ONE NIGHT STAND WITH HOT DUKE-Chapter 207: I feel something moving here

Demian remained silent.

His gaze stayed fixed on the small island on the map.

Valerie.

Going that far.

Vedseel then said,

"If we’re even a little late... they may have already crossed."

Silence fell.

A few seconds later, Demian straightened.

The oil lamp reflected a cold light in his gray eyes.

"Then we don’t have time to waste."

He closed the map with a single motion.

"Prepare the horses."

Noel immediately bowed his head.

"Yes, Your Grace."

Vedseel looked at Demian with a faint smile.

"I hope you’re ready."

Demian turned his head slightly.

"For what?"

Vedseel answered calmly.

"Leranth isn’t a place for people who hesitate."

He looked outside the tent, toward the dark north.

"Over there... even the sea can freeze overnight."

Demian didn’t seem intimidated.

If anything his gaze only grew sharper.

"If Valerie is there," he said quietly,

"I will find her."

Outside the tent, the northern wind blew harder.

As if warning them about the journey ahead.

A journey toward the coldest island in the north the place where Valerie now was.

And without them realizing it,

inside a caravan slowly moving toward the northern harbor...

Valerie was holding the small black-furred baby in her arms.

Deon opened his eyes.

And for a moment the baby’s eyes glowed faintly in the darkness. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

As if something within him was beginning to awaken.

The sky above the northern island had already begun to change color when Lena and Ethan returned to where the caravan had stopped. The dim sunlight reflected across the spread of snow and scattered shards of ice along the shoreline.

The wind from the sea carried air so cold that their breath appeared like thin smoke.

In Ethan’s hand hung two large fish, their scales still glistening with moisture.Meanwhile, Lena carried a small basket filled with several other fish they had managed to catch by fishing through the holes in the ice near the shore.

"I told you there were still fish there," Ethan said, lifting his catch proudly.

Lena let out a small snort.

"If I hadn’t found the hole in the ice, you’d probably still be sitting there waiting for fish that were never going to come."

Ethan grinned.

"Good teamwork."

They walked past the caravan wagons that had been parked in a circle to shield the camp from the wind.

Several merchants had already started lighting campfires. Thin streams of smoke rose into the cold air, carrying the warm scent of burning wood.

As they approached, Valerie could be seen sitting near one of the wagons.

She held the small black-furred baby in her arms, a thick blanket wrapped around his tiny body.

Deon looked calm in her embrace.

When Lena came closer, Valerie lifted her head.

"You’re back."

Lena smiled faintly and raised the basket of fish.

"And we didn’t come back empty-handed."

Ethan immediately dropped the large fish onto the makeshift wooden table they used for cooking.

"Four big fish. That’s enough for dinner."

Valerie looked slightly relieved.

Traveling through the northern regions wasn’t easy. Food was always something that had to be carefully managed.

Lena began cleaning the fish with a small knife.

The soft scraping sound of blade against scales filled the cold air.

"We’ll make soup," she said."With weather like this, warm soup will be better than roasting them."

Ethan nodded in agreement as he began building a larger fire beneath an iron pot.

The dry wood crackled as the flames started to rise.

Before long, the aroma of cooking fish began spreading through the camp.

Valerie watched the fire with slightly tired eyes, then lowered her gaze to the baby in her lap.

Deon opened his eyes.

Those small eyes stared at the flickering campfire.

For a moment, his ears shifted slightly beneath the blanket.

Valerie noticed the small movement.

She smiled faintly.

"Are you hungry too?"

Deon made a small sound, almost like a soft hum.

Lena, who was cutting the fish, glanced toward them.

"He’s really calm," she said. "Babies are usually fussier in a place this cold."

Ethan added while stirring the soup that had begun to boil,

"Maybe he knows we don’t have time to calm a crying baby."

Valerie laughed softly.

But when she looked back down at Deon the little baby was staring straight toward the sea.

The northern wind blew stronger.

And far beyond the thin mist drifting over the frozen ocean something moved in the distance.

Deon blinked slowly.

As if he could sense something that the adults sitting around the fire had not yet noticed.

Night in the north fell slowly, though it never truly brought complete darkness. The pale light from the sky, veiled by snowy clouds, made the world look as if it were covered in cold silver.

Snow stretched as far as the eye could see a white plain that never truly melted from the soil of this island.

The small campfire in front of the caravan was the only source of warmth.

Valerie, Lena, and Ethan sat in a circle near it. The pot of fish soup they had cooked earlier was almost empty now, leaving only thin steam slowly fading into the cold air.

Inside the caravan wagon, Deon had already fallen asleep peacefully, wrapped in a thick blanket.

Occasionally, the soft sound of his breathing could be heard from within.

Valerie gazed toward the endless stretch of snow. The wind carried tiny shards of ice that sparkled beneath the dim light of the night sky.

"The snow here..." she said softly, almost as if speaking to herself.

"It feels like it will never disappear."

Ethan rested his arms on his knees, staring toward the frozen sea in the distance.

"That’s what the people of Leranth say," he replied casually."The snow on this island is older than most cities in the south."

Lena blew warm breath into her hands.

"And more stubborn than humans."

Valerie smiled faintly, though not for long.

Her gaze remained distant.

For a while, they simply sat in silence, listening to the crackling fire and the wind sweeping across the snow.

Then Valerie spoke softly,

"Lena..."

Lena turned to her.

"What is it?"

Valerie hesitated for a moment before speaking again.

"If someone feels like something strange is going to happen..."