━Thunk.

When the door closed, an unfamiliar scene unfolded before her eyes.

“…….”

It must be a room I've never seen before.

Yet for some reason, it felt strangely familiar.

Raphne was imprisoned in the Tower as a consequence for losing the duel to Ken.

No one told her how long she would be confined there.

She was just left alone, waiting for an unknown day when it might end.

“…He said he liked me.”

Tears dropped from Raphne's lowered eyes.

“…He told me he liked me.”

Her voice was filled with resentment.

But the cause of her tears wasn't simply due to frustration.

When she lost the duel, Ken looked at her and said, “For troubling me, Raphne, you will be imprisoned in the Tower.”

She recalled the cold look in his eyes.

Why had she forgotten that?

She was the one who had tormented him.

At some point, she had become blind to that fact, overwhelmed by the tender feelings she grew for him.

Facing his cold gaze brought her back to reality.

Raphne wasn't angry about being imprisoned in the Tower.

“…Sobbing, sob.”

It was just his cold gaze.

The realization that the happy future she had hoped and dreamed for with him could no longer exist made Raphne's heart ache.

“Why did I do that?”

Regret for her past actions washed over her.

“Sobbing, I’m so foolish.”

She sank to the floor and wept endlessly.

More than the man who confessed his love and then confined her in the Tower, she resented herself for having tormented him.

“I'm such a fool…”

Up until recently, she had never felt these emotions.

Suddenly, her mind was filled with thoughts of him.

Suddenly, she dreamt of becoming his lover.

Forgetting completely what she had done to him.

And then Raphne looked at the empty space before her.

Although the room was furnished with everything necessary for living, it somehow felt barren.

“Why do I feel this way?”

Raphne's shoulders trembled as she looked at the emptiness of the room.

For some reason, being here felt unsettling.

There was a sinister sensation crawling up from her chest.

However, Raphne couldn't understand what this sensation was.

It was a feeling she experienced for the first time.

Yet it was so familiar that it frightened her.

"...Ah, aaah...."

Suddenly, that sensation grew immense.

"No, no, no, no!"

She clutched her head, curled up, and lay down on the cold stone floor.

And then she felt she understood what this unpleasant sensation was.

A maddening surge of loneliness.

And the pain of everyone rejecting her.

Parents, the Clan, friends, the Academy, even the Nation.

No one was looking for her.

Everyone had turned away from her.

Forgotten despair surged back up.

"Sobbing, sob, sob..."

For some reason, in the midst of this familiar sensation, Raphne kept thinking of him.

"...Ken, Ke-een... Sobbing, Ken!"

Tears dropped to the floor, and she called out endlessly for the person she desperately wanted to see.

When everyone else turned away from her.

There was only one person.

The one who would come looking for her.

And the more desperately she searched for him.

‘I'll never abandon you…’

Fragments of a memory she had never experienced began to surface in her mind.

"What... is this?"

With teary eyes filled with despair, Raphne looked at the center of the room.

There, she saw herself.

Crying and begging someone not to leave her.

In front of her stood a familiar figure.

Though round and seemingly clumsy.

This person treated her more kindly than anyone else.

‘Stop crying now. I'll come again tomorrow.’

A gentle smile looked at her warmly in her memory.

As long as they were together.

As long as they could be together.

It didn't matter who rejected her, as long as she was with this precious person.

This precious memory.

"...What... is this."

Raphne watched the unfamiliar scene with vacant eyes.

‘Is she doing well?’

I thought to myself while looking at the rising moon from my room in the dormitory.

My mind was filled with thoughts of Raphne.

As I had planned, she ended up imprisoned in the Tower again.

When I was discussing with Alicia about a situation shocking enough to restore Raphne's memories, that Tower came to mind immediately.

It was the root cause of my encounter with Raphne and the place that held most of her lost memories.

I recalled the first time I met Raphne. She was endlessly broken, clinging to me and begging not to be left alone.

‘...Will she be okay?’

That worried me because Raphne truly hated being alone there.

That’s why I created a pendant to break her curse and help her escape the Tower.

‘...Sigh.’

I gently stroked the pendant in my hand.

Since I had made it once before, I could transform the magic and replenish the missing materials to make another one.

Of course, Raphne didn’t need such an item now, but it embodied the fruits of our shared efforts and memories.

'...She must be struggling.'

Even though Raphne had lost her memories, her past emotions resurfaced easily.

So, being trapped in that Tower again would inevitably bring back those feelings.

I looked up at the shining moon in the dark sky again.

Then, I pictured Raphne trembling in fear, alone in the Tower.

"......"

No, this won't do.

I immediately jumped out the window.

━Thud.

My light body landed softly on the ground.

Following a familiar path, I ran toward that longed-for place.

Originally, I had planned to leave Raphne alone in the Tower for a few days.

If the period was too short, her memories might not return.

But wanting Raphne to regain her memories was purely my selfish desire.

Is it fair for Raphne to suffer in the Tower because of my selfishness?

Today, I personally confined her there.

Yet here I was, worried and rushing back—it was laughable.

'...Let's just check on her condition.'

It didn't take long before I arrived at the familiar base of the Tower.

Still old, shabby, and of simple structure—a tall tower.

‘Hmm, it would definitely be hard to sneak a peek through the door?’

I looked up at the high Tower.

There was the only hole in it.

The window of Raphne's room.

In the past, I wouldn't have even imagined what I was about to do.

I planned to climb the Tower Wall and approach the window from the outside.

Considering I have the physical strength to defeat most Field Boss-level monsters on my own, this shouldn’t be difficult.

━Thap.

First, I carefully jumped from my spot to avoid making any noise above.

I reached about halfway up the tower and placed my hand at a suitable spot.

The old tower’s outer wall had enough cracks to provide easy handholds.

Soon, I arrived at the window of the top floor where I aimed to be.

━Thud.

Holding the window frame carefully, I lifted myself up.

It was late at night now.

Raphne usually would be asleep around this time.

There was no sound from inside the room, so it didn’t seem like she was crying.

I cautiously raised my head above the window to check the state of the room.

‘She’s not in bed.’

And there, I discovered Raphne collapsed on the floor.

“R-Raphne━!”

Without thinking, I shouted and quickly climbed through the window into the room.

Maybe confining her in the Tower was too harsh after all.

She was already struggling, perhaps this was too much for her to bear.

I hurriedly lifted her into my arms.

“Raphne━! Get a hold of yourself━!”

Her body temperature was warm and her breathing was steady.

However, she looked pained.

“…Ugh.”

As I held her with one arm and shook her shoulder with the other, she slowly opened her eyes.

“Ken…”

When Raphne, now awake, saw me holding her, her eyes trembled.

“...Ken.”

She raised one hand and grabbed the collar of my shirt, as if pleading for me not to go anywhere.

Then, her hand moved up, and soon she wrapped her arms around my neck.

I felt the familiar warmth of Raphne, and she buried her face in my neck.

“R-Raphne… are you okay?”

It didn’t seem like she was physically hurt anywhere.

But her state was odd.

She held me close for a while without saying anything.

Then suddenly, she spoke.

“Ken… do you hate me a lot?”

Her voice was trembling.

Compared to the confident voice I had heard recently, this one was anxious and scared.

‘Is it because I locked her in the Tower?’

I couldn’t say anything.

Even if I said no, the truth is that I confined her in the Tower under the pretext of punishment.

I gently patted Raphne's head with a feeling of pity.

“You know... I understand that what I did was something that would make me hated.”

Then, Raphne continued speaking.

Her voice was trembling, on the verge of sobbing.

She lifted her face from my neck slightly and looked at me.

As I expected, small tears were welling in her eyes, and she looked at me sadly.

“But I can’t stop thinking about you.”

“Raphne...”

The tears welling in her eyes grew larger and started to flow down her cheeks, dripping from her chin to the floor.

“I know I’m bad... but I keep thinking about you and I keep wanting to see you.”

She lowered her head as if finding it difficult to face me.

“So I came to see you, the person I’ve been wanting to see.”

Then she shook her head.

“No...”

“...No?”

What does she mean by ‘no’?

I thought it was natural that she would seek me out.

She had always done so even before losing her memories.

But that wasn’t what she meant.

“The Ken I've been missing... you’re not like this... sob.”

“...Raphne, you…”

“I want to see you, but I have no memories with this thinner version of you... but I miss that time so much...”

Finally, Raphne leaned her face against my chest and started to cry.

‘This is...’

It’s having an effect.

Even before I was imprisoned in the Tower, Raphne's desire to find me was strong. But now, she is clearly searching for the me from her past memories.

Not the current version of me, who has lost weight and looks different. She is looking for the me who continued to visit her when I was imprisoned in the Tower.

However, she hasn't fully remembered everything clearly. Something is missing. Although she has recalled parts of the memories that were buried in the traumatic space of the Tower, she hasn't completely regained all of her past memories yet.

“Raphne,” I called softly as I stroked her hair, feeling her face buried in my chest as she sobbed.

Then, I gently held her shoulders, creating a small distance, and looked at her tear-stained face.

“...Even though I look very different now, I am indeed the Ken Feinstein you are searching for.”

“......”

“I’ll prove it to you.”

Raphne looked at me silently. When Alicia had told me about shock therapy, this was the first method that came to my mind.

However, since it was such an intense memory for me, I wasn't sure if it would apply to Raphne, so I had put it on hold. But now, I felt it would be okay.

This Raphne, who was so desperate to find me, would surely find this memory both special and powerful.

With that thought, I approached her as she looked up at me with teary eyes.

Then, I kissed her.

"...Huh?!"

Raphne's voice betrayed her surprise at the sudden kiss, but her trembling hands did not push me away.

Instead, they gripped my shoulders tightly, as if not wanting to let go.

The soft touch of Raphne's lips, which I hadn't felt in a long time.

The warmth of her body and the comforting, familiar scent she carried with her.

"...Ah, ah..."

After a moment, I slowly pulled my lips away, and Raphne, her face flushed red, looked at me with wavering eyes.

"D-did you just... our lips!"

Her mouth opened and closed in shock, her eyes darting around in confusion.

Then, with a puff and a soft ‘Huh,’ smoke seemed to waft from her head as she collapsed into my arms.

"Oh, oh no?! Raphne?!"

I hadn't expected her to faint.

My guess was that the intense stress from the Tower, the gap between the memory of me and the reality of meeting me now, and the sudden kiss had overwhelmed her.

I gently stroked Raphne's cheek as she lay on the bed, thinking about what might have caused this.

'No fever.'

Fortunately, the limp Raphne, who had been emitting imaginary steam, calmed down after I laid her on the bed and gave her some time.

Now, she lay peacefully.I wonder if it worked.

Right now, I can't think of any more intense experiences to give her.

Though, of course, running into traps in the Tower of Tarlos could be a vivid memory.

But no matter how desperate I am, I can't go that far and risk such danger.

I could only hope that this would help her memories return.

Holding Raphne's hand, I waited with a prayer in my heart.

“...Uhmm.”

Raphne opened her eyes.

━ Rustle.

“Raphne? ...Are you okay to get up?”

As soon as she opened her eyes, Raphne sat up.

She stared blankly ahead without saying a word.

Even when I called her, she didn’t respond at all.

Worry welled up inside me as I waited, hoping she would do something, anything.

Then,

“...Oh, ...oh?”

A light seemed to return to her once blank eyes, and soon her face was overrun with confusion.

“Raphne?”

“Ken...”

When I cautiously called her name from beside her, her trembling eyes turned to me, full of bewilderment.

And for some reason, she looked at me with a terrified expression.

...What's going on?

If it's because of the kiss earlier, she'd be embarrassed, not scared.

...No way.

"Raphne, have your memories returned?"

"......"

I asked Raphne the question I'd been longing to ask.

Holding her hand with a trembling heart.

But Raphne, as if pretending not to understand my desperate heart, awkwardly avoided my gaze.

“M, mm, memories? Hehe, Ken, wh, what are you talking about? Memories? I never forgot you.”

Her memories had returned.

The Raphne standing in front of me, her demeanor, everything was just as it had been before the past changed.

But...

"...Why can't you look me in the eyes?"

"H, huh? Me? No way, I can look just fine!"

For some reason, something seemed off about Raphne.

She looked like she was hiding something.

Since possessing Ken, this was the longest I'd spent with Raphne. From her reaction, I could tell a bit about what was going on inside her.

"Wow~ It's strange to come back from a trip and suddenly find myself waking up on a bed, hehe."

Raphne's reaction was just like when she used to lie.

If her memories had returned...

...Why was she lying then?

More importantly, what was she lying about?

"...Wait, you said after coming back from a trip?"

"...Ugh."

She must be referring to her return after conquering the Tower of Tarlos.

...So her memories returned, connecting from that point?

‘Then what about the memories she had lost?’

Restoring her memories shouldn't erase the ones overwritten after the past changed.

Listening to Raphne, it sounded as if those memories had vanished.

"...He, hehe."

"......"

As I continued to stare at her suspiciously, Raphne forced a laugh as if trying to brush off the situation.

But as I kept looking, she began to tear up.

"I-I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!!"

Suddenly bursting into tears, she clung to my waist.

"Sobbing, I'm sorry! K-Ken... But it wasn't something I did!! It was all done by the me who didn't remember!!"

And then she looked up at me, begging.

Ah, I see. So that's what happened.

When Raphne had lost her memories, she was still tormenting me.

After regaining her memories, the recollections of tormenting me and our shared memories seemed to have mixed together.

Perhaps she feels so sorry because she remembers tormenting me even as a second-year student.

"Sobbing, I'm sooorry! I'm sorry for doing such awful things!!"

Soon, she started to cry loudly.

In fact, I have no memories of those events, so I don't even know what she did.

For her to cry and beg this much...

...What on earth did she do?

I kept questioning her about it afterward, but Raphne shook her head, refusing to answer.

Well, from my perspective, it was something that never happened.

So I didn't press further.

Instead.

"Welcome back, Raphne."

I hugged her and patted her head.

"...Ken."

Raphne's memories had returned.

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