wide, making it suitable for hiding things. Just in case of an unforeseen situation, he brought along an empty candlestick.

“Good.”

Having finished his preparations, Rensley gripped the window frame firmly and pressed his body flat. Starting with his head, he slipped out the window and looked down. The Archduchess’s bedchamber was on the fourth floor of the main tower where the lord of the castle resided.

‘It’s not a negligible height, but this much is nothing.’

It was a height an ordinary person would not even attempt, but Rensley, gripping the uneven surfaces between the bricks and stepping on ornamental carvings, leaped down without much difficulty. His movements were so agile that anyone watching would have mistaken him for an acrobat.