He would make her the happiest woman in the world, of course, but for now, his primary task was to overcome her sudden emotional distance.
「Tibet.」
Ruby Bluen, carrying simple luggage, entered Tibet.
She was there to find Marcel Horne.
With one hand pulling her simple luggage and the other holding the address of Marcel Horne's unit, she kept asking people for directions until a kind stranger finally led her towards Marcel Horne's unit.
Tibet is part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, with an average altitude of over 4,000 meters, and the temperatures are low throughout the year. Ruby Bluen had looked up Tibet's climate on the internet before arriving, but she hadn't expected reality to be so different from her imagination.
She was cold, so cold that she trembled.
She had already put on her thickest clothes, yet being from a southern capital city with pleasant weather, she struggled to bear it. In T City, even in winter, it rarely got this cold; usually, a long-sleeved shirt and a slightly thicker coat were sufficient, unlike now.
The wind blew fiercely, the sky a dark, heavy gray, as if a downpour was imminent, creating an oppressive, suffocating feeling.
The kind person leading Ruby Bluen to Marcel Horne's unit looked up at the sky, then at her shivering form, and stopped. He kindly advised her, "Miss, the unit you're looking for is still about a ten-minute walk from here, but the weather is changing rapidly. I suspect it will start snowing soon. You don't seem equipped for this sudden change, so why not find a hostel for now? You can continue your search once the weather clears." He also worried silently: the unit was full of men. If a young woman like her went there and got caught in a blizzard, making it difficult to return, how would the commanding officer arrange accommodations for her?
"Snow? Is it going to snow already in autumn?" Ruby Bluen exclaimed, shivering. A bone-chilling wind gusted, and she quickly tightened her clothes around herself.
So cold!
The man smiled and responded, "Sometimes it can snow here even in April or May. It's quite normal to have snowfall after autumn begins."
"But I must find him. Sir, please take me there. I'll figure out the rest later." She had run away from her marriage and traveled all this way just for Marcel. Surely, no matter what, he wouldn't kick her out, would he?
If it started snowing later, all the better; Marcel wouldn't send her away then.
Seeing Ruby Bluen so determined to find someone, the man didn't say anything more and continued to lead her towards Marcel Horne's unit.
A dozen or so minutes later, they reached the location where Marcel Horne's unit was stationed.
The man told Ruby Bluen that they had arrived and then left.
Ruby Bluen thanked him as he walked away and then turned to carefully observe everything in front of her.
Marcel Horne's battalion was an independent battalion, stationed on the Border. The surrounding area was sparsely populated, and the environment was harsh, which dumbfounded Ruby Bluen, a young lady from the Upper Class Society. Just thinking about Marcel Horne, a young master from an upper-class family, coming here to be a soldier made her heart ache.
In fact, Marcel Horne could have left Tibet at any time. He chose to stay there on purpose because Tibet was far from T City, which helped him keep his longing for Ruby Bluen at bay.
The seemingly detached Marcel Horne was not as indifferent to Ruby Bluen as she thought. He too loved her. However, since Ruby Bluen was his cousin's fiancée, he dared not overstep that boundary. That was why he deeply suppressed his feelings and acted exceptionally cold towards her.
Ruby Bluen approached a guard and after finding out Marcel Horne wasn't there, she had no choice but to stand and wait.
She didn't dare call Marcel Horne because switching on her phone would reveal her location. She couldn't afford to be found by her family at this time.
The temperature dropped sharply again, and soon, as expected, snow began to fall from the sky.
Ruby Bluen had lived for twenty-eight years but had never seen real snow. She found the snowflakes fluttering through the air beautiful and momentarily forgot the biting cold.
A military vehicle approached from the distance.
Ruby Bluen looked up, and through the vehicle's windshield, she saw that the person sitting in the passenger seat was Marcel Horne, who had returned to the unit just before her.
She immediately dropped her luggage and ran towards the vehicle.
"Marcel!"
Since she was running towards it, the vehicle was forced to stop.
Inside, Marcel Horne's face changed dramatically when he suddenly heard Ruby Bluen's call.
He rushed out of the car. Upon seeing the woman running towards him was indeed Ruby Bluen, his face darkened instantaneously. His already somewhat dark complexion turned as black as charcoal.
"Marcel!" When Ruby Bluen ran up to him, she flung herself into his arms.
Marcel Horne's face was no longer just dark. His whole body stiffened, and the young soldier driving the car stared, his eyes wide with shock.
Marcel Horne instinctively tried to push Ruby Bluen away, but when his hand touched the shivering person in his embrace, he hesitated for a moment. Although he eventually pushed Ruby Bluen from his embrace, his movements were noticeably gentler.
After creating a short distance between them, Marcel Horne stared sternly at Ruby Bluen's lips, which were purple from the cold. His sturdy body naturally radiated the anger he seldom showed. When he spoke, his voice, as cold as the snowflakes dancing in the sky, brought Ruby Bluen a chill that pierced like the freezing wind: "Why are you here?"
Wasn't she supposed to marry his older brother in a few days? His family had even asked him to request extra leave from his superiors to attend her wedding before returning to the unit. He had refused. His official reason was that his responsibilities guarding the Border were too important—and how could they not be? But the truth was, he couldn't bear to watch her walk into the Wedding Chapel on his brother's arm, to truly become his sister-in-law.
He had just returned to the unit, and now she had appeared. Had she actually run away from her wedding?
"You're here," Ruby Bluen said, intimidated by his cold gaze but still speaking up bravely.
The young soldier's eyes darted back and forth. Well, well, quite the drama unfolding here! Their cold, aloof, yet handsome and charismatic officer actually had such a beautiful girlfriend! This was huge news! No wonder he'd rejected all the advances from the female soldiers in the Military District.