Witt was utterly ashamed. He hadn't expected that in his rush to rescue Kaelxi, he'd accidentally touched the softest, most vulnerable part of her body.

Witt recalled the sensation on his palm. No wonder it felt warm and soft even through her clothes...

Looking at the girl crying incessantly in his arms, Witt didn't know what to do. He could only stammer, "S-sorry, Kaelxi. I didn't mean to."

Seeing Kaelxi showed no sign of stopping her tears, Witt said solemnly, "I'll take responsibility for you. I'll be responsible for a lifetime."

Kaelxi, crying with her face covered, shuddered all over at these words.

"Responsible for a lifetime? That means spending my whole life with this idiot!"

"Damn it, I can't think straight, but I just want to cry..."

"Why is this happening? Has my soul completely merged with this body?"

"No, it can't be. If I stay with Witt..."

"I'll completely turn into a real girl!"

At the thought of this terrifying outcome, Kaelxi couldn't help but cry even harder.

Even her thoughts had changed. Before meeting Witt, she would have thought, "This young master will eventually become a woman," not "I will become a girl."

Kaelxi's tears plopped incessantly onto the sandy ground. Witt wanted to find something in their luggage to wipe her tears.

Then Witt awkwardly realized their luggage had been blown away.

Earlier, he'd been so focused on protecting Kaelxi that he'd forgotten about the luggage.

So Witt could only use his hand to wipe Kaelxi's tears, constantly apologizing.

Kaelxi's trembling body gradually calmed down. She didn't blame Witt; after all, it wasn't intentional.

She'd made up her mind: if she wanted to regain her former self, she needed to find a chance to leave Witt.

As for being touched by Witt, as long as Kaelxi believed her essence hadn't turned into that of a shy maiden, she wouldn't care.

Yeah, she didn't care! Not at all!

Kaelxi thought this was actually a good thing, a wake-up call for her.

Otherwise, if she continued to decline like this, by the time she didn't even mind being touched by Witt, she might lose all desire to change back.

"I need to keep my distance from this idiot from now on!"

The desert was quiet, with only endless yellow sand and a warm breeze. This filled her with resolve.

"I forgive you, Witt..." Kaelxi wiped her face with her dirty clothes, stood up, and brushed the sand off herself. She didn't want Witt holding her anymore.

Witt also stood up, still looking extremely embarrassed, his eyes apologetic as he gazed at Kaelxi.

"Kaelxi, I..."

"Don't mention what just happened. Let's pretend it never occurred," Kaelxi interrupted. "Our goal now is to get out of the desert."

"No, Kaelxi, I wasn't going to bring that up. I just wanted to say, 'Kaelxi, we lost our luggage.'" Witt felt it was all his fault since he'd been carrying it.

Kaelxi thought it wasn't that serious. After all, they'd be out of the desert in at most one more day.

"Besides, the wind blew us off course earlier," Witt added. "Which means we're lost."

...

They were lost, but not completely lost.

Fortunately, the Sunblast in this other world also rose in the east and set in the west. After observing its path for a while, they headed west again.

All their food had been blown away. Witt thought he could endure the hunger, but feared Kaelxi couldn't. So he planned to secretly find some food in the sand for her.

Under Kaelxi's puzzled gaze, Witt ran around. Then he rushed to her excitedly: "Kaelxi, are you hungry?"

"I'm a bit hungry. Did you find something to eat?" Kaelxi asked suspiciously. She didn't think Witt could find food in the desert.

"Look! There are scorpions in the desert too!" Witt happily opened his palm. Two or three dark brown scorpions waved their claws and tails menacingly.

Those terrifying eight eyes... the hard shell on their backs... the dreadful stinger on their tails...

"Ahhh!!! Bugs!!! Throw them away!!!" Kaelxi's face turned pale. She was most afraid of arthropods.

She'd been scared in her past life, and now she was even more terrified!

"Huh? Kaelxi doesn't like them?" Seeing her fear, Witt hurriedly threw the scorpions on the ground.

Unexpectedly, the scorpions didn't run away. Instead, they crawled toward Kaelxi.

"Witt, h-help! Save me!" At the sight, Kaelxi was terrified out of her wits. Without thinking, she jumped into Witt's arms, wrapping her hands around his neck.

Witt caught Kaelxi, one arm under her armpits, the other supporting her knees. "Don't be afraid, Kaelxi. I'll crush them right now!" He held her like a princess and stomped on the scorpions underfoot.

Kaelxi still didn't want to get down. Only when Witt walked far from the corpses did she shakily climb out of his arms.

The plan to stay away from Witt failed. First time!

They continued forward, but Witt's steps grew lighter. This made Kaelxi feel something was wrong.

"Witt, are you really that hungry?" Kaelxi looked at Witt, whose steps were unsteady from hunger. She felt a bit sorry for him.

She attributed it to the sympathy one feels seeing a stray dog without food.

Yeah, no personal feelings. None at all!

At least, that's what Kaelxi tried to convince herself.

Witt had already needed energy after overusing his magic. Then he ran around looking for scorpions. Now he was starving.

"Ah, I'm hungry, but I can hold on! Kaelxi, don't worry about me!" Witt's eyes were almost crossed from hunger, but he still put on a brave front. Or rather, he just didn't want her to worry.

"Sigh..." Kaelxi sighed. She still cared about Witt a little. "Do you see those green plants? They're called cacti. They're edible." She pointed to a cactus, explaining.

"Really? But I tried earlier. It's prickly in the mouth..." Witt had secretly bitten a cactus while looking for scorpions.

"Idiot, don't you know to pick the tender ones and remove the spines?" Kaelxi rolled her eyes. Unexpectedly, Witt slowly fell backward.

"Thud!" Witt fell flat on his back.

"Witt, what's wrong?" Kaelxi hurriedly helped him up, but Witt couldn't stand. He could only lean against her chest.

"It's nothing. I'm just a bit hungry..." Witt, completely unable to hold on, gave Kaelxi a weak, unconvincing smile.

Witt's head rested weakly on Kaelxi's lap. They hadn't bathed for days, but Witt didn't find her scent unpleasant. He thought her lap was more comfortable than a pillow.

Kaelxi sighed helplessly. It seemed she'd have to prepare cactus for Witt soon.

As for the plan to stay away from Witt, it failed. Second time!