A couple of hours passed by and Rukiyo found herself silently curled against herself, waiting for the night to pass by.
She doesn't know how long Blank had decided to take a peak at her and leave without saying a word, but ever since, her guard is up and she's tense beyond words could describe.
She still wasn't sure what Blank could have wanted from her, but considering that he hadn't told his brother about her, she knew that he meant no harm.
So, she stayed in her spot, lips pursed and fighting off boredom.
She doesn't feel sleepy or anything, maybe because she's not a human, but a dragon— a creature and a being that doesn't need rest to recover or replenish energy.
In her book, she didn't mention how Ryukiyo recovered from all the injuries she received from the heroine, only mentioning that by the time they face each other again, Ryukiyo has fully recovered and was free of injuries.
She knew that it was bad writing, but back then, she believed that it was cool to write a villainess who can go head to head with the main character.
Unfortunately, Rukiyo's younger self also believed that it's best to use a name similar to hers.
Rukiyo let out a sigh, the exhalation going through her nose. She clutched her hands against her hair and slumped forward, not bothering to keep an eye on where Blank disappeared from.
If it's been a while since he came back, then she can rest assured that he won't be coming back anytime soon, right?
Rukiyo shifted her whole focus on the system instead, entertaining herself with the skill menu and the interface of the map she received just earlier.
As she observed, most of the map's area is covered with ominous dark clouds.
The only areas that don't have clouds are the spot with a green field and the forest she's currently in, and near her, there was a single line of blue that went down further down the map.
Usually, a single blue line in maps means that it's either a lake or a river, so instinctively, Rukiyo assumed that it was water.
Hope and excitement washed over her, her curled frame relaxing a little as she smiled at the interface.
>> It is highly recommended for the host to explore the surrounding area to get rid of the dark clouds in the map. However, if the host deemed it unnecessary, the host can simply settle with the current enclosure as her new home.
The pop-up was sudden, the sound that echoed in her mind causing her to flinch in her spot.
Her heart almost jumped out of her throat, eyes widening in horror as the system interface changed appearance and showed texts instead of the map.
She opened her mouth to hiss at the system, to tell it to stop messing with her, but when her eyes fully registered the meaning behind those words, the call-out suddenly died down in her throat.
New home? She thought, blinking owlishly.
What did it mean by making the cave as her new home? Is it exactly what she's thinking? Making the cave into a comfortable and cozy space to call as her home?
Is that even possible?
Rukiyo wrote in her half-assed novel that Ryukiyo has a cave up north, a cave full of gold and treasures, but she never specified what the cave looked like.
All she mentioned was that it has underground tunnels that lead to a makeshift prison— a place where she locked up her elven husbands, a place that she created with her bare fists and a couple of magic spells.
Actually, now that she thinks about it.. One of Ryukiyo's elven husbands may have still been locked up.
Rukiyo scratched the back of her head, eyebrows furrowing in frustration as she huffed. There was one particular elf that hates the dragness' guts.. All because she left him locked up for the past three hundred years.
And to make matters worse, Ryukiyo simply left him there because she forgot about his existence altogether.
Time might be different from humans, elves, and demons, but a hundred years is too much, no? If a hundred years is too much, then what more of two? Three?
Rukiyo groaned as quietly as she could, burying her face in her hands.
Ryukiyo is a lost cause and it's all her fault.. She wrote Ryukiyo that way, so she turned out to be that way, and she has no one else to blame, but herself.
In a sense, she couldn't help, but feel a sense of responsibility about Ryukiyo's husbands.
If one of them is still locked down there, then she must do everything in her power to find that damned cave and free him— only then can she live freely without feeling any kind of burden.
"Guess I have to make this a base for now." Rukiyo mumbled, returning her attention back to the system interface.
"What the fuc—" She gasped, eyes widening in surprise when she came face to face with the very person who didn't snitch on her, crouching and staring at her like he was observing a wild animal.
Rukiyo's hand snapped up to her chest, her heart beating fast at the sight of the man.
She didn't hear him round the corner and approached her spot. In fact, she didn't sense his presence even though she could feel the presence of the other man sleeping by the entrance of the cave.
"What's wrong with you?!" Rukiyo hissed, her surprise melting into annoyance.
Somehow, she felt safe around him despite him being sneaky and silent, but a part of her rationalized that if he wanted to hurt her, then he would have told his companion about her and possibly do something horrible to her.
Though she's stronger than them, she doubts that they'll be able to do any kind of bad thing she currently has in mind.
Blank tilted his head, a nonverbal response to her outburst. Without hesitation, he placed something in front of her— which was wrapped with a blue fabric, and opened it swiftly.
Almost immediately, the smell of apple and mandarin hit her nose, making her shift her attention to the fruits.