<Episode 60>

“Hey!”

Elkais was swimming through the sea with ease. He was no stranger to swimming. In the past, he had even swum while wearing heavy armor.

So, pushing forward in the crashing waves should have been no problem for him.

It should have been.

“Ugh… Hey! Elkais!”

No matter how much he swam forward, the distance didn’t seem to decrease.

What on earth was going on?

Elkais, confused, stopped swimming and waited for Abellard, who was struggling to catch up.

“What?”

Abellard was startled to see Elkais floating still, gazing off into the distance. He wasn’t the type to just wait.

“What is this?”

A barrier-like structure appeared in front of them. Transparent, it seemed to block their passage, as if preventing them from going any further.

The water churned and swayed violently, but they couldn’t move forward as if they were hitting a wall.

“We’re blocked by something.”

“What the hell is this?”

Abellard pounded on the transparent wall, but it was no use.

Elkais thought maybe they had to dive beneath it, so he tried swimming underwater to push forward, but the barrier was impenetrable there as well.

“Argh!”

When he resurfaced, Abellard, his face pale, pointed up and said.

“Look at this.”

White letters appeared on the transparent barrier.

[A penalty has been imposed due to the elimination of a target through illegitimate means. Access to the target has been revoked for two days.]

The letters darkened and then vanished, and the transparent wall began to pull them backward.

“W-Wait a minute!”

“Ugh…”

It felt like they were being sucked into the wall, and when they opened their eyes again, they were back on the beach they had just left.

Rubellite Croppers lay there, his blood staining the sand.

And at that moment—

“What the hell is going on?”

Right before Elkais’s eyes, Rubellite Croppers’s body melted into black goo and disappeared.

“That’s… strange.”

Abellard said, feigning surprise, but Elkais wasn’t fooled by his act.

* * *

“Don’t move. If you come any closer, I might hurt you, Your Highness.”

Eveline aimed her gun at Ferite, who shrugged and backed away as she had demanded.

“If you didn’t kidnap me to marry me, then what’s going on here?”

“Why would I kidnap you, Your Highness? Why does everyone keep thinking that?”

Eveline recalled how Elkais had harbored a similar misunderstanding when she first arrived here, and it made her feel uneasy. Plus, she had no idea if Elkais was even alive.

“Well, I am your first love, after all.”

Eveline remembered that as well.

In the original story, Eveline Wilden had hated Abellard partly because the Crown Prince had also been a secondary male lead. The original Eveline had been deeply in love with Crown Prince Ferite.

But that wasn’t the case for her now. She hadn’t gone out of her way to meet him even once since she had been restricting herself to the duke’s mansion.

Before that, they had only exchanged greetings when they happened to cross paths.

“That was when I was a child.”

“Is that so?”

As Ferite gave her a somewhat playful smile, Eveline tightened her grip on the gun.

“What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking it might not be a bad idea to shoot you and put the past behind me.”

“Hahaha. The Lady threatens me with such a strange object. Are you a mage too, by any chance?”

“Yes, something like that.”

His playful question slightly deflated her anger.

“Can’t you sense the pheromones of other Alphas?”

“I can sense them.”

“Where from?”

“Hmm… do you want to follow me and find out?”

He leisurely walked toward the door, seemingly unconcerned about the gun aimed at him.

Eveline, still wary and ready to shoot if necessary, followed him.

As soon as they stepped outside, he pointed into the distance.

“Do you see that?”

“Oh my God.”

“You can sense it from that island over there.”

Eveline was surprised to see another island visible in the opposite direction.

<You can only see the other island from the place we visited. From anywhere else, it remains hidden.>

She remembered Elkais telling her about the island.

It was the island Abellard had mentioned when he suggested they run away together—a place only visible from a specific location.

“Can you tell how many there are?”

“Yes. Two Alphas. Both are Royal Alphas.”

He added, a bit flustered.

“It’s strange. Royal Alphas aren’t that common, so how could there be two?”

Eveline was now certain. The island over there was the one she had originally been on, and this place was the island she had been trying to escape to.

“Can’t you sense any Omegas?”

“Other than you, no.”

Relieved by his straightforward answer, Eveline let out a sigh.

“Lady?”

“Damn it.”

She suddenly felt all the pain she had been holding back now that she knew both of them were safe.

“Lady!”

Eveline fainted, still gripping the gun tightly.

* * *

“Ugh…”

When Eveline woke up, she felt even worse than before.

Her body was burning with fever, making it difficult to move even a single finger.

She hadn’t had the strength to climb up to the cabin in the first place, but she had pushed herself too hard, leading to this state.

No one was around. However, now that she could detect Alpha pheromones, the lingering scent of Ferite’s pheromones made her body tense up.

She much preferred the forest scent of Elkais and the cool water scent of Abellard.

Ferite Croppers’s pheromones smelled like freshly ironed fabric, like cloth dried in the sunlight.

It was a comforting scent, which only made her more anxious. She feared that relaxing even a little might lead to something terrible.

She tried to lift herself up, only to realize that the black fabric covering her was his cloak.

“Ah, you’re awake?”

The door closed with a soft sound as Ferite approached. He placed the items he had brought next to Eveline and said,

“You have a high fever.”

“Your Highness.”

He reached out to touch her forehead but paused when she flinched.

“May I check your temperature?”

“…Yes.”

Eveline wanted to check where her gun was. However, there was no need to worry, as the gun was still securely in her grip.

“You have a high fever.”

“You’re warmer than I am, Your Highness.”

“I’m aware. Alphas naturally have higher body temperatures.”

His hand felt too hot against her already burning skin, making her even more uncomfortable, as if someone had placed a hot object against a fire.

“You need to drink plenty of water.”

“I see.”

“I can create cold water, but food was a bit more challenging.”

She noticed the fruit he had brought, along with a piece of bamboo that seemed to have been cut from somewhere.

“You must have cut the bamboo with fire.”

“I used attack magic.”

“You still can’t properly use wind magic, I see.”

“If I could, I’d be too perfect, wouldn’t I?”

Eveline decided to respond just as casually as he did.

No matter how skilled a mage he was, he wouldn’t be able to deflect a bullet. It might be a bit difficult if he managed to use a defensive spell, but…

In her mind, Elkais was still the most formidable opponent if he turned against her. But because of that…

“About those Alpha pheromones earlier.”

“Yes?”

“They’re not coming here, are they?”

“Oh, no. I checked again after that, and it seems they’re staying on the other island.”

“Good.”

Eveline felt relieved but also slightly disappointed by his answer.

It was probably for the best.

She was considering leaving them behind. From what she could tell, Rubellite was definitely dead, and if the two were left alone, wouldn’t they end up falling in love, just like in the original story?

And if the gods desired for them to kill each other until only one remained, Eveline didn’t want that either.

As long as they were separated like this, she wouldn’t have to worry about such things.

“Lady.”

“Yes?”

“Open your mouth.”

She slowly opened her mouth as instructed, and he conjured a piece of ice above her lips.

“What are you doing?”

“I can’t seem to control the size.”

Eveline chuckled at the enormous piece of ice he had created, large enough to nearly dislocate her jaw.

“Cutting it with fire seems dangerous, so why don’t you just drink it?”

“Okay.”

She answered casually and began to slowly suck on the ice, letting it melt.

While she did that, Ferite summoned more ice to wash the fruit he had brought.

“Lady, do you like frozen raspberries?”

“Uh…”

Her mouth was too full of ice to respond properly.

“Oh, I see you can’t talk right now.”

With that, he took half of the raspberries he had brought, covered them with his hand, and froze them.

Eveline, recalling that the Crown Prince had never cooked in his life, closed her eyes.

She felt a strange sense of longing for Elkais, but she forced herself to push that thought away as she focused on melting the ice in her mouth.

Once the ice had melted, Eveline opened her eyes and picked up one of the suspicious fruits he had brought.

“What is this, and why does it smell like alcohol?”

“I’m not sure. But it’s sweet.”

What Eveline had picked up was a monk fruit, also known as luo han guo. When it over-ripens, it can have a high alcohol content, much like rum, while still being sweet.

“I brought a lot because it smelled good. You should try some too.”

Eveline decided she might as well rest here for the day since it looked like it would start raining soon, making it impossible to leave. With that thought, she took a bite of the fruit.

A fruit that had been modified to have a much higher alcohol content than rum.