Cursed Villainess' Obsession-Chapter 38

“Yay! I won!”

With a beaming smile, Raphne jumped up and down, raising her arms in celebration.

The bed shook, making it hard for me to keep my balance.

“Then that means the prize is mine, right?”

“…Prize?”

Had we ever wagered anything like that?

As I pondered what kind of prize Raphne might be referring to, I felt a sudden shift.

Thud.

Raphne threw her body toward me, and losing my center of gravity due to her weight, I fell back onto the bed.

Naturally, she climbed on top of me, having pushed me down.

Her hair formed a curtain around my face.

“R-Raphne?”

I was flustered, while she smiled down at me.

It dawned on me what she meant by “prize.”

It was something she had been requesting more frequently lately.

“I want a kiss.”

With her cheeks flushed and her lips glistening, she looked at me like prey.

Since crossing that line once, Raphne often asked for it.

I didn’t know if I should be relieved, but thankfully, she hadn’t asked for anything more.

It seemed that as long as I didn’t try to push boundaries, that part was okay.

However, once we started kissing, Raphne showed no signs of stopping.

Thump.

Thump, thump.

As I waited for her to approach, my heart raced in a tense state.

Thud.

Suddenly, Raphne shifted her body and lay down flat on the bed.

She looked like a sleeping Snow White.

Glancing at me from the corner of her eye, she said,

“This time it’s a prize… so, Ken, you do it.”

With that, she closed her eyes again.

…She wants me to do it?

Until now, it had always been Raphne who leaned in for the kiss.

But as a reward for the game, what she desired was a kiss where I would take the lead.

“…W-Well then.”

I carefully leaned over Raphne, resting my arm beside her shoulder as I looked down at her.

She had her eyes gently closed, as if asleep, her long and pretty eyelashes casting shadows on her cheeks.

Her faint smile revealed her shiny lips.

Swallow.

It was the first time I would initiate a kiss.

The anticipation in my heart was far more intense than when Raphne approached me.

Yes, …this is a prize for winning the game.

Steeling my resolve, I slowly lowered my face toward her.

I was getting closer to her lips…

Clack, screech—

“Huh?”

“Eh?”

“Oh, my! I’m sorry. I interrupted, didn’t I?”

…Screech, slam.

The door, which had been tightly shut, swung open, revealing Ziegfried, who quickly closed it again.

“Wait a second?! Senpai?! It’s not what it looks like!”

Well, it was somewhat accurate, but still!

Screech—

“Um, is it okay if I come in?”

“Of course!”

Ziegfried cautiously poked his face through the crack in the door.

‘…Wait a minute.’

This content is taken from freёnovelkiss.com.

How did Ziegfried manage to get here?

Raphne had taken off her pendant, meaning we were within the influence of the curse.

For an ordinary person, even if they wanted to come here, the pain and fear would be immense.

Then it struck me—it must be due to his trait.

‘Ah, Unyielding Will!’

His unique trait, Unyielding Will, grants a strong mental fortitude and high resistance to mental attacks.

Understanding that his only advantage could allow him to withstand Raphne’s curse made sense.

“Well then, excuse me.”

With my permission, Ziegfried entered the room and immediately got to the point.

“Ken, I don’t know what’s going on, but if it’s okay, let’s go together. Others are worried about you.”

From Ziegfried’s continued speech, I understood why he had come here.

Indeed, it made sense that everyone would be concerned after five days without news.

However…

“Senpai, that’s…”

While I appreciated his arrival, the problem was that I wasn’t a free man right now.

“You’re taking Ken away?”

Raphne’s voice rang cold.

Having heard Ziegfried’s words, Raphne stood up, exuding a terrifying aura.

“You are… Raphne Bell Martinez.”

It seemed even third-year students were aware of her name, as Ziegfried recognized Raphne.

“Considering the situation… are you holding Ken captive?”

As Ziegfried’s gaze shifted, his previously indifferent expression sharpened as he glared at Raphne.

“Ken, answer me. Do you need help? If so, I will…”

He drew the wooden sword at his waist.

“I will save you with all my strength.”

The tip of the sword pointed toward Raphne.

As they glared at each other intensely, it felt as if a battle could erupt at any moment.

Ziegfried was offering to help.

Was he asking for help now?

If a fight broke out, and if Ziegfried won…

Would that resolve the situation?

No, even if we escaped, Raphne’s feelings wouldn’t be resolved.

“Senpai, I…”

Thus, I tried to refuse his help.

I didn’t want either of them to get hurt in a pointless fight.

But before I could voice my thoughts…

“No… no, no, no, no…!!”

Suddenly, Raphne went into a frenzy.

“No one can take Ken away from me━!!”

As she screamed, she vanished from my sight.

Boom━!!

And then came the tremendous roar and pressure.

Objects around us rolled across the floor, unable to withstand the force.

As I regained my composure, I saw Raphne and Ziegfried clashing their swords.

Raphne wielded the wooden sword I had used during training.

‘…She blocked Raphne’s attack.’

The astonishing thing was that Ziegfried had effortlessly defended against Raphne’s surprise attack.

Raphne had launched an assault at such speed that it was almost unperceptible, using her unique skill, Neuro Accelerate.

“As I heard, you can truly be called swift, but your killing intent is far too strong.”

“…Ugh.”

Thud!

Startled by the blocked attack, Raphne dropped back.

Just days ago, Emily, Mary, and even Adrian couldn’t respond to such an attack.

It seemed Raphne had gauged Ziegfried’s strength from that exchange and decided to disengage.

She then extended one hand forward and said,

“…Ignis Magna.”

Raphne began to chant the incantation for a high-level fire magic.

With that, her magic surged, swirling around her fingertips to form a massive ball of fire.

“…Tch.”

Ziegfried’s previously calm demeanor vanished as he hardened his expression and readied himself for the upcoming confrontation.

His stance was now aggressive, as if he were about to leap into action.

He had no intention of fleeing.

He was determined to break through head-on.

This was…

Dangerous.

“Wait, wait, just a moment!”

“K-Ken?”

“……”

If the battle continued, it was clear that this tower wouldn’t survive.

I quickly stepped between them, spreading my arms to block Ziegfried’s path.

Raphne looked startled, while Ziegfried remained silent.

He relaxed his rigid face and returned to his usual indifferent gaze.

“Misunderstanding! It’s a misunderstanding, Senpai! I’m fine, so there’s no need to fight!”

Of course, it was not a misunderstanding at all.

Five days without news.

The shackles on my feet.

And Raphne’s aggressive reaction, insisting I couldn’t be taken away.

All the circumstances pointed to this being a case of confinement.

“…Hmm, is that so?”

“Yes, yes! So please put away your sword!”

“If you say so, I understand.”

Despite knowing the situation, Ziegfried seemed to accept it.

He then returned his wooden sword to its sheath and turned toward the entrance.

“Well then, now that I know you’re safe, I’ll relay the message to the others.”

“Senpai, if it’s alright, about the tower and Raphne…”

“Don’t worry. I’ll only convey your well-being.”

He opened the door and attempted to leave the room.

Creak—

Then suddenly, as if recalling something, he stopped and turned back to look at us.

“…And Raphne.”

His gaze was directed not at me, but at Raphne behind me.

He regarded her with an indifferent expression as he spoke.

“If you hold onto something precious too tightly, it will inevitably break.”

“……”

Receiving no reply, he smiled faintly and opened the door, stepping outside.

Creak, slam.

The door closed, leaving an awkward silence in its wake.

In that tense stillness, I turned to Raphne.

She looked at me with a worried expression.

“Ken….”

Her eyes trembled, filled with questions and anxiety.

Perhaps she couldn’t understand.

If I had asked Ziegfried for help, he would have found a way to help me escape.

Regardless of the outcome against Raphne, he would have taken the opportunity to free me.

Raphne, having fought him and gauged his strength, likely knew that better than anyone.

But I had chosen to stop Ziegfried and send him away.

I had willingly forfeited the chance to escape.

It was something she likely found incomprehensible.

So, I stepped closer to Raphne and took her hand.

“I told you, I will always be by your side.”

“…Huh?”

Raphne looked surprised by my unexpected words.

“No matter what happens, I won’t abandon you. I’ll stay with you.”

For the past five days, I had been contemplating how to make my words persuasive.

That was why I had turned down Ziegfried’s help.

With this, Raphne would understand.

That my words were sincere.

“Wah, huh, Ken….”

Whether my sincerity reached her, Raphne’s eyes began to redden, and she started shedding tears after a long time.

I approached her gently, pulling her head into my embrace as I softly stroked her hair.

“Let’s say we’ll stay in the tower for just two more days.”

Without answering, Raphne simply cried in my arms.

“And after two days, we’ll leave the tower together and head to the academy.”

If we spent about a week like this, Raphne would be satisfied.

“Does that sound alright?”

“……Yeah.”

“I’m sorry. I won’t try to distance myself anymore. Please trust me.”

“Huh, yeah, I’m sorry too.”

Fortunately, it seemed Raphne understood.

On the first day of my confinement, she had been aggressive due to shock, but after five days of laughing and chatting together, she seemed much better.

We would need to be careful moving forward.

If we made another mistake, it wouldn’t just be a week of confinement.

Yet, Ziegfried’s sudden visit had added weight to my words.

“Well then, shall we eat?”

“Wah, yeah… Ken, what do you want to eat?”

“Anything Raphne makes will taste good.”

Thus, my awkward confinement episode ended peacefully with just a slip of the tongue.

“In the end, did I solve the curse?”

After a week of confinement in the tower, I returned to the academy with Raphne.

Having been absent for a year, Raphne was reassigned to my class, and Adrian, who already knew she had come out of the tower, called me aside.

The location was the back courtyard of the academy’s main building.

“Aren’t you going to send her back to the tower?”

“Now that the curse has been resolved, there’s no longer any justification for keeping her in the tower. I thought you would understand.”

It seemed that now that the curse was resolved, even if it was for the noble Martinez family’s daughter, it would be difficult to confine her in the tower.

“Since I can’t hide Raphne in the tower anymore, I have no idea when her presence will be discovered by the Demon King’s army.”

“…Yes.”

“If she ever finds herself in a situation where she’s captured by the Demon King…”

Adrian’s face hardened as he looked at me seriously.

“Then I’ll kill Raphne to prevent that.”

“……”

After delivering that heavy message, Adrian turned and headed back to the classroom.

‘…The Demon King’s army.’

The event of the Demon King’s army attacking occurred frequently in the game.

But at that time, Raphne was hidden in the tower.

Perhaps now, things would be different from the game’s situations.

But still, this was a decision I made resolutely.

No matter what happens, I will protect her.

If the Demon King’s army appears, I will defeat them.

With that determination, I made my way back to the classroom.

“Ken! Where on earth have you been for a week?!”

“Do you have any idea how worried we were? At least you could have given us a heads up…”

Upon returning to the academy after a week, Emily and Mary immediately confronted me.

“And you brought Raphne along with you.”

Emily’s gaze cautiously shifted to Raphne, sitting next to me.

Fortunately, thanks to the pendant’s effect, Raphne no longer trembled in fear or suffered distress with her beside me.

However, it seemed there was still a slight residue of the curse that made her a bit wary.

“More importantly, Raphne. Why are you clinging to Ken like that?”

“Th-That’s right! I was worried too! I know you came back suddenly, but why do you need to cling to him?!”

Since it was the academy she had returned to after a year, everything must have felt awkward for Raphne. The academy had considered this and assigned her to my class, right next to me.

After spending so long only in the tower, Raphne was now surrounded by many people for the first time in ages.

Perhaps feeling anxious, she tightly grasped one of my arms.

“Um, Ken.”

As Raphne quietly listened to their remarks, she turned to me instead of answering them.

“Uh, yeah?”

“What’s with these two? Can’t you tell them to go away?”

“Th-That’s…”

“……What did you just say?”

With Raphne’s sudden declaration, both Emily and Mary stiffened, creating a tense atmosphere.

‘…This is very problematic.’

Raphne clearly did not get along with Emily and Mary.

So, I had worried that such a situation would occur upon returning to the academy.

However, I hadn’t expected things to unfold this way.

“L-Let’s not do that, Raphne. They’re my friends, so if you could get along with them…”

“I just need Ken. Besides, you two are really annoying, so can’t you go away?”

Crack.

I heard the sound of someone’s teeth grinding among the two.

It was probably Emily.

“Raphne, you…”

The two fierce gazes clashed, and it was a situation where anything could happen.

‘Oh no, I need to diffuse the tension somehow…!’

Having a fight on the first day back at the academy would be a significant issue, so I tried to stop them when suddenly—

Clang! Bang!

“Ken!!!”

The classroom door burst open as someone called my name.

With that loud shout, the tension that felt like a fight was about to break faded, and all four of us turned to the classroom door.

The first thing that caught my eye was a flurry of pink hair.

“I need you right now!”

The person who rushed over and grabbed my arm was none other than Alice Granvel, the last person I expected.

“What?!”

“Quickly, hurry! It’s urgent!”

“W-Whoa!”

With her delicate arms exerting an incredible force, she pulled me along as she dashed out of the classroom.

The three of them could only watch in stunned silence.

“Ken…?”

“W-Wait!”

“……”

They could only manage to utter short exclamations, unable to follow.