I woke up feeling bitterly cold.

I had definitely passed out in Danjang’s arms amidst the raging flames.

Unlike earlier when I felt hot due to that heat, now a bone-chilling cold was enveloping me.

“Cold……”

“Yulia, are you conscious?”

Danjang immediately asked that in response to my murmur.

Only then did I turn my head to look to the side.

I had been feeling some weight since earlier, and Danjang was holding me tightly.

“Danjang?”

“I was worried because your body temperature dropped a lot even after giving you the antidote. Are you alright?”

“I’m fine except for feeling a bit cold. More importantly, what happened to the monster? And the rift and His Holiness the Pope-”

“Shh.”

Danjang stopped my flood of questions like that and then whispered in my ear.

“Everything has been resolved, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

Even if he told me not to worry, I couldn’t help but still be concerned.

I felt like the rift and monster would have been dealt with properly, but I was worried about Preet.

It bothered me that I had parted with him without even saying a proper goodbye.

Thinking that if we hadn’t come too far yet, maybe I could go back now to say farewell, I quietly asked Danjang again.

“Then may I ask one more thing? Where are we?”

“We’re in a forest that’s straight west from Baron Ketrenburgh’s domain.”

“Ah… Then the other members……”

“They’re all here. Don’t worry unnecessarily and get some more rest.”

Seeing him explain the location based on Ketrenburgh, it seemed we hadn’t come too far from there.

If so, it seemed I would be able to return to the baron’s residence or the Grand Temple to say goodbye to Preet.

I had to show him directly that I was safe, as he would surely be worried about me.

“Are you still cold?”

Danjang suddenly asked that while I was thinking about Preet.

I nodded with my forehead pressed against his chest.

“A little.”

“Come closer to me.”

“Is that okay? I haven’t washed since passing out after entering that rift.”

Hearing my words, he let out a light laugh like a feather.

“It doesn’t matter. I actually haven’t washed either since I’ve been taking care of you. So-”

He paused briefly mid-sentence and pulled my body closer to his.

Thanks to that, I ended up pressed against him with almost no gap between us.

Holding me tightly like that, Danjang whispered:

“Don’t worry about it and come closer.”

“Well… if you insist, I’ll cling to you without hesitation.”

Saying that, I hugged his body tightly.

As I had been shivering, embracing a warm body made me feel a bit less cold.

Danjang soon began stroking my head.

“Yulia.”

“Yes.”

“I thought you might have died.”

I was briefly excited to hear him call my name after a while, but the words that followed soon made me sad.

While I was unable to say anything in response, he continued:

“When I heard you had entered the rift without a weapon, I truly thought you might have died.”

“……”

“It was an experience I never want to go through again.”

When I looked up to examine him, he was lightly creasing his eyes as if in pain.

Seeing that expression made me feel terribly sorry.

I had already caused him sorrow by losing my life before his eyes in my previous life, and now I had made him feel the same emotion again.

“I’m sorry. I’ll make sure this never happens again.”

“Are you truly sorry?”

“Of course. You must have worried a lot because of me.”

“Then lift your head up again.”

I raised my face that had been buried in Danjang’s chest.

As our eyes met like that, he slowly leaned in to kiss me.

The flesh that touched felt especially hot today.

“Hmmph……”

I briefly breathed heavily like that in the slight gap when our lips parted, then kissed him again.

Our tender red flesh rubbed against each other roughly as if devouring each other.

Danjang climbed on top of my body as if engrossed, and I stretched out my arms to wrap around his neck.

From his lips to his nape, there wasn’t a part of Danjang’s body that wasn’t hot.

So I could feel how aroused he was right now.

Contrary to my expectation that we would continue kissing, he pulled away from me after a while.

“I pushed the patient too hard. I should let you rest.”

It seemed he was worried about my physical condition.

But that didn’t seem necessary.

The cold had subsided a lot while we were kissing.

“I don’t mind.”

“I’m concerned about you. We have plenty of time anyway, so let’s continue when your body has recovered.”

“No.”

After speaking in such a firm voice, I tightly grasped the sleeve of his clothes as he was about to lie back down on the bed.

He straightened his upper body again instead of lying down and looked down at me.

In that state, I met his eyes directly and said:

“I want to continue now.”

Hearing my words, Danjang stared at me blankly for a while.

I stared back at him without avoiding his gaze.

Eventually, a cautious word flowed from between his lips.

“Your body……”

“It’s fine. You know I’m not that weak.”

“If we start now, I don’t think I’ll be able to stop easily. Are you really okay with that?”

Instead of answering verbally, I quietly nodded.

After I went that far, he no longer held back.

Our lips that had parted, and our bodies, joined together again.

It felt like our heartbeats were intermingling through our chests pressed against each other.

Thump-thump, two different pulses intertwined in harmony.

Our breaths, our body heat, all blended into one.

He devoured me urgently, like a thirsty person seeking water.

With such urgent yet careful movements, as if trying not to spill a single drop of me.

“Ah.”

I let out an exclamation like that and slowly lowered my gaze.

One particular place among his firm body had become especially hard.

It was a large, hot, and heavy sensation.

While I was surprised, he pressed it firmly against my thigh as if urging me.

“Is this okay?”

Though he was asking for permission as if following my wishes, there was a desperate look in his eyes that made it hard to refuse.

How could I tell him to stop when he was looking at me with such an expression?

Moreover, I didn’t want to stop here now either.

“Yes, it’s fine.”

I wanted to answer with more impressive words, but my mind was hazy and I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

Even so, he began to devour me urgently, as if he had been desperately waiting for my bland permission.

We didn’t separate for a single moment all night.

Since we both had stamina that didn’t fall behind others, we didn’t need separate rest times.

We just kept kissing and exploring each other.

Then we dozed off around sunrise, and when we opened our eyes it was already late afternoon.

Waking up to the sound of birds chirping, I asked Danjang who was embracing me from behind:

“Are you sleeping?”

“I’ve been awake for a while.”

“Then why are you still lying down and hugging me like this?”

“Because I don’t want to let go.”

Danjang used to turn his head away in embarrassment just from seeing my skin through fabric.

Now he was saying even more embarrassing things without hesitation.

Well, I suppose it would be strange to be embarrassed about such things after we had already touched each other’s deepest places.

Even so, I was still not used to his frank expressions of affection, so I cleared my throat unnecessarily and said:

“Anyway, you should let go now. I’m hungry.”

“Ah.”

Only then did he slowly release his arms and let go of me who had been in his embrace.

I was about to try getting up too, but he gently pressed down on my shoulder to make me lie back down on the bed.

“Keep lying down.”

“But the meal……”

“I’ll bring it to you. You’re still a patient, after all.”

I tried to get up again, feeling uncomfortable about making him bring the meal too, but he wouldn’t let me.

“Just stay put. I have to bring my own meal anyway, and the other members won’t think it’s strange if I take care of your meal. I can just say I’m nursing you since your condition was so serious.”

“You think so?”

“Yes, so don’t feel burdened and just relax.”

He hurriedly went outside the tent as if he wouldn’t listen to any more objections.

Then he soon came back carrying two bowls of hot morning stew and two pieces of bread.

Just as I, who was hungry, reached for the stew bowl:

“Where do you think you’re going, patient?”

Danjang said that and took the stew bowl away from me.

What’s this? Is he teasing me?

As I stared at him with various questions in mind, he soon scooped up a spoonful of stew.

Then he held it out to my mouth. Like feeding a child.

“Open your mouth.”