Chapter 97
Chapter 97
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 97
Chapter Title: Please Allow It
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A gentle breeze tickled my hair.
The rustling of leaves pleasantly enveloped the surroundings.
Rapne's red hair swayed softly in the wind.
Her cheeks flushed beneath those strands, and she looked at me with a tense expression.
"T-talk?"
They say women have good intuition.
Of course, since I've never been one, I can't say how it differs from a man's senses.
But the moment I said I had something to talk about, Rapne looked like she already knew what I was going to say.
I took her hand firmly in mine.
It's fine.
What I'm about to say isn't hard.
So, no hesitating—just say it.
"I like you, Rapne."
"...Yeah."
Rapne smiled faintly with trembling eyes and nodded.
"...I like you as a woman."
"...I knew that."
"Oh, you already knew."
Rapne laughed as if releasing her tension and pressed her body close to mine.
Without letting go of the hand I was holding.
"If you didn't like me, everything you've done for me so far would make no sense."
"True enough."
You wouldn't visit the tower every day, lift a curse, or risk your life challenging it if you didn't like someone.
Maybe Rapne had sensed my feelings all along.
>
Well, I had been the same with her.
But this confession wasn't the end.
There was more to say.
"So, here's the thing."
I squeezed Rapne's hand as I continued.
She tilted her head, wondering what else I could possibly have to say.
I said something I was sure she hadn't expected.
"I want to marry you, Rapne."
"...Huh?"
The moment she heard me, Rapne froze, mulling over my words.
And when she understood their meaning...
"Wh-wh-whaaat━?!"
Her face exploded red, her eyes spinning as she wore a look of utter shock.
Even woman's intuition couldn't have predicted this.
"I decided recently. That I have to marry you. ...W-was I too forward? ...Do you hate it?"
A bit worried, I added that afterthought.
No matter how much she likes me, a sudden proposal like this could be overwhelming.
But contrary to my concerns, Rapne didn't think so.
"N-no, I don't hate it! I don't hate it at all! Absolutely not!"
To my anxious question, Rapne gripped my hand with both of hers and shook her head vigorously side to side.
Then, with teary eyes, she looked at me and said,
"I'm so happy...! I want to marry you, Ken! I want to be with you forever!"
She wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me tight.
"I love you, more than anything in the world."
Her familiar scent and warmth enveloped me, along with the softness of her body and a slight tremble.
She's always a crybaby in front of me, and now she was softly sobbing again.
"Sob, is this a dream? Am I dying tomorrow? Why are you making me this happy today?"
Rapne pulled her face away from me and asked with teary eyes.
Seeing her so overjoyed by my proposal warmed my heart.
But...
"......"
I hugged the joyful Rapne tightly in return and thought to myself.
'Sorry, Rapne... This is the end of the good news.'
There was still shocking bad news left.
I had to bring it up to Rapne, who was this happy.
"Hey, Rapne. ...Want to go somewhere for a bit?"
"Yes, anywhere!"
Rapne, overcome with emotion, answered immediately.
Seeing her so swept up in feelings only made the anxiety in my heart grow.
After that, we held hands and started walking down the path again.
"Hey, Rapne."
"Yeah?"
Rapne looked up at me, cheeks flushed, smiling happily.
Right after the proposal, her face radiated bliss, and it was hard for me to meet her gaze.
But I forced myself to turn and look into her sparkling eyes before opening my mouth.
"Rapne, I love you with all my heart. There's not a shred of lie in that."
"...Hehe."
At my words, Rapne clung to my arm.
"I love you too. More than anything in the world."
Her words, spoken cutely with her face buried in my shoulder, made my heart race.
I'm happy.
This moment, with the woman I love so joyfully saying she loves me back, was pure bliss.
But wake up, Ken Fineshtein.
The path you're walking isn't a bed of roses—it's a field of carnage.
"So, here's the thing... What if, hypothetically, Rapne."
"Yeah?"
As the mood shifted like something else was coming, Rapne tilted her head and looked up at me.
"No matter what happens, you won't hate me?"
"O-of course! Even if the whole world turns against you, I'll still love you, Ken!"
"Even if I become unmanly and a total scumbag as a person?"
"...It'd make me sad, sure. ...But even if you became a man who hit me, I'd stay by your side."
"No, hitting you...?"
I'd need ten lives for that.
And oddly, Rapne's breathing grew ragged, her eyes darkening.
...Does Rapne have that kind of taste too?
No, that's not important right now.
"Then, I'm going to tell you something really important once we get there. ...Even if it's shocking, you'll stay by my side?"
"...Y-yeah. I'll be by your side anywhere. Even if it's a sewer."
Her answer relieved me even as it made my chest ache more.
Even in a sewer, she'd stay by my side.
For any normal woman, it'd be a fleeting response in the glow of a proposal.
But I could feel it was sincere from Rapne.
Rapne really would stay with me no matter what.
Even if I failed as a person, as long as I was breathing, she'd be by my side forever.
That's why it hurt so much.
To betray such a girl.
With the story I was about to tell.
Guilt filling my chest, I led the smiling Rapne onward.
The scenery shifted from the lakeside path to the city center, past familiar roads, back toward where we'd started.
"...Huh? Mary, and... Emily?"
The place I brought Rapne back to was the academy.
And the most familiar spot there for us.
The one place you could say it all began.
It was right in front of the tower where Rapne had been imprisoned.
And there, Mary and Emily waited, faces tense as they looked at us.
"What are you two doing here?"
Rapne asked them, then glanced up at me beside her.
Her eyes were filled with questions.
The excited sparkle from moments ago was gone.
Maybe, deep down, Rapne already sensed it.
What I was about to say.
"Those two are..."
I squeezed my eyes shut and told her the harsh truth.
"People I like, just like you."
Even saying it out loud, it sounded like something a total trash heap would say.
"...Huh?"
Rapne's eyes widened as she stared blankly at the two.
They said nothing yet.
Because my story wasn't over.
"That's why I called them here. To get your permission, Rapne."
I held her hand.
And knelt before her.
Not on one knee, but both.
For the woman I love—no, women—I'd kneel as many times as needed.
Especially to show Rapne my guilt, this was more than enough.
But my expression was firm with resolve as I looked up at her without hesitation.
"Please allow it. For our happy future as three—no, for all four of us to marry. Please, Rapne."
But there was a problem.
I'd mustered my courage, cast aside my male pride, knelt to beg permission for my trashy dream.
Yet Rapne paid no attention to my resolve.
She just gripped my hand tightly.
A sinister aura emanated from her.
She opened those familiar hollow eyes and stared at the two in front of her.
They gleamed like a curse.
"Ugh..."
The two trembled, shoulders stiff with tension under her gaze.
Then Rapne turned her head to look down at me on my knees.
Her dark eyes remained, but her expression had softened a bit.
She was smiling.
But having spent so much time with Rapne, I knew that smile wasn't positive.
And then Rapne scooped up me on my knees.
And bolted in the opposite direction.
"Kyaaaaah!"
"K-Ken!!"
"Rapne! Where are you going!!"
"Shut up!! Don't follow me, you fox bitches!!"
The scenery blurred by in an instant as Rapne moved at tremendous speed.
Blink, and the location changed.
This was Rapne's unique skill: Nerve Acceleration.
Experiencing it indirectly, I realized in my head what was happening.
I... I've been kidnapped.