* * *

“Ah, it’s so beautiful.”

As Ronen admired it purely, Ed glanced around at the framed pictures on the walls and the coat rack set up on one side.

Everything was distinctly Ronen’s taste.

A long sofa had been placed beside a small bookshelf, set on a carpeted area, while wooden practice swords were neatly organized on one wall.

They were brought from the training grounds, following advice from Irtel.

“What else should we put in here?”

Just as Ronen was lost in thought, there came a knock at the door.

When Ed turned around, the Grand Duke was standing there.

“Your Grace,” Ed greeted, bowing his head.

The Grand Duke nodded lightly and asked, “May I come in?”

Despite having the authority to enter freely, the Grand Duke had lately taken to asking for permission, perhaps to respect the sense of personal space that Ronen and Ed had carved out for themselves.

“Of course, brother!” Ronen beamed, pulling the Grand Duke inside.

He then turned to Ed, “Right?”

“Of course,” Ed agreed.

The Grand Duke glanced around the storage room. “You’ve been doing well, I see?”

“Brother! Look at this. I decorated the table today,” Ronen said excitedly, proud and happy to show off his self-made space.

The Grand Duke listened, nodding, then turned his gaze to Ed.

“And where’s the spot Ed decorated?”

At this, Ed scratched his forehead.

The Grand Duke had thoughtfully set aside a space for Ed, curtained off and separated by a large divider. It was a fairly spacious area.

Ed had deliberated on how to make use of this space and ultimately decided to stock up on magic fuel rods, which helped keep the fire burning longer, as a precaution.

‘Don’t worry about the cost. Make your space however you want,’ the Grand Duke had said, so Ed had stocked up generously.

He remembered that even in the original story, despite it not being winter, there had been a heavy snowstorm lasting over two weeks in the North.

‘It might not happen soon, and there’s no guarantee it’ll snow for that long,’ Ed thought.

Still, he decided to be prepared, even if the North already had a substantial stock of magic fuel rods.

Better safe than sorry.

“I haven’t done any decorating yet,” Ed admitted.

“So you’ve only bought the fuel rods?”

“Yes.”

The Grand Duke smiled.

“It must’ve been pretty cold for you in the Northern Castle. I’ll make sure we keep more wood burning from now on.”

Ed hurriedly denied this misunderstanding.

“No, not at all. It’s already warm enough.”

“Yet you ordered quite a lot of those fuel rods,” the Grand Duke teased.

As he glanced toward the front of the storage room, there was a loud clunk and a sudden stop outside.

Ed followed the Grand Duke outside, excitement adding a slight bounce to his voice.

“It looks like the fuel rods I ordered have arrived.”

“Seems so.”

“May I go out to check?”

“Of course,” the Grand Duke replied, and Ed quickly stepped outside.

The cart was stacked high with neatly packed, round fuel rods.

Putting his strength into it, Ed lifted a box.

But before he could carry it, Tens, who had jumped off the cart, grabbed the box and moved it for him.

The Grand Duke also picked up another box from the cart to help out.

Ronen, meanwhile, struggled to lift a smaller box beside Ed, grunting with effort.

Ed watched them all bustling around, then quickly carried a box inside.

“Thank you for your help.”

“Should I put this here?” the Grand Duke asked, placing his box down.

“Yes, if we stack them neatly in one spot, that would be great,” Ed responded.

Once Tens set down his box and dusted off his hands, he asked, “Why so many fuel rods? There’s plenty already stored in the Northern Castle.”

Ed had a prepared answer.

“I heard that in the North, when people come into some money, they often buy fuel rods first and store them. Now that I have my own space, I wanted to do the same.”

“Oh, Ed, you’re becoming a true Northerner,” Tens chuckled.

Ronen, listening to this, declared, “Then I’ll buy some fuel rods too!”

In the end, the storage room was even more packed, thanks to Ronen’s additional fuel rods.

Two weeks later, when spring was in full swing, snow unexpectedly began to fall in the North.

The snowfall was sudden.

“Ed, it’s snowing,” Ronen said.

Ed straightened his back, having been busy clearing space by moving the stacked fuel rods that now took up half the storage room.

The place felt more like a warehouse again, with all the added stock.

Ronen rushed to the door, and Ed grabbed a blanket to join him.

Silent snowflakes had already started piling up on the path outside.

“The snowflakes are so big,” Ronen said in awe.

“Even though it’s spring, we’re getting such a heavy snowfall, my lord,” Ed observed.

“I love that the North has so many things I never got to see back at the Count’s estate.”

As Ed wrapped the blanket around Ronen and gazed outside, he took in the sight of so much snow for the first time since he had arrived in this world.

Ronen stepped outside, leaving footprints in the thickening snow, puffing warm air into his cold hands.

Ed followed with Ronen’s hat and coat in tow.

“My lord, you need your coat. If you catch a cold, it’ll be serious,” Ed scolded gently.

“Okay!” Ronen replied, though he was still preoccupied with stomping footprints into the white path.

“Hurry, my lord,” Ed urged.

He helped Ronen into his coat and secured his hat, and Ronen flashed a grin, draping the blanket over Ed in return.

“You’re cold too, Ed.”

“Thank you, my lord.”

“Next time, let’s bring gloves to the storage room. I want to touch the snow, but my hands are freezing.”

“I’ll prepare them for you.”

“No, I’ll bring them! I’ll make sure they match yours!” Ronen insisted.

“Could you also get gloves for your brother?” the Grand Duke called out, approaching with a laugh.

Ronen perked up, spotting the Grand Duke walking toward them through the snow.

“Brother! It’s snowing so much!”

“Here, put on these gloves,” the Grand Duke said, offering them.

“Does it often snow like this in the North during spring?” Ronen asked.

“Occasionally. Always be prepared with extra coats when you go out, Ronen,” the Grand Duke advised.

“Yes, brother!” Ronen agreed.

Ed turned to the sound of the Grand Duke’s voice.

The Grand Duke was fitting gloves onto Ronen’s hands and came over to Ed.

“Your nose is red,” the Grand Duke noted.

Embarrassed, Ed rubbed his nose lightly, and the Grand Duke handed over a thick hooded cloak.

“Thank you,” Ed said, wrapping it around himself.

The Grand Duke gently brushed snow from Ed’s hair.

“I figured you’d both be out watching the snow, so I came to join you.”

He fitted gloves onto Ed’s hands and looked around.

The wind was calm, so they could stay outside a bit longer.

“How long have you been out here? Are you cold?” he asked.

“We just came from organizing the storage room, so we’re still warm. Plus, we had blankets,” Ed reassured him.

Satisfied, the Grand Duke pulled up Ed’s hood and nodded.

Ronen, now with gloves on, made two small snowballs and crafted a tiny snowman, adding leaves for hair and sticks for arms.

“You probably haven’t seen much snow before, Ed. The South rarely gets this much, even in winter,” the Grand Duke remarked, watching Ronen set the snowmen in a row on the window ledge.

Ed, who had been sitting to help Ronen, stood up.

“That’s true,” Ed replied.

“How do you feel, seeing snow like this?”

“In the middle of spring, watching the snow falling feels quite fascinating. I had a few concerns when I came to the North, but the quality of the winter gear is excellent, and the magic-infused firestones work well, so even if it snows more heavily than today, I think I’ll be just fine.”

At that moment, Ronen lightly tossed a small snowball at Ed’s feet.

As the Grand Duke’s gaze shifted downward, Ronen gently threw another small snowball at him.

“Brother! Let’s have a snowball fight!”

“And it seems that Young Master Ronen really enjoys the snow as well,” Ed added.

The Grand Duke smiled faintly and nodded.

Picking up a snowball he had packed earlier, Ed tossed it lightly into the air and caught it, then turned to Ronen.

“So this counts as the first strike, right, Ronen?”

“Ah!”

Before the Grand Duke could throw his snowball, Ronen spun around and ran away.

He dashed into the storage shed, using a small tea table as a shield, ready to fully prepare for a proper snowball fight.

The Grand Duke looked up at the sky, and seeing no sign of the snow intensifying, thought to himself:

‘It should be fine to let Ronen and Ed play a bit longer with the snow before we head back inside.’

* * *