Chapter 26

I thought Linus was about to burst into tears.

A wrinkle formed between his brows, his jaw tightened as he clenched his teeth, and then he suddenly pulled me into his arms without warning.

He let out a long breath by my ear and whispered like a sigh.

“Ayrbet, I like you.”

He was holding me so tightly it was a little hard to breathe, but even that felt good.

I wrapped my arms around Linus’s broad back and answered him.

“I like you too.”

All I did was return the same feeling, yet Linus stopped breathing.

When I patted his back, his ragged breaths finally returned.

“You have no idea how happy I am right now.”

“I don’t know about that, but I can hear your heartbeat very clearly. It’s beating so fast. Are you okay?”

The pounding that rang right by my ear was fast enough to worry me, but Linus just let out a shaky laugh.

Holding him close and listening to his laughter made me happy without thinking about anything else.

I wanted to do this since morning.

Forget stabilizing the world or whatever. What am I supposed to do when I like this man so much right now?

When I thought he was avoiding me, I felt like I’d become some awful foreign substance that didn’t belong in this world.

Then he told me he liked me, and suddenly the whole world felt like mine.

I closed my eyes, savoring the sound of Linus’s heartbeat, when he loosened his arms and looked down at me.

I lifted my head to meet his gaze, and he smiled brightly, his eyes dripping with honey.

Ah, pretty.

I was captivated by his intoxicating face and smiled back, and Linus slowly leaned in.

His large hands cupped my cheeks with gentle, careful movements, but his eyes were burning.

His lips were just about to meet mine.

I hadn’t even closed my eyes yet when suddenly the surroundings darkened.

A black gate covering the full moon ripped open above Linus’s head.

“No… not now…”

At my mutter, Linus also turned around.

Seeing the gate sparking red, he groaned.

Showing up right with a dungeon break? Gate, seriously, isn’t this too much?

You could’ve appeared just one minute later. Do you not read the mood?

“Why now, why!”

I shouted my resentment, but I was sucked into the gate while holding Linus tightly in my arms.

* * *

As soon as I landed safely inside the dungeon, still held in Linus’s arms, a strong fishy smell hit me.

The ground lurched.

No, to be exact, my stomach lurched.

A massive sailing ship drifted alone on the endless sea, moving somewhere under the scorching sun.

“Why here of all places…”

I slipped out of Linus’s arms, fell to my knees, and despaired.

‘Status window.’

Ayrbet Titanoa

[Status]

Treasure Island A 70%

□□■■□■□ ■□□

[Skills]

Strength Enhancement C – Passive

Physical Ability Enhancement B – Passive

Swordsmanship A – Passive

I Will Block It All A – Active

Mutual Destruction S – Active

After summoning and checking the status window in my head, I collapsed on the deck in utter frustration.

“It really is Treasure Island…”

An A-rank dungeon, Treasure Island.

You ride this pirate ship to the island, defeat the monsters, and claim the treasure.

There’s no special strategy; you just fight and win. It’s a simple dungeon, but regardless of difficulty, there’s one fatal drawback.

I get horribly seasick.

“Ha… life really isn’t easy.”

Muttering as I lay spread out, staring at the cloudless sky, Linus knelt beside me on one knee and asked,

“Has something happened?”

“What do you mean? We got dragged into another ga… I mean, another black hole. Everything is a disaster right now.”

Linus looked around once, then smiled softly.

“It’s only you and me here, though.”

Look at this carefree man.

Riding a few gates must have made him used to dungeons now.

This is not the time to be giving me those subtle eyes, you know?

I shot Linus a half-hearted glare so he wouldn’t think I was upset, and he let out a small laugh as he extended his hand.

Because he smiled so calmly, I ended up letting out a helpless little laugh too and took his hand to stand up.

Linus must be bewildered and uncertain.

At least I understand where we are and why this is happening, but he was dragged in knowing nothing.

Even so, he tried to reassure me, acting lighthearted, and now he was gently fixing my messy hair with careful hands.

What am I supposed to do? I know this isn’t the time, but I like him too much.

I bumped my forehead into his chest and wrapped my arms around his waist.

Linus paused for a moment, then chuckled softly and patted my back with warm hands.

Ah, this is nice.

Is this what happiness feels like?

It would have been perfect if my clueless semicircular canals weren’t shaking along with the rocking deck.

Damn seasickness, I swear.

I let out a long sigh and stepped back from Linus’s arms.

“Linus, it’s not that there are no problems.”

“Are you worried monsters might appear?”

“That’s also a problem, but more than that… my condition is about to get really bad.”

“What?”

The expression of the man who had been relaxed even after boarding a pirate ship without permission instantly darkened.

He pressed his large hand to my forehead and asked,

“Are you unwell? Are you in pain somewhere?”

“I’m not sick, it’s seasickness. Ugh. Ah, I’m already nauseous.”

When I clutched my chest and swallowed a dry heave, Linus looked as if the world had collapsed.

He looked around hurriedly and spotted a cabin.

“There may be medicine in there. I’ll search. Please stay here for a moment.”

“No, wai… urk.”

I was about to tell him there’s nothing in the cabin, but a wave of nausea hit me.

Before I could stop him, Linus dashed off toward the cabin.

I knew from clearing this dungeon last time, checking even the lowest part of the ship.

There’s no seasickness medicine here.

Once again, until this ship reaches the island, I was doomed to vomit and gag and vomit and gag like a seasick zombie.

What made it worse this time was that Linus would witness every bit of it.

We had almost kissed just moments ago, and now look at me.

Is a possessed girl not allowed to date? You filthy dungeon brat.

“Ugh. Ah, I’m gonna hurl.”

I was turning my miserable emotions into retching, on the first day of being in a relationship, no less, when the still-active status window caught my eye.

I hadn’t looked closely earlier because I was despairing, but now that I saw it again, something felt off.

Is it just my imagination?

It looks different from before.

I narrowed my eyes and examined the status window carefully.

[Status]

Treasure Island A 70%

□□■■□■□ ■□□

Were there always ten squares?

I never bothered with the broken characters because they were unreadable, but today it looked like there were more.

Ah, whatever.

Squares are squares no matter how you look at them, and focusing on it was making my seasickness worse.

I waved the window away and looked toward the cabin where Linus had run.

Someone burst out of the cabin, someone who was not Linus.

A person in a white dress came running toward me, skirts fluttering.

“Ayrbet!”

“Huh? Larienne?”

Why is Larienne here?

And she wasn’t alone. Behind her, I could see Heide and Cheryl.

What is going on?

The gate definitely appeared in the garden of House Titanoa, so why are the three people who should be in the imperial palace here in the dungeon?

“Larienne, how did you get here? Did a black hole appear in the palace?”

“I’m not sure. I didn’t even see a black hole…”

Larienne said she was in the bridal room after the banquet when she was suddenly swallowed by black smoke.

“I was in the palace corridor with the royal guard knights. I didn’t see any black hole either, so I cannot understand what happened.”

Heide said he had been with others, yet he alone got dragged into the dungeon.

I looked to Cheryl next, and she said she was on her way home in a carriage.

Three people, in three different places, dragged into the dungeon without even passing through a gate.

What does that even mean?

The fact that something impossible happened was bad enough, but there was an even bigger problem.

Cheryl was one thing, but Larienne and Heide absolutely should not be here.

Tonight, according to the original plot, a very important event is supposed to take place in the imperial palace.