Three months and fifteen days had passed since we arrived in the north and carved the name Skjoldeinheim into stone—without help from the outside, without the blessing of any ruler.
By the second month, all the southern residents had been successfully evacuated. Not a single one left behind. House by house rose. A school, granaries, even a small market began to bustle with life. The village lived—this was a life better than what came before. We weren't just building homes; we were building hope.
During the third month, we began expanding the settlement, fortifying defenses, and organizing the food distribution routes, now increasingly systematic. Children studied under tents repurposed as classrooms, while the adults worked tirelessly from dawn till dusk.
Olivia's father often stood watching from afar, lost in memories—of working with the old Professor to build the laboratory they now inhabited. It was something they always did between the second and fourth month—just like now.
And now, on the fifteenth day of the third month—something we never expected arrived quietly.
The first snowflake fell. It landed on us, on the hilltop. No storm, no mist. Just a few flakes, drifting gently, one of them settling on Olivia's father's palm. He stared at it for a moment, then gave a faint, bitter smile.
"So that's it…" he murmured. A dry chuckle followed, tinged with sorrow.
"So this is the reason… why no one lives in the northern region."
I, Olivia, and her mother—all standing near—could only watch him.
None of us spoke. But on his face, there was a mixture of shock and sudden understanding.
"That Professor… he knew from the start. But he must have thought I'd figure it out soon enough," he said quietly. "And I never asked—because all this time, I thought we were building it in the best season. But it turns out—"
He stopped mid-sentence. Silence fell. Then he looked up toward the sky.
"It turns out, spring in the north lasts only briefly. The rest… is nothing but endless winter."
Our expressions changed. Olivia gripped my arm tightly, her mother took a step back and covered her mouth with her hand.
"Dad… does that mean we only have a few days left?" Olivia whispered.