The night sky was cloudy—and it had started to rain slowly.
I had just finished my usual night training. My shirt was soaked with sweat, clinging to my body as I leaned against a tree, panting slightly while looking up at the sky and feeling the droplets of water land on my face.
I was about to head back to the orphanage when I felt a disturbance in the mana around me and my instincts flared.
I immediately activated my [Mana Sense] and sensed three presences rushing toward me with precise steps and speed.
Assassins. I could tell from the fact that I couldn't see them, even with my night vision.
They were approaching quickly—if I had to guess, they were probably around Apprentice+ rank. Thanks to my hard work over the years and using the stat points, I have also reached the apprentice+ rank.
As soon as I felt a dagger close to my neck, my instincts kicked in. I ducked and immediately countered with my sword, slashing at the assassin's chest. Blood gushed from his chest and splattered on me as he fell to the ground—dead.
I didn't even have time to breathe when the remaining two assassins rushed at me. One came from behind and the other from the side. I tried to jump out of the way, but they had predicted it. The assassin at my side redirected his dagger and slashed at my thigh. In that moment, I summoned a dagger from my system inventory and threw it at his head, killing him instantly.
The cut on my thigh was deep, and blood flowed freely from the wound. I was starting to feel dizzy and a burning sensation spread through my body. It was probably due to the poison—but it was nothing my regeneration couldn't handle.
Still, I had managed to kill two assassins by catching them off guard—but I doubted it would work on the last one. He was clearly more cautious.
Seeing me bleed, the final assassin lunged at me, intent on finishing the job quickly.
Despite the pain and dizziness, I rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding his dagger. I threw my sword at him and quickly summoned another dagger.
The assassin seemed surprised by my sudden move but easily dodged my attack and followed up with a strike aimed at my heart.
I tilted my body to the left and let the dagger hit my arm instead. After he plunged the dagger into me, I used my own to slit his throat and limped toward a tree for support.
I leaned against it and slid to the ground. I pulled the dagger out of my arm and placed it beside me. I was no longer in danger—my physique had already neutralized the poison, and my wounds were healing at a pace visible to the naked eye. But the pain still remained.
Panting heavily, I wondered who had sent these assassins. My thoughts were interrupted by the rustling of leaves.
I turned toward the sound, holding a dagger in my hand, and saw a 10 year old girl—about 5'1"—with lustrous black hair and bright red eyes, her beautiful face stained with tears. It was Alicia was running toward me in her nightgown, while tears were rolling down her cheeks.
"Ravin." She cried.
She fell to her knees besides me and gently placed my head in her lap. Her tears were dripping on my face.
"Sob... sob... Do you e-even know how... hic... scared I was? I thought I lo-lost you for a moment..." Her voice trembled as she choked on her words and cried harder.
I gave her a pained smile and said hoarsely,
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me."
"No, you're not! You're bleeding heavily. We need to get you to a doctor right now!"
She tried to get up, but I grabbed her hand and said seriously,
"No. We can't do that. These injuries are already healing because of my physique. I'll be fine. I don't want to worry Grandpa and Grandma."
She stared at me with a complicated look and, after seeing my wounds visibly healing, reluctantly sat back down and began patting my head.
Two hours passed. The rain stopped. All my wounds had healed and only the blood remained on my skin and clothes. I looked at Alicia, wondering how she would react to what she'd seen earlier.
"Why did you come here?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer.
"I followed you. I know you sneak out at night to train, and today when you didn't come back at the usual time, I got worried and came to check on you... and then I saw how strong you really are."
She spoke in a calm tone—too calm.
"Does it scare you? That I killed those assassins without hesitation? Do you hate me, now that you've seen this side of me?" I suddenly asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.
"No. No, I could never hate you. Even if you were to destroy the world, I would never hate you. You're the only one who helped me when I was broken. I could even die for you."
Her voice was raw and sincere.
Looking at her now, I decided it was time to be honest about my plans—about my dream to build a harem and walk a path only I could see.
"Alicia... there's something I want to talk to you about."
My tone turned serious, and she immediately gave me her full attention.
"You see, I have many goals in life... and one of them is to make a harem of beautiful women."
Suddenly, the forest went quiet. The air grew cold. Alicia's expression darkened and her eyes lost their light.
"A harem...?" she asked softly.
"Well, yeah... you know how it is. I'm going to Nelix Academy in a few years, and there will be a lot of amazing girls th—"
"Are you going to leave me behind?" she asked, cutting me off. Her voice was completely flat now.
"What? No, of course not—"
"Will you... touch them? Hug them? Kiss them?" Her voice rose with each word, but she still smiled. That smile. That yandere smile.
"Well yeah, I mean, if I'm going to love them I will obviou—"
She suddenly hugged me tightly—too tightly—and whispered into my ear.
"You are mine. Mine and mine alone. No one can separate us. You will forever be mine."
Now I was actually getting annoyed. First, I had to fight for my life and endure serious injuries. Even though my injuries were healed by my physique I still had to deal with the pain, and now she was interrupting me again and again—not even listening to me anymore.
She was still whispering when I broke free from her hug and looked at her with an annoyed expression.
"Listen, Alicia. I'm not some toy you can keep for yourself. I have my own dreams and free will to follow them. I was trying to be considerate because I genuinely love you, but you're only thinking about yourself—not me. I actually wanted to tell you this from the start, but you weren't in the right state of mind back then. Now you can't expect me to give up my dreams."
My words came out colder than I intended. Alicia went completely silent, as if processing what I'd just said.
Then she began crying and ran toward the orphanage.
Realizing my mistake, I cursed under my breath and immediately followed her, calling her name and asking her to stop, but she didn't look back.
She went straight to her room and locked the door.
Still covered in blood, I decided to take a shower and got rid of the bloody clothes.
After cleaning up, I stood outside her room and knocked.
"Alicia, I know you're still awake. Please let me in. I want to talk to you."
Silence.
I could hear her sobbing through the door, but she didn't respond.
"If you're not going to open the door, then I'll sit out here until you do."
After forty minutes, Alicia finally opened the door. Her face was still wet with tears, and her eyes were red.
Looking at her, I realized just how much she must've hurt from my cold words.
Before I could say anything, Alicia said something that shocked me to my core and from the look on her face, she wasn't kidding.
"I'll be a good girl, Ravin. I'll do whatever you want. Just don't leave me alone. You were the one who healed me. You gave me a life worth living. So please don't lea—"
Before she could say more, I hugged her tightly and began patting her back and head. She silently started crying again.
We stood like that for at least fifteen minutes. When she finally looked up, I gave her a gentle smile and said in a soft voice,
"Silly girl. What were you even talking about? I would never leave you alone. I love you very much. It's just that I didn't want to give up my dream of making a harem."
"After listening to your words, I realized I was being selfish and not thinking about your feelings. I have no problem with you building a harem—but promise me that I'll always have a special place in your heart."
She looked at me with a loving expression. I couldn't help but kiss her forehead after hearing that and whispered,
"Of course you'll always hold a special place in my heart. After all, you're my first love."
Hearing that, Alicia suddenly blushed and smiled adorably.
Seeing her like this, I couldn't help but tease her a bit.
"Can I sleep with you tonight, Alicia~~?" I said in a sweet tone.
Alicia blushed even more, looked at me shyly, and nodded.
Now I was stunned. I didn't expect her to agree—but who am I to say no to such a good opportunity?
That night, Alicia and I slept soundly— hugging each other.
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(A/N: Tell me if I should add Alicia's pov in the chapters.)