No matter what I said, she stubbornly refuted me without giving an inch. Rafine argued against me without holding back.
“You don’t understand me. You paint an ideal picture because that’s how you want me to be, but you can’t see the real me. The real me is lazy and hopeless-“
“I know that.”
Without looking away from my eyes, Rafine smiles softly.
“I’ve known since I was little that Sir Jirei is lazy, talks rough and doesn’t want to work.”
“Huh? Then why…”
“I like it all. A little silly, doesn’t care about others but actually does care a little, cold but kind and caring… I love that side of Sir Jirei.”
“….Stop it.”
A hoarse voice came out of my mouth.
My mind feels tangled and untidy. I don’t want to hear any more. Please stop.
But my plea doesn’t reach her and Rafine speaks.
“Sir Jirei probably thinks I only came to like you because you saved me. But that’s a big mistake. I–“
Rafine looks directly at me and says clearly.
“It’s because of Sir Jirei that I’ve come to like you.”
“………”
“It’s not just me. Eve and Lady Leti too… it’s because it’s Sir Jirei that we admire you. If the one who saved me was a villain, I would have just thanked him and that’s it. It’s because, although you bluff a little, you would never make anyone unhappy, and although you deny it, you make people happy – because it’s kind Sir Jirei that we admire you.”
“I’m not trying to be kind or anything.”
“Yes, so Sir Jirei must be mistaken.”
Rafine denies my words.
“Sir Jirei is a kind person. So many people, including myself, admire you. There is no way that you are not kind.”
“…..”
“Sir Jirei is really strange. Why do you deny him so much?”
“….For some reason, it feels uncomfortable.”
Being thanked and seen as someone who helps others makes me feel uncomfortable. Being thanked for just living the way I want to feels uncomfortable. Getting this makes me feel like something’s wrong.
“No matter how much you tell me, this is who I am. I’m not going to change.”
“Yes, I don’t want Sir Jirei to change. I just want to be allowed at your side, nothing more.”
“I told you I don’t want that. I can live alone. I don’t need you.”
“Sir Jirei is certainly strong. You have the power to do anything without relying on anyone. For someone as strong as Sir Jirei, I think you won’t need any help in the future.”
“That’s right. I don’t need you. So…”
Rafine cuts me off. “But.”
“If there comes a time when Sir Jirei is injured and collapses, I don’t want to be unable to support you.”
That’s what Rafine said.
Support me? What is she talking about?
“Living alone is scary and lonely. You have to bear it somehow and solve everything by yourself, no matter what happens. For me…no, I think most people would find that impossible.”
“…. I am strong. I don’t need support.”
“No matter how strong Sir Jirei is, you don’t know what the future holds. Something painful may happen that will break you. Neither Sir Jirei nor I know if that will happen.”
“…. That’s just hypothetical.”
“Yes, you’re right. But – we can’t say it won’t happen.”
Just hypothetical theories.
Rafine just makes up excuses.
“Sometimes even Sir Jirei, who should be strong, looks weak. When I see you alone, you look so small, it’s like you might disappear if I look away…and I get worried.”
“….That’s just your arbitrary imagination.”
“Yes. That is my arbitrary imagination. But I get worried, so even though I know you don’t like it, I keep following you and causing trouble. I’m very sorry.”
“If you think it’s bad, then stop.”
“I will stop if you marry me. If you really want me to stop, then kill me.”
“Gu…!”
Rafine spreads her arms defenselessly and closes her eyes. Don’t mess with me…!
“Are you stupid? Why should I do that?”
“Why not? Sir Jirei acts without mercy against those who interfere, doesn’t he? Isn’t there any reason to kill me, who causes so much trouble?”
“…………”
“As you wish, then – I will kill you.”
I expand my magic power. Only the tourists exposed to my magic collapsed in fear, their faces distorted. I released so much magic energy into the air.
Kill me? Don’t talk nonsense. Does she think I can’t do it?
I pulled out the black sword and put my hand on the hilt.
She’s the enemy. Nothing but an enemy who interferes with me.
Then – enemies must be eliminated.
Rafine, standing in front of me, doesn’t move with her eyes closed. She doesn’t collapse from the magic power, and she stands before me unafraid. Whether she’s afraid or just stupid, she doesn’t even tremble.
I can kill her at any time.
Rafine will die when I draw my sword.
I can wipe her out of this world without a trace.
I’m not a good person. I’ve killed many times before. It’s the same again.
I even understand that.
My hand that held the sword shook.
I should just swing the sword a little and kill them, but I can’t put any power into it. I can’t even pull it out of its sheath, cold sweat pouring down and my heart racing.
Why can’t I kill her?
Why won’t my body, which should be mine, move?
“Sir Jirei is really kind.”
Seeing me like this, Rafine spouts nonsense. As if she knew everything about me, with a friendly smile on her face.
“That was mean of me. But look, it’s Sir Jirei’s fault, right? I say so much, but it still doesn’t get through.”
Rafine sticks out her tongue mischievously. “But it wouldn’t be so bad to be killed by Sir Jirei.”
“I’ve waited nine years. I’m tired of waiting. I don’t like being anxious, wondering if Sir Jirei might not be there. I don’t like feeling worried, afraid, like I might cry. So I’m going to say it again and again. Until Sir Jirei accepts me, I’ll say it countless times.
The wind gently ruffles her black hair, transformed by the Ring of Transformation.
Looking directly at me, Rafine takes a deep breath.
“I like you. I really like you. I’ve admired you for a long, long time.”
“Urgh…guh…”
Her feelings fired straight, without a trace of cloudiness or impurity.
With Rafine’s strong emotions thrust upon me and shown directly to me, all I could do was hesitate.
Even though I think I should reject her, the words don’t come out.
Something is roiling in my chest, my breath is so stifling that I feel nauseous. Clutching my chest tightly doesn’t change the pain, it doesn’t go away.
No matter how many times I try to open my mouth and spit out words of rejection, all that comes out are weak breaths.
Rafine speaks softly in a soothing tone.
“Sir Jirei, please raise your face.”
“……”
“Sir Jirei.”
“……”
“….Ei!”
“Wha–! What are you–!”
She forcibly lifts my face. Rafine’s figure enters my vision.
“Finally you’re looking.”
Rafine had removed the ring of transformation and returned to her true form. She had become a white-haired girl, like an angel.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
“What are you doing. Exposing yourself in a place like this–“
“It’s okay. Everyone’s gone because of Sir Jirei’s magic.”
“Just because, it will cause a commotion if you’re found out. It’s dangerous.”
“Fufu, you’re worried about me again. You really are kind, aren’t you?”
“Urgh…”
I look away from the giggling Rafine. Totally trapped.
Seeing me like this, Rafine laughs uncontrollably, as if she had hit the bull’s eye. Like a child pleased with a successful prank.
Tch… I’m kind of pissed off. Not because I’m being made fun of, but it irritates me. Damn it.
Rafine catches her breath after laughing, then turns to me.
“Sir Jirei, why don’t we compete?”
“Compete?”
That’s the suggestion she made.
“Yes. Because Sir Jirei is kind, you end up worrying about the stubborn me. I don’t want to see Sir Jirei looking tormented. So…”
Rafine explains proudly and points with her finger.
“Please feel free to run as usual. Don’t mind me. I don’t want to limit your actions. It’s okay if you disappear quietly as well.”
“Huh?”
What did she say? Something so convenient for me–
“In return… compete with me. I’ll continue to attack you while you flee. If my feelings for Sir Jirei fade, it’s my loss. If Sir Jirei comes to like me, it’s Sir Jirei’s loss. What do you think?”
“…. What kind of competition is this?”
I let out a dry laugh. It’s just too stupidly one-sided a competition.
“Is it really okay? I have way too much of an advantage under these conditions, don’t I?”
“I don’t mind. Because I don’t want to lose.”
Rafine says spiritedly. There is no doubt in her face, it is full of confidence.
https://i.postimg.cc/59Z60DqR/00001.jpg
“It’s too comfortable for me, though.”
“I’m saying it’s fine with me. And even if Sir Jirei doesn’t like me, I would never regret it.”
“What if I came to like someone other than Rafine? Would that still be okay?”
“If it’s someone Sir Jirei chooses, I don’t mind. Of course I’ll be jealous and want to be at your side, but I’m willing to accept it.”
“I see.”
“I don’t want to give up an easy victory either. After all, Sir Jirei and I are destined to marry!”
Rafine happily says the line I’ve heard before.
I see, that’s why. I understood after hearing her feelings today. All this time, she had been intentionally over-attracting to me. That’s why she said things like we’re destined to get married, I’m the legal wife, her eyeliner has disappeared, and other worrisome behaviors…
But when I asked about it,
“I see. So that’s why you were so inappropriately close to me.”
“Huh? No, that’s not it…?”
Apparently not. Oh, so that was real.
Rafine looks confused and doesn’t seem to question her behavior. Uhh….
Rafine suggested a competition that was far too convenient for me. Still, she said she didn’t mind. She doesn’t want to lose, she says.
Then I’ll take her up on it. I don’t want to lose either.
But that doesn’t mean I’m going to cheat. I usually cheat through and through, but this time I’m going to win fair and square.
“Are you really sure? I’m strong, you know?”
“Yes, that’s what I want!”
Rafine charged straight ahead, undaunted.
With a face full of confidence, he tries to defeat me.
“Hey! Isn’t that Lady Rafine?”
“Then that man must be the black-haired one the chairman mentioned…”
“Get her!”
“Woah–!”
Just as we were talking, the tourists came back with many knights, and I hurriedly grabbed Rafine’s hand and ran off. Damn, the exit is blocked! No choice then–
In a split-second decision, I carry Rafine and jump off the super-high clock tower.
“Sir Jirei!”
Bathed in the falling wind and practically merged with it, the carried Rafine calls out to me.
“I won’t lose!”
Her face looks innocently happy, like a child’s, and she seems to enjoy this.
“….Like I’m going to lose.”
I unconsciously smile a little. She looks funny still smiling in this situation.
With the pure white hair fluttering in the wind, Raphine takes a deep breath.
She declares confidently at me.
“I absolutely will–make you fall for me!”
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