Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/822139844414118669/episodes/822139845222234695
That night, with a heavy heart as I left my room behind a tearful Liene, I made my way slowly toward Elisia’s room. Fortunately, it seemed we lived in the same dormitory, so it didn’t take long to reach my destination.
(The top floor of the dormitory… just like something a student council president would do.)
Thinking such things, I knocked lightly on the door.
“—Come in. The door’s unlocked.”
Hearing Elisia’s voice reply immediately, I opened the door.
With a soft click, I stepped inside. In the center of the room, bathed in moonlight, Elisia was sitting in a chair, waiting to greet me.
She was wearing a thin, unnecessarily revealing negligee, and her appearance was alluring. The provocative design, which emphasized her collarbone and cleavage, was a bit too stimulating, to say the least. I suppose it can’t be helped since this is an adult game, but I don’t think this is the kind of outfit she should be showing to someone who isn’t even the protagonist.
As if she could see right through my thoughts, Elisia smiled.
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Aren’t you dressed a bit too lightly?”
“It’s the night my fiancé is coming. I’m going to make an effort, of course.”
With a soft voice, she stood up and walked toward me.
Her beautiful lapis-blue hair sways gently with each step, and the moment she passes by my side, a sweet scent tickles my nose. Just then, I hear a “click” behind me.
I turn around to see my fiancée standing with her back to the door, smiling softly.
“Hey, why did you lock the door?”
“never know when you might vanish from my sight. It’s a necessary precaution.”
“……I don’t recall ever running away from you, though?”
I asked, not understanding what she meant.
In the room bathed in moonlight, a faint shadow fell across her face. It wasn’t the dignified face of the student council president I’d seen that morning. It was an expression that somehow resembled that of a child who’d been left behind.
“When I heard you weren’t going to enroll here, to be honest, I felt like I’d lost the will to live. Back then, I truly believed you’d always be by my side…”
A quiet voice and a gaze fixed straight on me.
She wasn’t accusing me. It just felt like she was matter-of-factly describing her state of mind at the time.
“……I’m sorry. As the future head of the Arkberg family—I was learning all sorts of things.”
My path to becoming the ‘Chosen One’ had been decided even before I recalled my past life’s memories. What could I do if I survived? What could I leave behind if I didn’t? To ensure neither was wasted, I spent my time preparing—and the result was that I stayed confined to the duke’s household instead of enrolling in the academy.
I accompanied my father on his business trips around the estate and devoted every spare moment to training.
And the result of living that way is where I am now.
“I know. You’re not the type of person who thinks about things on the assumption that you’ll die. …Am I right?”
Her deep purple eyes, illuminated by the moonlight, pierce right through me.
“Do you remember? The night my parents told me to conceive your child, and I came to see you, behaving in a manner unbecoming of a lady…”
The moment I heard those words, the scene from back then flashed through my mind.
■
――That was quite a long time ago. It was shortly after we’d become engaged, before we’d grown as close as we are now. When I returned to my room late at night, Elisia was standing by the window, dressed in a negligee just as she is now.
Her expression was less alluring and more like she’d made up her mind as she said,
“……I was told to produce an heir.”
Her voice held no emotion. It was the tone of someone simply stating a fact.
“The Chosen One is likely to lose their life. Therefore, they said, ‘Leave your bloodline behind while you still can’—. It’s a rational decision, isn’t it?”
It was neither a joke nor a seduction. It was a duty-bound proposal from the daughter of a duke.
“I am the daughter of a duke. I cannot let the bloodline die out in my generation. …If you are also an heir to a duke’s house, you must understand, right? —So, tonight…”
“Take me in your arms.” Before those words could even escape her lips, I rushed to her side and took her hand, which felt weaker than usual. Elisia’s fingers trembled constantly, as if embodying the anxiety and fear she was harboring.
“Don’t proceed with this conversation on the assumption that you’re going to die.”
When I stated that plainly, Elisia’s eyes wavered slightly.
“You won’t die. I’ll stay alive and bring you back, no matter what.”
Elisia stared at me in silence for a moment after I spoke those words with such conviction.
Her deep purple eyes flickered, and her lips parted quietly.
“……What’s your guarantee?”
“I can’t give you one.”
When I answered honestly, Elisia lowered her eyelashes.
As if resigning herself to the fact that—yes, that was probably how it would be.
I gripped her hand tightly. Tightly, as if to say I wouldn’t allow her to give up.
“But if there’s even a sliver of a chance, don’t decide your future as if you’re going to die.”
Her shoulders trembled.
Tears welled up at the corners of her eyes, and her wide-open gaze wavered.
“I am the daughter of a duke. Rationally—”
“Rationally, you’re going to give up?”
Before I knew it, I had grabbed her arm.
I pulled her close, then positioned myself on top of her as she fell back onto the bed.
Placing my hands on either side of her, I blocked her escape and spoke.
“Hold me just to leave my blood behind? If that’s the reason you’d touch me, I’d rather never touch you at all.”
Elisia’s throat made a soft sound.
“You won’t die. I’ll make sure of it. So—don’t define your worth based on the assumption that you’ll die.”
Silence filled the room.
Eventually, her fingers gripped my clothes.
“…Then—what reason would make you hold me?”
“When you choose a future where you live. Not out of duty or fear. When you choose me of your own free will—then I will hold you.”
At close range, close enough for our lips to touch, I declared.
Her deep purple eyes, looking up at me, wavered.
“……You’re so sneaky.”
After a moment of silence, Elisia said with a small laugh.
It was a smile that seemed somehow relieved, yet a little broken.
“So, if I choose the future… when will you hold me?”
“Probably on the night when everything is over, and we can stand tall and laugh…”
As soon as I said that, her arms wrapped around the back of my head.
She pulled me close, and our foreheads touched.
“It’s a promise, okay?”
“Yeah. I won’t run away.”
We slowly pulled apart.
Nothing happened that night after all.
We just talked until Elisia was satisfied—about the past, about the future. It felt as though we’d forgotten all about the “Chosen One,” simply laughing together as fiancés, side by side.
■
Just as I was reminiscing about those days long past, Elisia let out a soft chuckle, as if she were recalling that time as well.
“Hehe. I’d finally steeled myself to come here, but you, of all people, just brushed that resolve aside. Even though I swallowed my pride and went to such lengths to dress like that.”
“If my memory serves me right, wasn’t that exactly the same as how you look now?”
“Well? I wonder?”
Elisia approached me with a seductive smile.
The moment we were close, I was pushed back with great force by none other than Elisia herself. Stumbling backward, I fell onto a large bed that enveloped my body.
At the same time, Elisia’s hand rested right beside my face.
Looking up, I saw Elisia bathed in moonlight. Her long lapis-blue hair flowed smoothly over her shoulders, and a shadow hid about half of her face.
As if to block my escape, her other hand was placed beside my shoulder, and just when I thought I’d been completely pinned down, she suddenly pulled me close in a tight embrace. Her soft body pressed against mine with such force—so strong, so intense, it almost hurt—that I could feel it.
“……I was afraid… that I might never see you again.”
The force with which she had pinned me down was nowhere to be found. Elisia simply held me tightly.
Her slender fingers dug into my back, and she pressed her forehead against my chest. The seductive composure she had shown moments ago was gone; all that remained was a tremor she couldn’t hide.
“Just when I thought we’d finally met again, you’ve got some woman I don’t know—someone other than Liene—standing by your side… Do you have any idea how much that hurt me…?”
“…I’m sorry. Things just happened, and we ended up coming here together. We got close along the way.”
“If you really feel bad about it, then at least put me first right now.”
Her arms tightened around me even more.
“I’m not a forgiving woman. And I’m not the kind of person who can see you standing side by side with another woman and feel nothing.”
With those words, Elisia lifted her face and stared straight at me.
Her eyes were vacant, and I couldn’t help but feel that the sparkle in them had faded. Looking down at me with those eyes, she spoke quietly.
“You belong to me. The seat next to you is my special seat, reserved only for me. I have no intention of giving it up to anyone else…”
With that, Elisia buried her face in my chest once more.
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