* * *
A tense silence filled the air.
Having understood what Baek Yigang said, I found myself at a loss for words.
So… he’s saying he cares about me, right?
Good or bad, the fact that Baek Yigang cares about me was nice to hear.
As he gradually becomes more aware of me, he’ll realize that I’m doing my best to support him.
And when that time comes, I’ll finally receive a genuine thank-you!
“Glad to hear it.”
I was worried about how to calm Baek Yigang down, so this came at just the right time.
“What?”
“Honestly, I thought you saw me as a weapon you rarely use but just can’t discard.”
Smiling boldly, I closed the distance to him and tapped the scabbard of his Full Moon sword hanging at his waist.
Though not useful off the battlefield, it was a blade he couldn’t bear to part with.
That’s exactly what I figured I was to him.
“Otherwise, you wouldn’t treat me like baggage, either locking me up or putting surveillance on me at every chance.”
I chuckled, adding that he treated me like a mere object, and Baek Yigang’s eyebrows furrowed slowly.
That was a warning sign—a sure sign his mood was souring.
Honestly, I wanted to keep talking, but it didn’t seem like it would end with just a raised eyebrow if I did.
But! That didn’t mean I was backing down easily.
Since we’d already started, I was prepared to say everything I wanted to!
“What are you trying to say?”
“If you trust me as a partner and not just some burden, then instead of keeping tabs on me, we should actually talk.”
In other words, if he was going to keep an eye on me, I was just asking him to do it within reasonable limits… something like that.
Answering plainly, I tilted my head to the side to get a look at Baek Yigang’s expression.
He turned his gaze to me diagonally from where he’d been staring off.
For a brief moment, our eyes held each other in an intense, slanted gaze before he finally spoke.
“So, you’re saying you don’t want to be restrained.”
Uh… he’s got a point, but doesn’t that sound a bit… strange? Like something couples would say to each other.
“Cheong Dowoon, I think you’re misunderstanding. The people I have assigned to you are all there as bodyguards. If anything, it’s not me monitoring you, it’s that crow sorcerer.”
“…But don’t you think it’s strange how you know all the details of my day?”
At that, Baek Yigang looked back at me with innocent eyes and shook his head slightly, as if he truly didn’t know what I was talking about.
For me, there wasn’t much difference between that crow sorcerer and Baek Yigang anyway.
“Not even the crow would go as far as you do.”
Not that he’d ever understand this, of course.
Right on cue, his violet eyes glinted with a sharp gleam.
“Is that not allowed?”
If you’re going to ask that here, isn’t the answer pretty obvious?
I couldn’t tell if he was just shameless or genuinely clueless, but either way, it was still a problem.
This man has zero sense of normalcy!
“Ugh. Forget it! Your attention is way too intense. If you keep this up, I swear I’ll go on strike, fairy or not.”
“Like I’d let you.”
With a smirk that practically dripped with disdain, Baek Yigang suddenly took my hand.
“What are you doing?”
“We’re going to the bedroom, so turn off the lights.”
Moonlight seeped through the window.
I doused the lights that had been illuminating the office with a simple spell, and before I knew it, we were walking down the hallway together, hand in hand.
“…But, Yigang, why are you holding my hand all of a sudden?”
“You said I was too intense.”
“Huh…?”
It seemed like he was trying to prove that he was being less “intense” by holding hands, maybe?
At least, that’s the impression he seemed to be going for.
True, in the past, he would either teleport us or just drag me around without a second thought… something along those lines.
Huh, he’s actually taking my feedback to heart?
Well, whatever his intentions, I guess he wasn’t lying about considering me.
Feeling unexpectedly pleased, I gave Baek Yigang’s shoulder a playful tap.
I was about to laugh and tease him, but he suddenly whipped around and glared at me.
“Keep it down.”
“…I haven’t even said anything yet.”
After a bit of pointless back-and-forth, we soon arrived at the bedroom.
Tonight, I’d decided to help him sleep soundly again.
The last time I used a bit of holy power, he seemed to sleep pretty well, so I figured I could use a bit more this time.
That way, he’d sleep even more deeply.
“Come on, lie down already.”
As I gestured to the bed, I noticed water droplets falling from Baek Yigang’s still-damp hair after his shower.
“…Wait, no. Don’t lie down. You’ll soak the bed.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
Baek Yigang just chuckled at my panicked reaction, reaching for a towel to finish drying his hair.
But the way he was drying it was so clumsy; he really did look every bit the pampered crown prince.
At that rate, he’d be drying his hair for the next thousand years.
“Here, give it to me. I’ll do it.”
Unable to stand it anymore, I took the towel from him, sat him down, and started drying his hair myself with practiced ease.
“Cheong Dowoon… it feels like there’s some emotion in your touch.”
“I’m always like this.”
With a gentle patting motion, I worked through Baek Yigang’s snowy-white hair, gradually roughening my touch in response to his teasing remark. He gave me an amused grin.
“Alright, that’s enough.”
Finally, his hair was dry. Without missing a beat, he stretched out on the bed.
“Wait a second. I need to get ready, too.”
Perching at the edge of the bed, I concentrated on channeling a bit of the holy power I had received from Ian.
Last time, I’d been a bit tense, worrying that I’d accidentally let some power leak out, but now I was comfortable enough to handle it without much trouble.
As I pressed my hand to Baek Yigang’s forehead, a warm glow flowed from me to him.
I carefully adjusted the amount of holy power to ensure he’d get a good night’s rest, when he, eyes closed, suddenly spoke up.
“What are you doing tomorrow?”
It was the first time he’d asked such a question.
Simple, but as ordinary and unremarkable as it could be.
“Why are you asking? You already know.”
Anna always kept track of my schedule ahead of time, so my daily routine was practically on autopilot.
Since Anna knew, naturally Baek Yigang would too, so I answered without much thought.
But apparently, my response didn’t sit well with him, because he cracked one eye open to look at me.
“Doesn’t seem like I’ve ever heard it from you.”
His eyes demanded an answer, like he wasn’t going to let it go. So I couldn’t help but relent.
“Tomorrow, I’ll be meeting Cedric. I should have done it sooner, but someone kept kicking me out, so it got delayed.”
I sighed heavily, and Baek Yigang’s lips quirked into a slow smile.
Was he smirking at me?
That didn’t feel like just my imagination.
He soon fell asleep. When I heard his steady breathing, I removed my hand from his forehead.
“You’re really asleep, right?”
He’s so good at faking it sometimes, it’s hard to tell.
I waved my hand in front of his closed eyes, but Baek Yigang’s lashes remained still, fluttering slightly with each breath.
“…Maybe I should double-check Baek Yigang’s gratitude score.”
The system’s Gratitude Metric.
In truth, Baek Yigang’s score was the one that mattered the most to me.
Surely, it had to be higher than Piel’s by now, after everything I’d done.
I summoned the system and cautiously requested to view Baek Yigang’s gratitude level.
Judging from my gut feeling… maybe 35% or so?
He couldn’t possibly be as low as Piel, right?
[SYSTEM: Would you like to check the gratitude level of main character ‘Hail Dirzio’?]
As the familiar prompt appeared, I quickly pressed “Yes.” The next screen popped up without delay.
[SYSTEM: The gratitude level of ‘Hail Dirzio’ toward ‘Player Cheong Dowoon’ is currently 5%.
Note: The system updates all values in real-time, so there may be slight delays in reflecting recent changes.]
Oh, there it…
…Wait, what?
“Huh?”
I rubbed my eyes, blinking repeatedly, but no matter how hard I tried, the single-digit number wouldn’t disappear.
Was I seeing things?
“Is the system broken? There should be more numbers here, right?”
[SYSTEM: The system is functioning normally.]
Grinding my teeth in frustration, I clenched my fists as the border of the system window glowed green, confirming there was no error.
“No way… it’s really at 5%?”
When I first entered this world, the system had welcomed me with a 2% gratitude level.
So… in all this time, it had only gone up by 3%?
Really?!
Maybe because of the utter silence around me, my mind processed the harsh reality with brutal speed.
I turned to look at the peacefully sleeping Baek Yigang with an empty gaze.
The term “ungrateful” exists because of him.
Otherwise, none of this would make sense…!
I buried my face in my hands and collapsed onto the bed, groaning in despair.
“Damn you, Baek Yigang…”
I mumbled, sprawled across the bed, my lament deepening along with the night’s cold indifference.
* * *
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