I Kidnapped the Hero’s Women

"Isn't it about time for Charlotte to return?"

The snowstorm grew stronger, showing no sign of stopping. The sun was slowly sinking, and the sky was growing darker. At this point, I started to worry about Charlotte. I wondered if the snow had piled up so much that the carriage couldn’t make it through.

Of course, the bandits... no, the road repair company is also in charge of snow removal. But if this was an unexpected snowstorm, it’s possible that it caused a lot of confusion. I should go and get Charlotte just in case.

I quickly put on my coat and stepped outside to call for the coachman.

"Ugh!" "…?"

As soon as I stepped into the snowy field, I felt something under my feet, and a short scream rang out. What did I just hear? Startled, I quickly pulled my foot back and was about to dig through the snow when—

"Phuhuh! You got caught!" "…!? "

Suddenly, Charlotte popped out of the snow, scattering snow everywhere. Covered in snow from head to toe, Charlotte charged at me, and I was so startled I almost had a heart attack.

"What were you doing in the snow?" "I was waiting for you to pass by, sir. I was planning to surprise you, but being stepped on wasn’t part of the plan!" "Aren’t you cold? Here, put on my coat. Let’s go inside and get you into a warm bath..." "Hehehe! I’m fine! I’m not cold at all!" "It’s impossible you’re not cold..."

Had she come back in the same outfit she wore for training? She was wearing shorts and a short-sleeve shirt. It was a snowy winter day, and she had been buried in the snow like this, there was no way she wasn’t freezing. ...or so I thought. But as the snow clinging to Charlotte’s body melted in an instant, an overwhelming heat and a mirage-like mist began to rise from her body, leaving me speechless.

Her cheek was hot when I touched it. It wasn’t just warm, it was burning hot. At first, I thought she might have caught a fever, but no, there was no sign of a cold, and her body seemed perfectly fine, except for the abnormal temperature.

This girl... She was practically a human heater!

I pulled my hand away in shock from the incredibly hot heat, but Charlotte just smiled and pressed my hand back against her cheek, holding it there.

"Hehehe. Your palm is so cold!" "You’re way too hot… Is this normal for you?" "Yes! I’ve never caught a cold and I’ve never really felt cold in the winter either!" "…."

Yuria, on the other hand, was a frail mess, constantly getting sick even in the summer. But Charlotte, in this outfit, was perfectly fine, rolling around in the snow? Her physical resilience was astonishing, to the point I questioned whether she was even the same race as me. She must have been born as some kind of outlier, a strong one from the start...

"Sir, sir! Can I make a snowman in the yard?" "Of course." "Yay!"

The moment I gave my approval, Charlotte let out a gleeful laugh and ran towards the snow-covered yard. Standing in the middle of the yard, Charlotte let out a sharp whistle, and soon, Heukheukie and Mulmuli came running and stopped right in front of her.

[Kyaaack! Why are we being called all of a sudden!?] [Kwaaaack! I’m busy!] "Let’s make a snowman together!" [Kyaaack! A snowman? How do we make one?]

Heukheukie and Mulmuli, intrigued by this strange human game, tilted their heads in curiosity. What seemed like peaceful playtime making snowmen turned into something a bit... more chaotic.

"This is how you make a snowman!" [Kyaaack! This is so much fun!] [Kwaaaack! Hurry up, let me roll it too, why is Heukheukie the only one rolling it!?] "…."

As I watched Charlotte roll Heukheukie around like a snowball in the snow, I realized my initial thoughts were wrong. Charlotte didn’t just make a snowman normally; her actions were extraordinary. She let out hearty laughs as she rolled Heukheukie around in the snow. And as Charlotte pushed Heukheukie, snow stuck to its body, causing it to grow in size.

Before long, Heukheukie’s brown body was completely covered by snow, and only the enormous snowball was rolling around in its place. The snowball seemed to have a life of its own, and I couldn’t help but chuckle as it searched for more snow to roll into.

"Ta-da! The body is done!" [Kyaaack! Something seems off, is this really how you make a snowman!?] "Of course! This is the biggest snowman body in the world!"

The snowman’s body was overwhelmingly large, far surpassing Charlotte’s height. When I stood next to it, I realized it was even bigger than mine. Indeed, Charlotte must get excited when the first snow falls...

"Ugh! I wanna join too!" "Yuria!"

At that moment, the door suddenly burst open with a loud noise, and turning around, I saw Yuria running toward us, fully dressed in winter gear. It seemed that even Yuria, who loved staying inside by the fireplace during winter, couldn’t resist the gigantic snowman body.

"I’m supposed to roll Mulmuli to make the head, right?" "Yes! But it’s hard to get snow to stick to him...?" "Hmm... Mulmuli! Ice!" [Kwaaaack!]

At Yuria’s command, Mulmuli immediately froze solid. As Yuria started rolling the frozen Mulmuli, the snowball began to grow, and both Charlotte and Yuria eagerly rolled Mulmuli around, getting more excited.

"Alright! The snowman is finished!" "But doesn’t the proportion seem off...?" "The head’s way too big for the snowman!"

Not long after, the snowman was complete. The snow, which had piled up high in the yard, seemed to have vanished as if it had been cleared. Right in the middle of the yard, a massive snowman had appeared, with the head being much larger than the body, making it look unbalanced.

[Kyaaack! This is a snowman? I can’t see anything in front of me!] [Kwaaaack! Get me out of here, humans!] "You guys look awesome!" [Kyaaack? Really!?] "Yes, yes! Stay like that! Don’t move at all!" [Kwaaaack! If I look this good, I’ll stay like this forever!]

It seemed like they were finally done playing. With satisfied smiles, Charlotte and Yuria dusted off their hands and headed inside the warm house. Heukheukie and Mulmuli stayed behind, laughing joyously in the yard. Charlotte and Yuria chattered away as they headed inside.

"You guys worked hard..."

As high-ranking nobles, they could live in luxury in most places, but they had come to this strange little territory to live among the kids and were struggling. I shook my head sympathetically and decided to head back inside, forgetting about the snowman.

After Charlotte and Yuria washed up and had dinner, I spent the rest of the evening working without thinking much. Then, as I noticed the strong sunlight coming through the window, I found myself wondering about the snowman and looked outside... only to see...

"The snowman melted overnight!!!" "Ugh... It’s just Heukheukie and Mulmuli left..."

As expected, the snow had melted by morning, and in the middle of the yard, only the two frozen animals, Heukheukie and Mulmuli, were left pitifully stacked up like two big snowballs.

"That darn man... The second semester is almost over... My first year at the Imperial Magic Academy is coming to an end... I hope the day comes soon when I can graduate and face you..."

Scratching the paper, Yuria was writing a letter as usual, with a content smile on her face. Once the final exams were over, the second semester would be done, and her first year as a student would be finished.

Looking outside, she saw the snow had piled up once again. On a cold winter day, as the year was coming to a close, she thought that she could never have imagined being able to live such a comfortable and worry-free life before.

Cold, hungry... And constantly worrying about whether Charlotte and Yuria were okay, living tough days physically and mentally. Now, all of those worries were gone.

It all started from her connection with the man, the "dark man," as she called him. He might only have given her a small part of his fortune, but...

She knew it had completely changed a child’s life.

‘Hmm... I guess it’s time to give up on Aslan Vermont...’

Yuria, with a bitter smile, quietly made a decision. She had felt a sense of resistance toward Aslan when Charlotte and Yuria liked him, and even after learning that he wasn’t as bad as she initially thought, she had kept the same attitude.@@novelbin@@

She had originally planned to stop Aslan from marrying them before either Charlotte or Yuria could get involved. But now, after learning just how much Charlotte and Yuria liked him, she decided to let it go.

Her decision wasn’t really because of a change in her opinion of Aslan. It was just that, after seeing the sweet looks Charlotte and Yuria gave him during the summer break, she realized that she couldn’t continue trying to prevent it.

Before, she had thought that Charlotte and Yuria liked Aslan because they were just naive and didn’t know better. She had assumed it was because they were blindly trusting him for their food and shelter. But living with them in the mansion and seeing their daily lives together, she realized that wasn’t the case, and the guilt she felt about interfering with their relationship grew.

‘This flirt... with Charlotte and Yuria already around, why is he still being nice to me...’

So, she decided to step back for Charlotte and Yuria’s sake... To stop pretending to compete, to give up on Aslan Vermont... But why was he still interested in her and being so kind to her?

"Ahh... really..."

Yuria groaned as she rested her head on the desk while writing the letter. She felt like she had betrayed her friends and stolen the man she liked... But she had already stepped back...

She was feeling a complicated mix of emotions.