IDMWE 16

Chapter 16

“Are you serious?”

“In this tiny island, stuck with you—what more do you think could possibly happen between us?”

“Right?” Leon shrugged, her gaze dropping downward.

Regan followed her gaze to the shimmering dialogue window of the constellations.

—

**[NotSeoButDong]:** Huh? No way, are they dodging this flag?

**[TentacleLover]:** I’m sad the tentacles disappeared so anticlimactically, sob sob.

—

Seeing that conversation, Regan’s head nodded on its own.

These bastards were beings—no, gods—who would do something more and leave.

‘But still, swimming across the sea is a bit much.’

Just as Regan was thinking of what magic he could use instead of swimming to cross the sea—

“If you can’t do it, just sleep and come tomorrow. I’m going ahead!”

“Hey, hey!”

*Splash!*

Before Regan could stop her, Leon dove straight into the sea.

“Ah, shit, you idiot!”

There was no time to think further.

Regan quickly cast a body-temperature maintenance spell on himself and ran after Leon.

“Hey! At least take this with you!”

*Splash—!*

**[OnlyPure]:** LMAO these guys are something elseㅋㅋ

**[CorruptedPowerWarrior]:** Right? First time seeing people swim two hours in the sea because there’s no boatㅋㅋ

Startled by how quickly it all happened, the angel finally understood the situation and wailed.

“Nooo! The opportunity created with precious divine power!”

**[SceneryCraftsman]:** Heh, can I expect a scene where they get wet and their skin subtly shows through, blushing at each other?

**[RollingRollingWheel]:** I don’t think you should expect that from these two lol

“Waaaaah!”

In the end, the angel burst into tears again today.

Leon and Regan eventually returned to the central branch through the portal, completely soaked.

“Ah, I’m dying. I feel like I’m going to collapse.”

Even Leon, with her steel-like stamina, found it tough to swim in the sea for over two hours.

‘It’s fine for me since I train often, but…’

Leon glanced sideways at Regan, who looked pale.

‘…I thought he was a bookish type, but he actually followed along.’

He must have used some magic, but still—for a mage, this was impressive.

Leon’s eyes unconsciously scanned Regan.

‘But… he has more muscle than I thought?’

Since he had taken off his soaked special forces jacket, Regan was now in a white shirt.

His body, visible through the wet fabric, was enough to hold Leon’s gaze.

‘Oho, his biceps are decent. And his pectorals…’

“What are you looking at?”

Startled, Leon—who had been unconsciously appraising the quality of the muscles beneath his shirt—jumped.

“I-I wasn’t looking at you! Uh… th-that’s right! I was looking at what the constellations were saying!”

Leon quickly made up an excuse, flustered.

No matter how innocently she had been looking at his muscles, she didn’t want to get caught checking him out.

Leon quickly addressed the constellations.

“You all saw that, right? I’m a person who follows through when I say I’ll do something. So it’s useless to keep trying to set us up.”

**[RollingRollingWheel]:** It’s a shame the <Operation to Strand Them on the Island> we prepared so ambitiously failed, but…

**[NotSeoButDong]:** …If anything, this just makes us more competitive! Bring it on!

**[SsukbongCaptain]:** └2222 I love it when a prideful beauty finally succumbs… mmmph!

The constellations were truly something else in every way.

Leon, finally resigned to her fate, headed toward the dormitory and said.

“I’m really sleepy—are you going to watch me sleep too?”

**[FemaleCharacterSimp]:** Kyaa! I want to see Leon sleep!

**[CorruptedPowerWarrior]:** I’d like to, but I used too much divine power today.

**[SsukbongCaptain]:** I think I need to go tend to our dimension as well.

—

Leaving those words, the constellations disappeared one by one.

“And you, Angel?”

“Ah, I-I should go too.”

The angel was fidgeting with the stone in which the demon they had just defeated was sealed.

Sensing that he had something to say, Leon spoke up.

“Angel, is there something more you want to say?”

“Huh? Ah, well…”

After hesitating for a long time, the angel finally shouted as if he had made a decision.

“Th-thank you both for today! For defeating the demon.”

“Don’t mention it. We said we’d save the world, didn’t we?”

Leon smiled confidently.

At her words, the angel fluttered his small wings and spoke with an awkward expression.

“Th-that’s right! That’s why I’m even more excited about the two of you having a child! A hero born from such amazing parents—how wonderful that would be!”

The angel rattled off the words without stopping for breath, then vanished in a flash, leaving only his final words behind.

“I need to go gather more divine power quickly! It takes a lot to connect two people!”

Watching the angel disappear in such a hurry, Leon tilted her head.

“Why did he suddenly act like that?”

Just as Leon, puzzled by the angel’s strange behavior, took a step toward her room—

“…Huh? What’s this.”

Something was left where the angel had disappeared.

“High-grade holy water.”

Regan said, looking at the two bottles neatly placed on the floor.

What the angel had left behind was holy water—excellent for healing wounds and recovering fatigue.

Seeing it, Leon let out a small laugh.

“Ah, I guess the angel felt bad about making us swim today.”

Now Leon could understand why the angel had hesitated for so long.

She found the angel incredibly endearing.

‘Demon subjugation and swimming in the sea… it’s been a tough day. But thanks to this surprise gift, I feel a little better—’

“To be appeased by something like this—you’re quite easy to please. Or perhaps it’s a matter of intelligence.”

“Hey, what did you just say?!”

The warm, fuzzy feeling from the angel’s cute apology instantly evaporated at Regan’s single remark.

‘I’m sorry, Angel. But your dream will never come true.’

Leon thought that as she watched her foot instinctively aim for Regan’s shin.

The next day.

Waking up after a good night’s sleep for the first time in a while, Leon felt incredibly refreshed.

“Ah, I love this bed! So happy!”

She wanted to rest a little longer, but she couldn’t skip morning training.

After rolling around in bed a few times, Leon sprang up, changed into her training uniform, and stepped outside.

It was still early, and the outside was quiet.

“The weather’s nice!”

Leon decided to look around the dormitory, which she hadn’t had time to explore properly.

The central branch’s dormitory was shaped like a ‘ㅁ’ (square).

Originally it had been an ‘ㄱ’ (L-shape), but with Leon’s admission, a new female dormitory was built, making it a ㅁ-shape. Though even then, it was a modest building—just a couple of small single rooms and a bathroom attached.

The male and female dorms faced each other, with the cafeteria and facilities in the middle.

The smell of breakfast preparation wafted from the cafeteria, mingling with the crisp morning air.

“Alright. I’ll run exactly fifty laps and head straight to the cafeteria.”

Just as Leon finished tying her shoelaces and was about to stand up—

“Leon.”

A soft voice called her name.

Leon paused and looked up at the person emerging from the door of the male dormitory across the way.

The owner of the voice was someone she didn’t particularly want to see.

“You…”

The first thing that caught Leon’s eye was how much taller he had grown compared to three years ago.

The fact that their eye level, once similar, had changed so much that she now had to look up quite a bit made Leon’s mood even worse.

“You’re still running every morning. I’m glad I waited, just in case.”

The man said this with a faint smile.

Unlike his larger build, his face looked largely unchanged.

His elegant golden hair, as if spun from molten gold, shimmered in the morning sunlight.

His purple eyes—which Leon had once praised as being like jewels—were also the same.

Even the tenderness they held when looking at her.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it, Leon.”

As if he had forgotten everything that happened in the past, he continued speaking casually.

At his brazen demeanor, Leon’s face scrunched up.

“……”

Leon tried to ignore him and walk past.

But remembering that he, too, had been assigned to the central branch as a new recruit, she had no choice but to stop.

‘We’ll have to see each other from now on anyway, so ignoring him now would be pointless.’

It was better to tie up loose ends before that.

Above all, she was the one who had said she wouldn’t care whether he came or not.

In the end, Leon spoke to him in the most businesslike tone she could manage.

“Do you have business with me? Why were you waiting?”

At her cold attitude, the man paused for a moment.

His mouth opened and closed repeatedly, as if trying to say something.

“If you have nothing to say, I’m leaving.”

“…I missed you, Leon.”

Just as Leon was about to leave, his sincerity finally fell from his lips after a long hesitation.

And upon hearing those words, Leon’s face twisted sharply.

“How f*cking pathetic.”

The curse that flew out of her mouth, bypassing her brain entirely via spinal reflex, rang clearly through the fresh morning air.

“Leon, a lady shouldn’t use such harsh language…”

At those words, Leon’s already thin patience completely ran out.

Leon opened her mouth, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Oh, I’ve committed a great sin again, haven’t I? Opening my mouth carelessly for a ‘lady.'”

“……”

“In front of Your Highness, the noble Emperor.”

At Leon’s mockery, Isaiah Windsor—the First Prince of the Empire—stiffened his face.