Chapter 3
Chapter 3
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: The Villainess Trapped in the Tower (2)
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Rafne Bell Martinez had now been confined to the tower for a full year.
"Everyone... good morning."
The morning sunlight streaming through the window illuminated her.
It had been a year since she was locked in this tower.
The number of times she had spoken to another person during that time...
Zero.
"The weather's nice today too... isn't it, Mary?"
And the number of times she had spoken to any living creature.
Zero.
"Hehe... Susan doesn't like the rain much, does she?"
She spoke warmly to someone right in front of her.
And Rafne's eyes, as she did so, were lifeless.
They stared vacantly at the other, having lost all light and vitality.
The other was a doll.
An inanimate object that only wore a manufactured smile, unmoved by her greetings or questions.
Yet she brushed its hair gently, as if even they were precious to her.
"...I asked for a new friend today, so let's welcome them nicely?"
Rafne Bell Martinez was cursed.
The reason she had ended up like this was a trait that had suddenly appeared a year ago, after her duel with Emily Epiris.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Unique Trait: Curse of Fear] Inflicts extreme stress and terror on any moving living creature within a 50m radius. The curse upon her isolated her completely.
At first, because of it, she was effectively expelled from the academy and sent back to the Martinez Family.
She had thought she would recuperate there and find a way to lift the curse...
But even the prestigious Martinez Family couldn't handle her curse.
'Causing such a nuisance... It's a disgrace to the family. We've contacted the academy, so go back there.'
It was a dry message from a familiar in the shape of a new bird.
She had been abandoned.
First by the academy. She accepted being chased out. It was because of the curse.
But on the day she was driven from her own home, she couldn't accept it.
'Wha...? Why... me...?'
Until she could return to the academy, she stared blankly into empty space.
After that, on a national level, she was ordered to remain confined here at the academy under house arrest.
House arrest in name only—it was imprisonment.
The door was firmly locked, and the tower was too tall to jump from the window.
She was discarded in this dilapidated tower.
Abandoned by the academy, her family, and the nation.
At first, that fact tormented her.
It hurt that everyone turned away from her over a single curse.
She was being treated like a plague victim.
Her body wasn't rotting, she didn't smell foul, and she wasn't contagious.
At first, she wept bitterly over her abandonment.
But then she realized.
The true pain wasn't that.
"Wow... The new friend today is a cool boy."
After being confined to the tower, she hadn't had contact with anyone.
It was only natural. Due to the curse's effect, anyone who approached the tower suffered intense stress.
So food and necessities were delivered via the academy's magical familiars.
A simple lump of mana in the shape of a bird.
Rafne smiled as she received the boy doll it brought her.
Her smiling eyes were lifeless.
No one needed her.
No one tried to help her.
No one came looking for her.
She was isolated.
"So, what should we name our new friend?"
Rafne's dead eyes, smiling at the doll, shed tears upon receiving it.
But denying her sadness, Rafne threw herself into playing with the dolls.
In her imagination, they spoke to her warmly in her mind.
[How about Kyle?]
[No, that look suits Bill better!]
[I'll like whatever name Rafne chooses.]
The new doll called out its own name too.
They were her only friends.
But she couldn't escape into imagination. She absolutely couldn't look at reality.
There was only a lonely, desolate, cold space.
"...Haha... Ahaha..."
She didn't want to die. She wanted to live.
She wanted to keep living.
But everyone around her isolated her, as if urging her toward death.
A grim reality where letting her guard down even slightly made her want to jump. A grim future.
When would this curse end? She prayed constantly, but nothing changed.
And so she remained trapped in the tower.
For a full year.
"...Huh?"
Then one day, change arrived.
To her, it felt like a miracle from the gods.
Creeeak...
The door, locked tight for a year, opened.
The door that had never opened once screamed as it moved.
And through the open door appeared a person.
"P-Pe... person...!"
Fat, face twisted in agony, panting and sweating profusely.
Soon the man collapsed with a pig-like squeal.
"...P-Person... P-Person...!"
But his appearance meant nothing to Rafne.
She thought she had finally gone mad and was hallucinating.
That her extreme loneliness had conjured such visions.
But no matter how she thought about it, this pathetic figure was too real for her imagination.
The fat man looked at her and rasped in a strained voice.
"M-More than that... w-water, please..."
At his faint plea, Rafne snapped to her senses.
"W-W-Water?! Y-Yes! I'll get it right now!"
It was the miraculous first conversation with a person in a year.
Tears streaming from overwhelming emotion, Rafne searched for water.
By the time she returned with a bottle of water, he had passed out.
"N-No... d-don't die! You can't die!!"
Rafne paled at the sight of the unconscious Ken and hurriedly laid his head in her lap.
Feeling the tangible warmth of another person, she carefully brought the bottle to his lips.
Water trickled into his slightly parted mouth.
Though unconscious, driven by severe thirst, Ken instinctively swallowed, and soon his face relaxed peacefully.
'Thank goodness...'
Seeing he had passed the crisis, Rafne sighed in relief.
If he had died here, she would never have recovered.
'A... real... person...?'
In this unbelievable reality, Rafne cautiously reached out.
She lightly stroked his hair, feeling a realistic texture. Even if it was imagination, this felt real enough.
She caressed his cheek. The soft give was pleasant.
He reeked of manly sweat from all the perspiration, but Rafne didn't mind at all.
On the contrary, she felt happy just to smell another human after so long.
'But... how did Ken Fine Stein...?'
Rafne recognized his face.
No, even through her torment, she could never forget him.
He was none other than the male student she had bullied a year ago.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Mm... nyah."
I felt moisture in my mouth.
Sensing the dampness inside, I opened my eyes.
My vision was dominated by two massive mountain ranges.
Yes, another wonder of the human body distinct from the single peak that had greeted me when I first possessed Ken Fine Stein and looked down.
Breasts.
"G-Gas...?!"
"Ah..."
I jolted up in surprise.
Regaining my senses, I looked at where I'd been lying.
There sat Rafne Bell Martinez in a seiza position.
So that's where I was.
Her neatly folded legs. The plush paradise atop them.
Her thighs.
Whoa, staring too long would make me a pervert.
With that, I looked at the one who had kindly provided my pillow.
'Wow... I felt it from the illustrations, but...'
The real Rafne was truly beautiful.
Normally, she'd have a proud, heroic bearing like a great warrior, but strangely, now she seemed hesitant and fidgety.
She'd start to say something, then swallow it back, her shadowed, lifeless eyes watching me cautiously.
Should I say hello first?
"Um... thank you for helping me first off. Rafne."
"...Wha, huh?"
She had clearly saved my life, so it was only natural gratitude.
But she looked strangely shocked.
"Y-You... don't... remember me...?"
"Pardon? Of course I do. You're Rafne Bell Martinez, right?"
"Y-Yeah."
What an odd question. By the setting, we're acquaintances anyway.
At my response, she seemed surprised at first, then smiled happily.
Her eyes grew moist, tears welling up.
"Yeah...! That's right, it's me! I'm Rafne!"
"Wha, whoa?! Why are you crying?!"
She wiped her streaming tears with both arms. She was crying, but it seemed joyful somehow.
"B-Because, sob... even after what I did to you, hic, you're thanking me..."
Oh, right.
Come to think of it, the reason she and Ken knew each other was because she had bullied him relentlessly.
My attitude just now must have felt weird.
Sudden politeness would be awkward too.
...But crying over it?
Maybe she harbored some guilt of her own.
Fitting her beautiful appearance, she had a kind heart too.
Surely there were circumstances behind bullying Ken. There must have been.
"Um, so why is Rafne here...?"
"Sob, th-that's..."
A natural question, and she slowly began to explain.
After hearing her full story, my impression was...
Shocking, to say the least.
'That explains her reactions so far.'
The sudden curse, the reality of being abandoned in the tower, her lonely days, and then a person appearing after a year.
And that precious person was the one she had bullied.
"S-So... sob, I was scared you'd... r-run away if you saw me... sob, I was so afraid..."
She wept continuously while explaining that part. Overwhelmed by relief or fear, her emotions surged.
Who knew the game's backstory had such depth. That's why Rafne vanished after part 1.
Hm? But something's off.
If her curse repels living beings within 50m...
Why am I fine?
Because I'm a possessor?
As if answering, a status window had been visible for a while.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Rafne Bell Martinez's trait effect is disrupting Ken Fine Stein's immersion. Is this related to her curse too?
What if Ken's immersion had been approved without the trait effect?
Hmm...
"Um, hey...!"
Rafne spoke up as I pondered.
"...Yeah?"
"Y-You know! Have you eaten breakfast? There's lots of tasty stuff here... W-Wanna eat together?"
She invited me hesitantly, like an elementary kid making her first friend.
And at those words, Ken's body reacted naturally.
Grrrowl~
A small earthquake rumbled in the massive mountains.
"...Then I'll impose on you."
"Y-Yeah! What do you like? Just say it! I can make anything!"
Rafne beamed innocently, delighted.
She jumped up eagerly and headed somewhere—probably where she stored food.
'...She's cute.'
She was already my type of girl.
A fiery character matching her hair color, with a bold warrior vibe—that was charming too.
But this timid, girlish side was a whole new appeal.
"Just give me whatever you're having, Rafne~."
I called out to her as she hurriedly prepared something.
Then I looked around.
A room too vast for one person. All brick walls, furnished only with a desk, bed, and wardrobe.
A small alcove where Rafne had gone—likely a kitchenette.
And dolls scattered everywhere.
'A whole year in a place like this...'
Cut off from the world, no less.
Before possessing, I was a shut-in too. Holed up in my room, never going out, just gaming nonstop—a pathetic life.
But I had the internet to survive.
I could connect with someone somehow.
If not the net, TV. If not that, games—indirect contact with others, real or fictional.
But in this cold, antiquated space with zero communication, enduring abandonment's pain alone for a year.
Unimaginable agony for me.
A short while later, breakfast Rafne prepared began.
"So the teacher calls out the delinquent and..."
"Yeah, yeah!"
As we ate, I chattered nonstop to fill the void of her lonely time.
To trifling tales with no real nutrition, Rafne laughed happily and responded.
She just nodded along, but her face showed clear emotion.
Tears kept welling in her eyes.
In this utterly unexpected situation, she looked saved.
So I talked even more fervently, hoping to comfort her heart even a little.
"Man, that breakfast you made was delicious, Rafne. Thanks."
After breakfast ended, I patted my full belly and said so.
No exaggeration—it was genuinely good. After the intense hike, my body craved calories.
And for her rare guest, Rafne had prepared a feast.
A true banquet.
"Yeah... If Ken's happy, I'm happy too. I-I can make more from now on...!"
"Really? Then I can count on you?"
"...Yeah!"
She looked thrilled at my reply. Naturally. She wanted me to keep coming for breakfast.
And my words implied I'd visit again.
That was enough.
Her punishment ends here.
Her isolation from the world ends today. No more suffering for her.
I'd just keep coming.
Her happy smile made me glad too.
"Alright, belly full, so I'll head out now."
But.
"...Wha, huh...?"
That was just my thinking.
"...You're leaving?"
My misconception.