NOVEL NEXT Chapter 13
Since the day Ken led Mary into the rain,
the raincoat he gifted her became her treasured possession.
She was so delighted with the gift that she wore it almost every day to school.
“K… Ken, let’s go to school together.”
“…Uh, what?”
After having a meal with Raphne, Ken was greeted by Mary, who had just finished showering in the dormitory.
With a slightly awkward expression, Mary glanced at Ken while twirling her hair with her finger.
“You said you’d protect me.”
“…But it’s clear today, isn’t it?”
That day, Mary felt a sense of stability in the rain for the first time in a long while.
Filled with joy that she had accomplished something, Mary embraced Ken right there.
And just like the rain pouring from the sky, tears flowed from her eyes.
Thus, she was able to come to the academy even on rainy days.
“Ken, is it all finished?”
“Um, Mary? What’s up?”
“Let’s go back together.”
“…Huh?”
Since that day, she began to find Ken Feinstein more often.
She sometimes worried, “Am I visiting too often?”
But she justified it to herself with, “This is for Ken’s safety.”
She would frequently visit Ken to check on his well-being to ensure he wasn’t bullied.
But that was just Mary’s rationalization.
From Ken’s perspective, it was different.
“…Lately, it feels oddly clingy.”
Since Mary was allowed to come to school on rainy days, Emily’s bullying stopped.
However, this time, Mary was the one seeking out Ken too much.
“I feel like I’m seeing you more often lately. Haha.”
“Is that so? It’s no different than usual, is it?”
Whenever Mary was next to Ken, she felt a strange calmness wash over her.
Mary, who always maintained a perfect and unyielding demeanor, was usually tense.
But beside Ken, who promised to protect her, she felt more at ease.
She always wanted someone who would accept and protect her timid, fearful, and mistake-prone self.
Wanting someone to protect her, she created a personality that protects others.
But becoming someone who can protect others means that you don’t need protection from anyone.
That’s why she had always wished for it:
Someone who could truly protect her, not just the persona she created.
“By the way, Ken. Can I call you by your name now?”
“Uh? But, I’m not sure if it’s alright for someone like me to call you that…”
“I think we’re getting along well… don’t you think so?”
“N-no! I also think we’re close!”
“Then it’s okay. I look forward to working with you from now on, Ken.”
“Y-yes…”
Ken noticed her change.
While it was gratifying that she wore the raincoat he made every day,
he couldn’t shake the feeling that she was relying on him even more than that raincoat.
“How did it turn out like this?”
He originally intended just to provide a means to stay dry on rainy days.
But the outcome had turned out differently than expected.
“Is the coat fitting well? I see you wear it a lot these days.”
“Yeah, it fits perfectly as if it was tailored. Which store did you buy it from?”
“Ah, that… I made it myself.”
“…You made it yourself.”
Mary pulled up the collar of the raincoat.
“He had that kind of talent.”
Garin, her alter ego, was smiling faintly.
Knowing that Ken made it himself made the raincoat even more precious to her.
A raincoat that Ken crafted,
“Ken… are you having lunch with that friend again today?”
“Uh, yes. My friend gets lonely easily.”
She often invited Ken to have meals together.
Before getting together with his friends, he would usually spend his lunchtime with Mary, but recently, they hadn’t eaten together once.
Feeling a little hurt by Ken consistently declining her invitations, Mary decided not to back down this time.
Fueled by a bit of stubbornness, she pushed a little harder.
“Can’t you occasionally have lunch with me? I’m sure your friend would understand.”
“No, that friend really lacks understanding…”
“Then can I join you? If he is Ken’s friend, we would hit it off well.”
Mary was confident in her ability to get along with others.
People liked her, who often helped the needy. She’d surely get along with Ken’s friends.
And she was also curious about Ken’s close acquaintance.
But Ken’s reaction was lukewarm.
“Th-that’s… um…”
He looked strangely troubled.
Seeing him like that made Mary feel a bit guilty for being a bother.
“…If it’s a problem…”
“Wait a moment.”
At that moment, an unexpected person spoke up.
When Mary and Ken turned their heads toward the voice, they saw a blonde woman looking at Ken with a sulky expression.
It was the game’s protagonist, Emily Epiris.
Mary stiffened, instinctively tightening her posture at the sight of the unwelcome figure.
“…What do you want?”
Knowing what she usually did to Ken, Mary immediately went on guard.
But Emily ignored her and spoke directly to Ken.
“Ken, eat with me today. One day should be okay, right?”
The sudden appearance of Emily came with a request that sounded more like an order than a proposal, making it hard for Mary to take it lightly.
“Uh, well, I… uh…”
“What? You don’t want to?”
“No, I already promised my friend for lunch…”
“…You had a friend?”
“Grrruuhh…”
Seeing Ken’s displeased response, Mary stood up and approached Emily.
“What’s going on here?”
Mary blocked Ken’s view, and Emily glared at her.
Mary met her gaze without backing down either.
“Sorry, but Ken is uncomfortable. Please stop.”
Emily smiled as if she found it ridiculous.
“You’re the one who’s getting clingy to Ken lately, right? Aren’t you causing him trouble?”
“…”
Mary couldn’t retort to Emily’s words.
Honestly, she was slightly worried about how her eagerness was making Ken uncomfortable.
But she felt, considering the circumstances, it wouldn’t hurt to seek him out.
“…Perhaps I’ve been visiting too often.”
She hadn’t expected it would appear that way to others.
Suddenly hit by embarrassment, Mary felt her face heating up and turned her gaze away from Emily.
“B-but Emily, haven’t you been seeking out Ken frequently too? And I’m just coming to see a friend sincerely.”
“W-who’s been seeking him all the time? I-why would I waste my time on a pig like him?!”
The voices of both elevated, drawing the attention of those around them.
It was certainly an amusing scene.
Two of the top beauty contenders at the academy were squabbling over the lunch rights of an unremarkable guy.
The students in the class began murmuring among themselves at the sight.
“What’s with this? Why’s Ken getting the attention?”
“Didn’t Emily hate him?”
“Wait, what about Adrian? I could’ve sworn Adrian was dating her.”
“Stop saying silly things. It’s as if Adrian got overshadowed by the pig.”
“Mary! Why does Ken get all this special treatment?”
And in the center of this controversy stood Ken Feinstein.
He was watching the two’s standoff and thinking,
“…Isn’t this like the Adrian event I saw before?”
But why was that event happening right now?
Ken’s head was in disarray.
Originally, the standard route would have Mary’s feelings for Adrian boost before she started arguing with Emily, who was close to Adrian.
Although the situation was reversed, it was undoubtedly the same event.
“No, but seriously, lunch is going to be a nuisance.”
It wasn’t that he disliked eating with Mary or Emily.
He didn’t mind if Emily didn’t bully him.
The real issue was Raphne at the tower.
If Ken didn’t visit her even once throughout the day, or even during one of the three meals, Raphne would fall into a panic.
Alright.
Let’s make a run for it.
Ken concluded.
“But more importantly, Emily. Are you trying to bully Ken again? I know what you’ve been doing to him.”
“Ha, and what if I am? All I did was provoke that pig to lose weight faster.”
“Ken losing weight is his own choice. Forcing him is not right.”
“Have you seen Ken lose weight? I bet you won’t say that after you see it.”
“…I-I’ve never seen it. But I don’t care about whether Ken is fat or thin…”
“Wait, wait a second. Why are you blushing all of a sudden? Hey, Ken! Say something!”
At Emily’s shout, the person she was calling for was already gone.
“…Huh?”
“Uh, Mary. Emily. Ken just left.”
At the revelation from a nearby student, both Mary and Emily froze, their expressions hardening.
“Huh?”
“E-eh?”
In the midst of their conversation, I promptly slipped out of the classroom and headed straight to Raphne’s tower.
Upon opening the familiar top-floor door, the delightful aroma greeted me along with the sight of her red-haired self.
“Ken! You came!”
Raphne rushed to the door and grabbed my hand, shaking it.
She always reacted like this; it was the same every time.
“Oh, I’m really glad… I was worried wondering what if you didn’t come…”
“Raphne.”
If it were any other day, I would have smoothly responded to that familiar interaction, but I felt different now.
Though I had just experienced a battleground moments ago, I recalled Raphne’s words from a few days ago.
“I don’t want you to forget me just because you have a girlfriend! You’ll be charmed by another girl and forget about me!”
I genuinely felt a sense of unfairness back then.
There’s no way I would ever abandon Raphne for such trivial matters.
Raphne looked at me, cocking her head in confusion.
“Why…?”
“I told you, if I had a girlfriend, I wouldn’t come to the tower, right?”
“Wha-what? …Did you get one?”
Raphne’s face stiffened immediately with concern.
I then divulged my feelings of injustice to her right away.
“N-no! Just moments ago, two different girls invited me to lunch, but I turned them down and came to you!”
I declared confidently to Raphne.
With this, Raphne should be relieved.
“…Huh?”
“How’s that? Can you trust me now?”
I felt a sense of pride inside.
Raphne was my ultimate favorite character, but both Mary and Emily were carefully crafted cute characters by the game developers.
I felt proud to have rejected lunch invitations from both of these girls.
And as I glanced at Raphne, who cried about being abandoned if I ever got a girlfriend, I felt somewhat resentful.
Now, there should be no more misunderstandings about my loyalty.
With a victory smile on my face, I continued,
“…Did a girl invite you to lunch?”
Raphne didn’t smile.
“…Huh? Wait, I mean, that’s not the important part here…”
“Who was she?”
[System: Raphne Bell Martinez has developed a characteristic.]
[Ownership characteristic: Despair 72%, Dependency Level 6, Anger Level 2]
This was the long-awaited angry characteristic I hadn’t seen from Raphne in a while.
“…Ha, haha.”
“…”
Uh-oh?