CHAPTER 1006: CHAPTER 154 - SHREDICA’S WINTER AND THE FINAL PIECE (2)

"Come, Leon!" Titania’s voice rang out, bright and melodic, as she clasped my hand and began leading me along with that familiar air of excitement she always carried. Her fingers were soft, yet firm—her grip almost teasing, pulling me with a confidence that told me she had something special in mind.

I didn’t resist. Instead, I let her guide me, step by step, wherever she wanted to go. The warmth of her palm against mine, the subtle sway of her hips in front of me, and the mischievous glint in her eyes made it impossible not to be curious.

I had no clue where she was taking me, but the way she looked back at me from time to time, smiling with that mysterious charm, told me it was definitely a surprise.

"Close your eyes, Leon!" she said suddenly, her voice carrying that playful, commanding tone of hers that always managed to make my heart skip a beat.

Well, since she asked, I did. I trusted her. Still, I couldn’t help but grin a little. My mind, of course, went straight to the obvious. Knowing Titania, this could only mean one thing. It was probably something sexy—her way of making the night unforgettable. After all, it was her turn now, and she definitely knew how to keep things interesting.

But still, her doing this in such a dramatic way made me more intrigued than usual. What kind of surprise did she have prepared for me? The suspense was killing me, honestly. My chest felt light, almost fluttering, as we continued walking. I was... excited. More than I wanted to admit.

When we finally stopped, Titania’s fingers slipped away from mine. Her voice came again, gentle but filled with anticipation. "Okay, you can open your eyes now."

I blinked and slowly opened them.

And then—

"Surprise!" Titania yelled, her tone full of energy. A burst of confetti exploded into the air, showering down in shimmering colors that danced under the lights.

For a second, I just stood there, stunned. My eyes darted around, trying to process what was happening. I wasn’t expecting this at all. My birthday? That couldn’t be right—it already passed months ago. There wasn’t any special occasion I could think of that deserved something like this.

So... what was this about?

Then I noticed them. Every one of my lovers—Titania, Trill, Yr, Isiliraiellyn, Myrcella, Johanne, Tris, and even Gabrielle—standing there together. And with them, our daughter, Kana. Even Rose and Irene were here too.

The sight honestly threw me off for a moment. All of them together in one place, smiling, waiting for my reaction. Whatever this was, it had to be special.

"Fufufu, it seems we really caught you off guard, huh?" Titania said, her grin widening. The way she looked at me—like she was proud of pulling this off—made it impossible not to smile back, even through my confusion.

"More than surprised," I said, rubbing the back of my neck, "I’m just... confused."

Gabrielle stepped forward, her golden hair shining softly in the light. "You don’t need to think too hard," she said with that gentle, motherly smile. "It’s a belated birthday celebration for you."

"O–Oh... really?" I blinked.

So that was it. A belated birthday. Come to think of it, I never actually got to celebrate it before. I’d been so busy that day and the days after that, because I was too caught up in many work and responsibilities. But to them, that didn’t seem to matter.

"Considering how busy you’ve been since the start of our third year at the academy, we figured we’d just celebrate it later," Titania said, brushing her hair back as she stepped closer to me. "And since you’re finally not drowning in work, we thought now would be the perfect time. You really didn’t see this coming, did ya?"

"Well, yeah, actually," I said, chuckling a little. "I didn’t expect you’d still bother celebrating something that already passed."

"Of course we would," Irene said from behind Titania, her voice soft but firm. "We couldn’t possibly ignore the birthday of the man we love, could we? So, with that said—happy birthday, Leon."

I felt my chest tighten slightly as I looked at all of them. It was... heartwarming. Seeing everyone gathered like this, smiling genuinely, just to celebrate me—even if the actual date had long passed.

And really, there’s no rule that says you can’t celebrate something late. Some people have Christmas dinners after New Year, others hold belated birthdays just because life got in the way. This was one of those moments. And honestly... it made me happy.

I didn’t even realize how much time had passed. It had already been twenty years since I came to this world. Twenty years. That realization hit me harder than I expected.

Time... it just kept moving, didn’t it? Whether we liked it or not. It never waited. It just went on, silently, steadily, uncaring of what we did or didn’t do. If we kept holding back, if we didn’t act now, then one day we’d find ourselves looking back, wondering what could have been.

I was twenty now. Twenty years of existence in this world. And I couldn’t tell if I should feel proud, or restless, or... something in between. All I knew was that things felt like they were finally falling into place.

I didn’t know then that someone from my past would soon come knocking again—but that’s a story for another time.

***

Shredica’s POV

The weather was merciless here.

The wind howled through the endless white, carrying shards of ice that bit against my skin like tiny blades. Every step crunched against the frozen ground, echoing faintly through the silence of this desolate land.

All I could see—everywhere I looked—was ice. Ice and snow, stretching endlessly, swallowing everything in its path. It felt like the world itself had been frozen still, untouched for centuries.

I wasn’t sure if trusting someone like Claire was a good idea. But the information she gave me—the clue about the final piece of what we’d been searching for—was too important to ignore. That was the only reason I followed her here.

The northern region of this world was practically uninhabitable. The air burned from the cold, and even breathing felt heavy. There was no way any normal person could live here.

And yet... Claire insisted that the last piece, the second book of the spell, was hidden somewhere within this place.

It sounded absurd. Unreal, even. But what choice did I have?

Still, I couldn’t shake off the doubt gnawing at me. What if this was a trap? What if she led me here just to finish what others couldn’t? But deep down, something told me she wasn’t lying. Claire wasn’t the kind to go through all this trouble just to betray me.

"There’s a connection between the dungeon in the underworld city and this one," Claire said, her voice slightly muffled under her scarf as we trudged through the snow. "They’re linked. The reason you couldn’t find any trace of the spell fragment before... is because this one is part of it."

She turned, her breath forming a pale mist in the freezing air. "And inside this place... is what you’re looking for."

Where she led me next was a cave—small, narrow, and dark, barely wide enough for a single person to pass through at once. Its entrance was shrouded in mist, and from inside, I could feel an unnatural chill seeping out, colder than the wind outside. It was like the cave itself was alive—breathing frost.

I stared into that darkness, my instincts screaming both warning and curiosity at once. My breath fogged in front of me as I took a step closer.

This was it. The final piece we’d been chasing for so long.

Or... maybe the beginning of another trap.