Rafne Vel Martinez had been trapped in the tower for almost a year.

“Good morning, everyone…”

The morning sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating her face.

It had been a year since she was imprisoned in the tower.

During that time, how many times had she spoken to a person…?

Zero.

“The weather is nice again today… right, Mari?”

And how many times had she spoken to a living being…?

Zero.

“Haha… Susanna doesn’t like the rain, so I guess she’s not too happy today?”

She spoke affectionately to someone in front of her.

But the eyes of Rafne, who was speaking, were lifeless.

Her eyes, devoid of light and vitality, stared vacantly at her companion.

It was a doll.

Despite her greetings and questions, the lifeless doll only responded with its fixed, manufactured smile.

However, she treated them as if they were precious, carefully brushing their hair.

“…I asked for a new friend today, so let’s welcome them warmly, okay?”

Rafne Vel Martinez was cursed.

It all started a year ago, after her duel with Emily Epirus, when she suddenly developed a unique trait.

[Unique Trait: Curse of Fear – Any living creature within a 50-meter radius experiences extreme stress and fear.]

This curse caused her isolation.

At first, this curse led to her being expelled from the academy and sent back to the Martinez estate.

She thought she would rest there and eventually find a way to break the curse, but…

Even the prestigious Martinez family couldn’t handle her curse.

“You’ve brought shame to our family… The academy has been notified; you are to return there immediately.”

That was the emotionless message delivered by a newly formed servant familiar.

She had been abandoned.

At first, she accepted being cast out by the academy—it was because of the curse, after all.

But the day she was rejected by her own family, she couldn’t accept it.

‘What…? Why… me…?’

She stared blankly at the sky as she was sent back to the academy.

Since then, she had been ordered by the state to remain in the tower under supervision.

Though it was termed “supervision,” it was more like imprisonment.

The doors were locked tight, and the tower was too high to jump out of the window.

She had been abandoned in this old tower.

Abandoned by the academy, by her family, by her country.

At first, the realization tormented her.

The thought that everyone was abandoning her because of a mere curse was unbearable.

It felt as if she was being treated like someone with the plague.

Even though her body wasn’t rotting, she didn’t smell foul, and she wasn’t contagious.

At first, she wept bitterly over her situation.

But eventually, she realized something.

That wasn’t the true pain.

“Wow… What a handsome boy we got today.”

Since being imprisoned in the tower, she hadn’t had any contact with anyone.

Naturally, due to the curse, anyone who approached the tower would be overwhelmed with extreme stress.

Even food and supplies were delivered through magical familiars from the academy.

These familiars were simple masses of magic, taking the form of birds.

Rafne smiled as she received the doll of a young boy from one such familiar.

Her smile was lifeless.

No one needed her.

No one wanted to help her.

No one came looking for her.

She was completely isolated.

“So, what should we name our new friend?”

Rafne smiled as she held the doll, her dead eyes filling with tears.

But Rafne, unwilling to face her sorrow, immersed herself in playing with her dolls.

In her imagination, the dolls talked to her.

[How about Kyle?]

[No, he looks more like a Bill!]

[I like whatever name Rafne chooses.]

Even the newly added doll was calling out its name.

They were her only friends.

But she couldn’t step out of her imagination. She couldn’t return to reality.

Because in reality, there was only a cold, lonely space.

“Haha… hahaha…”

She didn’t want to die. She wanted to live.

She wanted to keep living.

But everyone around her, as if urging her death, had isolated her.

It was a dark reality, where she could easily throw herself out of the tower if she let her guard down for just a moment. A bleak future.

She prayed constantly for the curse to be lifted, but nothing changed.

And so, she remained locked in the tower.

For an entire year.

“…Huh?”

Then, one day, something changed.

It was as if a miracle from the gods had occurred.

Creeeaaak…

For the first time in a year, the door slowly opened.

The door, which had never opened, screamed as it moved.

What appeared beyond the door was a person.

“W-water…!”

A fat man, his face contorted in pain, gasping for breath, drenched in sweat.

Soon, the man let out a pig-like scream and collapsed.

“…A… person. …A person…!”

But his appearance didn’t matter to Rafne at all.

She thought she had finally gone mad and was hallucinating.

She believed her extreme loneliness had driven her to create such an illusion.

But no matter how hard she tried, the man’s appearance was too imperfect to be a figment of her imagination.

The fat man looked at her and, with a strangled voice, said,

“B-but… water… Please… give me water…”

At his small plea, Rafne snapped back to reality.

“W-w-w-water?! Oh, okay! I’ll get it right away!”

For the first time in a year, she had spoken to a person.

Tears of joy streamed down Rafne’s face as she hurried to find water.

When she returned with a bottle of water, the man had already passed out.

“No, no…! Don’t die! …You can’t die!!”

Seeing Ken unconscious, Rafne turned pale and hurriedly lifted him onto her lap.

Touched by the sensation of another human being, Rafne carefully brought the water bottle to his lips.

The water trickled into his slightly parted mouth.

Though unconscious, Ken, driven by his intense thirst, instinctively drank the water, and his expression soon relaxed.

‘Thank goodness…’

Seeing that he had survived the crisis, Rafne let out a sigh of relief.

If he had died here, she would have never recovered.

‘Is… is he really… a person…?’

Still unable to fully believe the reality before her, Rafne cautiously reached out to touch him.

She gently brushed his hair back, feeling the solid texture. Even if it was just a dream, this level of realism was enough.

She stroked his cheek. The soft sensation was pleasant.

Despite the strong smell of sweat coming from his body, it didn’t bother her at all.

In fact, she was happy to finally smell the scent of another person after so long.

‘But… how did Ken Feinstein…?’

Rafne recognized his face.

No, no matter how painful her time had been, there was no way she would have forgotten him.

He was the boy she had bullied a year ago.

“Mmm…”

I could feel the moisture in my mouth.

As I felt the wetness, I opened my eyes.

In my field of vision were two giant peaks.

That’s right, after possessing Ken Feinstein, I had been greeted by one set of peaks before, but these were the second marvel of human anatomy.

Breasts.

“B-breasts?!”

“Ah…”

Startled, I sat up quickly.

Looking around, I realized where I had been lying—on the lap of Rafne Vel Martinez, who was sitting formally in a kneeling position.

Was that my bed just now?

Her neatly placed legs… and the soft cushion beneath me…

It was her thighs.

Oops, I better stop staring before I’m labeled a pervert.

With that thought, I looked at the one who had provided me with such a comfortable resting spot.

‘Wow… I had a feeling from the illustrations, but…’

Rafne in real life was truly beautiful.

Normally, she’d stand tall and confident, with the presence of a true leader, but for some reason, she seemed timid and unsure right now.

She kept trying to speak but swallowed her words, and her shadowed, lifeless eyes glanced cautiously at me.

I guess I should say something?

“U-um, thank you for helping me, Miss Rafne.”

“…H-huh?”

I naturally thanked her for saving my life.

But she looked oddly surprised.

“Y-you don’t… remember me?”

“Huh? Of course I remember. You’re Rafne Vel Martinez, right?”

“…Y-yes.”

What a strange question. Of course, we’d know each other, considering the setting of the game.

My answer seemed to surprise her at first, but then she smiled, as if overjoyed.

Tears welled up in her eyes.

“Yes…! That’s right, it’s me! I’m Rafne!”

“W-wait, why are you crying?!”

She wiped away the tears with both arms. Though she was crying, she seemed happy.

“B-because… I was so awful to you… and yet… you still thanked me…”

Ah, right. Now that I think about it…

The reason why she and Ken knew each other in the first place was because she had bullied him relentlessly.

So my attitude just now must have seemed strange to her.

The sudden politeness probably felt odd, too.

…But still, was that really enough to make her cry?

Perhaps she had been carrying a sense of guilt this whole time.

Her beautiful exterior matched a gentle heart.

I’m sure there was a reason for her bullying Ken. There had to be.

“S-so, why are you here, Miss Rafne…?”

“W-well… you see…”

At my natural question, she slowly began to explain.

After hearing everything she said, I was… shocked.

‘So that’s why she reacted the way she did…’

The sudden curse, the reality of being abandoned in the tower, the loneliness of her days, and then, a year later, the sudden appearance of someone.

And the one person she had finally met again… was the boy she used to bully.

“And… I was so scared… I thought… you’d run away again… if you saw me… I was so scared…”

She cried as she explained that part. It seemed like a mixture of relief and lingering fear.

To think there was this kind of backstory behind the game. So that’s why Rafne disappeared after the end of Part 1.

Wait, but something didn’t add up.

If her curse caused severe stress and fear in any living creature within 50 meters…

Why wasn’t I affected?

Was it because I was a possessor?

As if to answer my question, a status window had been floating in front of me the whole time.

[Ken Feinstein's immersion is hindered by Rafne Vel Martinez’s trait effect.]

Was this related to her curse?

I wonder what would’ve happened if Ken’s immersion hadn’t been blocked by her trait.

Hmm…

“U-um…!”

While I was lost in thought, Rafne called out to me.

“…Yes?”

“W-well… did you have breakfast yet? I have a lot of delicious food here… D-do you want to eat together?”

She offered shyly, like a kid making their first friend.

And as she said that, Ken’s body responded naturally.

Growl~

A small earthquake shook the massive mountain ranges.

“…Sure, I’d love to.”

“Y-yes! What do you like? Just tell me! I can make anything!”

Rafne smiled brightly, clearly overjoyed.

She quickly stood up and rushed off somewhere. Probably to fetch the food.

‘…She’s cute.’

She was already my type of girl.

Normally, she’d be bold and fiery, like her red hair, which I always found attractive.

But this shy, girlish side of her had a surprising charm to it as well.

“Just give me whatever you’re having, Rafne~.”

I called out to her as she hurriedly prepared something.

And then, I took a look around the room.

It was far too spacious for just one person. The entire place was made of brick, and the only furnishings were a desk, a bed, and a storage cabinet.

There was also a small opening in the wall where Rafne had just gone. Probably the kitchen.

And scattered around were various dolls.

‘She’s been here for a year… in a place like this…’

Cut off from the world, too.

Before possession, I had been a shut-in myself. I used to lock myself in my room and play games endlessly, avoiding the outside world.

But even then, I had the internet to keep me going.

At least I could communicate with people in some way.

If not the internet, then the TV. If not that, I could meet people in games, even if they were fictional.

But in this cold, desolate space, with no way to communicate with anyone… to endure the pain of abandonment for an entire year…

I couldn’t even begin to imagine that level of suffering.

A little while later, Rafne returned, and we began eating breakfast together.

“And so, that teacher stopped the bully and…”

“Mm-hmm!”

As we ate, I kept talking, trying to fill the void left by her loneliness with whatever stories I could come up with.

They weren’t anything special, but Rafne listened with a joyful smile, nodding along.

She didn’t say much, but the emotion on her face was clear.

Tears welled up in her eyes repeatedly.

It seemed like she had found salvation in this unexpected situation.

And so, I kept talking. I wanted to comfort her, even if just a little.

“Wow, Rafne, the breakfast you made was really delicious. Thank you.”

After breakfast, feeling full, I patted my stomach and said that.

It wasn’t just flattery—it really had been delicious. After all the exercise, my body had been craving calories.

And since I was her first guest in a long time, Rafne had prepared an enormous meal.

It was a true feast.

“I’m glad… If Ken is happy, then I’m happy too. A-and I can keep making it for you from now on…!”

“Oh, really? That would be great. I’d love that.”

“…Yes!”

She looked overjoyed at my response. Of course, she wanted me to keep coming back for breakfast.

And my answer was more than enough to imply that I would be returning.

That was all she needed.

Her punishment was over.

Her isolation from the world ended today. She wouldn’t suffer anymore.

Because I would keep visiting her from now on.

Her smile made me feel happy too.

“Alright, now that I’m full, I should get going.”

But…

“…Huh?”

That was only what I thought.

“...You’re… leaving?”

I was wrong.