Fortunately, Emily regained consciousness by the time the day brightened.
“…Thank you.”
“No problem, I was warm too…”
Naturally, I had no choice but to hold Emily to keep her warmth after she fainted in the cold of the night.
As she opened her eyes, she startled awake and expressed her gratitude.
Once the sun was up and we could check our surroundings, we were able to leave the forest with Emily supporting me.
“Th-That… Enzo…”
I then informed the female students who had returned from searching for Enzo about his passing.
Some had shocked expressions, while others broke into tears.
They must have been close friends.
“…Sigh.”
Of course, I dug his grave.
Aside from me, everyone else on the island was female.
I had no choice but to handle such tasks.
Besides, it would have felt odd showing them the sight of someone from our class torn in half.
Since it wasn’t too hard for me, I quickly finished the job.
“Good work, Ken.”
After finishing the digging and setting up a suitable headstone, I heard Emily’s voice from behind.
“Were you close to Enzo?”
“Not really. Before the timeline changed, I only saw him briefly in first year, and after the change, all he did was bug me.”
Emily’s memory had completely returned.
However, it seemed she was somewhat confused due to the differences between her memories before and after the timeline alteration.
“By the way, I didn’t expect changing the past at the tower would also wipe my memories.”
After we finished Enzo’s grave, we moved to a nearby beach for a moment.
Settling into a nice shady spot, we gazed at the crashing waves.
Naturally, we held each other’s hands tightly.
“Hey, Ken… But, is that… really true?”
Emily leaned her shoulder against mine and looked up at me.
“Hmm? What is?”
“I mean, the things you said in the forest.”
“…Ah, yeah.”
Realizing what she was referring to, I nodded awkwardly in response to her bashful remark.
In the aftermath of memories flooding back, I had confessed my feelings to Emily without thinking.
But if you asked me now if I’d take it back, I would definitely say no.
“…Hehe.”
Seeing my answer seemed to satisfy her; Emily blushed and smiled cutely.
Then she gently wrapped her arm around mine.
“I like you too, Ken.”
“…Yeah, I heard that before.”
“But it’s something I wanted to say, so I’ll keep saying it.”
With a mischievous look, Emily stared at me.
Our conversation felt like that of lovers, and the closeness felt like that of lovers too.
I didn’t dislike it. But…
‘Is this really okay…?’
There was something weighing on my mind.
And I could easily recall what that something was.
Raphne and Mary.
The faces of the two flashed in my mind.
Raphne had confessed her feelings to me too. And I felt the same.
Mary also confessed her feelings for me. I liked her as well.
‘Ugh, what a scumbag.’
Reflecting on the situation, I felt like a complete jerk.
To like three girls at the same time?
“Aren’t you suffering too much?”
“…Huh? What do you mean?”
“You’re thinking about the other two next to me—Mary and Raphne.”
“Uh? How do you…”
“Your expression gives it all away, Ken.”
Feeling a twinge of jealousy, Emily draped her arm over my shoulder and wrapped her hand around my waist.
As a result, Emily’s body pressed against me even closer.
“It’s okay, don’t worry.”
“How could I not worry…?”
It wasn’t that I was worried about anything else; it was more about how to tell the other two girls about my scummy feelings.
Meet the three of them without saying anything?
That’d be like being a playboy. Unacceptable.
So I needed to inform Mary and Raphne about my situation.
‘…Especially Raphne.’
I was extremely worried.
Given Raphne’s strong possessiveness and attachment to me, I couldn’t imagine what would happen.
“So, I’m fine.”
Seemingly breaking my thoughtful mood, Emily tightened her grip on my hand resting on her chest.
“If something big happens… I’ll back out then.”
“Emily… what do you…”
“Well, if we’re talking qualifications, I’m the least qualified here.”
Emily rested her head on my shoulder, her face dark as she looked down.
But she was making an effort to smile.
“Don’t say such things.”
“…Huh?”
I squeezed Emily’s hand, showing determination.
“What I’m worried about is how to convey the truth to the two of them, not who to let go.”
“…”
Hearing Emily’s words reaffirmed my sincerity.
I wanted to be happy with all three of them.
I didn’t want to see any of them sad.
Even if Raphne opposed me, I’d do everything in my power to persuade her.
As for Mary… she might not like it but probably wouldn’t oppose as vigorously as Raphne.
“Emily, don’t worry needlessly. Now that I’ve said it, I’ll take responsibility.”
“Ken…”
Emily looked at me with tearful eyes.
Seemingly moved, her cheeks flushed, and with trembling eyes, she brought her face closer to mine.
“…Umm.”
And just like that, our lips met.
It was our first kiss since that sixth loop when I first kissed her.
“I-I’m sorry for doing it so suddenly… I was just too happy.”
“Oh, it’s fine… I liked it too.”
After our brief kiss, an awkward silence followed.
Yet, Emily didn’t pull away and continued to rest her head on my shoulder as we embraced the moment.
I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and looked at the waves to gather my thoughts.
‘I’ll figure it out somehow.’
Perhaps it was divine intervention; in this world, polygamy was possible.
If I could simply gain the consent of all three, we could reach a happy ending.
One where no one is sad.
“Hmm…”
When I opened my eyes, I saw a familiar ceiling.
‘I’m back.’
About a day had passed since the night before I fell onto the deserted island.
In other words, time in reality hadn’t progressed since I fell onto the island.
Of course, I was aware of this fact from the game, but experiencing it firsthand felt strange.
‘It was definitely a week on the deserted island.’
After Enzo’s death, Emily and I made up our minds, and we survived on the deserted island without any major issues.
There were occasional events like monster hordes or heavy rain, but with my crafting skills and abilities, I handled things without much difficulty.
The problem started now.
‘I need to tell the two of them.’
They might insult me as a scumbag, and I’m sure they would.
However, I had to firmly set my feelings for the other two before persuading them to be with me.
With that determination, I left the dormitory looking tense from the morning.
“Something seems sharp about you today, Ken.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. You seem like a knight who has made a firm decision.”
It turns out that when a scumbag is serious, it resembles a knight who has made a resolution.
Unbeknownst to him, Siegfried looked at me with pride after finishing his training.
After completing the usual morning training, I headed toward Raphne’s tower following my routine.
“Ken━!”
As soon as I opened the tower door, Raphne, wearing an apron, leaped into my arms.
‘Her warm and familiar scent as expected.’
While Mary and Emily’s scents made my heart race, Raphne’s aroma warmed my soul.
It felt like returning home.
“Huh? You seem to be in a good mood today?”
“Really?”
It might be true since I was finally seeing Raphne after a week.
“I must be really great for you, huh?”
“Let’s go with that.”
“Hehe.”
After a while of petting Raphne’s head as she nestled against me, I enjoyed the breakfast she prepared and then left the tower.
“Let go, Raphne…!”
“Wuuuh! You think it’s too much since I like you! So can’t I stay in the tower just for today?”
Having a teary-eyed Raphne cling to my clothes as she bid me farewell, I set off toward the academy.
‘First, I need to persuade Mary.’
Of course, I hadn’t revealed my true feelings to Raphne.
It would be too risky to take on the boss monster from the start.
For now, I decided to tell Mary the truth first since she could likely handle the aftershock.
I also owed her a response to the confession she had given me.
“Mary.”
“Ah, Ken.”
Arriving at the academy earlier than usual, I hurriedly dropped off my things in class and found my way to Mary’s class.
As usual, Mary was sitting in her seat, having arrived at the academy early.
Calling out to her from the back door of the classroom, she smiled gently, breaking her usual blank expression, and got up from her seat.
She quickly ran over to me.
‘So cute…’
Seeing her made my heart flutter.
Usually, I suppressed such frivolous feelings, but now that I embraced my true feelings, affection for her spilled out easily.
“What’s up?”
Mary, seemingly excited and blushing, stood before me.
“Mary, I have something I want to say… is there a time that works for you?”
“……”
I got straight to the point without beating around the bush.
But sharing such conversations at the back door of a classroom would surely lead to strange rumors at the academy.
I resolved to find a private moment for just the two of us to tread carefully.
When I suddenly suggested making plans, Mary widened her eyes and shyly glanced away before responding.
“Um, after the academy… whenever after that is fine.”
“Alright, then I’ll see you then. I have something really important I want to say today.”
“Yes, okay…!”
When I looked at her with determined eyes, she seemed flustered, her face reddening, which wasn’t typical of her.
It seemed she could somewhat guess the nature of what I was going to say.
Of course, a positive response to the confession was what she expected.
The problem would come afterward when I drop the shocking news, but there was no helping it.
I was serious.
I would break through head-on.
After scheduling a time with Mary, I proudly returned to the classroom.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.
