The person running beside me tried to change course and escape, but the man with Angry Face clinging to him was too panicked to see anything else—he just kept charging straight at us. At this rate, running was pointless. I gripped my club tightly in my right hand, glancing over my shoulder repeatedly.
Even as Angry Face crawled up his back and chomped down over his head, the man’s legs kept running in our direction. This was my chance—attacking now had the best odds of success. The monster bounced too quickly for the eye to follow when hunting, but when swallowing someone, it took its time.
I stopped running, turned around, and sprinted straight at the man—no, at the monster devouring him.
Thwack!
My club smashed into Angry Face’s head. It recoiled, coughing up the man and bouncing away in another direction.
The man collapsed, drenched in the monster’s saliva, but thankfully, he hadn’t started dissolving yet. He coughed violently, but he seemed otherwise unharmed.
Bounce! Bounce!
Angry Face shrieked and began leaping around erratically. Had it taken that personally? It seemed fixated on me now, aggressively ricocheting closer and closer. It was even faster than before—I had no confidence I could block its attacks.
And honestly, I was out of my league. My level wasn’t high enough for this fight. I had been lucky so far—somehow taking down Baxc—but I knew my limits.
“Aine! Be careful!”
Seika, too far to help, shouted anxiously as Angry Face closed in.
A monster I couldn’t keep up with. But if I gave up, I’d just end up swallowed like the others.
I refused.
I refused to die here.
Not when Kelian had gone to such lengths to cleanse my curse.
Not when my party had helped me come this far.
Not when I had fought so hard to level up.
I shut my eyes.
I had killed a lot of monsters lately. Some of them had been nearly as fast as Angry Face. When facing those, I had relied more on instinct than sight.
Dain always scolded me for that, but Jenin and Barkrud had praised me for it.
Angry Face was getting closer. I could hear the sharp rush of air as it hurtled toward me.
Not yet.
Not yet.
Not yet…
Now!
I swung my club with all the strength I had left.
Smack!
Something soft and rubbery slammed against my weapon and went flying.
I snapped my eyes open.
There, soaring through the air toward the audience, was Angry Face.
“How… how did she hit that?”
Someone muttered in disbelief.
I just stood there, staring blankly, unable to believe it myself.
“—A-Angry Face?! Villagers, are you all unharmed?”
Jack fidgeted anxiously as he watched Angry Face crash into the audience. Someone in the stands let out a furious huff, and before long, the monster boinged back onto the arena floor—its face still twisted in anger, now with a visible dent where my club had struck it.
“Just how hard did she hit it?”
“Did she seriously take down a rare dungeon monster with a club…?”
“Who is that person?”
I barely registered the murmurs around me. My hands ached from the impact, and as the tension drained from my body, I accidentally let my club slip from my grip.
“Aine! That was amazing!”
As I bent down to pick it up and stow it in my inventory, Seika approached once again, his praises as dramatic as ever.
“You are truly a lady I can admire from the depths of my—”
Mid-sentence, Seika stopped dead in his tracks, mouth slightly agape. His shocked gaze wasn’t on me—it was directed at the person who had suddenly embraced me from behind.
The arms wrapped naturally around my waist, and I felt lips press lightly against the nape of my neck. There was no mistaking that warmth. Kelian.
“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
I was more concerned than surprised. Kelian had stood still this whole time, only to suddenly come over and hold me. Was something wrong? Was he struggling with his impulses again?
There was no way the people here had just let the Kelian, the empire’s greatest hero, pass by unbothered. They had probably been bumping into him since the upper floors. He hated that kind of thing.
He had been saying he was fine lately, but maybe he wasn’t completely okay.
I twisted my torso slightly to look at him.
“Kelian. Are you having bad thoughts again?”
“It’s not that.”
Not that…?
“I just couldn’t hold back anymore.”
…Couldn’t hold back what?
As I blinked in confusion, trying to decipher his words, he continued.
“Aine, for the sake of your growth, we all agreed not to interfere unless the dungeon became truly dangerous.”
I had already known that. If they had wanted to, my party could have taken down the monsters easily, yet they had stayed back—for me. I had been incredibly grateful for that.
“But standing right in front of you and not being able to touch you… It was harder than I expected.”
So… the reason he had suddenly come over and embraced me—was simply because he wanted to?
I was relieved. He wasn’t experiencing the dangerous impulses that had troubled him before. But at the same time, a strange warmth spread through my chest.
“I feel the same way,” I admitted.
“…Really?”
Instead of nodding like I usually did, I answered him directly. And for some reason, instead of his usual composed demeanor, he responded differently this time.
“You looked like you were having fun.”
His tone was calm, but there was a hint of something else. A faint trace of… jealousy?
“Me?”
I thought back to everything that had happened since we entered the dungeon. All I could remember was struggling to survive. If anything had been good about this experience, it was that I had gotten to show Kelian and the others how much I had improved, and I had managed to work together with strangers without disrupting the group’s flow.
That was thanks to Seika and the others being easygoing. There had been moments of relief, small bursts of satisfaction at clearing obstacles, but fun? Not exactly.
“No… Sorry. Forget I said that.”
Now that he had voiced his thoughts, he was taking them back?
I smiled faintly. It was rare to see Kelian act this way—it was… cute.
“I wasn’t having fun,” I told him softly.
“…….”
He didn’t say anything, but I could feel his arms tighten slightly around my waist.
“Because I couldn’t touch you.”
I said it with a smile, but it wasn’t just an empty phrase meant to please him. Just as he had struggled with being unable to reach me, I had also found no joy in being unable to reach him. If I had looked like I was having fun, then that was truly unfortunate.
Kelian’s long lashes lowered slightly as he gazed at me with an unreadable expression. Or… maybe, just maybe, I was finally starting to understand his emotions—just a little.
“Wa—!”
A strange sound suddenly shattered the moment.
It came from Seika, who was now standing in front of us, his face frozen in shock.
“What—what are you doing to my Aine?! C-Can you remove yourself this instant?!”
He trembled as he pointed at Kelian’s arms still wrapped around my waist, looking utterly scandalized. His extreme reaction caught me completely off guard.
Seika was a noble from the capital—he must have known who Kelian was. But maybe he just hadn’t connected the Hero Kelian to me.
Now that I thought about it, it wasn’t just Seika. The weight of dozens—no, hundreds—of stares suddenly pressed down on me. Nearly the entire arena was watching us. How had I not noticed until now?
How was I supposed to explain this? Maybe something simple like, we pretended not to know each other for a reason, but actually, we’re in the same party would do?
But before I could speak, Seika blurted out something completely unexpected.
“Brother Kelian!”
…Brother?!
I instinctively turned my head toward Kelian, who was now looking at Seika with an icy gaze—completely different from how he had just been looking at me.
“Brother?”
I repeated the word as I looked back at Kelian, needing confirmation.
He replied calmly, as if it was nothing.
“My stepmother’s son.”
“…Isn’t that just another way of saying your brother?”
More precisely, it meant half-brother. But hadn’t he once told me he had no siblings…?
“Kelian, you told me you didn’t have any siblings.”
“Legally speaking, he probably still exists on paper.”
…Isn’t that still considered a sibling?
Seeing my confusion, Kelian added an explanation, almost as if to clarify himself.
“I never had my records formally removed with the emperor’s seal, but I severed ties with the family long ago. So technically, saying I have no siblings isn’t incorrect. I didn’t mean to deceive you.”
I was momentarily surprised by the mention of him cutting ties with his family, but I quickly calmed down. I had already heard parts of his past from him before. That night, when our conversation had nearly taken a dangerous turn, we had managed to talk instead. That was when I learned how much he had suffered at the hands of the Ail family and those around him since childhood.
But the fact that Seika was part of that very same Ail family? That was hard to process.
When I first heard the name Seika Ail, I had briefly noticed the matching surname, but I had brushed it off as a coincidence. I never actually imagined they could be brothers.
Because… they looked way too different.
“They’re really brothers…?”
Jenin had finally freed herself from the women clinging to her and approached Seika, inspecting him with interest.
“W-What is it?”
“Ah, sorry. It’s just… I’ve been wondering about this for a while. I mean, I know you’re half-brothers, but how can you two look this different?”
Jenin’s words were casual, without any malice. But Seika, being as self-assured as he was, didn’t seem the least bit offended.
“I take after my father’s features. My brother resembles the previous Marchioness.”
Jenin and Dain exchanged skeptical glances but didn’t voice their doubts. Unlike me, who had just found out, they seemed to have already suspected this connection and weren’t particularly shocked.
“But more importantly!”
Seika’s focus snapped back to Kelian and me.
“What is your relationship with Aine that you would—would hold her like that?!”
Under normal circumstances, one might have let go out of sheer embarrassment after being called out. But not Kelian.
Instead, he pressed even closer.
Our bodies were practically flush against each other. My face heated up slightly.
“Isn’t it obvious? They’re that kind of couple,” Dain muttered bluntly, clearly not a fan of Seika.
Seika’s reaction was even more dramatic.
“Th-That kind of couple…? You mean to say—you’re lovers?!”
“Yeah.”
It was a simple, curt answer—almost lazy. But it was also the first time Kelian had directly spoken to Seika.
And in that moment, a strange sense of realization hit me.
Oh… We’re lovers.
Looking back, it would have been weirder to not call us that, given everything we had done and said. But hearing the confirmation come so clearly from Kelian’s lips… It finally felt real.
“That woman is the Hero Kelian’s lover?”
“I’ve never heard any rumors about that… But isn’t she the one who killed Baxc earlier?”
The murmurs in the crowd grew louder. Eyes flickered between Kelian and me, realization and curiosity spreading like wildfire.
“The one who struck Angry Face with a club just now…”
The murmurs around us grew louder. Meanwhile, Seika’s companions rushed to his side, trying to calm him down.
“No matter what anyone says, you are the true hero, Lord Seika!”
“That kind of woman? You can find dozens just like her in the capital.”
“Lord Seika, you are destined to be the head of the Marquess family!”
But their words didn’t seem to reach him.
“Aine is my brother’s lover… Then—then those marks I saw on her body—were all from my brother—”
…Wait.
Did I just hear something incredibly embarrassing?
Before I could fully process Seika’s muttering, he abruptly stepped away from his group and strode toward me with determined steps. Then—
He knelt on one knee before me, his expression deadly serious.
“Lady Krueger, Aine. From the moment I first saw you, I knew—this was fate. A deep, entangled destiny that will never break.”
…What?
I could only blink down at him in confusion. Meanwhile, Kelian still hadn’t let go of me from behind.
“I know you are my brother’s lover now,” Seika continued, “but that does not mean it will always be so. And I will not deny my feelings. Even if you had someone else, I never intended to give up easily. The moment we met again here, I felt fate’s power stronger than ever.”
As his confession went on, Kelian’s arms around me tightened. It wasn’t painful, but his icy gaze on Seika was so sharp it sent a chill down my spine.
Trying to calm him, I placed my hand over his. I had a bad feeling—like he might actually do something to Seika. Of course, they were brothers, so surely he wouldn’t… right?
“Please, make your choice!”
Seika suddenly pulled out a bouquet of flowers from his inventory.
He had completely forgotten we were in the middle of a rare dungeon. His face was filled with overblown hope and excitement.
But his confidence shattered as soon as Kelian spoke—his voice colder than ice.
“In that case, Seika Ail… you are now my enemy.”
“E-Enemy? That’s a bit extreme, brother—”
“I ignored your family, and I ignored you because you weren’t worth my time. But if you become my enemy, that changes.”
The sheer weight behind Kelian’s words made Seika’s face darken.
And what was even scarier was that… Kelian wasn’t just threatening him. He meant it.
I tightened my grip on Kelian’s hand, trying to ground him.
Would he really draw his sword against Seika?
Looking at his chilling expression… I wasn’t entirely sure he wouldn’t.
“I-I know you don’t really mean that, brother!” Seika forced a nervous laugh. “It’s just proof that Aine is very important to you! But she’s also become important to me!”
…When did that happen?
More importantly, I had to do something.
Even if Kelian had severed ties with the Ail family, I couldn’t just stand by and let something terrible happen between brothers.
Seika, for all his bravado, clearly didn’t think his own brother would actually turn against him.
Still kneeling, he held the bouquet out toward me again.
“Aine! Choose! Is it me or my brother?!”
“Kelian.”
“If you choose me, I’ll build you a mansion in the capital, and we can—wait, what?”
“I’m sorry, Lord Seika. I love Kelian.”
I never intended to announce it so publicly, but considering Kelian’s current state and how things had escalated, I had no other choice.
To drive the point home—and to calm him—I leaned in and kissed Kelian lightly on the lips.
He, who had been wearing a grim expression this entire time, looked at me in stunned surprise.
“T-That’s so sickeningly sweet…”
“Why? It’s nice to see.”
Dain and Jenin voiced their vastly different opinions.
Hmm. Maybe I had overdone it…
I had acted on instinct, both to distract Kelian and to hide my own embarrassment, but now I was the one feeling flustered.
It worked a little too well—Kelian was no longer sparing Seika even a glance. His focus was entirely on me now.
And that was… embarrassing.
At that moment, a notification suddenly popped up in my field of vision.
It was so abrupt that I momentarily forgot how to breathe.
“Aah… This can’t be!”
On the other side, Seika clutched his forehead dramatically, still kneeling, swaying as if he would collapse at any moment.
“Lord Seika!”
His companions rushed to support him.
“You could’ve at least hesitated a little!”
“You answered way too quickly!”
As his companions scolded me, Seika shook his head.
“Do not blame Aine. This is my own shortcoming.”
“Lord Seika, what shortcoming could you possibly have?!”
“I do not know… But surely, there must have been some flaw in me for her to choose my brother instead. You must not hold it against her… Live well, everyone…”
“Lord Seika!”
With that, Seika dramatically collapsed, eyes fluttering shut as his companions wailed and carried him off to a secluded corner.
Dain, who had been watching the scene unfold with a deadpan expression, finally spoke.
“…Are they all mentally unwell?”
They were certainly dramatic, but not bad people.
—And that concludes the new toys’ love drama!
WAAAAAAAH!
Jack and the audience, who had been strangely quiet, suddenly erupted into cheers.
…Had they just been watching us this whole time?
“—But since Angry Face has been taken out as well… I suppose I have no choice but to step in.”
Jack! Jack! Jack! Jack! Jack!
The audience roared, chanting Jack’s name as he transformed from mere announcer to the next opponent.
Could I keep fighting?
I flexed my fingers experimentally. Every breath made my hands ache. My palms were raw, covered in dried blood. They must have torn open while unwinding Baxc’s key, and swinging my club had only worsened the wounds.
Then—
Kelian gently took my hands in his, covering them with his own.
“Rest now. Knowing your limits is just as important as pushing past them.”
I agreed. Even if I didn’t, there was no way I could keep fighting in this condition.
Kelian handed me over to Seiris, entrusting him with my care before stepping forward to face Jack.
“You did well,” Seiris said while tending to my wounds.
It was hard to tell if he meant my battles in the middle floors or my decision to recognize my limits and step down. Either way, the unexpected praise felt… nice.
“Thank you, Seiris.”
Jenin patted my shoulder, Barkrud ruffled my hair with his massive hand, and even Dain, always the harshest critic, muttered, “Not bad.”
By the time they had all given their quiet acknowledgments, Kelian returned—his mission complete.
[Dungeon cleared.]
[Jack has been defeated. Rewards will now be distributed.]
[Level up.]
Among the flood of notifications, one stood out the most.
I checked my stats, my breath catching as I saw the number.
LV.50
“…Unbelievable.”
❖ ❖ ❖
“That woman is…”
“The Hero’s…”
Ever since we cleared the SS-ranked rare dungeon, Noisy Toy Castle, whispers followed me wherever I went.
“Aine, you’re famous now.”
“Haha…”
Jenin playfully nudged my waist with her elbow, making me let out an awkward laugh. I was already used to drawing attention whenever I traveled with Kelian and the others, but now it felt like I was at the center of every rumor in the capital.
Ignoring the murmurs, we stepped inside the inn. The moment we entered the dining hall, I spotted our party. Since we had rented out the entire inn for ourselves, only the owner and staff were present.
“Did you buy your weapons?”
Barkrud, leisurely sipping tea, glanced up and asked.
Seiris sat nearby, engrossed in a book, while Dain lounged lazily, tapping his fingers against the chair’s backrest.
“Yes. I bought the sharpest ones I could find.”
I took out the daggers Jenin and I had picked out earlier. Barkrud gave an approving nod.
“Kelian isn’t here yet?”
I looked around as I asked.
Dain wordlessly pointed toward the door. “He’s just arriving.”
Sure enough, moments later, Kelian walked in.
Draped in a navy robe, he radiated an almost unnatural brilliance.
Once, I used to think he looked like a prince—or maybe even an emperor. But now, I knew exactly what he was.
The only heir to the empire’s most powerful marquisate.
Even after his reputation as the Hero surpassed his noble lineage, many still saw him as the rightful successor. But Kelian had no desire to inherit his house. Instead, he had severed ties with the family entirely.
And how did I know all of this? Well…
“Aine.”
Kelian strode toward me and lifted me effortlessly into his arms.
That was how I had come to know about his past—because he told me himself. Of course, Dain, who had already been aware of Kelian’s noble lineage, had also filled in a few details.
By now, the elevated view from being carried was so familiar that I instinctively wrapped my arms around his neck.
“Did you get the potions? I heard there are only a few places that sell extreme poison antidotes…”
“The alchemist’s demands were troublesome, but obtaining them wasn’t impossible.”
It seemed Kelian had successfully secured what we needed. The cost must have been outrageous.
Our next destination, The Pit of the Tailed Serpent, was an SSS-ranked dungeon. The creatures inside were known to emit extreme poison—far worse than any ordinary toxin.
Unlike curses, poison purification was beyond Kelian’s abilities, and even Seiris’s magic had limits when it came to neutralizing such lethal venom. That was why we needed specialized antidotes.
“Are we heading out now?”
Barkrud, having finished his tea, was already fidgeting, eager to rush into the dungeon.
Even Seiris, who normally ignored Barkrud’s impatience, closed his book and stood up.
“I’d prefer to leave immediately.”
“I agree,” Jenin added. “We’ve finished Aine’s level-up strategy, and just roaming around the capital has been so boring. If we’re ready, let’s just go.”
This was the same Jenin who had initially suggested we rest for a while, yet after nearly two weeks of downtime, she looked restless.
“You’re all so impatient…”
“Dain, didn’t you just say earlier that you’d go crazy if we didn’t enter a dungeon soon?”
“I didn’t mean this very second.”
“Then are you staying behind?”
“Of course not! Jenin, you stay behind!”
…So Dain was coming too.
Kelian let his gaze sweep over the group before settling on me, silently asking for my decision.
I smiled.
“I’m ready. It’s still beyond my level, but I’ll make sure I carry my weight.”
Not long ago, I never would have been able to say something like that.
To claim I could pull my weight in an SSS-ranked dungeon? It would have sounded like pure arrogance.
But now… now, I truly believed it.
Of course, I didn’t mean I would shine in battle or take the lead. My level had skyrocketed in a short time, but in this party of high-level elites, my best contribution was simply ensuring I wasn’t a burden.
Kelian, still holding me, smiled slightly at my words—like he approved.
Ugh. He looked too handsome.
I cleared my throat unnecessarily and quickly added,
“And… my curse is completely gone now.”
That’s right. The rare S-rank curse that had plagued me for so long had finally been purified.
It had happened in Noisy Toy Castle.
The moment I kissed Kelian during that battle, the notification I had been desperately waiting for appeared in front of my eyes.
[The Rare Torong’s Curse has been purified.]
[You have gained Curse Resistance.]
Not only had the curse been lifted, but I had also developed a natural resistance to curses—meaning I wouldn’t be easily cursed again.
When we returned to our lodging after clearing the dungeon, I had shared the news with the party. They had celebrated as if it was their own victory.
“Then it’s settled,” Jenin grinned.
“We leave immediately.”
Kelian started to leave the inn while still carrying me, so I hurriedly asked him to put me down.
As much as I had grown used to being in his arms, I still wasn’t comfortable staying like that in front of so many people. And with the streets as crowded as they were, the attention we were already drawing would only become even more overwhelming.
For something so trivial, Kelian looked ever so slightly disappointed—but there was no helping it.
Behind us, Dain clicked his tongue.
“Kelian, have you forgotten that Aine has legs?”
“Why? It looks nice,” Jenin commented, watching us with obvious amusement.
Ignoring Dain’s grumbling entirely, Kelian finally set me down and reached out his hand.
“May I at least hold your hand?”
The way he asked, it was as if he thought I might actually refuse.
As if I would.
Instead of answering, I simply showed him.
“…….”
I took his hand without hesitation.
For a brief moment, he looked down at our joined hands.
I had always liked his hands—calloused from training yet somehow still elegant.
Then again, what wasn’t there to like?
Our eyes met for a brief second before we held on even tighter and turned to face forward.
As we stepped outside and opened the inn’s door, brilliant sunlight washed over us.
―fin.
