The next morning, Lil woke up from the cold. There was no way she could leave the futon. Clinging to Kohaku, who was sleeping beside her, she felt warm and comfortable. Maybe she could just fall asleep again. Just as Lil was thinking that, there was a knock on the door—mercilessly.

“Lil? Are you awake?”

It was Ian’s voice. Lil groggily responded, and Ian chuckled. She had to get up.

Lil hurried to change and wash her face. Looking at Kohaku, she wished she had fur, too.

When she arrived at the dining hall, the magic heating device had been turned on, making the room pleasantly warm.

Ian was announcing to everyone that it was time to go shovel the snow.

Apparently, Lil had to go as well. She bundled up properly in the coat Rosaline had made for her. Even with that, it was still freezing—just how cold was it outside?

When they stepped outside, everything was a vast, silver-white world. Amusingly, only the warm spots were free of snow. A few divine beasts were playing, leaving footprints in the fresh snow. Lil felt envious.

Snow shoveling was done by clearing a path from the entrance. Lil was given a small shovel. The others used large, two-handed snow dump shovels.

Apparently, they were too heavy for her to handle.

Shoveling snow was hard work. Lil quickly got tired. It was soft like cotton, so why was it so heavy?

“Lil, hang in there. When we’re done, let’s build a snowman!”

Encouraged by Hayden’s words, Lil pushed through. Ian, watching her, thought that snow shoveling might actually be a good way for her to build stamina. Having lived underground for so long, Lil had very little endurance. Ian had been worried about that for a while. If she ever got sick, she might not even have the strength to fight it off.

Finally, they finished clearing the snow. Lil felt a deep sense of accomplishment. The divine beasts, who had been watching, mimicked clapping. It seemed they had learned that people clap when they want to praise someone.

Hayden immediately started making a snowman. Lil hurried to join him.

Lil placed the head she had made onto the body Hayden had built. She then ran to the forest, picked some leaves, and used them to create a face. It was the first snowman she had ever made, and she was thrilled.

‘What’s that?’

A group of rabbits and raccoons gathered around, looking curiously.

“It’s a snowman! A doll made out of snow.”

The raccoons started circling around it. Lil thought for a moment and then decided to add ears to the snowman.

“Oh, that’s cute!”

Hayden, while shaping a small snowball, praised her.

Lil peeked at what he was making.

“Oh! A snow rabbit!”

What Hayden had crafted was an adorable snow rabbit with leaf ears. The real rabbits were delighted.

‘Yay! We have a new friend!’

‘A tiny friend!’

They sniffed the snow rabbit, pressing their faces against it. It was an incredibly cute sight.

‘What about us?’

The raccoons pouted a little, but making a snow raccoon was a bit too challenging.

After that, they built an igloo. Everyone helped dig, and they managed to make several small igloos. The animals were thrilled, calling them “houses.” The rabbits especially loved squeezing into one together, enjoying the snug space.

As they were playing, Kohaku suddenly noticed something.

‘Merlin is coming.’

Lil turned to look at the path they had cleared. Sure enough, Livian was approaching, riding Merlin. Lil waved to call out to him.

“Hey, Lil! Were you playing in the snow?”

Livian glanced around at the scene and chuckled.

“Here, I brought some cookies.”

Lil was overjoyed and eagerly accepted them. It seemed like there were more than usual.

“Hey, Lil, would you mind writing a thank-you letter to the lady who made them? She hasn’t been feeling well lately.”

Of course, Lil agreed. The cookies were always delicious—expressing gratitude was important. She quickly ran back inside.

While Lil was writing the letter, Livian started chatting with Ian.

Lil wrote, “Thank you for the delicious cookies, as always.” As she kept writing whatever came to mind, the letter became quite long.

She handed it to Livian.

“Thanks, Ria will be happy.”

“Her name is Ria?”

Lil was delighted that their names were similar. She hoped to meet her someday. Anyone who could make such wonderful cookies must be a kind person.

Livian took the letter and left, as hurried as ever.

When he arrived at the mansion where Ria lived, he immediately handed her the letter. Ria’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Make sure you write a reply, okay? If you don’t, she might get sad and cry.”

Ria looked conflicted but eventually agreed to write a response. She said she would put it inside the next box of cookies before walking away.

Livian was a little worried about how seriously Ria tended to overthink things. That’s why he had forced her into this situation.

Otherwise, Ria would never stop tormenting herself with guilt over Lil.

And so, the correspondence between the two sisters began.