After a long, heartfelt embrace, Darry and Sarina moved forward.
Silence returned.
Actually, the silence had always been there—they were just too busy talking to notice it.
"There's something wrong about this forest… I feel like we are being watched," Sarina thought, her eyes scanning the surroundings with growing caution.
After an hour or so of walking, Darry and Sarina decided to rest under a giant tree like the others they had seen.
"Here," Darry said, handing a water bottle to Sarina.
He sat beside her and closed his eyes.
"Darry, what are you doing?" Sarina asked.
She already knew, but she didn't like it. He should rest.
"Umm… I… I thought I should gather some Fire Essence while you rest," Darry said, opening his eyes sheepishly.
"No. We should rest. It doesn't matter how much Fire Essence you have if your mind is so strained that you can't control it. Just rest," she insisted.
Darry nodded and summoned another water bottle from his soul space.
"I have to kill. Soon. I can't let Darry do everything," Sarina thought grimly.
"And you… Princess of Shadows. First kill someone, then you gain their shadow, and then boom—you control it, make it do whatever you want," she recalled the lazy man's words.
"That lazy guy is the most unreliable guide I've ever seen," Sarina muttered.
"Oh, I renamed the lazy guy too!" she heard Darry say.
"What?" she asked, turning to him.
"I named him Goobly Guy. You know, 'lazy man' was too generic, and since he doesn't remember his name, now he's Goobly Guy," Darry said matter-of-factly.
"Huh? What? Give Darry a map and he'd name the entire planet and its moons," Sarina said with a soft smile as Darry took a sip from his bottle.
Sarina's thoughts drifted back to her powers—Shadow Dominion.
"I've thought about this before. I'll kill anyone who dares to harm us. Killing for power sounds inhuman. Monstrous. And it is. But I'm not going to kill any innocents. That's my only rule," she reminded herself.
But there were no real rules. She created that one herself.
What would stop her from breaking it?
She had thought about it countless times. This exact rule. This exact resolve. But no matter how much she repeated it, it never stopped her from questioning herself.
She didn't want to become a cold, ruthless murderer. She wouldn't—at least not cold or ruthless. A murderer, though? That was her power's nature.
"Hey Sarina, what do you think about a house?" Darry asked suddenly.
Sarina looked into his reddish-brown eyes and his naturally aloof face—the kind of expression that made him look like he didn't care about anything.
But Sarina knew the truth.
Darry was one of the most thoughtful people she had ever met.
"A house… I never really thought about it," she admitted. "I just assumed we'd settle in your house. But now, we don't have one."
"Yeah… but we can buy a house here! Not exactly here—in a city or village," Darry said with a wide smile. "What would you want in that house?"
Why was he asking something like that right now?
Maybe because he was scared. Just like her.
But regardless, she had never really thought about buying a house before.
Darry's house had always felt like home. That small two-story building—it was peaceful and filled with pictures of Darry, his late mother, and his big brother, Grey.
Sarina and Darry had spent a big part of their lives in that house.
As for her own house—forget it. It was just a large mansion. There was nothing special about it except the memories of her parents.
After they died, her father's relatives tried to take the house for themselves.
"I hate that those scumbags probably got the house now that I'm not there," she thought bitterly.
She had been lost in her memories when—
"Hey, can't you think out loud? I don't mind staring at your face, but… you know…" Darry teased, waving his hand in front of her face.
Sarina returned to the present.
"What should I do?" she wondered, staring into Darry's playful but concerned eyes.
"Whatever. Darry's the only thing that matters now. So focus on him," she resolved, her thoughts shifting.
"Let's look at the houses of this world first—then we'll decide which one to buy," she said with a wide grin.
"That's a good idea!" Darry beamed.
"I never thought I'd kiss someone in the middle of a dangerous forest," Sarina thought, a playful smile tugging at her lips.
"As for making you stare at my face too long…" she said, leaning in and giving him a gentle kiss on the lips.
Darry smiled mischievously and said, "That's too low of a fine!"
Then, without hesitation, he pressed his lips on hers.
Sarina's heart skipped a beat. She didn't expect him to kiss her back—but it was a welcome surprise.
After a few moments of passionate silence, Darry pulled back and said in a mock-harsh, strict voice, "That's the real fine for spacing out. Be careful, girl, or I'll charge more next time."
Sarina laughed.
"His timing is always unpredictable," she thought.
"Hey, why are you laughing? I was serious. No—no, I am serious," Darry said, still roleplaying.
"You're too cute," Sarina giggled, gently pinching his cheek.
Darry looked away, scratching the back of his head, his gaze focused on his shoulder.
"Wait… wait… is he blushing?" Sarina thought, struggling not to squeal with laughter.
"Oh god! This guy… still shy as ever. How can he be shy and romantic at the same time?" she thought, grinning to herself.
"Big brother Grey was right. This goofball does change his tone in seconds," she thought as Darry unknowingly proved Grey right.
"Umm… hey… what do you think about a tree house?" he asked suddenly.
Sarina burst out laughing again.
"Hey, now stop it," Darry said, a little irritated—but chuckling too.
After a few more minutes of shared laughter and teasing, Darry and Sarina resumed walking.
As they moved through the eerie silence of the Scarlet Forest, Sarina thought:
I still can't bring myself to kill for power. But… I can kill to protect.
With a calm, determined smile, she turned her thoughts toward the one person who meant everything.
"Darry… I'll protect you no matter what. You can't distract me from that, like you did moments ago!"
Just then, a crack echoed—a stick breaking under pressure.
Sarina's eyes narrowed. She reached for Darry's arm and whispered, "Someone's here… and they're coming toward us."