At that moment, Genie saw plums hanging from the tree on the opposite side of her line of sight.
Genie pointed at them as if excited.
"Oh! There are plums too!"
Following Genie's finger, Jade looked at the trees on the other side.
Indeed, the plums were hanging in abundance.
Around them, many trees were full of ripe, luscious fruit.
Genie gazed up at a peach tree with an abundance of peaches she recognized.
Peaches were hanging from a height that seemed hard to reach.
Jade, noticing Genie staring at the peaches, walked briskly toward the peach tree.
"Please wait a moment."
Genie's eyes widened.
"Are you going to climb that tall tree?"
"Yes, don't worry."
Jade stopped in front of the peach tree and began climbing, placing his foot on the trunk.
"No, don't!" Genie shouted.
Jade responded without turning back. "Just wait a little, Your Highness."
Before finishing his sentence, Jade began to climb the peach tree.
As he effortlessly climbed the high tree, Genie's eyes grew wide in amazement.
Genie quickly ran to the tree Jade was climbing.
She looked up at him, already quite high.
"Isn't it too high? Are you alright?"
Instead of answering, Jade grabbed the tree with one hand and reached out with the other to pluck a peach.
"Wow…"
Genie admired Jade and thought to herself.
'I want to be able to climb trees like that too… When Jade comes down, I should try it as well.'
Jade held a peach out to Genie, who was looking up at him.
Genie gasped in admiration.
"That's amazing! This is incredible!"
With a shy smile, Jade spoke, "Your Highness, please step aside, I'll drop the peaches down."
"Oh, okay."
Genie quickly stepped to the side.
Jade confirmed she had moved and dropped another peach.
With a thud, the peach fell to the ground.
Genie quickly ran over and picked it up.
The peach was a beautiful apricot color and perfectly ripe.
"Wow, this peach is perfectly ripe," Genie said in awe.
"I'll pick a few more, Your Highness."
Jade, encouraged by Genie's admiration, began picking more peaches.
Climbing higher on the tree, Jade reached further to pluck peaches, which he then dropped to the ground.
After several rounds, the ground was covered with an abundance of delicious peaches.
Seeing Jade climbing higher and higher to pick more, Genie called out, "I think that's enough, Jade!"
Jade, having climbed too high, seemed not to hear her.
Genie shouted again. "Please come down now! It's dangerous!"
At that moment, Jade, in his attempt to reach a higher branch, lost his footing.
Thud!
In an instant, Jade fell to the ground.
Shocked, Genie rushed to him.
"Jade! Are you alright?!"
Jade grimaced as he answered, "I'm fine. Don't worry, Princess."
As Jade tried to force himself up, a sharp pain shot through his right knee, and he collapsed again.
"What's wrong, Jade?"
Jade grabbed his right knee with both hands and frowned in pain.
"It's nothing. Really, don't worry."
He tried to hide the pain, speaking as calmly as he could.
Genie, panicked, said, "It's not nothing! Let me roll up your pants leg and see!"
Genie grabbed Jade's pants on the right side, which had been torn by a sharp branch.
It was clear it was torn when he fell from the tree.
When Genie lifted the right side of the pants that were torn, her eyes widened in shock.
Jade's right knee was swollen and badly bruised, and blood was flowing down.
His shin was also badly scraped, as if it had been torn by the branches.
"Oh... what should we do! There's so much blood!"
"It's nothing, Your Highness. Don't worry…"
Jade couldn't finish his sentence as the intense pain made him stop speaking.
Genie's mind raced in panic.
'Right! I need to stop the bleeding first!'
Genie quickly tore off a piece of Jade's already badly torn pants.
She then tightly wrapped the torn cloth around Jade's injured knee to stop the bleeding.
Jade watched through gritted teeth as she worked.
At that moment, Genie's gaze shifted to his right ankle, which seemed to be swelling.
"Oh… it seems like you sprained your ankle when you fell too."
Genie looked at his swollen ankle in despair.
"Ha… It's fine, Your Highness. I can still stand."
"You can stand?"
"Yes, it's fine."
Jade tried to reassure her with a forced calmness as he attempted to push himself up.
"Are you really sure you can stand up?"
"Of course."
Jade smiled reassuringly at the worried Princess, and with effort, he pushed himself up.
Genie, unsure what to do, grabbed Jade's left arm.
"Lean on me," Genie said.
Jade awkwardly nodded and leaned slightly on her.
He couldn't fully lean on the Princess, of course.
As they walked slowly with Genie supporting him, Jade suddenly stopped due to the unbearable pain.
Genie looked at him with deep concern.
"It seems walking all the way to the cave like this might not work, Jade?"
"No, I can walk."
Jade forced himself to take another step, but the pain in his knee was excruciating.
Genie, watching him suffer, felt a mixture of guilt and sympathy.
"Should I carry you? I think I could…"
Jade almost laughed, though he knew it wasn't the right time.
The idea of the small Princess carrying him, someone over 180 cm tall, was ridiculous.
"No, Your Highness. You'll get hurt too."
Jade smiled weakly despite the pain.
Genie, still worried, kept her gaze on Jade's face.
Jade gave her a small smile to reassure her.
As they continued at a very slow pace, Genie and Jade heard a shout in the distance.
"Over here!!!"
Genie, supporting Jade, stopped walking.
Jade also stopped.
"Did you hear that? A voice from far away?"
"A voice? Hmm…"
At that moment, another shout echoed.
"Over here!!!"
The sound of hurried footsteps followed.
Genie and Jade turned, startled.
Someone was rapidly running toward them from a distance.
As the figure approached, Genie and Jade saw a young man running wildly with his arms flailing in the air.
Jade instinctively pulled a dagger from his pocket.
His reflex was driven by the need to protect the Princess at all costs.
The young man, panting heavily, stopped right in front of them.
Breathing hard, he spoke, "Ah… Finally, I've found someone…"
When the man spoke in the language of Hana Kingdom, Genie and Jade were both surprised.
Genie quickly asked, "Are you from Hana?"
The young man's eyes widened at hearing Hana Kingdom's language.
"Oh, no. I'm from the Ash Kingdom! Wait, are you two from Hana Kingdom?"
Genie, relieved, nodded eagerly.
"Yes! We're from the Hana Kingdom!"
The man smiled widely and clapped his hands.
"Wow! I meet neighbors here, of all places!"
But then, his expression suddenly changed, and he looked on the verge of tears.
Genie and Jade were taken aback by the man's sudden shift in emotions.
The man continued, tearfully, "I honestly thought I was going to die... I've been wandering this island all day without seeing a single soul, and I thought I was the only one here!"
Genie, seeing the man's tears, smiled gently.
"It must have been so scary being alone."
"Yes, you have no idea! I honestly thought my life was over here."
Unlike Genie, Jade kept his guard up.
He didn't let go of his dagger, keeping his eyes on the man.
Genie said, "So, you came to this island by boat from Hana, and that's how you ended up here?"
The man nodded, still sniffing.
"Yes, that's right. And you two must've been the same way. What are the odds of this happening? Do you think we can make it back home?"
Genie replied firmly, "Of course. We'll be able to get back. Don't worry too much."
Hearing Genie's strong reassurance, the man wiped his tears and nodded gratefully.
His gaze then shifted to Jade's leg, where the torn cloth was tied tightly around the wound.
"Blood… there's so much blood!"
Genie spoke up. "He's seriously injured. I'm trying to get him back to the cave. Could you help us?"
"Of course!!!"
The man nodded enthusiastically.
----------
After a while, Jade was helped back to the cave by the man.
Genie returned to the cave, arms full of the peaches Jade had picked.
"Thank you," Jade said as he separated himself from the man.
"Do you think he can sit?"
The man looked concerned.
Jade struggled to sit against the cave wall and sat against it.
Genie, following behind, put the peaches on the floor.
The man noticed the pile of firewood that Jade had prepared.
"Wow, did you make all this already?"
Genie nodded and pointed to Jade.
"He did it all."
"Wow."
The man was impressed by the pile of wood.
"You must have had a pretty warm night."
Thinking of the previous night's events, both Genie and Jade felt awkward.
The man continued. "I slept on the forest floor, just covering myself with leaves. It was freezing, I thought I was going to die."
Genie replied, "Well, until we leave here, you should stay with us in the cave."
The man nodded eagerly.
"Thank you!"
Genie looked at Jade.
'Do you think it'll be okay?' she silently asked.
Jade nodded without a word.
Living with the man they had just met didn't seem ideal, but since he was in the same situation, Jade couldn't outright reject him.
Genie asked the man, "Is there a clean waterhole on this island?"
The man's eyes brightened.
"Yes! I was just looking for one when I found you two!"
"Really?"
"Yes! Want to come with me and see it?"
"Of course!"
Genie quickly gathered the bamboo pieces Jade had brought the day before.
There were still plenty left from the firewood pile.
"We'll use these to carry the water."
At Genie's words, the man eagerly nodded and grabbed the bamboo pieces with her.
Jade silently watched them from behind.
Genie turned to Jade.
"Wait here. I'll go get some clean water."
Without giving Jade time to respond, Genie and the man left the cave together.
Jade watched them leave, his expression tense.
Something felt off.
Though getting the clean water was a good thing, he felt uneasy with the man now accompanying Genie.
He sighed and shook his head.
'I'm overthinking this,' he thought.
Ignoring his feelings, Jade waited for Genie to return.