Chapter 39
Chapter 39
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Always by My Side (3)
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"Alright, Ken's turn next."
"…Hmm."
It's been five days since Rafne confined me in the tower.
My persuasions had been completely useless, leaving me just biding my time for an opportunity.
"How about here?"
"Aah!"
Right now, we were playing a board game similar to chess on top of the bed.
In truth, Rafne just wouldn't let me leave the room, but otherwise, spending time together was the same as always.
So while we played the board game, she'd released the restraints on my hands and merely shackled my ankles.
"…Hehe, got you, Ken. Truth is, I lured you right into that spot!"
"What?!"
Her triumphant strike undid my sluggish move, and the very next turn, Rafne's play instantly reversed the board.
Ugh, as expected, I couldn't beat Rafne—not after she'd spent a full year locked in this tower studying the game alone.
"I… I lost…."
"Yay! I won!"
Overjoyed by her victory, Rafne beamed innocently and bounced up and down in her seated position, arms raised high.
The bed rocked beneath her, making it hard for me to keep my balance.
"So, the prize is mine now, right?"
"…Prize?"
Did we even have something like that on the line?
I racked my brain, drawing a total blank on whatever prize Rafne was talking about.
"Hyah."
"Huh?"
Thud.
Rafne hurled herself at me, riding the momentum from the shaking bed.
Her weight threw off my balance, sending me toppling backward onto the mattress.
And since she'd shoved me down, she ended up straddling me naturally.
Rafne's hair draped like a curtain around my face.
"Ra, Rafne?"
I panicked while she smiled down at me.
Only then did it hit me what prize she'd meant.
It was that thing I'd been asking her for lately.
"I want a kiss."
Her cheeks flushed pink, her lips glistening moistly.
The look in her eyes—like a predator eyeing its prey.
Ever since crossing that line once, Rafne had started demanding it more and more.
Call it fortunate if you want, but thankfully, she never pushed past that point.
As long as I didn't try to go further myself, it seemed like that boundary would hold.
But once our lips met, there was no stopping it.
Thump.
Thump, thump.
I waited in tense anticipation as she drew closer.
Thud.
Suddenly, Rafne rolled aside and lay flat on the bed.
She looked just like Sleeping Beauty lost in slumber.
She glanced sideways at me.
"This time it's the prize, so… you do it, Ken."
Then she closed her eyes again.
…Me do it?
Until now, Rafne had always been the one to lean in for our kisses.
But as her game reward, she wanted me to take the lead.
"…O-okay then."
I carefully leaned over her, bracing my arms on either side of her shoulders as I gazed down.
Her eyes closed peacefully, as if asleep; her long, pretty eyelashes.
A faint smile played on her lips, which sparkled invitingly.
Gulp.
This was the first time I was initiating a kiss.
My heart pounded incomparably harder than when she came to me.
Yeah… this was just the game prize, after all.
With that resolve, I slowly lowered my face.
Closer to Rafne.
My lips….
Clank, creak—.
"Huh?"
"Heh?"
"Ah, my apologies. I seem to have interrupted."
…Creak, click.
The door to the room, which had been shut tight, swung open. Siegfried caught sight of us and promptly closed it again.
"W-wait a sec?! Senior?! It's not what it looks like!"
No, it was exactly what it looked like!
Creak—.
"Hm, is it alright to enter?"
"Of course!"
Siegfried cautiously peeked his face through the door crack.
‘…Hold on a second.’
But how had Siegfried even gotten here?
Rafne had definitely removed the pendant, which meant this place fell under the curse's domain.
A normal person would struggle to even approach amid the excruciating pain and terror.
Then it clicked—his trait.
‘Ah, Unyielding Will!’
Innate trait: Unyielding Will
Its effect granted him a resilient spirit and powerful resistance to mental attacks.
It made perfect sense that his sole standout trait could withstand even Rafne's curse.
"Then, if you'll excuse me."
With my permission, Siegfried stepped inside and cut straight to the chase.
"Ken, I haven't the foggiest what's going on here. But if you're willing, come with me. The others are worried."
His explanation revealed why he'd come to the tower.
Well, no word for five days? Yeah, they'd worry.
But.
"Se-senior, the thing is…."
I was grateful for his arrival, but the problem was I wasn't exactly free to go.
"You're taking Ken?"
Rafne's voice rang out cold and clear.
Having heard Siegfried, she rose from her seat, radiating a menacing aura.
"You're… Rafne Bell Martinez, aren't you."
As expected, even the third-years knew her name—Siegfried recognized her.
"Judging by the situation… you're the one holding Ken captive?"
Siegfried's eyes shifted.
His usual indifferent gaze sharpened as he glared at Rafne.
"Ken, answer me. Do you need help right now? If so, then I…."
He drew the wooden sword from his belt.
"…will rescue you with everything I've got."
The tip of the wooden sword pointed straight at Rafne.
They locked eyes in fierce glares.
The air crackled like a fight could erupt any second.
Siegfried offering to help.
Ask for it now?
If battle broke out and Siegfried won—even assuming that—
Would it truly resolve anything?
No, we might escape the tower, but it wouldn't fix Rafne's heart.
"Senior, I'm…."
That's why I planned to turn down his help.
I didn't want either of them getting hurt in some pointless clash.
But before I could get the words out—
"No… No no no no…!!"
Rafne flew into a sudden frenzy.
"No one can take Ken away from me—!!"
She screamed it and vanished from my sight.
Boom—!!
A deafening roar hit, followed by a blast of wind pressure.
Objects around us tumbled across the floor, unable to withstand the gust.
When I snapped back to my senses, Rafne—wooden sword in hand—and Siegfried were crossing blades.
The wooden sword Rafne wielded was the one I'd used during training.
‘…He blocked Rafne's attack.’
What was shocking was how Siegfried had casually parried her ambush.
Rafne's strike, fueled by her unique skill Nerve Acceleration, moved at speeds too fast to perceive.
"Swiftness lives up to the rumors… but your killing intent is far too blatant."
"…Ngh."
Whoosh!
Her attack rebuffed, a startled Rafne leaped backward.
The same strike that Emily, Mary, and Adrian hadn't even reacted to mere days ago—blocked cold.
Rafne seemed to have sized up Siegfried's skill from that exchange and abandoned close-quarters combat.
Instead, she thrust one hand forward.
"…Tch."
Siegfried, lacking any counter to magic, lost his composure. His face hardened as he dropped into a stance.
An aggressive posture, like a coiled spring ready to launch.
No intent to flee.
He planned to charge straight through.
This was.
Bad.
"W-wait, hold on, just a moment!"
"Ke-Ken?"
"……."
If the fight kept going, this tower wouldn't survive it—so I threw myself between them.
Arms spread wide, blocking Siegfried's path.
Rafne looked flustered; Siegfried stayed silent.
Siegfried's tense expression eased, reverting to his usual impassive gaze.
"Misunderstanding! Total misunderstanding, senior! I'm fine—no need to fight!"
Of course, there wasn't a shred of misunderstanding.
Five days of radio silence.
Shackles on my ankle.
Rafne reacting aggressively at the thought of losing me.
Every circumstance screamed "kidnapping."
"…Hm. Is that right?"
"Yes, yes! So please, put the sword away!"
"If you say so, then very well."
Even knowing full well, Siegfried nodded along.
He sheathed his wooden sword and turned toward the door.
"Then, I've confirmed you're safe. I'll let the others know."
"Se-senior. If it's alright… about the tower, or Rafne…."
"Worry not. I'll only pass on word that you're unharmed."
He reached for the door to leave.
Creak—.
Then, as if struck by a thought—
He halted, turned back, and looked our way.
"…And Rafne."
His gaze fell not on me, but on Rafne behind.
With that impassive stare fixed on her, he spoke.
"Clutch something precious too tightly, and one day… it'll shatter."
"……."
No response came. He gave a faint smile, opened the door, and stepped out.
Creak, click.
The door shut, silence settling once more.
In the awkward hush, I turned to Rafne.
She stared back at me, face etched with worry.
"Ken…."
Her eyes trembled—questioning, anxious.
She probably couldn't make sense of it.
If I'd asked Siegfried for help just now, he'd have busted me out somehow.
Win or lose against Rafne, he'd have bided his time to free me.
Rafne, who'd clashed with him and gauged his strength firsthand, knew that best of all.
But I'd stopped Siegfried and sent him away.
I'd thrown away my own chance to escape.
Incomprehensible, right?
So I approached Rafne and took her hand.
"I told you. I'll always be by your side."
"…Huh?"
Rafne blinked in surprise at my unexpected words.
"No matter what happens from here on, I won't abandon you. We'll stay together."
I'd spent these five days agonizing over how to make her believe me.
That's why I'd turned down Siegfried's help myself.
This had to convince her.
That my words were sincere.
"Uu, uwaaah, h-hic, Keeen…."
Whether it reached her, Rafne's eyes reddened as tears began streaming down her face for the first time in ages.
I drew close and pulled her head into my chest, gently stroking her hair.
"But let's wrap up the tower stay in two more days."
Rafne just sobbed in my arms, saying nothing.
"Then after that, we leave the tower together and head to the academy."
A week like this should satisfy her.
"Sound good?"
"…Yeah."
"Sorry. I won't try to put distance between us anymore. Believe me."
"Hic, yeah… me too… sorry."
Thankfully, Rafne seemed to get it.
The first day of confinement, shock had made her forceful—but these five days of laughter and chatter had lifted her spirits a lot.
I'll have to be more careful from now on.
If I slipped up next time, it wouldn't end at a week.
Still, Siegfried's sudden visit had lent real weight to my words this time.
"So, wanna grab some food?"
"Hic, yeah… Ken, what do you wanna eat?"
"Anything you make is delicious, Rafne."
And just like that, the confinement fiasco sparked by my careless slip of the tongue ended peacefully.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "In the end… you resolved the curse?"
After my week-long confinement in the tower wrapped up, I returned to the academy with Rafne.
Rafne, absent for a year, had been reassigned to my class—and Adrian, already aware she'd left the tower, pulled me aside privately.
The spot was the academy's main building backyard.
"Not sending her back to the tower?"
"With the curse lifted, there's no justification to lock up the Martinez family's daughter there anymore. I figured you'd understand."
Even he apparently couldn't justify confining a famed noble lady in a tower post-curse.
"We can't hide Rafne in the tower any longer. Who knows when the Demon King Army might learn of her existence."
"…Right."
"If she ever falls into the Demon King's hands…."
Adrian's face grew grim as he fixed me with a solemn stare.
"I'll kill Rafne myself to prevent it."
"……."
With that delivered, Adrian turned and headed back to the classroom.
‘…Demon King Army.’
Their raids were a frequent event in the game too.
But back then, Rafne had been safely tucked away in the tower.
Things might play out differently from the game now.
Still.
This was my choice, my resolve.
I'll protect her, come what may.
If the Demon King Army shows, I'll crush them.
Steel in my heart, I made my way back to class.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Ken! Where the heck have you been the past week?!"
"Do you have any idea how worried we were? At least give us a heads-up…."
The moment I returned to the academy after a week away, Emily and Mary cornered me with questions.
"And… Rafne came back with you."
Emily's gaze drifted to Rafne in the seat beside me, her words cautious.
Thanks to the pendant's effect, Rafne's presence no longer filled them with dread or agony.
But faint remnants of the curse still sparked a touch of wariness.
"More importantly, Rafne—why are you glued to Ken like that?"
"R-right?! We were worried too! I get the sudden return, but do you have to cling?!"
Returning to the academy after a year, everything felt awkward for Rafne—so they'd thoughtfully placed her in my class, right next to me.
And Rafne, who'd spent so long cooped up in the tower, now found herself surrounded by people for the first time in ages.
Unnerved, she clung tightly to one of my arms.
"Um, Ken."
Rafne ignored the two, speaking to me instead after listening silently.
"Y-yeah?"
"Who are these two? Can't you tell 'em to scram?"
"Th-this…!"
"……What did you just say?"
Rafne's abrupt words froze their faces, the air turning hostile.
‘…This is bad.’
Rafne had never gotten along with Emily or Mary, that much was clear.
I'd worried something like this might happen upon her academy return.
Didn't think it'd go exactly to script, though….
"C-come on, Rafne, don't be like that. They're my friends, so try getting along…."
"I only need Ken. Anyway, you two are annoying—why don't you just leave?"
Grind.
The sound of someone's teeth gnashing rang out.
Emily, probably?
"Rafne, you…."
Their glares crossed like daggers in a powder-keg standoff.
‘Oh no, I've gotta defuse this somehow…!’
A fight breaking out on day one back would be a disaster, so right as I moved to intervene—
Slam, bang!
"Keeeen!!"
The classroom's front door flew open as someone called my name.
Her shout shattered the brewing fight's tension. All four of us turned toward the door.
The first thing that caught my eye: fluttering pink hair.
"I need you right now!"
The one who rushed in and seized my arm was—
Elis Grandbel, of all people.
"Huh?"
"Hurry—quick! It's urgent!"
"Wh-whoaaa!"
With unbelievable strength from those slender arms, she yanked me along and bolted from the classroom.
The three watched me go in stunned silence.
"Ke… Keeen…?"
"W-wait!"
"……Ah."
That was all they could muster—voices that couldn't quite reach.