Hentai King System

"…It feels like a dream. Spending time like this, in a place like this. When tomorrow comes, it feels like someone will tell me it was all an illusion."

The voice was small, like a whisper, yet it reached Rigel's chest clearly. He answered in a gentle tone, as if wrapping up her unease.

"It isn't an illusion. Even someone like me, who is only the son of a knight family, can manage this much luxury if I work for it. I'll keep winning in the Academy Martial Arts Tournament, earn honor that does not lose to mid-ranking nobles… and someday I'll be able to bring you here whenever I want."

There was a vow-like ring in the words, and the feeling packed into them was too earnest to hide. Rigel's hand touched Char's fingertips, carefully, yet with definite will. Her hand trembled for an instant, then quietly overlapped his as if accepting that warmth.

"Talking like this, eating together, laughing. I… we are here."

Each word carefully spun the moment of "now," not the past or the future. Char slowly understood the meaning in the depths of her heart, as if turning it over, and narrowed her eyes. Eventually her eyes opened slowly beyond swaying lashes, and her trembling lips formed a small smile.

"…Then I'll remember. Today, properly. That for me too… it was a special reality."

That smile swayed in the night's quiet like candle flame, gentle and certain. The scent of the food drifted softly, and the air flowing between them filled with a dense sweetness and a temperature that would not become words.

"…Um, Rigel-san."

Char's voice cut the air as if she had made up her mind. Her eyes were lowered, but her voice firmly sought him.

"What is it?"

"When you're this kind to me… I start expecting a little."

Her cheeks dyed red, and the shadow of her lowered lashes drew a fleeting pattern on them. The single remark held bewilderment and a hope she still could not erase.

Rigel leaned back in his chair a little and swirled his glass. The gesture looked composed, but inside he had been struck in the chest by her words. Then he smiled gently.

"You can expect it."

"…Eh?"

Char's eyes widened in surprise. Even that look was charming to him.

"Having you feel that way is something I'm glad about. …Let's get married after graduation, Char."

Spoken far too naturally, as if confirming a long promise, the words made Char's heart float in midair. The fire that had been quietly lit deep in her chest suddenly grew larger as if catching a wind. The single line was so far from reality it felt like she might be dreaming somewhere, and yet the warmth that remained in her ears was calling her name for certain. At the unreal ring her lips trembled. Words caught in the back of her throat and would not come out. Her heart could not keep up.

"…You're really an unfair person…"

The words she finally squeezed out trembled faintly. Not blaming, not sulking, only a small voice that scooped up the edge of the feeling overflowing in her chest.

"Is that a no?"

His question was straight and endlessly calm. He did not rush the reply or lead the answer. He only looked at her eyes and waited, and that figure made Char's chest grow even hotter.

"Of course not! Um… likewise, please take care of me…"

Feeling heat gather in her cheeks, she quietly lowered her gaze. She could tell her heartbeat had sped up. The sound ringing inside her chest seemed ready to echo through the whole room. After a whisper-like mutter, a soft smile spilled out. That smile was quiet like a flower, yet it was certainly blooming. A flower that bloomed for no one else, only for him.

"I see… Thank you, Char."

Rigel's voice called her name in his usual composed tone. In that short line, a deep warmth seeped through the lightness. Char felt as if her heart had been stroked by that voice. She smiled unconsciously and, still leaving an afterglow in her chest, reached for the meal again. The slight tremor in the hand holding the fork was not from cold. Excitement, tension, and feelings beyond that filled her inside.

As the meal progressed, the conversation gradually turned calmer. Perhaps because the tension had loosened, there were a few more laughs, and in proportion her eyes took on a softer light as well. But when they reached the quiet stretch after the meal, her shoulders swayed faintly.

"…I feel a little… sleepy."

The voice held a spoiled ring, like a child leaving her body in a parent's arms. Her eyelids grew heavy on their own, and trust in him seeped from the joints of her words. Rigel noticed her change at once, but he did not act surprised or tease her. Instead, so as not to break that delicacy, he answered in a tone a little lower and kinder than usual.

"Well, you were tense the whole time. Pushing yourself isn't good. Close your eyes and rest for a bit."

The voice was low and had a cradle-like ring. Kindness melted densely into the quiet.

"Then… just for a little, excuse me…"

The words carried hesitation, yet also the resolve of being swallowed by an irresistible wave of drowsiness. With those words Char quietly leaned back in the chair and closed her eyelids. Long lashes cast a shadow on her cheeks, and on her skin a faint flush remained, whether from the afterglow of tension or from embarrassment that had not fully faded. Her breath was quiet and calm, like a child's. It was not a deep sleep. Only a temporary rest allowed in front of someone she trusted.

For a while Rigel looked at that sleeping face. There was no wave of emotion in the gaze. It was still, with the calm of an artist looking at a work, and yet something like a warped affection seeped through. He quietly set the glass he had been holding back on the table. Without making a sound the motion stopped cleanly, and the room filled with quiet again.

He laughed. That smile was exactly like an evil noble's, wicked.

Somewhere, a faint water sound.

Char slowly opened her eyelids.

Her vision was still hazy as if fogged, and her consciousness was dim, as if she were trying to float up from the bottom of water.

The backs of her eyes felt heavy, and her heartbeat echoed inside her ears.

A sweet, glossy scent still drifted faintly in the depths of her nose.

The scent should have been pleasant, yet now it felt eerie.

The warm light she had expected was nowhere.

Stone walls wrapped in inorganic cold, and candle flames faintly swaying in the wind, looked down at her as if they were watchers.

"…Eh…?"

The fingertips that tried to rub her eyes without thinking would not move.

At once her spine froze.

Her consciousness grew rapidly sharp.

The moment she moved to check what was wrong with her body, she realized she was still sitting in a chair, both wrists bound tightly behind her.

The feel of the rope rubbing seemed to burn into her skin, and the cold sensation crawling up from there squeezed deep in her chest.

"Good morning, Char."

A familiar voice.

But its ring was similar yet different from the one in her memory.

The voice that should have been calm, soft, and kind was now colored with malice and even seeped with pleasure.

Standing in front of her was Rigel.

The soft smile he had shown at the restaurant was not there.

What floated instead was a cold, sadistically warped smile, like a predator toying with prey.

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