Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: The Girl Who Waits Every Day
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"Why... why isn't he coming...? It's past the time he usually comes..."
Rafne was pacing anxiously in circles in her room at the top of the tower.
"Why... I, I didn't do anything wrong..."
The reason she was lost in confusion was the man she was waiting for.
Ken Fine Stein still hadn't climbed up to the tower.
Normally, he would have already visited by now, and they'd be having dinner together.
But he still hadn't come.
"Hic, u, uwah, Keeen..."
Her head understood. He would definitely come here.
Even if he couldn't make it today, he would tomorrow, or the day after for sure.
Rafne knew that Ken was human too, and it was hard for him to visit every single day without fail.
"Keeen, sob, Keeen..."
But understanding was only in her head.
Tears welled up in Rafne's eyes and dripped onto the floor.
In the end, what bubbled up in her mind, pushing everything else aside, was the anxiety of being abandoned.
The whisper from the darkness saying she was being abandoned again this time.
It kept circling in her head.
"I'm home..."
But as if ignoring that anxiety, the firmly shut door opened, and the Ken she'd been waiting for appeared.
"Ke, Keeen! Why are you so late today...! I was worried, you know...!"
The moment he appeared, looking exhausted, Rafne rushed straight to him.
To dispel the anxiety shaking her heart.
To feel his presence directly, she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in the nape of his neck.
"W-Woah! Rafne! If you cling like that...!"
Then he kindly lowered his body, sat down, and accepted her.
His scent, which she could smell from his embrace, soothed her anxious heart.
"No way! I don't care! It's your fault, Ken! Do you know what time it is? Hic, I was really, really worried...!"
Of course, her worry wasn't about Ken's safety, but whether he'd come.
But his lateness had shaken Rafne's heart.
Feeling wronged by the fact that she'd trembled in anxiety because of it, Rafne appealed to him.
And Ken accepted her whining without getting annoyed, ever so gently.
"Sorry, Rafne. I got held up with some work."
Rafne understood that too.
That he hadn't been late on purpose.
But even so, when she faced him, she ended up crying, clinging, and throwing a tantrum.
She wanted him to understand her feelings.
The feelings of spending the whole day in this space without him, counting the hours until he came, thinking only of Ken.
The emotions of worrying if he might hate her, yet still clinging and being stubborn.
She poured out her grievances about the anxiety she'd felt just moments ago.
"Waaah...! Ken needs to... understand how important he is a little more...! ...I'm anxious! I'm worried!"
Whining like that, she burrowed deeper into his embrace.
Rafne knew she was a clingy girl.
She knew, but she couldn't stop clinging to Ken.
While worrying he'd come to hate her, she'd also realized he didn't hate her for it.
Before, she'd held back more, minding it, but lately, even that restraint was gone.
Now she was fully pushing her emotions onto Ken.
"D-Don't make me anxious... Don't abandon me.... Hic, hold me more, reassure me, stay by my side, pet me, don't leave me..."
Her childish whining.
Even that whining, Ken accepted kindly.
When she acted spoiled like this, Ken would pet her head with one hand.
The feel of his hand brushing her hair felt good.
Feeling that hand calmed her heart.
"Everything's fine, but I can't do the last one. I have to go back to the dorm."
And finally, he answered playfully.
But even that joke of his shook Rafne's heart.
"Hic, I'll burn the dorm down!"
"Then I'd have nowhere to live..."
"...You can live here."
Rafne mumbled as she buried her face deeper into the nape of his neck.
When her lips touched his neck, he shivered.
She wrapped her arms over his shoulders and pressed her body against his entirely.
When she stuck close, Ken shivered again, as if stimulated.
Pressing against the warm, soft Ken, she could feel his heartbeat.
While burying her face in his nape and inhaling his scent.
Every time she breathed out, Ken's body twitched.
His reactions were cute.
This was revenge for making her anxious.
Rafne thought to herself.
When she pressed her body close like this, Ken would fluster not knowing what to do, but soon pet her head.
That gentle touch felt good.
With a vengeful heart for the anxiety he'd caused earlier, she moved her body more.
Every time Rafne's body stimulated Ken's, the reactions came back.
His hand freezing, his shoulders trembling.
For some reason, those reactions were fun, so she teased more.
A time of compensation for her anxious heart. Rafne loved this time.
Before, she'd just feared being alone, being abandoned.
Lately, she endured the day by thinking of this time with Ken.
And when it seemed like he might not come, anxiety enveloped her.
Then when Ken came to the tower, they spent happy times together.
Rafne had completely fallen into her time with him.
'Now, as long as I have Ken... I wouldn't mind being locked up here forever.'
The academy that abandoned her.
The family that abandoned her.
The nation that abandoned her.
But this one man hadn't abandoned her.
Despite her stubbornness, her whining, even her past mistakes, he hadn't abandoned her.
Rafne liked his gentle heart.
Savoring the present with him like this, Rafne focused on his body heat and scent.
Sniiiif, haaah.
His body shivered as she breathed out.
"......"
But something was off.
Rafne felt a sense of wrongness.
She pulled her face from his neck and looked at Ken with a confused heart.
Feeling her gaze, he seemed somehow flustered.
"Ken..."
Why was he flustered?
"......Where did you go today?"
The unfamiliar scent mixed into his usual smell.
At her question, Ken stammered like someone in the wrong.
"Uh, u, yeah? J-Just... had to watch the swordsmanship tournament..."
Rafne caught on immediately from his words.
He hadn't just gone to watch the swordsmanship tournament.
Not withdrawing her suspicious feelings, she asked him again.
"Ken... You smell like a woman."
Definitely, among his usual scent, there was one unfamiliar note.
The fragrant smell of another woman.
Seeing Rafne's hollow gaze, Ken thought.
'No way, are you really a dog or something?'
How could she distinguish that?
But Ken decided to deny it. Being honest wouldn't do Rafne any good.
"I-It must be your imagination! Th-There were tons of people, so that's probably it!"
"...Really?"
Rafne tilted her head and asked again.
"...Y-Yeah. Really."
And seeing Ken avert his eyes, she was convinced.
"You're lying."
"......"
Then, as if by magic, Ken shut his mouth.
He averted his eyes and broke out in cold sweat. Ken was bad at lying.
Rafne's hollow, red eyes looking at him.
Being swallowed by that gaze, Ken steeled his heart.
He knew how to handle this. The important thing wasn't whether he'd met a woman.
"E-Even if it is a lie... I will never abandon Rafne. No matter what, I'll come back to you."
"......"
Then Rafne shut her mouth.
'I-Is that okay?'
What Rafne worried about wasn't him meeting women.
The important thing was not being abandoned by Rafne.
That was Ken's frontal assault judgment.
Whether his judgment was right, Rafne's hollow gaze turned to teary, sad eyes.
She buried her face in Ken's nape again.
Rafne knew too. Even if he got a woman, Ken wouldn't abandon her.
But Ken was her everything.
What was wrong with wanting to be his everything too?
But if she kept being a nuisance, he might really come to hate her this time.
So Rafne suppressed her true feelings and whispered in Ken's ear.
"...Ken, it's okay if you lie. ...Even if you met a woman, as long as you're not dating her, it's fine."
She just clearly conveyed her wish.
"Just always prioritize me. ...Think of me as your top priority."
Suppressing emotions that might make her cry if she misspoke, she whispered that.
Rafne feared his response, but Ken placed his hand on her head and gently stroked it.
"Of course. Don't worry."
"Y-You have to get it. Hic, I really only have you...!"
"Yeah, yeah."
His gentle hand caressed her hair.
Even while crying, it made her heart feel at ease.
She didn't want to lose this time.
Ken's place in Rafne's heart grew ever larger.
'Looks like it'll take some time for her to calm down.'
Unaware of that, Ken smiled.
"Wait just a bit. I'll make the thing to lift the curse soon."
"......Yeah."