Chapter 12: The Servant of Spring in the Land of Winter

“Liar.”

“No, I’m telling the truth.”

Myeong combed the tip of the wolf’s tail with his fingers, saying that everyone liked it when he brushed them like this and that.

I-gyeol snorted, but he didn’t forcibly pull his tail away from Myeong’s hands. And so, for a little while, I-gyeol granted this young servant the honor of touching him.

“You were a flower child who took care of divine beasts?”

‘So he wasn’t close to Spring.’

I-gyeol stuck out his long tongue and licked his forepaw before continuing.

“I did all sorts of things. Odd jobs, too. I was always busy working.”

Myeong listed all the hard work he had done for the God of Spring.

‘There can’t be another servant who loves the God of Spring as much as I do.’

I-gyeol calmly listened to everything Myeong had to say.

“You were so busy that you didn’t know about the Camellia Fairy?”

The Camellia Fairy was widely known throughout the heavens. Though it was a flower, the camellia lived in the Land of Winter and was famous for hiding beneath the snow. Because it was so rare and difficult to find, it had become quite renowned.

Among its treasures were the Camellia Fairy’s shoes, woven from camellia petals. There was a legend that whoever wore them would be blessed with good fortune.

Even a young flower child and a winter servant who had been born only yesterday would know the story.

Only Myeong didn’t.

“I suppose not.”

A large part of the reason was that there had simply been no one to tell him.

Myeong had lived alone since he was young, and there had never been anyone to tell him about the world or teach him how it worked.

Myeong smiled as he organized his belongings. His clothes had frozen completely solid, so they would probably be difficult to put on.

“Really?”

Though I-gyeol seemed easygoing, he wasn’t the sort to readily explain things.

He gave a crooked smile before transforming back into his human form.

“Well, it’s not like I’m that curious about it anyway.”

I-gyeol combed his hair back and looked away from Myeong.

“Then let’s go. I’ll find them for you. But why do you want the Camellia Fairy’s shoes?”

“Don’t want to tell you.”

I-gyeol ignored Myeong’s question and walked out of the cave first.

The faint light of dawn was still scattered across the snow.

Myeong stared for a moment at I-gyeol’s coldly retreating back before following him. Myeong’s small footprints were newly stamped beneath I-gyeol’s much larger ones.

“If you search the snowy mountain thoroughly, you should find at least one. Look for several petals.”

That way, he could at least make one shoe to wear.

I-gyeol led Myeong toward a small snowy mountain. Finding a camellia in such a vast snow-covered mountain was practically impossible, but I-gyeol had no intention of telling him that.

After all, he was only making Myeong suffer until he felt better.

“Yes! Understood.”

Myeong eagerly answered, his cheeks red and raw from the cold.

Since he had to find camellias hidden beneath the ground, it was grueling work. He had to clear away the snow with his bare hands and dig through the frozen earth.

But Myeong thought it was manageable.

He had done all sorts of difficult chores back in the Land of Spring, so it didn’t feel particularly hard to him.

Besides, there were no immortals here to interfere with him.

Myeong walked far away with I-gyeol behind him. Soon, he crouched down and began clearing away the snow.

I-gyeol had expected him to complain about how difficult it was, but he frowned when he saw Myeong’s calm expression.

‘He thinks this is easy.’

“Not that you’ll find one anyway.”

Even winter servants had difficulty finding camellias.

‘He’ll start whining and come asking for help soon.’

Even while thinking that, I-gyeol kept a close eye on Myeong.

Myeong diligently dug through the snow and tore into the earth. Every time he moved, dirt scattered around him, leaving traces across the snow.

His once-white face and clean clothes soon became stained with dirt.

But Myeong didn’t stop.

Only I-gyeol clicked his tongue.

After watching Myeong dig into the ground for a while, I-gyeol soon turned toward a nearby birch forest.

At last, a winter servant had arrived.

****

“Lord I-gyeol.”

“You took your time.”

One servant came running through the birch trees and knelt before his king.

Although only one had come, Asha the Bear was one of the retainers who had witnessed the birth of the Winter King, so one was more than enough.

“I thought you would come straight to the castle.”

“Who knows? Things got complicated.”

I-gyeol answered carelessly and settled down beneath a tree.

Ever since waking from his sleep, his energy had never once stabilized. Instead, he was running short on strength from having to suppress his violently fluctuating power.

‘As usual, I’m the one who has to deal with all the trouble.’

I-gyeol frowned.

“What has Spring been doing?”

When I-gyeol asked whether Spring had lost his mind after throwing his servant into the harsh Land of Winter, Asha repeatedly opened and closed his mouth.

“Well… I heard he recovered enough to hold a feast, but apparently he has now exhausted all his strength and is lying down.”

“What?”

There were more than enough unbelievable things happening already.

‘One of us has been asleep for over a hundred years because of him, while another is throwing a feast? And now he’s lying around comfortably?’

“Ha. What a lunatic.”

The insignificant servant of Spring was making a fuss about offering the ice flower blooming from the heart of the Winter King, while the world’s balance was collapsing and Spring was throwing a damn feast.

‘The servant and his god are equally useless.’

Asha cautiously took a step backward, increasing the distance between himself and I-gyeol.

He was deeply worried that he might get caught in the crossfire.

He had wanted to avoid coming for precisely this reason, but among all the winter servants, Asha was the only one who had lost the bet, so he had no choice but to come personally to escort I-gyeol.

“Lord Wolf! Lord Wolf!”

Just as I-gyeol’s insides were boiling with anger, Myeong’s voice could be heard in the distance.

Sensing the faint energy approaching, Asha looked puzzled and drew a claw-shaped blade.

An intruder should be eliminated.

“Leave him.”

“What is it?”

“I picked him up.”

A brief exchange followed.

I-gyeol swept his hair back and rose from his seat.

“Lord Wolf! Ah…”

Myeong entered the birch forest searching for the wolf’s voice, carrying a plant he had pulled out by the roots.

After calling out for a long while, Myeong finally spotted I-gyeol and ran toward him, only to stop when he saw the frightening figure standing before him.

He was about as tall as the wolf, but more heavily built.

A long scratch ran across his cheek, making him look intimidating, and the fur clothing wrapped around his body made him resemble some enormous beast.

The blade at his side was also razor-sharp, causing Myeong’s heart to pound.

Asha sheathed his claws, but he didn’t bother greeting Myeong first.

Judging by his appearance, Myeong looked like he had only just been born. As one of the great winter servants, Asha had no reason to personally offer such a newborn a greeting.

But Myeong saw things differently.

This man gave off a different kind of pressure from the wolf.

In terms of sheer energy, the wolf was much larger and heavier, but the wolf had never harmed Myeong.

It was the wolf who had stayed beside him on the freezing winter mountain.

It was also the wolf who had taught him how to obtain the ice flower.

‘But this man isn’t like that. He’s frightening.’

“Who are you…?”

Unable to bear it any longer, Myeong spoke first to the intimidating man.

“Rawr.”

“Eek!”

Instead of answering, Asha gave a small playful growl.

Myeong jumped in fright and hurriedly ran toward I-gyeol.

Grabbing onto I-gyeol’s robe and hiding behind him, Myeong began trembling.

“…”

“I’m sorry. I only meant to scare him a little…”

When I-gyeol shot Asha a cold look, he immediately backed down and apologized.

“Go find out why. I was actually just about to say that I had already sent a few servants to Spring.”

“Spring? Did you say Spring?”

Myeong had been gripping I-gyeol’s robe tightly with bloodstained hands, but at the mention of Spring, he cautiously poked his head out and joined the conversation.

“Could you be a servant of Spring?”

“Yes! I’m a servant of Spring.”

When Asha asked I-gyeol in disbelief, Myeong happily answered in his place.

‘Somehow, now that I’m in Winter, more people recognize me than they did back in the Land of Spring.’

“You really did pick him up, right? If this is kidnapping…”

It was an unspoken rule that the servants of each season were not to be harmed.

After the incident that had occurred in the past, the rule had been enforced even more strictly.

Especially because Spring’s flowers were so fiercely protective of their own servants…

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