The gentle wind tickled my hair.
The sound of leaves rustling pleasantly enveloped the surroundings.
With that breeze, Raphne’s red hair swayed gently.
She, with her cheeks flushed among the strands of hair, looked at me with a tense expression.
“Wh-what do you want to talk about?”
They say women have a good intuition.
Of course, I can’t know how it’s different from a man’s intuition since I’ve never been a woman.
But when I said I had something to say, Raphne seemed to know exactly what I was going to say.
I squeezed her hand tightly.
It’s okay.
What I’m about to say is not difficult.
So let’s not hesitate and just talk.
“I like you, Raphne.”
“…Yeah.”
Raphne smiled softly with trembling eyes and nodded.
“…I like you as a woman.”
“…I know.”
“Oh, you knew?”
Raphne smiled as if to ease the tension and leaned her body close to mine.
Still holding her hand, she said,
“Well, if I didn’t like you, then everything you’ve done for me so far would be weird.”
“That’s true.”
Generally, a person wouldn’t visit the Tower every day to break curses and risk their life if they didn’t have feelings for the other person.
Raphne might have been sensing my feelings all along.
But then again, so did I.
Still, this confession isn’t the end.
There’s still more to say.
“So about that…”
I tightened my grip on Raphne’s hand and continued.
Raphne seemed puzzled about why I still had more to say, tilting her head.
I decided to drop a line she didn’t see coming.
“I’m thinking of marrying you, Raphne.”
“…Huh?”
The moment she heard my words, Raphne paused for a moment, contemplating.
Once she grasped the meaning,
“Wh-Whaaat?!”
Her face turned beet red in an instant, and her eyes started to spin in shock.
It seems that no matter how intuitive a woman is, she didn’t expect this.
“I’ve made up my mind recently. I want to marry you… Oh, am I rushing things? …Do you not want to?”
Feeling a bit worried, I asked.
No matter how much I liked her, such a sudden proposal could be overwhelming.
But contrary to my worries, Raphne didn’t think that way.
“N-no! I don’t dislike it! Absolutely not!”
In response to my anxious inquiry, Raphne clutched my hand tightly with both of hers and shook her head vigorously.
Then, looking at me with teary eyes, she said,
“I’m so happy…! I want to marry Ken! I want to be together for the rest of my life!”
After that, she wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me into a tight embrace.
“I love you, more than anyone else in the world.”
Her familiar scent and warmth wrapped around me, and I could feel a slight tremor.
The girl who always cried in front of me was now softly sobbing.
“Is this a dream? Am I going to die tomorrow? Why are you making me so happy today?”
Raphne looked at me with tear-filled eyes and asked.
My heart warmed at seeing her so delighted by my proposal.
But…
I held Raphne tightly and thought.
“I’m sorry, Raphne… This is the end of the good news.”
The shocking bad news that lay ahead.
I had to bring that up to Raphne, who was so happy now.
“Hey, Raphne… Would you like to go somewhere for a moment?”
“Anywhere! I will go anywhere!”
Raphne, immersed in emotions, replied immediately.
My heart began to race even more at her emotional response.
We held hands and started to walk again.
“Hey, Raphne.”
“What?”
Raphne looked at me with rosy cheeks and a joyful smile.
Having just heard my proposal, happiness radiated from her face, making it hard for me to meet her gaze.
But forcing my head to turn, I looked into her sparkling eyes and spoke.
“Raphne, I truly love you. There’s not a shred of a lie in that.”
“…Hehehe.”
At my words, Raphne hugged my arm tightly.
“I love you too. More than anyone else in the world.”
Burrowing her face into my shoulder and acting coy, her words made my heart race.
I’m so happy.
It was absolutely blissful to share this moment with the woman I love, hearing her say she loves me back.
But realize this, Ken Feinstein.
You are not walking the path of flowers, but through an arena of carnage.
“So about that… if Raphne—”
“Huh?”
Just as I felt like some different conversation was about to unfold, Raphne tilted her head in curiosity.
“Will you never dislike me, no matter what happens?”
“Of course not! Even if the world turns against you, I’d still love Ken!”
“Even if you become a coward or an awful person?”
“…Of course it would hurt, but… even if you become the type of guy who hits me, I’ll be right there beside you.”
“No, hitting Raphne… That’s a death wish!”
And oddly, I noticed Raphne’s breath quickened, and her gaze darkened.
…Does Raphne have that kind of taste?
No, that’s not the important thing right now.
“Then from now on, at the place we arrive, I’m going to share something really important. …Even if it’s shocking, you’ll stay by my side, right?”
“…Y-Yeah. I’ll be with you no matter where it is, even if it’s a pit.”
Her answer gave me some reassurance, but at the same time, it twisted my heart further.
Saying she’d stay with me in a pit was something a typical girl would say out of the moment’s emotion after a proposal.
But I could feel it wasn’t just a passing thought for Raphne.
Raphne would truly stay with me no matter what happened.
Even if I couldn’t act like a proper human being, as long as I was breathing, she would be by my side for a lifetime.
That’s why my heart ached.
For the story I was about to tell her that would betray such a girl.
I led Raphne, glowing with happiness, while my heart was filled with guilt, continuing our walk.
The scenery shifted from the lakeside trails back to the city center, as we passed familiar paths, heading closer to where we originally came from.
“…Huh? Mary and… Emily?”
The place Raphne and I had returned to was the Epiris Academy.
And the most familiar location in the Academy.
Perhaps the only place where it all began.
It was in front of the Tower where Raphne was imprisoned.
And there, waiting for us with tense expressions were Mary and Emily.
“What are you two doing here?”
Raphne asked them while looking up at me beside her.
Her eyes were filled with questions.
The excited gaze she had just moments ago had vanished somewhere.
Perhaps deep down, Raphne might have realized something.
What I was about to share.
“Those two are…”
I squeezed my eyes shut and revealed the difficult truth to her.
“They’re also people I like.”
Saying it out loud made me feel like the biggest scumbag walking the earth.
“…Huh?”
And upon hearing my words, Raphne’s eyes widened, gazing blankly at the two.
Neither of them spoke a word yet.
Because I hadn’t finished my story.
“The reason I called them here is to get your permission, Raphne.”
I took her hand and knelt before her.
Not just on one knee, but both.
If it was for the women I love, I would kneel as much as needed.
Above all, this was a way to express the guilt I felt towards Raphne.
But with resolve, I looked up at Raphne without hesitation.
“Please allow us. For the happy future of the three of us. …Let us marry as four. Raphne.”
But there was a problem.
I resigned my pride as a man and knelt to seek permission for my scummy dream.
However, Raphne didn’t acknowledge my determination.
She simply gripped my hand tightly and emitted an ominous aura.
With those familiar empty eyes, she turned to face the two before us.
Those eyes sparkled like daggers.
“Uh…”
The two women, caught in her gaze, stiffened and trembled.
Then Raphne turned to look down at me.
Although her dark gaze remained the same, her expression softened a bit compared to before.
She smiled.
But having spent so long with Raphne, I realized that smile was anything but positive.
Then Raphne swooped down and picked me up in her arms.
And began to leap away in the opposite direction.
“KYAAAAAA!”
“Ken!!”
“Raphne! Where are you going!!”
“Shut up!! Don’t follow me, you fox bitches!!”
In an instant, the scenery changed as Raphne began to move at an incredible speed.
In the blink of an eye, the place had changed.
This was Raphne’s unique skill: Neural Acceleration.
Experiencing her skill indirectly, I realized the current situation.
I had just been… abducted.
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