Training or Taming (1)
After Ricotta left, a new system window floated sharply into view right before my eyes.
Key character 'Ricotta''s emotional state has deepened into 'Twisted Possessiveness'.
Clear conditions for Hidden Scenario 'The Crack' have been updated.
Previous condition: Within 7 days, convert the <Hostility> Ricotta feels toward 'Basil' into <Curiosity> or higher.
Updated condition: Within 7 days, convert the <Twisted Possessiveness> Ricotta feels toward 'Saya' into <Interest> or lower.
Failure Penalty: Ricotta's obsession target permanently locks onto player 'Saya'. The 'Ricotta–Basil' happy ending route is permanently lost.
“…Huh?”
So this was what it felt like for your blood to run cold.
I’d put on every kind of show imaginable just to force a happy ending between the male lead and the heroine—and the result was the heroine’s obsession ending?!
Then a sudden question struck me.
Was the one Ricotta was obsessing over right now this beautiful girl named Saya…
Or the man inside her—the core that was me?
That was when it happened.
The library door that had closed began to open again with a spine-chilling slowness.
When I turned my head, a cool gray gaze slipped through the gap and met mine.
Ricotta was staring at me, cold and relentless.
“Saya.”
Her voice was ice-cold, yet it carried a strange heat.
Like a predator facing prey, she walked slowly inside and stopped in front of me once more.
“You said you wanted to test a strength unbound by formality, like that commoner boy.”
“Pardon? Ah, that was…”
“Fine. I’ll grant that wish myself.”
A faint smile touched Ricotta’s lips—more dangerous than any smile I had ever seen.
“Starting tomorrow, we begin sword training.”
…What?
“Um… Lady Ricotta, I…”
“Your opinion doesn’t matter. This is an order.”
Ricotta stepped closer and lifted my chin. The touch was gentle, yet it carried a force that left no room for refusal.
“I’ll personally teach you so that you never collapse so disgracefully in front of anyone else again, the way you did today.”
The hand raising my chin held more intensity than most men could muster; I swallowed dryly without meaning to.
“The only one allowed to lay a hand on my fragile little helper’s body… the only one who can make you strong… must be me alone.”
Fuck… what the hell is this situation?
She called me her “helper,” yet she was treating me completely like her personal property.
“Tomorrow at dawn, First Training Hall. I will not tolerate lateness.”
Having delivered her one-sided notice, Ricotta tapped my chin with a satisfied little tok, as if petting a well-trained animal. Goosebumps raced over my entire body.
Only after she had fully left the archive did I finally release the breath I had been holding.
“Hah… haah…….”
I’m seriously going to lose my mind…
In the corner of my vision the system window flickered red, as if mocking my despair.
Hidden Scenario 'The Crack' is currently active.
Updated condition: Within 7 days, convert the <Twisted Possessiveness> Ricotta feels toward 'Saya' into <Interest> or lower.
Failure Penalty: Ricotta's obsession target permanently locks onto player 'Saya'. The 'Ricotta–Basil' route is permanently lost.
Convert <Twisted Possessiveness> to <Interest> or lower…
Easy to say. But remembering the look in Ricotta’s eyes just now, it was a razor-thin, high-risk quest with almost no chance of success.
“Haah… what am I supposed to do…”
A short sigh, and my mind went completely blank.
Avoid Ricotta? With her personality, she would chase me to the ends of the academy. Resist? That would probably be the worst possible choice.
Which left only one option.
Fine. For now I’ll gladly play the role you want.
Even if it meant walking straight into her grasp, I had to get on the board first. And from inside that board, I had to find a chance to redirect this vicious obsession back toward Basil.
Sword training… I’ll turn this against her.
Ricotta was focusing entirely on me. I would somehow drag Basil into that training ground.
If I could just get the two of them to cross blades… maybe that twisted interest of hers would shift into pure “curiosity” directed at Basil.
Of course it was a dangerous gamble. But for the sake of seeing a happy ending in this trash game, I decided I was willing to place that bet.
The cold air of dawn sliced across my cheeks like a blade.
At the exact appointed hour I stood in the center of the empty First Training Hall. The heavy doors creaked open and Ricotta appeared.
She wore a black training outfit that clung to every curve of her body, her hair tied high, a sleek rapier at her hip.
Looking at her, I felt less like I was facing a refined noble young lady and more like I was staring down a starving black panther.
“Ready?”
Ricotta tossed a wooden sword at my feet. The moment I carefully picked it up, she drew her own rapier without the slightest hesitation.
Shiiing—!
The blade sang through the air and caught the dawn light, gleaming coldly.
Wait. Hold on.
Why do I get a wooden sword…
while you’re using a real one?
“Lady Ricotta, that weapon… is dangerous.”
“If you’re my helper, you should already be prepared for that much.”
“Being a helper doesn’t mean—”
She casually ignored my words and declared unilaterally:
“First lesson. Stay on your feet however you can until I decide to stop attacking.”
The instant the words left her mouth, her body vanished, leaving only afterimages in the air.
Kaaang—!
I raised the wooden sword on pure instinct, but the brutal shock racing up my wrist nearly tore a scream from my throat.
“Too slow.”
With that icy voice, the next strike came for my side.
I twisted desperately out of the way, yet the fabric of my training clothes tore open along my ribs. Even a mere graze left the skin stinging.
No matter how you looked at it, this wasn’t training.
It was one-sided violence—taming meant to brand the difference in power into my bones.
No, this is just her taking out her anger!
“Keep your head clear. You won’t have the luxury of thinking about anything else in front of me.”
Ricotta’s attacks never stopped. Fast, precise, merciless.
All I could do was desperately block, dodge, and roll.
Stamina has reached its limit.
Continuous hits have sharply increased the probability of becoming incapacitated.
Every muscle in my body screamed. My lungs burned as if they would burst, and sweat poured down like rain, blurring my vision. Plans no longer mattered—just staying upright was already more than I could manage.
At this rate… I’m actually going to die…
Then it happened. A shock like something piercing my shoulder turned my vision pure white.
“Guh—!”
A scream tore out instead of breath.
My whole body convulsed and collapsed.
The wooden sword slipped from my limp fingers and clattered dryly across the floor.
“Get up.”
Ricotta looked down at me coldly as I gasped for air.
“I never said I was stopping.”
“Haah, haah… just a moment…”
“Did you not hear me?”
Her eyes flashed dangerously. The instant she raised her rapier again—
“That’s enough, Lady Ricotta.”
A firm voice cut through the taut air and split the training hall.
Both Ricotta and I turned toward the sound at the same time. There stood Basil, looking as though he had come for early-morning practice.
He came…!
Last night I had casually mentioned that I would probably be doing private training at the First Training Hall at dawn. It had worked.
Basil’s gaze swept over me sprawled on the floor, then over Ricotta looking down at me. His expression hardened into ice.
Ricotta’s brow furrowed fiercely as well.
Yet another uninvited guest barging into her private space, her private time—and the commoner boy she disliked most of all.
“What business do you have here?”
Open killing intent laced Ricotta’s voice.
“Saya… looks like she’s in too much pain. This is no longer training. It’s violence.”
Basil did not flinch under her bloodlust. He stepped forward as if to shield me.
At that, the cool smile that had lingered on Ricotta’s lips vanished completely. How dare someone else try to protect her “possession” as if it belonged to them.
“Step aside.”
“I cannot.”
“Final warning. Move.”
The tip of Ricotta’s rapier pointed precisely at Basil’s heart.
I had succeeded in drawing Basil in as planned, but the situation was turning far uglier than I had expected.
Just as I desperately tried to push myself up, Ricotta let out a short, sharp laugh—filled with contempt and mockery, cruel beyond measure.
“Fine. If you want to protect that child so badly, then prove you have the right.”
She withdrew her rapier from Basil and took a single step back.
“Land even one attack on me, and I’ll end today’s training here.”
She gave him no time to answer before resetting her grip on the sword.
“But if you fail…”
Ricotta’s gray eyes gleamed with chilling light as they locked onto me beyond Basil’s shoulder.
“That child will leave this training hall on her hands and knees today.”
…What?
What did I just hear?
Me?
Why the hell is the price me?!