The Winter Registry

I woke up in the opulent, restricted inner sanctum of the Vesker Civic Registry - a room strictly forbidden to lower-tier clerks like me - clutching a marriage certificate I didn't remember signing. Standing over me was Havel Krellin. He was my bitterest workplace rival, a meticulous, unromantic accountant who critiqued my ledger entries as harshly as the winter wind. But with the city's severe rationing crisis starving my little sister, Zenia, pooling our municipal coupons was our only chance at survival. Our desperate truce comes with a leaky, derelict canal house. As the bitter winter rages outside, we spend our evenings side-by-side, patching drafts, rationing coal, and slowly turning a ruined shell into a warm sanctuary. Beneath his icy exterior, Havel's quiet sacrifices begin to thaw my stubborn heart, and I find myself dreading the day our one-year contract expires. I realize I no longer want this home to be temporary. But what if the temporary marriage laws I memorized were a propaganda lie? If the penalty for our impending separation is actually the labor camps, will our fragile new trust survive the truth?