Half a month later, winter had fully descended upon the Bering Mountains, turning the world into a vast expanse of ice and snow. The mountains and forests were blanketed in white, and amidst this frozen landscape, a small black dot moved slowly.
A figure, clad in tattered clothing and worn-out shoes, trudged through the snow, dragging a frozen hare behind them. By noon, the figure reached a small mountain hollow, where they stopped and dropped the rope holding the hare. With effort, they pushed aside a mound of snow, revealing a cave entrance just large enough for one person to squeeze through. Pulling their prey behind them, the figure disappeared into the cave.
The cave was incredibly simple, almost barren. The only notable object was a layer of straw matting deep inside the cave, upon which lay another unmoving figure. If not for the faint rise and fall of his chest, it would have been impossible to believe he was still alive.
The returning figure dropped the hare and collapsed onto the straw mat beside the motionless man. Before lying down, they wiped their face with snow from the entrance, revealing a delicate face—Angelina.
At this moment, Angelina looked entirely like a wildling. Her clothes were worn and darkened with dirt, her long hair hung in messy strands over her shoulders, and her shoes had worn through, exposing her pale little feet.
Angelina sat down and began rubbing her feet together to restore feeling. She had spent the entire previous night out in the snow to catch this single hare, and her feet were nearly numb from the cold. After some time, warmth began to return, and Angelina turned her attention to Caesar, the man lying beside her.
Caesar's face was still pale, though it no longer carried the deathly gray hue from before. His once strong and muscular body had withered away, leaving him little more than skin and bones. Only the faint motion of his shallow breaths showed he was still alive.
Exhausted, Angelina pressed close to Caesar and drifted into a deep sleep. She had been awake all night, and fatigue quickly overtook her. Before falling asleep, she carefully placed Caesar's arm around her waist. In the cold cave, the two lay huddled together.
It was afternoon when Angelina finally woke up. As she always did, she first looked at Caesar with a trace of hope, but as always, his eyes remained closed, and his face remained pale.
With a sigh, Angelina forced herself to her feet and began preparing their dinner. For the past half-month, the two of them had been surviving on just one meal a day.
The hare had spent hours in the cave, and though still frozen, it had begun to thaw slightly. Angelina skillfully cast a basic Light Spell, focusing its gentle heat on the hare's fur. Slowly, the frozen meat began to soften.
She only thawed about a third of the hare, leaving the rest frozen for the following days. Taking Caesar's short dagger, she began preparing the meat. A small fire flickered near the cave entrance, its smoke escaping into the cold air outside. The faint aroma of roasting meat began to spread through the cave.
Angelina kept the fire small. A week ago, a snow bear had been drawn to the scent of food, leaving a deep impression on her. She had narrowly escaped by extinguishing the fire and blocking the cave entrance with snow. Now, she conserved her magical energy carefully and avoided unnecessary risks.
Though Caesar had never taught her how to build a fire, Angelina had found her own way. The Light Spell, a basic trick for any apprentice magician, had become an incredibly versatile tool in her hands. It provided light, heat, and even served as a means to ignite fires.
While their nomadic life had interrupted Angelina's formal magic studies, she felt her understanding of magic had deepened through sheer necessity.
The meal was simple roasted meat—the same thing they had eaten for weeks. Whether they had grown tired of it no longer mattered; having food at all was a blessing. Angelina would never forget the days when she had no food at all, surviving only on melted snow while clinging to Caesar's unconscious body.
The roasted meat was carefully cooked, with Angelina managing the heat skillfully—she had absorbed about half of Caesar's grilling expertise by now. The finishing touch was a sprinkling of salt crystals and red powder.
The salt had been brought from a salt lake, and though supplies were limited, Angelina had rationed it carefully. The red powder was made from fiery fruit, a magical ingredient Caesar had originally gathered. Though low-level, fiery fruit was highly effective at attracting small animals, especially in the harsh winter months.
Snow hares were the best catch; one hare could sustain them for three days if rationed carefully. Snow squirrels and field mice, however, were tiny, barely enough for a single meal.
The scent of roasted meat filled the cave, and Angelina swallowed hard but resisted the urge to eat immediately. Only after ensuring the meat was fully cooked did she extinguish the fire with snow, leaving just enough residual warmth to keep the cave comfortable.
Returning to the straw mat with the roasted meat, Angelina carefully bit off small pieces, chewing them thoroughly before swallowing. Occasionally, she took sips from a wooden flask filled with melted snow.
After eating about half the meat, Angelina stopped and turned her attention to Caesar. Without hesitation, she chewed a piece of meat into smaller fragments and transferred it into Caesar's mouth, mouth-to-mouth.
At first, she had been embarrassed by this act, but after weeks of doing it daily, Angelina had grown used to it. After all, Caesar had once cared for her in a similar way—this was merely repaying the favor.
Caesar remained unresponsive, and Angelina had to carefully guide the food to the back of his throat with her tongue to trigger his body's reflex to swallow.
Despite regular cleansing spells, Caesar's body carried a persistent musty odor. The spells could clean physical grime, but they had no effect on lingering smells.
After feeding him the last of the meat, Angelina wiped Caesar's lips with the back of her hand. Seeing his pale lips, reddened from her bites during feeding, her face flushed slightly. She was still a sixteen-year-old girl, and despite the routine nature of these actions, she couldn't help but feel a hint of embarrassment.
When Angelina thought about how her life had been saved by Caesar and how he had once taken care of her in the same way, she found a reason to convince herself. In the eyes of outsiders, Princess Angelina had always been intelligent, sensible, mature, and noble, but at this moment, she was just a young girl. The way Caesar had saved her before could have melted even the hardest ice. Unbeknownst to Angelina herself, Caesar had already carved a place deep in her heart.
After feeding Caesar, Angelina tidied up the messy cave. She had been out since last night and only returned this morning, resting for just a short while. She hadn't had time to clean their living space. While Angelina could tolerate her dirty and tattered clothes and shoes, her slight obsession with cleanliness wouldn't allow her to live in a pigsty.
After poking a ventilation hole at the cave entrance, Angelina sat cross-legged on the straw mat and began her routine meditation. The reason Angelina, who was physically frail and powerless, could survive in the snowy mountains for half a month with an unconscious Caesar was entirely due to her magic.
She had pushed the utility of three basic spells to their limits. The Light Spell alone had countless uses, not to mention the Cleaning Spell and the Feather-Light Spell, which she had creatively adapted for various purposes. Angelina had to ensure her magic reserves were never depleted. In this desolate snow-covered world, with Caesar unconscious, if she didn't keep herself occupied through meditation and practice, she felt she might go mad.
Night eventually fell, and Angelina stopped meditating.
She walked over to Caesar, reached into his clothes, and after fumbling for a while, pulled out a thumb-sized white oval crystal core.
In the pitch-black cave, the white magic core emitted a soft glow. Through her fingertips, Angelina could feel the faint warmth radiating from it.
This white crystal core was a low-grade light-elemental magic core obtained from the Moon Wolf she had killed. Light-element magic cores were precious and rare. Angelina had seen mid-grade and even high-grade magic cores in her teacher's laboratory before, but light-elemental ones were exceptionally scarce. Their innate healing abilities made them even more valuable.
After emitting light for a while, the magic core began to dim. It had exhausted its stored magic power. During the day, the magic core could absorb light energy from the surroundings while slowly healing Caesar's body, maintaining a balance. But at night, this process halted.
Angelina needed to place the magic core near the cave entrance, where moonlight could shine directly on it, helping it recharge.
Shortly after the magic core was removed from Caesar, his body began to tremble uncontrollably. This was the only sign of life he showed throughout the day.
Upon closer inspection, one would notice that Caesar was covered only by his torn clothes and a crude patchwork blanket made from various animal furs. The poor stitching revealed it was Angelina's handiwork. These furs offered little insulation, and given Caesar's frail condition, he was unable to retain body heat, causing him to shiver.
Watching Caesar trembling, Angelina sighed softly and made an unexpected decision.
She removed her tattered clothes, revealing her pale, delicate body. As the icy chill of the cave hit her exposed skin, she felt a biting cold rush over her, and without hesitation, she quickly slipped under Caesar's 'blanket.' Their so-called 'blanket' was merely their two worn-out garments and the poorly stitched animal fur patchwork.
Facing Caesar, Angelina lay on her side and looked at the man two years older than her. Despite his pale face, increasingly thick stubble, and haggard appearance, she could still see a hint of handsomeness in his features.
Without overthinking, Angelina wrapped her arms around Caesar under the 'blanket.' Finally, Caesar's trembling subsided, and instinctively, he held her tightly in return. The two of them fell asleep in each other's arms.
On the night of the first snowfall after saving Caesar, Angelina had made this decision upon seeing Caesar trembling uncontrollably because the Moon Wolf's magic core lost its effectiveness at night. And to this day, she had no regrets.