Drip, drip, drop.
Walking through the pouring rain, I couldn’t shake the mood.
“I’m so sorry… Kim Deok-Sung… Really, I’m so sorry…”
She whispered in my ear with a trembling voice.
With the moisture in her tone, it was clear she was crying.
Great, now I felt bad.
“Can you please stop crying? Isn’t there a cave or something nearby? We really need to get out of this rain.”
The sky was packed with storm clouds, and this downpour wasn’t going to stop anytime soon.
We needed a place to hide until the rain let up.
“I-I know of one! I’ll show you! Kim Deok-Sung!”
Rin’s voice lit up with newfound energy.
“We need to turn left here.”
“Just go straight ahead.”
“Cross the stream and take a right.”
After following her directions for quite a while through the rain-soaked jungle, I finally arrived at the cave.
Thanks to crossing a swollen stream in the middle, I was completely soaked.
I gently set Rin down.
Drip, drip.
Water dripped from my entire body.
I was feeling a bit cold, and all of a sudden it hit me—am I getting a fever?
As I felt the breeze blowing inside the cave, a shiver ran through me.
My head started to spin.
[Partner! Partner…!]
“Kim Deok-Sung! Kim Deok…”
From a distance, I could hear Raul Napoleon Bonaparte and Rin’s voices faintly.
Stumble.
My vision blurred, and my legs gave out, sending me crashing to the ground.
Who would’ve thought it would be me, not Rin, getting a cold?
Damn it.
*
Deserted Island. Base Camp.
Drip, drip, drop.
The torrential rain poured down.
Thanks to Kim Deok-Sung digging a drainage ditch, we had a non-flooded tent in front of us.
Inside the tent, a pink twin-tailed, big-boobed beautiful girl, Evangelin, was sitting at the table.
“Contractor, is the food that will satisfy our hunger ready yet?”
Opposite her sat the blonde smiling girl, Saintess Beatrice, pouting as she held her stomach.
“Just wait a little longer, Trixie. It’s almost done.”
Thunder rumbled!
Even with the rain and storm raging outside, Evangelin hummed happily while stirring spicy chicken ramen in a pot over a solid fuel burner.
On the table lay a pack of delicious kimchi.
The pungent smell of the ramen broke through the rain’s scent.
“For the hungry Trixie, I’m generously offering the spicy chicken ramen and kimchi I saved as my emergency food. So you better be thankful!”
Evangelin said cheerfully.
Beatrice hesitated a bit before asking Evangelin.
“Contractor, is it really okay not to go find that man in this downpour?”
The rain pouring like it was determined to end the world had Beatrice shivering slightly.
But there was no way we could leave Kim Deok-Sung in this storm.
There is none.
To face the Grand Elder and, furthermore, the Messiah behind him, he is needed.
A bit scary, though.
Beatrice had already come to that conclusion.
For that, his body must remain unharmed.
‘Yeah, yeah, this isn’t out of concern for that man…’
Beatrice’s face slightly flushed.
“Are you talking about Mr. Kim Deok-Sung? It’s okay.”
Swish, swish.
Evangeline said as she mixed the spicy stir-fried noodles with sauce using her fork.
“But…”
“He’s with Prince Shinozaki, so it’s fine.”
Evangeline murmured in a slightly dark voice, staring at the kettle.
Lin’s request before their food gathering trip flashed in her mind.
[Miss Stewart, I know that asking for this on our first meeting is rude, but could you help me spend some time alone with him during this exploration?]
Evangeline couldn’t refuse Lin’s earnest request.
That’s why.
Evangeline was guarding the base camp.
[If there’s a real emergency, I’ll send a signal through the Hunter Watch. If we don’t return after 24 hours, you can come after us.]
But Lin, who said that, hadn’t been in contact yet.
No news is good news, they say.
Evangeline wanted to think that way, but the gloomy weather kept her worried.
Thud.
Her heart raced at the thought of his face.
St. George Academy in England.
Evangeline spent her days there like a caged bird or a prisoner in a cell.
Because of her status as a princess, they couldn’t openly ostracize her, but the subtle bullying continued.
Even under William’s lewd, lingering gaze, Evangeline felt helpless.
She had been a princess trapped in a tower, like something out of a fairy tale.
That’s probably why she desperately awaited a prince on a white horse out of a storybook.
Kim Deok-Sung was her prince, who defeated William and saved her from the tower.
‘Mr. Kim Deok-Sung… I pray that you return safely.’
So it’s only natural that she’s in love with him.
Evangeline’s face turned pink at the thought of him.
After finishing her short prayer, she twirled the completed spicy stir-fried noodles with her fork and stuffed them into Beatrice’s mouth along with kimchi.
“Trixie, try wrapping the spicy chicken with kimchi.”
“W-What is this? It feels ominous, Contractor…! Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!”
Whoosh.
In an instant, the fiery spice of the chicken filled Beatrice’s mouth, turning her face bright red.
The taste exploded like fireworks in her mouth, making her shake her head.
“W-Water! Get me water, Contractor! This, this is too much…Stop this at once…!”
Tears formed in Beatrice’s eyes as she shouted.
Seeing her like that, Evangeline smiled and twirled the spicy noodles with her fork, shoving them into her own mouth with kimchi.
A sharp burst of spiciness hit her mind.
But given her daily routine of one spicy chicken dish, she could endure it a little better now.
‘Just wait a bit longer, Mr. Kim Deok-Sung. I will become a lady who can handle both spiciness and kimchi perfectly…!’
Evangeline wiped the sweat trickling down her flushed forehead.
Boom.
Thunder crashed against the base camp.
*
Deserted Island.
Cave.
Listening to the wind and rain, and the sound of thunder, Lin cradled the fallen Kim Deok-Sung in her arms.
She held him close.
“Kim Deok-Sung! Kim Deok-Sung!”
There was no response from him as he lay with eyes closed.
He had fainted.
“Are you okay, Kim Deok-Sung…”
Rin trailed off, resting his head on her thighs.
With trembling hands, she touched his forehead, which was burning hot.
It was clearly a symptom of a fever.
“Ugh…”
Rin bit her lip.
Boom!
The sound of thunder echoed in her ears.
Rin nervously fiddled with her wet beach hoodie as she muttered to herself.
“It’s because of me…”
The reason Kim Deok-Sung caught a cold and fainted was painfully obvious.
Rin.
It was her fault.
Because she got caught by that otherworldly being.
Because she had twisted her ankle while trying to protect a silly competitive swimsuit.
Because she thought it was nice to have him carry her on his back.
And that’s how they ended up in this situation.
“I’m really such a fool…”
Rin lowered her head.
Hot tears flowed down her cheeks.
She hurriedly wiped her tears with the sleeve of her shirt.
“This isn’t the time for this. I need to contact Stuart with the Hunter Watch…”
Just as she was about to click her Hunter Watch to send a message, a notification popped up.
[Unable to send message.]
[Communication connection unstable.]
The Hunter Watch spat out an error.
“This… this can’t be happening…”
Panicking, Rin attempted to send the message several times, but every attempt failed.
And she couldn’t leave him behind in his condition.
Stuck in a dilemma, Rin bit her lip.
At this rate, she’d have to survive for up to 24 hours until rescue arrived or hope his fever would improve.
“Ugh… it’s all because of me…”
Rin’s voice echoed softly in the cave.
Her tears, which had stopped, began to flow once again.
“I… I am… truly a bad girl. I… don’t deserve to be by your side…”
Tears of regret streamed down Rin’s face.
Suddenly, memories from her time at Imgan School flooded her mind.
The sudden downpour during a field expedition.
She remembered her own self, wearing competitive underwear under her gym clothes, feeling embarrassed while trying to get close.
His voice scolded her back then.
“Even then… you gave me your raincoat and helped me warm up in a cave…”
It was also the moment she fell for him, hidden behind his rough words was a kindness.
“But I… messed up again this time…”
Rin bit her lip.
But she couldn’t keep blaming herself.
That day.
Just like when he provided her with a warm outfit, hand warmers, and a blanket in the cave back at Imgan School.
It was her turn to help him now.
“Kim Deok-Sung… just wait a little longer.”
Rin pulled out her backpack.
Following her father Ichiro’s advice, her backpack was filled with survival supplies.
She took out solid fuel and lit it with a lighter.
As the solid fuel ignited, warmth gradually began to fill the cold cave.
But there was no sign that Kim Deok-Sung was getting better.
Rin bit her lip.
Her face turned red.
“This… this is… just to preserve the patient’s body heat…”
As if to justify herself, she muttered, stripping off her wet beach hoodie, and pulled out a blanket from her backpack, wrapping it tightly around Kim Deok-Sung as she cuddled up close to him.
She wraps herself in the blanket.
Rin’s face, pressed closely against him like a silkworm in its cocoon, turns bright red.
Thump, thump.
Her heart races.
It feels like it’s tightening her chest painfully.
Every time she talked about sacrificing her virginity or making a baby, it was always so high-stakes for Rin.
But now, with a situation that was so physically intimate, Rin’s mind went completely blank.
Just then, when Rin’s face was about to explode from embarrassment…
“…Mom…”
He mumbled in his sleep, sounding like he was suffering.
Kim Deok-Sung unconsciously burrows deeper into Rin’s ample bosom.
Rin, startled, snaps back to reality as she sees Deok-Sung nuzzling against her like a baby.
A bitter smile forms on Rin’s lips as she watches him, still dazed.
Rin knew the truth—Kim Deok-Sung was orphaned.
So, his mumbling about searching for his mother echoed painfully in her ears.
Rin, too, had grown up in an orphanage.
Having yearned for familial love while growing up in the Shinozaki family.
As time passed, she found her real father, but Deok-Sung was still alone.
Ironically, he was the one who helped her find her dad.
She wraps her arms around his shoulders gently.
“Don’t hurt, Kim Deok-Sung… This time… No, whenever you need it, I’ll be your mom…”
She wanted to make amends, even if just a little.
She wished to repay him for the kindness he had shown her.
Pat, pat.
Rin gently pats his back while holding him close.
He buries his face in her chest, wearing a peaceful expression as if he had returned to his hometown.
Tap, tap.
The sound of solid fuel burning softly echoes in the cave.
You secretly liked it, didn’t you?
Back in the second year of middle school, just before winter break.
I unexpectedly got caught in a winter rain on the way back from school.
I already had a slight cold, and getting soaked in the freezing rain made me bedridden, so I took a day off.
That night.
I still remember how my mother placed a cold towel on my forehead, which was burning with fever.
I remember my mother worrying about me and making soup.
I remember her soothing my head all night.
‘It’s warm…’
Just like that day when my mother took care of me, a warm and cozy feeling spread through my body.
I didn’t want to escape.
I wanted to sleep like this forever.
In this warm embrace, comforting like my mom’s, free from worries and concerns.
[Partner, partner… ]
A voice from the far distance, belonging to the Black Prince, echoes.
[Partner, are you awake? Come on, you need to get up. Partner.]
‘…I don’t want to…’
This is the rare warmth and comfort I feel in this damned world.
I don’t want to lose it.
Just five more minutes.
No, ten minutes.
No, just one more hour.
I want to stay like this…
[How long do you plan to snuggle up against the lady’s chest? Not very manly, you know.]
What? Lady’s chest?
The Black Prince’s words snap me back to reality.
I struggle to lift my heavy eyelids.
In front of me, a large bosom clad in a bikini comes into view.
And Rin’s red face, too.
“…Ah, you’re awake, Kim Deok-Sung.”
As the Black Prince said, she and I are in an incredibly close position.
I can see the blanket surrounding us and the solid fuel lamp burning nearby.
“W-What is this…?”
