Chapter 305: Hope in Bloom
The journey south shed light to a spring Irene was unfamiliar with.
"Perpetual winter turns to spring, then it goes back to winter," her father had explained.
Based on the month, it would have been the beginnings of spring in Chemois.
Irene could picture flowers blooming and grasses turning green. The most beautiful time of the year was the relief felt when she felt warm for the first time outdoors and wasn’t having to break a sweat to do so. It was right before the floodplains would hit.
Sprint was her favorite because she had pale, easily freckled skin and it only got worse whenever summer struck. That was why she always opted for light and loose tunics during that season.
However, as the two rode, all they were met with was soggy snow as the sun shone and icy nights where they wouldn’t be able to move around if they didn’t want to slip. They were heavily relying on sunlight to clear their way. Luckily, the days seemed to grow the tiniest bit longer, but they were still shorter than in the south.
There was truly no match for the northern snow.
What relieved Irene and her father the most through their journey was that there was no further incidences regarding the curse she undoubtedly got from the wyrm. It led Arthur to conclude that distance did, in fact, matter to the curse. Even though the magic itself was strong, the victim needed to be nearby.
Since she wasn’t reacting to it when they were only half a day’s worth of travel away, he figured being in Chemois would ensure she would never feel it again.
He couldn’t help imagining if she would ever go north again and how that thought struck his heart with worry. Oftentimes, curses of mental nature were impossible to fall for twice—at least that was what knights learned from lingering spirits and the curses of necromancers.
No matter how nonexistent the curse seemed, the protective father still made sure that Irene go to a mage when she returned. Since she would likely head back to the Duke’s Tower rather quickly, he wanted her to see Stanley as quickly as possible. Due to the mage’s education and early life in Nickron, he would be the one who knew the extent of a beast’s mana abilities.