Chapter 08 

“Now this is funny. So my noble little brother behaved like some pervert and touched a woman?
And a Bellerotte rat, at that?”

Nicholas seemed delighted by that idea.

The knights were just about to wrestle me down when Nicholas raised a hand to stop them.

“Let her go.”

“Your Highness! ”

“Think about it. This could be fun. She’s a spy, so keeping her alive might be useful later.”

At his command, the knights immediately released me.

As I fixed my wrinkled clothes with an offended huff, Nicholas approached with a smug expression.

“Nettie Kertis. You’ll be locked up for the next twelve hours. Alone. With my indecent little brother.”

“Ugh, just kill me! Why would you lock me up with that perverted creep?! Get that musty, disgusting man away from me!”

“Hahahaha! What are you all waiting for? Take them to the isolation room! And put matching handcuffs on them!”

I flapped my arms like a deranged bird and twisted my body in protest.

I even spat dramatically on the floor.

Script by: Nettie Kertis.
Director: Nettie Kertis.
Actor: Nettie Kertis.

Nicholas clearly loved my performance.

It was fanservice—just for him.

***

“So? Are you happy now?”

“……”

“Who bites someone like this? Not even a rabid dog behaves like that.”

“…Wow. That was a little harsh.”

Zzt.

Kai’s glare sharpened, and I shrank like a scolded puppy.

“I did it because I had no choice! What were you thinking, pulling a gun out like that?! One mistake and we BOTH would’ve died!”

I glanced sideways at his arm.

My teeth had sunk in deep.
The bite marks were still there—tiny little dents in a neat little row.

“They say good teeth bring good fortune. I guess I was born blessed, hahaha…”

My lame joke fell flat.

Silence filled the room.

A big yawn escaped me as I shut my eyes.

Maybe I’m crashing because the tension finally broke… I’m exhausted.

The last few hours had been pure chaos—running, screaming, panicking, and faking rabies.

By the end, I’d used up every last drop of adrenaline I had.

Now, in this warm little isolation room, the survival instincts that had been screaming inside me finally calmed.

‘Ugh… I can feel the hangover again.’

We were deep in Zone 3, in a sealed, isolated room.

And Kai was right beside me.
No one here wanted to kill me—for now.

I looked around.

This is the safest I’ve been in hours.

My body naturally sagged sideways.

A startled voice came from next to me.

“… What are you doing?”

“Let me borrow your shoulder.”

It’s not like he’s going to break if I lean on him.

I rested my head on Kai’s shoulder and went limp.

“Get off me.”

“I can’t. These handcuffs are tied like this—I can’t move away even if I want to.”

Kai’s left wrist and my right wrist.

Chained together.
And also chained to the thick pillar behind us.

And Nicholas…
That trash actually took ALL the knights who were supposed to guard this place.

‘This might be the last peaceful moment of my life—I should enjoy it!’

That must be why the trash prince told Kai to “behave indecently” before leaving.

“Seriously, that second prince is too much. How can he treat his younger brother like that?”

“…Knights don’t look at things like social rank.”

Sigh… my gentle, soft-hearted fave.

He doesn’t hate his brother at all.
Even when Nicholas is the worst.

“Kai, you don’t hate the second prince? If it were me, I’d have thrown him into the ocean at least a hundred times.”

Honestly, I was half sure Kai hadn’t been aiming to kill his brother earlier.

Probably just to fire at the floor and scare him.

I knew Kai treasured his family deeply.

Still… it was frustrating.

Why does he let himself get walked on?

“Kai, if I really am infected, you’ll die here too, right?”

“You weren’t bitten.”

“Yeah, but still, who knows? Maybe I’ll get bitten the moment we step out of this room.”

“…What are you trying to say?”

“Nothing. Just saying, this might be the last face we see before dying.”

“……”

“So let’s try to get along while we’re stuck together.”

The heroine was already dead.
Kai wasn’t safe either.

He’d barely survived several close calls today.

Thinking back on every step we’d taken, everything felt ten times more dangerous in hindsight.

‘It’s only going to get worse from here.’

In the original story, Kai and the heroine escape the ship.
They gather allies.
They fight their way all the way to the imperial palace.
There, they discover ancient magic sleeping beneath it.

That ancient magic is what solves the monster crisis.

But the heroine is dead.

So the only thing I can do now is

Tell Kai the solution.
Maybe help him gather an ally or two.
And then run away.

‘Honestly, I’m not going to “help” him. I’ll only be baggage.’

I have no strength.
No stamina.
No combat ability.
No gun skills.

‘I should’ve done that shooting range part-time job when I had the chance.’

I laughed bitterly.

Sure, I was making excuses. But what else could I do?

Even without the heroine, Kai could still survive.

He was strong and pure-hearted—someone who always carved his own path through hardship.

I glanced at him.

Then smiled gently.

“Kai, I’m tired. I’m going to sleep a little, okay?”

“……”

He didn’t answer.

But he lowered his shoulder a bit—so I could rest more comfortably.

Slowly, with his warmth at my side, I drifted off.

***

“…Wake up.”

“……”

“Wake up!”

“…Mm, yeah… huh… what…”

I blinked awake to find Kai staring down at me.

“How long did I sleep?”

“The isolation time is over.”

“What? It already passed?!”

I must’ve knocked out cold from exhaustion.

‘He must’ve let me sleep the whole time… and didn’t even wake me. Ugh, now I feel guilty.’

We hadn’t known each other long, but…
It felt like we had grown closer.

We survived all those threats together.

Kai must’ve grown attached too.

Look at him now—
gazing at me so softly—

“What are you staring at? If you’re awake, move your head away.”

… Never mind.
Probably just my imagination.

I stretched my stiff neck and shoulder.

“Once we go outside, you know what to do, right? Keep acting like you’re obsessed with me. Like a shady, sleazy pervert.”

Kai looked utterly disgusted but still nodded.

We waited.

Surely the knights would come soon to let us out.

…Right?

‘…Why are they taking so long?’

Ten minutes passed.
Then an hour.

No one came.

Even Kai’s expression slowly darkened.

“Kai, they didn’t forget us… right?”

“They wouldn’t. My lieutenant was there too.”

True.

Kai seemed close with his lieutenant—
The way the man looked like he was about to cry yesterday said a lot.

Someone that loyal would rush to get him.

… So why wasn’t anyone coming?

Two hours passed since the official isolation time ended.

Kai suddenly stood up.

Because we were chained together, I immediately toppled forward.

“H-hey! Don’t move suddenly like that!”

“Something is wrong. We need to check.”

“But how? We’re handcuffed AND tied to this pillar.”

The chain connected us to the metal post behind us—

Crack.

Yes, there was a pillar.

Past tense.

There was a pillar.

Now there wasn’t.