That day, the first time the two children ever went out to play, they would run straight into danger.
After the Grand Duke rolled out a string of new rules, Hazel struck right back. For him to become a proper role model of a big brother, she demanded that from now on he drop that mocking tone of his for good. "I've already learned to copy you perfectly, and it's seriously undermining my proper approach to raising them, you know."
To her surprise, the Grand Duke calmly replied that Luna's personality was the spitting image of their mother's. How frightening. Could a mother really become such an obstacle on a child's path to growing up? Seeing the Grand Duke slip back into his mocking tone, Hazel hurriedly cast a spell to slap him right in the face with it.
That day, the whole group set off for Dai Island to celebrate the new year. The entire upper class would gather there for a grand, lavish New Year's ball. Little Luca was so excited he tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep a wink. And because of their agreement not to touch each other, the atmosphere inside the carriage felt unusually tense and stifling.
In the middle of it all, Hazel suggested playing a game of collaborative storytelling, where each person added just one sentence to a fairy tale. But the game fell apart in spectacular fashion almost immediately. The moment Hazel opened with the first line, the Duke mercilessly mocked it. She had no choice but to retell the opening of the story, but through the children's patchwork retelling, it soon morphed into a tale about meeting a witch in the forest and getting to eat amazing carrot cake. And in the end, Luca, Luna, their big brother and Hazel all lived happily ever after together. That ending left both adults blushing furiously with embarrassment. To break the awkward tension, they switched to playing a word chain game instead.
Out of nowhere, the carriage was suddenly ambushed by a pack of snow creatures as it rolled along. To protect the children, the Duke decided to charge out and fight them off alone. He even used his holy power to form a protective barrier around the carriage. But since holy power and magic were fundamentally incompatible with each other, Hazel found herself completely unable to help. The children, meanwhile, stayed perfectly calm, telling Hazel not to worry and to just get back to their word game.
Outside, the Duke fought with absolute decisiveness, cutting down two of the snow creatures with a single swing of his sword. The sight made Hazel's heart start pounding uncontrollably. She stopped paying any attention to what the children were saying and just stared out the window, murmuring to herself, "He's so ridiculously cool."
Little Luca asked curiously, "Is 'ridiculously cool' a vocabulary word?"
Right as Hazel remained hopelessly dazed by the Duke's looks, the last of the snow creatures had already been wiped out. The two children eagerly begged to rush outside to find their brother. But Hazel, still trapped by the holy barrier, couldn't step out of the carriage. She recalled feeling that same power once before, back when she'd first arrived at the cottage. She wondered who in the Duke's household could possibly possess that kind of power. Trapped inside a carriage wrapped in holy power like this, even magic was useless.
Just then, a loud thumping sound suddenly came from behind the carriage. A snow creature had somehow already climbed onto the carriage without anyone noticing. The Duke and the children spotted the danger, too. But before help could arrive, the horses had already spooked, whinnying wildly and bolting off at full speed. Seeing the children about to panic and rush forward, Hazel moved to keep the snow creature from harming them. The instant the carriage's protective barrier shattered, Hazel yanked the reins and sent the carriage careening down the mountainside. As she drove, she shouted for the children not to worry.
In the end, the carriage flipped over and slammed straight into a tree trunk. Just as she was silently thanking the heavens for surviving, the very next moment her hand was suddenly gripped tightly by the Duke.
"You look all right. Can you stand up on your own now?"
Hazel looked down to find her ankle badly swollen from a sprain, only to hear the Duke tease her unexpectedly. "Don't tell me you don't know a healing spell. And you can't even ride a broomstick either. Aren't witches supposed to know these basic skills?"
Hearing Hazel wave her hands and admit she was clueless about both, the Duke fell into deep thought. "Well, then I suppose I'll just have to carry you."
With that, he swept Hazel up into his arms and walked on through the pure white snow. This was the first time Hazel had ever been carried like this. Watching the Duke pant for breath, it was clear he must have run here as fast as he possibly could. His neck bore visible red frostbite marks, and his hair was soaked through and matted down. Without thinking, she reached out and pulled his shirt collar closed, muttering, "It's freezing out here. You need to bundle up properly."
But the sweet, tender mood didn't even last a second before the two of them were back to bickering over old grievances.
Meanwhile, back at the carriage, the children were beside themselves with worry over Hazel's safety. Little Luna was even crying softly, terrified something might happen to her brother while he was out rescuing someone. To her surprise, the moment she turned around, she caught a rather touching scene. Luna thought gleefully to herself, looks like I'm about to successfully match up my beloved big sister with my brother.
After sneaking a quiet laugh, she suddenly noticed with alarm that Hazel's leg was injured. She and her brother hurriedly blew gently on the wound to soothe it. And to everyone's surprise, that adorable gesture left the Duke burning with jealousy.
Hazel understood all too well. The Duke was the type who'd never breathe a word to the children, no matter how badly he was hurt. He always silently gritted his teeth and endured the pain alone. That figure seen from behind looked so grand and imposing at first glance, and yet it was heartbreakingly lonely, too.
Afterward, with a bit of potion applied, Hazel's leg healed completely. "This is all my fault. And on top of that, the carriage has been smashed to pieces, too."
Now the whole group had no choice but to walk to the nearest town to find lodging.