Chapter 3: The Long Road North

The imperial capital slowly disappeared behind us. From the carriage window, I watched the white towers fade into the distance until they became nothing more than pale shadows swallowed by falling snow. No one came to say goodbye. No one waved. Perhaps no one noticed we were gone.

The only sound that remained was the steady rhythm of the carriage wheels moving across the frozen road.

Across from me, Evren sat with his usual calm composure, a stack of military reports resting in his hands. His silver hair caught the faint winter light entering through the window, making him look almost unreal.

He had barely spoken since we left, though I hadn't expected anything different.

My husband was a stranger I had married less than a day ago, and we were now traveling toward a place where everyone already believed I was a villain. A peaceful journey was clearly too much to hope for.

I glanced at the papers in his hands. “Do you always work during journeys?”

His eyes lifted briefly.

“Usually.”

“That sounds exhausting.”

“It is necessary.”

I looked at the endless snow outside. “Is everything in the North considered necessary?”

For the first time, his expression shifted slightly.

“Most things.”

I almost smiled. It was a very Grand Duke answer.

Still, there was something strangely familiar about him. In my old life, I had also been someone who couldn't put work down, someone who believed rest was something to earn after finishing everything else.

The difference was that Evren carried responsibility because people depended on him, while I had carried mine because I was afraid no one would value me without it.

Outside, the scenery changed. The busy roads surrounding the capital disappeared, replaced by endless forests covered in snow. Frozen rivers reflected the pale sky, and distant mountains rose like silent guardians watching over the land.

For a moment, I forgot I was in another world. Then reality settled in. Sena was gone, and Odette was the life I had inherited. There was no road back, only the one ahead.

I rested my head lightly against the carriage window, lost in my thoughts.

For a moment, memories overlapped.

Sena sitting alone in her apartment after another late shift. The cold glow of a laptop screen. The flowerpot on the windowsill that I kept promising I would take care of.

Then another image appeared: Odette standing outside a ballroom while music and laughter echoed from inside.

Different lives. Different worlds. The loneliness, however, felt exactly the same.

I sighed quietly. Evren looked up from his reports.

“Do you regret agreeing to this marriage?”

The question caught me off guard, and I turned toward him. Most people would have asked whether I was afraid of leaving my family behind or nervous about meeting the people of Frostmane. Instead, he asked if I regretted it. Perhaps because he understood what it meant to be trapped by duty.

After a moment, I answered honestly. “I regret that neither of us was given a choice.”

For several seconds, he said nothing. Then the faintest change appeared in his expression. Not a smile. Not quite. But something softer than before.

“I suppose we have that in common.”

The words surprised me. It was the first time he had admitted that this situation affected him too. The silence that followed felt different. Not warm. Not yet. But no longer completely cold.

After some time, Evren folded the report in his hands. “The border has become unstable.”

I looked at him.

“Because of Valdris?”

His eyes sharpened slightly.

“You know about them?”

“I read about them in the documents before the wedding.”

A brief pause followed.

“You read the reports?”

“I wanted to understand where I was going.”

His gaze remained on me for a moment longer than usual.

“Most nobles would not bother.”

I shrugged slightly.

“I spent years fixing problems before people noticed them. It is difficult to stop.”

I almost regretted saying it. Those words came dangerously close to revealing the truth about my previous life.

But Evren did not question me. Instead, he looked back at the reports.

“The North is not like the capital.”

“I know.”

“They will not accept you easily.”

I looked out at the endless snow. “I didn't expect them to.”

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

Then Evren quietly reached toward the small heater beside him and adjusted it closer to my side of the carriage.

The gesture was so subtle that I almost missed it.

He didn't explain or look at me. He simply returned to his reports.

But somehow, that small action felt more meaningful than words.

Before either of us could say more, the carriage suddenly slowed. The horses cried out, and the peaceful journey shattered in an instant.

A sharp voice came from outside. “Ambush!”

My heartbeat stopped.

Evren moved immediately. The calm man who had been reading reports moments ago disappeared, replaced by the Grand Duke of Frostmane.

The clash of steel filled the frozen air.

I looked outside the carriage and saw masked attackers surrounding our guards.

Then I saw Evren. His movements were impossibly fast. His sword flashed through the snow, forcing enemies back.

Then something changed. His ice-blue eyes glowed faintly, and dark claws extended from his fingers.

For a moment, I understood why people called him the Beast of the North.

But he wasn't a monster.

He was protecting his people.

One attacker broke away and rushed toward the carriage.

My eyes found a small dagger beneath the seat, and I grabbed it.

When the door opened, I moved without thinking.

The blade struck his arm. It wasn't skill. It was desperation. But it gave Evren enough time.

The attacker fell into the snow. His eyes moved from the dagger in my hand to my face.

“You kept your head.”

“I had to.”

A flicker of surprise crossed his expression.

The journey continued after the attack, and by nightfall, we reached a roadside inn.

The innkeeper bowed when he recognized Evren. “My lord, there is only one room remaining.”

I froze, but Evren simply answered, “That will do.”

The room was small. It held a fireplace and a table.

One bed.

“I'll take the chair,” he said.

“You don't have to.”

“I know.”

That answer surprised me. Later, I noticed a scar near his shoulder when his shirt shifted.

Even the feared Grand Duke could be hurt. Sometime during the night, I woke to an unexpected warmth.

I opened my eyes slightly. His cloak rested on my shoulders.

Evren stood by the window, watching the snow.

He said nothing. He simply returned to his guard.

For the first time since arriving in this world, I wondered if perhaps not everyone was waiting to hurt me. Then I noticed something on the table: a small silver flower.

My fingers brushed against the delicate petals. It reminded me of my grandmother's garden, of the little flowers I once waited patiently to see bloom.

But this flower was impossible. It had not been there before. Then a quiet whisper filled the room.

“Odette Verenne.”

I looked up. The room was empty, but the silver flower remained in my hand.