❖ ❖ ❖

 

Cecilia sat on a low chair and slipped her feet into the leather shoes the maid had brought. They were made from the hide of a wolf that had been hunted recently.

There was a problem.

All the newly made shoes were for men. When Cecilia put them on, there was far too much room left inside.

“They’re too big. My feet will slip right out while walking.”

“Would you like to try wearing an extra layer of wool socks?”

Cecilia put on the additional socks with the maid’s help and tried the shoes again. They fit somewhat better.

She stood up from the chair and took a few steps. The shoes were incredibly heavy. Even without walking far, she felt like she would tire quickly.

‘What’s the point of a pretty coat when the rest is like this?’

At the maids’ insistence, she was also wearing wide leather trousers. They had warned her that a skirt would be far too cold. They also pointed out that if the hem of her skirt dragged through the snow, it would become damp, heavy, and uncomfortable.

Their reasoning made sense, so she had agreed to wear the trousers. Even noblewomen on the continent wore pants when necessary—for horseback riding or, in the case of those who weren’t skilled dancers, during dance practice.

Cecilia also owned several pairs of riding trousers. Naturally, they were well-tailored and stylish.

But the trousers she was wearing now—They were simply two tubes of leather meant to cover her legs.

She had never worn anything like them in her life.

Cecilia was mortified. She hated the way she looked in the mirror.

Someone knocked on the door from outside.

Since Cecilia hadn’t noticed the sound, a maid approached her and spoke.

“Madam, His Lordship has arrived.”

“Let him in.”

The door opened.

Still staring at the mirror, she asked,

“What brings you here, my lord?”

“I heard you’re going outside. Since it’s your first time, I thought I’d guide you.”

Cecilia turned to look at Russell and shot him a glare.

“That expression of yours is making me angry.”

“What expression?”

“The one where you want to laugh but are holding it in.”

Russell cleared his throat needlessly.

With a resigned expression, Cecilia said,

“I’ll allow you to laugh this time.”

“Don’t misunderstand. I wasn’t laughing at you.”

“Then why were you smiling?”

“Hmm… I got excited thinking about going outside?”

Cecilia let out a laugh at the ridiculous excuse.

“Is going outside dangerous? Dangerous enough that you need to guide me?”

“Apart from the cold, not really. But you are the danger.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve gotten lost before. And also almost fell into the water. Twice, actually. If you go out on your own, I won’t be able to focus on anything else.”

Cecilia pursed her lips.

“You make it sound like I’m a walking disaster.”

She gestured to the maids holding her coat.

They stepped forward and helped her put it on.

Cecilia glanced at herself in the mirror and nodded in satisfaction.

The long coat covered most of the unsightly trousers.

She put on her hood and held out her hands.

The maids slipped thick gloves onto her fingers. The wolf-hide gloves were clumsy-looking and heavy.

With a sullen expression, she stared at herself in the mirror.

‘I need to have them remake the gloves and shoes. Oh, and the trousers too.’

She turned to Russell and asked,

“Are you going out dressed like that?”

His attire wasn’t much different from usual. The only exception was that, like her, he was wearing wolf-hide shoes.

“As long as I have a hat and gloves, I’ll be fine. But you can’t go out like that.”

“Why?”

Russell stepped closer to her. Standing in front of her, he pulled back her hood.

Then, he reached into his coat pocket and took out a fur cap.

He spread it open with both hands.

“W-Wait.”

Before she could protest, the cap was already pulled over her head, covering her entire face.

Cecilia shrieked when she saw her reflection in the mirror.

“What is this?!”

The entire cap was made of fur, covering her head completely except for two large openings around the eyes.

Russell clenched his jaw, barely suppressing his laughter.

The cap, made from the pouch of a mutant marsupial, was highly elastic.

Her round head looked so adorable that he had the urge to kiss her.

“If you go out like that, your face will get frostbite. And if the frostbite gets too severe, your skin will fall off.”

He pulled up the hood attached to her coat to layer over the cap.

Cecilia glared at her reflection in the mirror, deeply conflicted. Then, with a heavy sigh, she gave up.

 

❖ ❖ ❖

 

The tightly closed outer doors of the central hall swung open.

Cecilia slowly stepped outside.

‘It’s not as cold as I thought.’

Wrapped in the finest winter gear, she completely misunderstood the true nature of Lagos’s winter.

‘Why is there a path?’

She had expected everything to be covered entirely in snow.

But right outside the doors, a path had been cleared, compacted by foot traffic.

The snowbanks on either side were taller than a person.

The road looked like a tunnel carved through the snow.