“…Ah.”

Blinking, when Nari opened her eyes, she found herself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. It was a dim room with the fluorescent lights turned off. Something soft was covering Nari’s body.

Looking down, Nari discovered a navy blue blanket covering her. She was also lying on a fluffy pillow. At some point, her Rude avatar had been released.

The room was dim with the lights off, and the sky beyond the equally unfamiliar window had already turned pitch black. Feeling confused, Nari abruptly sat up in the bed.

“What the, where is this place?! Whose house is this?!”

Not knowing how long she had been unconscious for, whose room this was, or when her avatar had even been released, Nari reflexively sought out the modern person’s essential item – her cell phone.

The time already pointed to seven o’clock in the evening.

“What, it’s already evening?! Is it because we went underground…?”

Nari knew that time flowed differently in the deep world compared to reality, but she never imagined it would have passed to this extent. As she urgently tried to get up from the bed…

“Ack!!!”

Her ankle got caught in the blanket and she fell over with a loud thud.

“Ah, geez, you’re too late in telling me. You little…”

Nari, who had taken a direct hit to her knees on the floor, curled up in pain. The door swung open with a bang. Bright light entered the dark bedroom.

“Nari? Are you awake?”

Before she could even think about who it might be, a familiar gentle voice was heard. In the fluorescent light seeping in from the doorway, his golden hair was shining.

“Ah.”

“Oh no, are you alright?! It looks like you hurt your knees!”

Ihyeon hurriedly approached Nari and clasped his hands over her knees. As if using a skill, he muttered something and a warm golden aura spread over Nari’s knees.

“Is this your house?”

“Yes, you collapsed right there and I was worried your avatar might be released, so I brought you straight to my house. I was thinking of taking you to your place, but I was concerned about paparazzi.”

“I see.”

Nari, who had been staring at her glowing knees, slowly raised her head. Ihyeon had his head lowered, looking at her knees. Seeing this, Nari suddenly muttered.

“Sorry. I didn’t expect to suddenly collapse there.”

“Oh, no need to apologize. Are you hurting anywhere else? Feeling dizzy or anything? Um, it’s because of the reporters, right? I’m sorry. I should have told you first.”

With a worried expression, Ihyeon brought his hand to Nari’s forehead. As his warm, large hand touched her forehead, Nari’s eyes closed on their own.

It was because she could understand what the Ruler of Chaos had meant when he said that Ihyeon was moving her.

“Yeah. I think I had a panic attack or something then. It’s no big deal. Thanks for taking care of me. And get your hand off.”

“Oh! Yes!”

Sighing, Nari removed Ihyeon’s hand from her forehead and got up from the bed. She put on the hoodie that was neatly hanging on the hanger.

“You’re leaving already? At least have dinner…”

“No, I’ll get going now.”

“Nari. Is something… wrong? Why all of a sudden…”

Ihyeon grabbed Nari’s hand as she tried to open a dimensional rift. His blue eyes were looking at her with concern.

“No, it’s nothing. I’m just tired so don’t worry about it…”

“Hey, please stop saying things like that. I’m worried too, you know. I’m human too. How can I not worry? It’s not just anyone, it’s about you, Nari.”

Nari’s expression crumpled.

“About me?”

Whirling around, Nari shouted loudly. Not caring that Ihyeon flinched at her sudden action, she spilled out her words.

“Why are you acting like this to me?! Don’t tell me you made a bet using me?! Did you get orders from the Holy War guild leader?”

“A bet?! No, what in the world… Did you hear some strange rumor, Nari?”

“You thought I wouldn’t know?!”

Nari was spewing out speculations that anyone would think bordered on paranoid delusions. It made sense though, as Nari’s anxiety had been steadily rising recently.

Nari ended up covering her face with both hands. Her trembling back could be seen as she squeezed her eyes shut. Finally confronting the truth she didn’t want to face, she barely managed to spit out the words in a shaking voice.

“You’re the Holy War guild leader’s nephew, and your parents were the former guild leaders. They died because of my mother!”

For a while, Nari had thought his kindness was just a passing interest or pity.

But after learning Ihyeon’s identity, her thoughts changed. Even though his parents had practically died because of Nari’s mother, the fact that he still stayed by her side made Nari feel not just doubtful, but suspicious.

“Then why are you still being so nice to me? You thought I wouldn’t know? You thought you could keep it buried forever?”

As if unable to hold back her suppressed emotions any longer, tears fell from Nari’s eyes.

“I mean, you can find a way around things like an Archangel’s contract, right? I don’t know, the thought of you being nice to me for that reason too… it makes me feel like I’ll go crazy!!”

Every day, she had been anxiously spending her time worrying if she had done anything to make him dislike her even a little.

On top of that, the guilt over his parents made the stress even worse. Shaking her head, Nari said:

“You know. I didn’t just casually trust you. It was the last time I tried to place my faith in someone. If you betray me too, I really, at that point… I won’t be able to get back up again!!”

Again, just like 7 years ago, she feared he would suddenly leave her. Nari could endure it once, but not twice.

“So why are you doing this to me?! What are you?! I really have no idea what you’re thinking!! And that makes me even more anxious. I can’t do anything except worry about you leaving!”

At some point, Nari was already wailing and wiping her eyes with her sleeve. It was as if her tears had dried up – Nari hadn’t cried like this since that day.

“Look, Nari, please calm down. And…”

Ihyeon’s pale hand wiped away Nari’s flowing tears. As Nari turned her head to reject him, Ihyeon smiled a bit awkwardly.

“If I just tell you why I want to stay by your side so much, will that be enough?”

“Don’t joke around, you think I’ll believe it?! Do you know how many people like that are already around me?!”

“I don’t care who those jerks died to.”

At Ihyeon’s cold tone of voice that she had never heard even once before, Nari stopped spilling out her emotions. Sighing deeply, Ihyeon said:

“…It would be better to calm down a bit and talk. Will you come out with me for a moment?”

And in the living room they entered, Nari sat on the sofa, staring at the mug filled with warm herbal tea. Beside her, Ihyeon had a pensive expression as he fiddled with the string of the tea bag.

Having unilaterally poured out her emotions and then receiving care from the person who took it all, Nari awkwardly shifted her gaze to the mug, feeling embarrassed.

Amidst the fragrant scent of tea wafting through the air, Ihyeon quietly began to speak.

“First, about my parents, I don’t really care. I don’t like them much.”

“…But they’re still your parents.”

“Not all parents love their children.”

Saying that, Kang Ihyeon sipped his tea. Suddenly, Nari recalled hearing that Ihyeon’s parents were too busy, so Min Jaewon had taken care of him instead.

‘He practically raised him like a son.’

Realizing she had made a huge mistake with Ihyeon, Nari closed her mouth and fiddled with the mug. He continued, sipping his tea again.

“My aunt. I mean, the current guild leader came down to the main house briefly while studying abroad and took me out to entrust me to Uncle Jaewon. She attends the state funeral without fail, but I don’t really think much of it. Don’t worry about that.”

“Sorry. I spoke thoughtlessly…”

“No, it’s fine. If I didn’t want to talk about it, I wouldn’t have. I also unintentionally learned about your circumstances, so let’s call it even.”

He smiled slightly and gently stroked Nari’s hair. Feeling a strange vibe for some reason, Nari pulled back a little. He made an “oops” expression and brought up the story again.

“Anyway, well, that’s the situation, and you know it too, Nari. Other people always predetermine our titles and curse us if we deviate from them. I was the son of a national hero, so I had to live up to that title.”

“Then…”

“You know that crappy feeling, right? Actually, I’m not even a believer, but I attend mass without fail because of my parents’ reputation.”

The playful Ihyeon smiled shyly at Nari’s words. Nari thought that perhaps the reason he readily hid her identity was because of that too.

If Nari was trapped in the title of being the daughter of a national traitor, then Ihyeon was trapped in the title of being the son of a national hero.

“Anyway, that’s why. I wasn’t adapting to society at all. Then one night, I was alone at school and a gate opened. And Rude came through it.”

Nari recalled her memories. Had something like that happened? She couldn’t remember. Nari began racking her brain hard.

“He saved me. At that school. At that time, Rude said something to me.”

The smiling Ihyeon paused for a moment. Then he glanced furtively at Nari.

“Wh-Why…?”

“No reason. Anyway, he said something to me. And from that day on, the world I saw changed. I was able to meet the Archangel too.”

“What did he say?”

“It’s embarrassing so I won’t say. Try to remember it! Jeez, what will you do if you can’t remember? You saved me, so. You have to take responsibility. Responsibility!”

As if trying to lighten the slightly heavy atmosphere, he grinned playfully at Nari. Nari pouted her lips slightly.

“What, you’re not the only one I’ve saved?”

“That’s right. You’re the one who saved me, but. I’m just one of the many people you’ve saved. There are others, so.”

Ihyeon set the mug down on the table in front of the sofa and leaned slightly towards Nari. Nari suddenly thought his face had gotten close. As she met eyes with Ihyeon, he quietly said:

“…I’m the same way.”

Feeling her heart clench as if being squeezed, Nari averted her eyes by rolling her pupils. Her fingers gripping the mug tensed up on their own.

“I’m always anxious and on edge, worrying what if you leave me, what if you hate me…”

Nari thought his eyes looked different from usual. It wasn’t a kind and cheerful expression.

It was a deeper emotion than affection. His eyes held not a shred of cheerfulness. It was an undisguised, desperate earnestness.

“I won’t leave. I promise. So please promise me too, Nari. That you won’t leave me for at least a year.”

He lightly grasped Nari’s hand that was holding the mug. Ihyeon’s voice was trembling a little. No, quite a lot.

“Please? I’m begging you.”