By Zephyria 
Abyss was dealt with appropriately, and we headed to the cowshed that some of the investigation team was using as a temporary base. When we first arrived in the village, it was literally a cowshed, smelly and dirty, but now it was spick and span.
“The rest are setting up tents near potential Ruins sites and investigating. There are two bases in total, and they rotate between them. We’ve been searching since the lake you mentioned earlier, but there’s no progress. We still haven’t found any traces of Magical creatures either.”
“Why is the village so chaotic?”
“Some hunters who lived a little ways away ran away, saying they saw Magical creatures. But they don’t seem like people who live in the mountains, so it’s a bit suspicious… We’ve been asking them questions and it feels like they’re being watched.”
Are they the same group of people I saw at the lake when I went to find Aska and the necklace?
I scanned the well-organized cowshed with my eyes and met Aska’s gaze as he leaned against the door, watching us. I wondered why he wasn’t coming closer, then I remembered that I had left Aska alone while chasing Abyss.
Could he possibly be sulking about that? I wanted to run to him and hold his hand right away, but I thought it was better this way.
“Where’s Zero?”
I stared at Aska, whose face was hidden by his hood, and asked Abyss.
“He’s at the base. Shall I call him?”
“I’ll go, then.”
“Zero will be very happy to know that Theodore’s memories have returned.”
As I listened to him speak with a smile, the name suddenly caught my ear.
Theodore was a temporary name I used because I couldn’t use my real name. Aska gave it to me, but I didn’t realize it at the time because I hadn’t recovered my memories.
It was a name mainly given to high-ranking priests in the temple, and it meant ‘gift of God’.
“……”
Did Aska know the meaning and give me that name? If he knew, where and how did he find out and give me that name?
Maybe it wasn’t intentional and he just picked it up somewhere. Or maybe he didn’t know the meaning and it was just a word that came out unconsciously because it sounded good.
As I was thinking about that, I realized that I was already standing in front of Aska.
Am I out of my mind? Even if I’m lost in thought, how did I get here unconsciously? Dumbfounded, I turned my head and Abyss, who had followed me, tilted his head with a puzzled expression.
I cleared my throat and asked Aska.
“Did you know what the name means when you gave it to me?”
Aska didn’t answer my sudden question. I guess he’s still sulking because I left him alone earlier. But he did follow me when I opened the door and went outside.
“My name, I mean. You gave me the name Theodore.”
“……”
“Do you know what it means?”
“……”
Aska remained silent. I unconsciously reached out to poke Aska’s side with my finger, but stopped.
“Which way do we need to go?”
I turned my head and asked Abyss, who was following us. He led us to the base where Zero was.
The weather was clear, but the snow made our feet sink with every step. The mountain path was quite steep in places, so we were out of breath after only a short walk.
I kept glancing to the side through the breath that obscured my vision like smoke. Strangely, no breath came out from under Aska’s hood. Is he not breathing?
As before, when I came to my senses, I was taking off Aska’s hood. A few strands of long, white hair fell out and onto his shoulders.
He didn’t seem surprised that his hood was suddenly taken off. More than that, the look in his eyes was colder than the cold of the blizzard.
He wasn’t just pouting like when I said we’d go to the hot springs next time, he really seemed upset. My heart sank for a moment and I cautiously asked.
“Are you cold?”
“……”
His already pale face was as cold as ice, making him look even whiter. As I continued to stare at him, Aska, who seemed like he would only ever look ahead, finally looked at me.
The moment our eyes met, his frozen face contorted. Aska stared at me for a long time with murderous eyes, as if he was about to hit me, and then asked with suspicious eyes.
“Are you really not angry?”
Isn’t that what I should be asking? He’s the one who’s angry, not me…
“Not angry? Me?”
“Then who else is here besides you?”
Abyss was right in front of us, but he was being treated like he was invisible. Abyss, sensing that the conversation between Aska and me was unusual, glanced back at me and met my eyes.
Abyss was startled and quickly turned his head and increased his pace. It felt like he was giving us space because he thought we were fighting.
I suddenly felt like a marital spat had started.
“I’m not angry. What is there to be angry about?”
“Then why are you acting like that?”
When I pretended not to know, Aska suddenly bent down. Then he grabbed a handful of snow and threw it at my face. It wasn’t like I couldn’t have dodged it, but I thought he’d get even more annoyed if I did, so I decided to just take it.
The moment I squeezed my eyes shut, the snowball hit the center of my face. It wasn’t packed hard, so it quickly broke apart and fell down.
“Why did you take that? I threw it lightly so you could dodge it.”
Aska came closer with an even more contorted expression than before and patted my face and shoulders. He was still grumbling, but I felt like he was a little less upset, so I breathed a sigh of relief.
Then it suddenly occurred to me that my actions were so idiotic. It’s neither this nor that, and I don’t even know what I’m doing.
I don’t want to completely cut ties, but I want to cut off about 20 or 30 percent, but it’s not easy at all.
“This is really annoying.”
Aska, who had been stroking my cheek with his long fingers for a while, suddenly grabbed a handful of my hair and pulled it. It didn’t hurt much, but it was strong enough to make my head tilt to the side.
Aska pulled my hair a few more times to vent his anger, and then finally grabbed my hand. It was colder than my hand, probably because he had touched the snow a moment ago.
If I shook this off, Aska would probably cut ties with me by 50 percent instead of 30 percent, so I just obediently held his hand and walked.
As soon as we arrived at the base, we met Zero, who was standing at the entrance. He jumped up and down and waved his hands in the air.
“Theodore!”
Hearing the name made me curious again. I turned my head back to Aska, who was wearing his hood again.
“Did you know what the name means when you gave it to me?”
“What if I did, and what if I didn’t.”
His tone was still curt, but that was as good as an answer.
“Where have you been?”
Zero, who had come close, asked with a flushed face.
“I have something to say about that, so come inside.”
“Do you remember who I am?”
“Yes.”
I, Abyss, Zero, and Aska all went inside the tent together. I naturally reached out to take off the robe I was wearing, but stopped. Even though I had only taken it off halfway, the cold air penetrated to my bones, so I put the robe back on.
“Do you remember everything without missing a thing?”
“It’s still a bit vague, but I remember most of it.”
I put my hand on Aska’s shoulder, who was still holding my hand, and took off his hood. Aska was the most surprised by my sudden action.
“First, let me reintroduce him.”
“Introduce him? You told us before. You said he was your lover…”
“Not my lover, but my Imperial Princess Consort.”
Abyss and Zero looked at each other at the same time and tilted their heads. After being puzzled for a while, Zero asked with a bewildered expression.
“Did you perhaps get married while you were away?”
“Ah!”
Abyss clapped his hands as if he had finally realized. I sighed, put my hand on Aska’s shoulder, and said again.
“We got married a long time ago. So, from the beginning, Aska was the Imperial Princess Consort. I’m telling you to keep that in mind.”
“Excuse me? But this person is…”
“There were a lot of things going on from the beginning of our marriage. And a few days ago, I summoned Almas a few times, so my brother probably realized that I’m alive. He’ll probably be able to figure out my location, so prepare to send a letter as soon as possible. And contact Sakira just in case.”
I thought about what needed to be done first.
“And the Ruins…”
I trailed off, about to talk about the entrance to the Ruins. The videos of the various people who suddenly appeared inside the Ruins, and the fact that it seemed to be related to Aska’s identity, made me reluctant to speak rashly.
Abyss might not, but Zero is smart and quick-witted, so he would quickly deduce that Aska is not human even with the smallest clue.
As I was thinking that, I inadvertently turned my head towards Aska and stopped. Aska was staring at me without blinking.
“……”
“……”
His face was expressionless, but in my eyes, he looked like he was barely holding back from crying, having been deeply hurt.