In the darkness, the cold wind sliced through Jade's wet hair.
Spitting out water, Jade opened his eyes.
He felt the sand and wet clothes with his hands as he struggled to rise.
'Where is this...?'
Before Jade's eyes, an endless black sea stretched out.
He lifted his head to look at the sky.
A night sky filled with shining stars was visible.
'Ah, Princess Genie...!'
Finally regaining his senses, Jade hurriedly turned his head.
He saw the Princess lying on the sand, as if she had collapsed, a few steps away.
"Your Highness!"
Jade tried to stand quickly.
"Ugh..."
A sharp pain shot up from his right knee.
Jade lifted the hem of his pants.
Blood was flowing from his right knee.
'It seems I was stabbed by debris from the ship when it split apart.'
Enduring the pain, Jade lowered his pants again.
Now was not the time to worry about his injured knee.
Standing up, Jade hurried to Genie and knelt by her side.
"Your Highness! Princess Genie!"
Genie lay motionless, her eyes closed.
Sand was sticking to her wet hair.
Jade placed his ear near her face.
Fortunately, he could hear a faint breath.
A sigh of relief escaped from him.
'Thank goodness...'
Jade quickly grabbed her shoulders and lifted her upper body.
He rested her shoulders and head on his knee and called her name again.
"Your Highness! Princess Genie!"
Jade called out to her with a desperate voice.
"Please wake up..."
Genie remained still, her eyes still closed.
With a desperate heart, Jade grabbed Genie by her shoulder and shook her.
"Your Highness... You must wake up..."
"Cough! Cough!"
Water spat out from her mouth.
"Your Highness! Do you hear me?"
Genie grimaced and slowly opened her eyes.
Through blurry vision, she saw Jade's face looming over her.
"Jade...?"
Seeing that Genie had regained consciousness, Jade finally felt relieved.
"Can you sit up?"
Genie turned her head as if trying to understand where she was, looking around.
On the opposite side of the sea, she saw dark sands and a distant forest-like area.
"Wh-where is this...?"
A cold night wind blew.
Genie huddled, shivering.
Her body was drenched in seawater from head to toe, and the intense cold was unbearable.
Jade looked at Genie sympathetically as she trembled from the cold, then helped her sit up.
"It seems the ship sank, and we were washed ashore to this island."
Jade glanced around, searching for something to cover Genie with.
But all he could see were the vast, endless sea and, beyond the sand, a thick forest shrouded in darkness.
After sitting up straight, Genie turned her head to look at Jade.
His navy-colored warrior outfit and hair were drenched in water.
Jade's long eyelashes were soaked.
Genie's memory of the sinking ship resurfaced.
She remembered Jade holding onto her tightly, protecting her as the ship sank.
'He held me as we swam through the vast sea, and now we've been washed up here...'
Genie felt a deep, unspoken sense of gratitude and guilt as she looked at Jade, who was drenched.
Shivering, Genie asked in a cold voice, "Jade... you brought me here, didn't you...?"
Jade, scanning their surroundings, turned his head to look at Genie again.
He gave a restrained smile instead of answering.
That was enough to convey the meaning.
"Thank you..."
Genie lowered her head deeply.
Looking at him, Genie noticed his soaked feet, and the fact that his shoes were gone.
She looked at her feet, and there were no shoes on them as well—just bare feet.
At that moment, Genie recalled her attendants, Lady Han and Lady's attendant Park, who had been on the ship with them.
"Oh! Lady Han and Lady's attendant Park!"
Genie gasped and looked at Jade.
"...I'm sorry. I didn't manage to take care of them when the ship sank..."
"So... Lady Han and Lady's attendant Park is...?"
Jade answered carefully. "As far as I remember, when the ship split in two, only you and I were on the left side. If they were still in their cabins on the right side, they might have boarded the rescue boat with the others."
"I hope that's true..."
Genie lowered her head in worry.
She had spent almost her entire life with those two, and the thought of something happening to them was unbearable.
Tears filled her large eyes, and they began to roll down her cheeks.
Jade was taken aback.
Genie quickly wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, laughing awkwardly.
"Heh... It's not tears, it's just seawater."
Jade looked at her with sympathy.
Genie was still trembling in the cold, her wet clothes and hair making it worse.
"Your Highness, are you very cold?"
Genie shook her head.
"No, it's... a little cold, but I can endure it."
"..."
Despite her words, Genie's body was shaking uncontrollably from the cold.
Jade wanted to give her his own clothes, but they were drenched as well, so it wouldn't help.
"Your Highness, shall we try going over there?"
Jade pointed toward the faint outline of a forest beyond the sand, opposite the sea.
Genie turned her head toward the direction he pointed.
The forest was faintly visible even in the darkness.
"Y-Yes...!"
Genie answered with a feigned strength despite her shivering body.
"Can you stand up, Your Highness?"
Jade, who had stood up first, looked at Genie carefully.
"Of course."
Genie carefully reached out to the sand and, feeling the heavy weight of her soaked clothes, managed to rise.
Unlike Jade, whose knee was bleeding, Genie fortunately wasn't injured.
She instinctively wrapped her arms around herself to stay warm.
"Let's go."
Jade ignored the pain in his knee and began to walk toward the forest, trying to endure the cold night and the chill from his wet clothes.
'If we get to the forest, there might be a place where the Princess can warm up and rest.'
Jade thought as he walked beside Genie.
----------
At that moment, several small rescue boats were drifting across the vast ocean.
The small boats were all packed with people, sitting closely together with no empty space.
"Your Highness... Princess Genie..."
Lady's attendant Park sobbed.
Next to her, Lady Han wrapped one arm around Park Na-in's shoulder.
"Don't cry too much… If we can't see Officer Jade or the Princess on the other boats, it means Officer Jade is likely protecting the Princess."
Lady Han comforted Lady's attendant Park with a calm voice.
But Lady Han was just as worried about Princess Genie.
If something were to happen to the princess, it would be a huge disaster.
She didn't even want to think about such a thing.
Lady's attendant Park continued to sob uncontrollably beside her.
Lady Han tightly held Lady's attendant Park's cold, frozen hands.
She took a deep breath and tried to maintain her composure.
'Your Highness, you must be safe...'
Lady Han prayed repeatedly for the safety of the Princess and Officer Jade.
----------
After walking for a long time towards the area where the forest was visible, Jade and Genie noticed a small cave beside the thicket.
Genie pointed at the cave, looking surprised.
"Jade! Isn't that a cave?"
"It seems so."
Jade sighed with relief, feeling fortunate.
'If there's a cave, we can make a fire, and the Princess will be able to warm up her body.'
Jade and Genie quickly entered the cave, dragging their tired, frozen bodies.
Inside the cave, unlike by the sea, the biting wind didn't blow in, and it felt much warmer.
However, Genie, still soaked from the seawater, shivered uncontrollably.
"Please sit here for a moment, Your Highness."
"Yes? Where are you going?"
"I'll be right back."
Before Genie could say anything, Jade quickly turned around and rushed out of the cave.
He was looking for wood to start a fire.
Even in the darkness, Jade quickly found his way into the forest with his keen sense of direction.
Soon, he spotted tall bamboo stalks.
Jade hastily pulled out a dagger from his pants pocket.
'I'm glad the dagger didn't fall into the seawater.'
Jade hurriedly chopped down the bamboo with the dagger.
He was worried about the Princess, who was waiting outside shivering in the cold, so he felt a sense of urgency.
In no time, the bamboo was felled.
Jade quickly chopped the bamboo into several pieces.
Worried about the Princess, he ran back towards the cave.
Meanwhile, Genie was huddling against the cave wall, her body trembling from the cold.
Her mind was consumed with thoughts of Lady Han and Lady's attendant Park, scattered after the shipwreck.
'I hope they're both still alive...'
Genie was deeply anxious about what might have happened to the two people, who felt like family to her.
As she continued to tremble and huddle, Genie suddenly heard footsteps approaching the cave and hurriedly looked towards the entrance.
"Your Highness!"
Jade burst into the cave, carrying a few bamboo logs.
Genie raised her head, trembling, to greet him.
"You... you've arrived..."
Genie, still shaking from the cold, greeted him with difficulty.
"I'll start a fire right away, Your Highness."
Seeing her purple lips, Jade quickly placed the bamboo logs on the ground and began preparing to start the fire.
"Please wait a moment, Your Highness."
Jade calmly drilled holes into a bamboo plate with his dagger, preparing the fire-making materials.
He then quickly rubbed the bamboo plates together, causing a spark to ignite and the fire to grow.
Genie watched him skillfully start the fire, still shivering, with a sense of awe.
"How... how do you know how to do this?"
Genie asked with her lips still purple, trying to sound cheerful.
Jade, seeing her trembling, looked at her with concern.
"Please hold your hands close to the fire. You'll feel warmer soon."
Genie nodded, her body still shaking, and moved her hands closer to the fire.
"Yes, it... it's definitely a bit better."
Genie managed to smile faintly.
The two of them stayed silent for a while, warming their hands by the fire.
Jade glanced to the side to check on the Princess.
She was still trembling, her body shaking like a leaf.
Jade asked with concern, "Your Highness, are you still feeling very cold?"
Genie, with her lips purple, trembled as she answered. "It's... it's fine..."
Jade looked at her shivering body with purple lips.
'This isn't going to work.'
Jade then made a decision, smiled, and took off his outer garment, laying it on the ground.
His well-toned shoulders, muscular arms, and finely sculpted chest and abdomen were now exposed.
Genie's eyes widened in surprise when she saw Jade without his upper clothes.
"Your Highness, you need to take off your wet clothes."
"Wh-what?"
Genie asked, trembling and embarrassed.
Jade firmly pressed his lips together and nodded.
"If you keep wearing those wet clothes, Your Highness, you could suffer from hypothermia."
"Ah... hypothermia..."
Genie nodded, still flustered, realizing the danger.
But she was too embarrassed to take off her wet clothes in front of Jade.
Seeing her hesitation, Jade spoke carefully. "Your Highness, I apologize."
Having finished speaking, Jade cautiously reached out his hand to the wet garment of Princess Genie.