Free Web NovelChapter 86: what is it with knocks
Her arms locked around his waist, tight enough that it felt like she was anchoring him to the ground, as if any loosened grip might let him slip away again.
"Yuto..."
Her voice came out thin, trembling at the edges.
Yuto exhaled slowly, then brought his arms around her with equal firmness.
"I missed you too."
Neither of them moved after that. Time seemed to stall around them as they stood in the fading afternoon glow, the light soft and golden as it spilled across their shoulders. Months of distance condensed into that single, wordless stillness, each second stretching with everything they had not said.
Then, without warning, Gina grabbed his wrist.
"Come inside."
Before he could even react, she was already pulling him forward, urgency in her steps. The world blurred into motion as she led him up to the house, through the doorway, and shut the door with a decisive thud that cut off the outside air.
The latch clicked.
The sound felt final.
Gina turned to face him immediately.
"I missed you so much."
Her eyes shimmered almost immediately, moisture gathering at the edges as if it had been waiting there the entire time.
Yuto’s expression softened. A small, quiet smile formed.
"I missed you too."
The instant he said it, something in Gina broke open.
Tears slid down her cheeks without restraint, tracing hot paths over her skin as her breath hitched unevenly.
"Gina..."
He stepped closer, careful and unhurried, then lifted a hand to her face. His thumb brushed gently beneath her eye, catching the tears before they could fall further.
"You idiot," she said, voice cracking as she tried and failed to steady it. "Do you have any idea how lonely I was?"
His chest tightened.
Seeing her cry hurt more than any wound he had suffered inside the Tower.
Without another word, he bent down and lifted her into his arms.
"E-Eh?"
She squeaked in surprise.
Yuto carried her toward the bedroom before setting her carefully on the bed.
He sat beside her.
"Tell me everything."
His expression darkened.
"What happened after I escaped?"
Gina took a deep breath.
"They kept me under room arrest."
Yuto frowned.
"Room arrest?"
She nodded.
"They said I wasn’t allowed to leave until the head of the Masaru House returned."
Her fingers tightened around the bedsheets.
"A few days later they finally came for me."
Her expression became bitter.
"They also intended to bring you."
Yuto snorted.
"Good luck with that."
A faint smile appeared on Gina’s face.
"That’s what they discovered. They found out you had escaped the dungeon along with the prisoner."
Yuto’s eyes narrowed.
"What happened then?"
"Chaos."
Her answer came instantly.
"The entire house erupted into panic."
She shook her head.
"They searched everywhere. The mansion, the estate grounds, nearby villages, the town. They sent guards in every direction."
"And?"
"They found nothing."
A proud smile appeared on her lips.
"They couldn’t find a single trace of you."
Yuto grinned.
Good.
Let them suffer.
"After a while they brought me before the head of the house."
Her smile disappeared.
"There was a meeting."
Yuto’s expression hardened.
"What kind of meeting?"
"They were deciding what to do with me."
His hands clenched.
Gina continued.
"They questioned the guards. They asked whether I had helped you escape."
"And?"
"The guards said no."
Yuto released a slow breath.
"Since there was no evidence, they concluded there was no basis for punishment."
"Then they released you?"
Gina laughed bitterly.
"No." freewebnøvel.com
The single word made Yuto’s jaw tighten.
"They decided to keep me as a maid."
Silence filled the room.
For a moment Yuto thought he had misheard.
"A maid?"
She nodded.
"I worked for them for two months."
Every word was like fuel being poured onto a fire.
"I cleaned."
Her voice remained calm.
"I cooked."
The fire grew hotter.
"I carried things."
His nails dug into his palms.
"I did whatever they ordered."
By the time she finished, rage was burning through him.
The Masaru House.
They had dared.
They had dared to turn Gina into a servant.
Yuto lowered his head.
His expression disappeared into shadow.
A promise formed silently within his heart.
One day.
One day he would destroy the Masaru House.
Not damage it.
Not embarrass it.
Destroy it.
Completely.
He wrapped his arms around Gina and pulled her against his chest.
She blinked in surprise.
"Yuto?"
"You won’t suffer another day."
His voice was quiet.
Yet there was an absolute certainty behind every word.
"Not while I’m here."
His golden eyes gleamed.
"I’m a Paragon now."
Gina froze.
The title carried weight.
Power.
Status.
Possibility.
Slowly, she smiled.
"I knew you’d become amazing."
Yuto chuckled.
"Then it’s my turn."
"Hm?"
"My story."
Her eyes immediately lit up.
Yuto leaned back.
"After escaping, I entered the first floor of the Tower."
"Already sounds dangerous."
"It was."
He laughed.
"I had no supplies."
Gina blinked.
"No supplies?"
"No weapons either."
Her jaw dropped.
"What?!"
"I was thrown directly into survival mode."
Yuto began recounting everything.
The endless wilderness.
The constant battles.
The monstrous beasts that dwarfed him in size.
The desperate struggle to survive.
Of course, he made sure to mention Shinny’s assistance.
Without his summon, several situations would have become far more difficult.
Gina listened with rapt attention.
Every sentence seemed to draw her deeper into the story.
"And then I got a second summon."
"You did?"
Yuto nodded.
"I’ll show you later."
"Why not now?"
He glanced around the room.
"Too big."
Gina immediately became curious.
"How big?"
Yuto only smiled.
"You’ll see."
She pouted.
"That’s not fair."
"It’ll be worth the wait."
He continued his tale.
His near-death encounters.
The hulking three-headed cryptid that had nearly crushed him.
The brutal battle where he had come within inches of death.
Then came the betrayal.
"
"A friend turned on you?"
Yuto gave a slow nod, his gaze drifting somewhere beyond the room.
"Yeah."
Gina sucked in a sharp breath. Her fingers tightened around the edge of her seat.
"What happened?"
For a moment, silence settled between them.
Yuto rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged.
"I survived."
The words fell flat and simple, but there was a weight behind them that made Gina’s chest tighten.
He offered nothing more.
Some memories felt like old scars hidden beneath clothing, healed on the surface but still aching when touched. The taste of betrayal, the sting of loss, the sounds he wished he could forget, they were things he had no desire to drag back into the light.
Instead, he moved on.
He told her about meeting a girl from one of the Great Clans.
As the story unfolded, Gina’s eyes grew wider and wider. Surprise flashed across her face with every revelation, her expression shifting from curiosity to disbelief. More than once, her lips parted as if to interrupt, only for her words to die before they could leave her mouth.
By the time Yuto finished, the room had gone quiet.
Gina simply stared at him.
Not with skepticism.
Not with doubt.
But as though she were looking at someone entirely different from the boy she’d known before.
"Yuto..."
"Hm?"
A faint note of awe slipped into her voice.
"You’re like a legend now."
Yuto blinked, then let out a warm laugh. The sound broke the tension lingering in the air.
He shook his head, a crooked smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"I don’t know about that."
"You fought monsters bigger than houses," she said, her voice edged with disbelief.
"True."
"You survived betrayal."
"Also true."
"You entered the Tower with nothing at all."
"Unfortunately true."
Gina shook her head slowly, like she still could not reconcile the image forming in her mind with the boy sitting in front of her.
"A complete legend."
Yuto let a faint smile surface, easy and practiced. He played along, letting her wonder fill the space between them.
Inside, his thoughts stayed quieter, heavier. There were parts of the story he never offered up, the tight grip of fear in narrow corridors, the hollow ache of desperation when options ran out, the nights where sleep never came because closing his eyes felt like surrender. Moments where death had not been a possibility, but a certainty that simply had not arrived yet.
He kept those buried.
Gina leaned forward without warning and pulled him into another embrace.
The sudden warmth caught him off guard. His shoulders loosened before he even realized it, tension draining out in small, reluctant pieces.
A softer smile settled on his face.
Slowly, he raised his arms and held her back.
The world outside seemed to fade, leaving only steady breathing, shared warmth, and the quiet rhythm of a moment that asked for nothing more.
For once, nothing felt sharp.
Only calm.
Only comfort.
Only something close to home.
He stayed there, leaning into the hug.
Then—
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Both of them froze.
A vein bulged on Yuto’s forehead.
"...Again?"
Gina blinked.
"Huh?"
Yuto stared toward the door with growing irritation.
"What is it with knocks interrupting me whenever things are finally going well?"
