“R, Raphne…? Can you calm down and listen to me for a sec?”
“What’s there to talk about? Do we have anything to discuss right now?”
Gasping Raphne lays me down on the bed and climbs on top of me like a tough beast. My heart races like a rabbit caught by a predator. Is this the fear of death, or something else?
Her flushed cheeks and empty eyes gaze down at me.
Right after returning to the Tower…
Raphne, having locked the door, said, “Let’s sleep here today, Ken.”
Oh my, why lock the door if we’re just sleeping?
Well, there are two reasons for locking a door.
To keep something from getting in.
Or to keep something from getting out.
In this case, it’s probably the latter.
“Raphne! We agreed not to imprison me anymore!”
Having experienced it once, I immediately went on high alert and shouted at her.
But Raphne shook her head and smiled.
“No, it’s not imprisonment. Just trust me, Ken… I just want you to sleep over for one night.”
Her expression didn’t look like just a sleepover. Just moments ago, my heart raced with excitement at testing my newly acquired skills.
Now, it beats for a different reason.
And now, I lay on the bed, bound by Raphne’s hands.
By the way, right after locking the door, Raphne stripped down to just her dress-like underwear.
Why is she being so bold today?
The reason became clear.
It was about that incident in the mansion.
“I, I deserved at least a kiss, right?!”
I remember Raphne’s face, teary-eyed and wronged as she talked to me.
And now, Raphne looking down on me from above seemed to recall that and wore a similar disappointing expression.
Then she leaned closer to me, pressing her body against mine.
Squish
Her large softness pressed against me, giving me quite the bolstering yet smooth sensation.
As our bodies drew nearer, the heat from her body and her scent stimulated my senses.
Then, with her cheeks flushed, Raphne broke the silence, looking at me carefully.
“…Ken, …am I not pretty?”
“Y- yeah, you’re pretty.”
What’s there to say? Raphne is my ideal appearance. If she asked me a hundred times if she was pretty, I’d answer “pretty” a hundred and one times.
“Then… am I not charming?”
“N-no…”
Honestly, I thought she was a bit too dependent on me in terms of personality.
But since she broke the curse recently, that calmed down a bit.
And above all, she treats me kindly, so she is an attractive woman.
Despite my honest reply, Raphne puffed her cheeks in dissatisfaction.
“…Then why don’t you touch me?”
“……”
“I know. They say all men have strong desires. …But Ken, you’re not doing anything but kissing.”
Her unabashed remarks.
I heard the same thing when she had me imprisoned a little while ago.
Her words that she liked me as a man.
Ever since, I’ve tried not to think about it, but whenever she demands something from me, memories of that day flood back.
The heated contact with Raphne in such a sensual atmosphere.
Since I haven’t crossed the line beyond a kiss, she often tries to tempt me to go further.
And here we are again.
“At the mansion, if you really wanted to, you could have done anything.”
“……”
“Then why didn’t you do anything?”
I couldn’t answer.
I just kept my mouth shut, blushing, avoiding her gaze.
It’s not that I dislike Raphne; it’s the opposite.
Just her gaze alone ignites such powerful emotions that I could lose my senses.
Raphne is a provocative woman.
But maybe she took my silence differently. Raphne’s eyes glistened as if she might start crying.
“See… sniff, I’m just not charming, am I…?”
“Uh, uh? Raphne?”
“Ken doesn’t see me as a woman, right? …I know, a bothersome woman like me can’t possibly be attractive.”
“It’s not that. It’s just that….”
“If it’s not that, then why aren’t you doing anything? I know you’re kind, Ken. …So you just can’t speak honestly, right?”
Eventually, tears filled Raphne’s eyes, spilling drops onto my face.
Maybe the worries she had kept to herself for so long were bubbling over.
“Still… sniff, I thought you’d at least see me as a woman once. …I tried to muster up courage.”
“R, Raphne…”
“What should I do now? What can I do to be the woman Ken wants? I’ll do anything. I promised… So please tell me.”
“I, I don’t…”
“I want to be loved by you, Ken.”
As she cried, Raphne buried her face on my chest.
Just moments ago, the atmosphere was seductive, but now it transformed into her sobbing.
Her grip on my hand loosened as she clutched my clothes, crying.
“It’s not that, Raphne.”
What on earth am I doing?
Why did I keep my mouth shut until this girl, who’s so into me, ended up crying?
Wrapping my hand around Raphne’s trembling shoulder, I held her close.
“To be honest…”
“……”
“What I feel is completely different from what you think… In fact, it’s the opposite.”
At my words, her sobbing ceased, and she cautiously looked up at me, her tear-stained face.
I felt shy under her gaze, so I averted my eyes, continuing to speak.
“To me, Raphne is… such an attractive woman, that’s why I couldn’t just cross the line.”
“What does… that mean?”
It was clearly something she wanted to hear, but Raphne questioned it back.
Did she really not understand, or did she want to hear it more clearly?
“So… if I were to cross the line, like beyond a kiss…”
I covered my eyes with my freed hands, spilling my embarrassing inner thoughts.
“I thought… I might go too far. …That’s why.”
“……”
Since I kept my eyes covered, I couldn’t see her expression. I couldn’t look at her at all.
I had just declared, saying that if I crossed the line with her, I would take her.
After a moment of quiet, I carefully removed my hands and looked at her.
Raphne was staring at me blankly.
There were still tears in her eyes, but she wasn’t crying anymore.
Just a silence as if she was mulling over my words.
Then Raphne cautiously spoke up.
“…So, do you want to with me?”
Her straightforward question.
Normally, I might have stammered, but I could no longer afford to.
I slowly nodded.
“…Yeah.”
“Then why aren’t you doing it?”
A fair question.
If both Raphne and I wanted it, there wouldn’t be anyone to complain, but…
“Because I still… can’t be responsible for this situation.”
I brought out my thoughts that I’d been hiding in my heart.
Raphne wouldn’t know.
Someday, the demon army will spark a war.
I may not know what will happen to me in that war.
Even if I’m raising my abilities and preparing to survive, the future is uncertain.
With that in mind, taking her purity just for my current desire…
I couldn’t do it.
If perchance I were to die, I wouldn’t be able to take responsibility.
While I can’t explain all of it, I summarized my thoughts as best as I could.
“So, if I can be responsible… is it okay?”
A simple conclusion.
But an important question, so this time I looked Raphne directly in the eyes and answered.
“Yeah. If I can be responsible… I won’t hold back.”
Could I seriously hold back?
I’m not such a fool to let go of an attractive woman right in front of me.
“Ken…!”
Raphne seemingly satisfied with my resolve hugged me tightly.
She sounded a little teary again, but it wasn’t tears of sorrow.
“Thank you… Then I’ll wait. …sniff, I’ll wait until you’re ready, Ken.”
Saying that, Raphne buried her face in my neck.
And I gently stroked her head.
The words I just spoke.
Someday, I must take responsibility, right?
Coincidentally, I had just sorted out methods to do that.
“Still, are we going to sleep together tonight?”
“…Just don’t stimulate me too much, okay?”
“Yeah, I really like Ken.”
Ignoring my request, Raphne held me tightly.
It became a difficult night as I had to suppress my male instincts once again, with her soft touch surrounding me.
The next day…
“Adrian, I have something to discuss.”
After class, I approached him while he was getting ready to leave school.
“ Huh? Ken, what’s up?”
When Emily next to him asked, I carefully replied.
“I have something important to tell you. I want to be alone for a bit.”
Noticing the seriousness on my face, Emily nodded without asking further.
“…Okay, still, if anything’s going on, please tell me too.”
“I will. See you tomorrow.”
Afterward, Emily packed her things and left the classroom, leaving only Adrian and me in the now quiet room.
Feeling the importance in our previous conversation, Adrian looked at me with a serious expression instead of his usual smile.
“So, what is it, Ken? Why the sudden one-on-one?”
“You have a pretty good idea already.”
“…Is it about Raphne?”
There’s only one important thing to discuss between us.
That was about the Child of Prophecy.
“You may not know, but the Demon King’s army recently attacked again.”
“Is it that incident where you died?”
“Oh, you knew about that?”
“I’m not just a puppet here.”
Fair enough; the conversation moves quickly.
“From now on, there could be several more instances where the Demon King’s army infiltrates.”
“Right.”
“I broke Raphne’s curse, so it’s possible that they might do something to her.”
“Isn’t that something you’re already well aware of? I warned you plenty about it.”
He seemed to stare at me with a bit of hostility.
Perhaps he was thinking that I was the one who made the mess and now sought help.
But that isn’t the case.
As I handed Raphne the pendant, I resolved myself.
To protect her, no matter what happens.
But resolve and reality are two different things.
I know the patterns of the Demon King’s army well due to my gaming knowledge, but now there’s a variable: Raphne stepped outside the Tower.
That means their tactics might differ from the game.
There’s no telling how long I can navigate through using only my knowledge.
So I’ve been contemplating that aspect lately.
The reasons why the Demon King’s army attacks the Academy and eventually sparks a war.
“So, I was thinking… what if we eliminate the fact that Raphne is the Child of Prophecy?”
I shared my plan, which I became certain of through the mansion test.
I revealed this to Adrian, the one who knew Raphne’s secret.
At my words, Adrian paused, and his face clouded with concern.
“What do you mean, eradicate the fact that she’s the Child of Prophecy? …That’s nonsense. There’s no way that’s possible.”
His voice was heavy, soaked with skepticism.
If it were possible, he would have done it himself.
He’d probably spent more time than anyone else in the kingdom contemplating such a solution.
But when no answer came, he locked Raphne in the Tower.
However, I found the answer.
“I’m going to challenge the Tower of Tarros.”
I am throwing myself into another maze that cannot be cleared.
