"Akari! What in the moon's name are you doing on my bed?" I shouted, frozen at the doorway as I caught sight of her sprawled across my blanket like a sleeping princess who had claimed my room as her royal chamber.
She slowly blinked, letting out a long yawn and stretching like a spoiled kitten. "Oh… Cousin Rin," she said drowsily, rubbing her eyes. "You're back. I was waiting for you. I must've dozed off. So… how was your date with Lady Selene?"
"It was fine," I said coolly, tossing my cloak onto the nearby chair and walking toward the bed. "Wait, don't tell me you stayed here just to ask me that?"
She paused for a second—then suddenly burst into dramatic, high-pitched wailing. "Rei has dumped meee!"
She kicked her legs wildly on the bed like a child, a very annoying one.
"What?! What do you mean Rei dumped you?" I asked, completely thrown off. A dozen thoughts ran through my head at once. "What happened? Did she say something?"
Akari kept sobbing like her heart had shattered into glittering shards. I sighed and climbed onto the bed beside her, wrapping an arm around her trembling shoulders.
"Hey, calm down," I said gently. "I'm sure it's a misunderstanding. Rei loves you. She always has. Just… tell me what happened, okay? What exactly did she say?"
"She didn't say anything…" Akari sniffled, her voice small.
"Then… how did she break up with you?"
She sat up like a thundercloud ready to burst and looked at me with tearful eyes. "We made a vow—to meet every single day! And today… she didn't show up! That means she dumped me!"
I stared blankly. "…Wait. So just because she missed one meeting, you think it's over?"
She nodded solemnly, as if she'd just declared the fall of the empire.
"Akari, what if she's just busy? Or something came up? What if she's sick?" I said, placing my hands on her shoulders, trying to knock some sense into her. "Her not showing up could mean anything."
She gasped. "Oh no… What if something did happen? What if someone ambushed her on the way here? What if she tried to sneak into the Maidens' Guild again and got captured? What if—what if someone from the Marketplace saw her and…"
"Stop! Stop right there!" I said, holding up a hand. "Now your imagination's just summoning demons out of thin air."
"But I have to know she's okay!" Akari cried, clinging to me like I was her last hope. "I can't sleep until I see her face!"
"We'll go check on her tomorrow," I muttered, finally laying back and pulling the covers over my head. "You'll see. She's probably just fine."
A pause.
Then…
I felt a presence loom over me.
I cracked one eye open. "What is it now?"
Akari smiled like a puppy. "Tomorrow is your engagement party, remember? There won't be any time to sneak out."
I groaned and rolled away. "Then the day after tomorrow."
"I can't wait even that long!" she cried. "I need my Rei now! If I don't see her, I'll go mad! My heart is cracking! My soul is melting! My chest feels like a hammer is pounding it—!"
"Okay, okay! FINE!" I sat up, exhausted. "Go to Akarawa Land and search for your love-struck peace of mind! Just let me sleep!"
But she didn't move.
Of course she didn't.
Akari never went anywhere without dragging Rin Kisaragi along.
And so…
Here I am.
Walking beside her under the cold moonlight, clutching my cloak against the night breeze… all because Akari lovebirds can't go one single day without staring into each other's eyes like it's the end of the world.
And me?
I just wanted to sleep.
But here I was, dragging my feet through the blistering heat of the Akarawa lands. And when I say heat, I mean it. The land's main source of energy is the sun, and once it sets, they light fires everywhere in the territory. The heat was like a dragon's breath in your face. But I couldn't complain too much—I was standing in the heart of the Akarawa clan lands.
"Wow, it's too hot here," Akari said, her face flushed as she tugged at her coat hood.
"Hey, don't you dare start undressing! You wanna get roasted like a pig on a spit?" I said, grabbing her sleeve just in time before she could fully remove her cloak.
"They'll know a Hoshino is here if you go around flashing like that. Trust me, you don't wanna be roasted" I said, adjusting her hood for her.
She Puffed her cheeks but didn't argue. It was way too hot to deal with anyway.
"So how do we find Rei?" I asked, trying to refocus. We were here for a reason.
Akari looked at me with wide eyes, hoping I had some kind of master plan. "Well, I don't really know any places here. Or where she stays."
I thought for a moment. In the webtoon, Rei was the daughter of the Master Akarawa—essentially the princess of this place. That meant she had to be living in the Master Den, the most important place in the Akarawa clan.
"We need to find the Master Den and sneak in," I said, my voice a little more confident than I felt.
Akari's eyes lit up. "Yes! But… how do we even get there? It's so huge here, and we have no idea where to start."
Just as I was about to come up with something, I spotted two people pushing a cart through the narrow streets. They were being checked by officer guards.
"Where are you taking this at this late hour?" one of the guards asked, his eyes narrowed.
"This is the monthly food stock," another officer replied. "It's going to the Master Den."
The guard nodded and waved them through, letting them pass without any further questions.
"Cousin Akari, let's follow them!" I whispered, already putting on my hood and signaling for her to do the same.
We sneaked behind them, carefully keeping our distance as they led us to a massive gate—the entrance to the Master Den. It was so tall and imposing, it looked like a skyscraper, its towering walls nearly piercing the sky. Smoke billowed out from the furnace inside, and the entire area was surrounded by guards, fire-breathing dragons circling overhead.
"Well, this is... tight," I muttered under my breath, looking around at the formidable security. "There's no way we're getting in without causing a scene."
Akari, however, didn't seem to notice my anxiety. She was already inching closer to the gate.
"Wait, Akari!" I hissed, grabbing her by the sleeve before she got any closer. "Don't you see? There are dragons! Fire dragons who shoot fireballs! If we try to walk in, we'll get burned alive! They'll find out who you are, and then..."
She stopped and glanced back at me, her face serious. "Then what do we do?"
I paused, thinking hard. "There's only one way we can get in..."
"Do you have a plan?" she asked, hopeful but nervous.
I nodded. "Just... move your water well. Make it work."
Akari looked confused for a moment. "What do you mean—oh!" She gasped, and immediately, she began gathering what little water we had left in her satchel. The water swirled in the air, forming into a large, humanoid puppet of water. It stood tall and strong, holding its hands out to support us.
"I'm trying, okay? This place is a fire zone, and this is literally the last bit of water I brought! But we don't have a choice," she said, her voice strained as she focused all her energy into the puppet.
With a grunt, she commanded the puppet to lift us. The water puppet carried us easily over the high walls of the Master Den. I felt the scorching heat below us as we soared through the air, but there was no time to react. We landed on the other side with a soft thud, the puppet evaporating as the last of the water turned into steam from the intense heat.
We stood up, brushing the dust from our clothes. Just as I was about to breathe a sigh of relief, I noticed a shadow moving in the dark.
"Well, well. Looks like someone's been sneaking around."
A cold chill ran down my spine as a figure emerged from the darkness, slowly walking toward us, their eyes glowing faintly in the dark.
"Wait, who...?" I muttered under my breath.
The figure stepped closer, revealing nothing but a faint silhouette against the flickering firelight. My heart raced as the shadows shifted.
"After all this sneaking around... looks like it's your turn to be roasted."
The voice was cold, dripping with malice, and I could see the faint glint of steel in their hand. My mind raced.
"Are we... done for?" I thought. Could we actually escape this time? Would we make it out alive?
But before I could react, the figure stepped into the light—and I froze.
It wasn't just any guard... it was someone far more dangerous.