Chapter 23
[Rejected again, huh? Aren't you coming on a little strong without thinking? Just looking at your face, it seemed something bad had happened, but you're 230 years old. Can't you read the mood by now...]
“Ah, fuck, stop nagging me. I knew exactly what I was doing.”
[If you knew what you were doing, that's even worse. Just when will you, elf, grow up? With that attitude, do you think you can start a Red Revolution?]
At Ifrit's words, Elfride ground her teeth.
A hunter must be able to read the condition of their prey.
Ian seemed to be in a bad mood?
Of course she knew.
Hadn't she tried to let it go for that very reason?
‘Judging by his face, today's not the day... Huh...?’
But the faint, ominous scent clinging to Ian...
Made it impossible for Elfride to simply walk past.
‘That red bastard... He doesn't even understand the profound intentions of a High Elf like me.’
As expected, the Spirit King knew nothing about an elf's heart.
“...Hah, forget it. More importantly, can't you smell anything on yourself?”
At the sight of Elfride bringing their clasped hands to her nose and sniffing, Ifrit said,
[What smell are you talking about? A chicken coop...]
“Say that and you really will fucking die.”
Elfride said it with such deadly seriousness that even Ifrit backed away.
[I was joking. ...Have you tried wiping your philtrum?]
“I'm being serious, so stop talking bullshit! Ah, seriously, what is it? I feel like I've smelled it a very long time ago, but maybe not...”
[I don't know, but if you can sense it... there must be something. You are...]
“I am?”
Ifrit wanted to answer that she was a beast, but he knew she'd go berserk if he did.
[...a genius spirit mage.]
“Hmph, I know that. I know I'm a super-genius beautiful high elf. Ah... but what was that smell, really?”
[....]
Ifrit sighed as he watched Elfride tilt her head so hard that her twin tails swayed.
***
Estelle lay in bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.
‘...I want to die.’
Whenever she felt this way, Estelle would vent by writing a post on the gallery, but today, she didn't even have the strength for that.
‘Water-Drop’
‘...You're unpleasant, so get out.’
‘Don't ever come back.’
The words and actions she had directed at Ian replayed endlessly in her mind.
...She hadn't wanted to do that.
She knew that Ian spilling his coffee had been an accident without any malice behind it.
An accident she could have simply laughed off if it had been anyone other than her.
And yet Ian had knelt down and wiped up the coffee for a cripple like her, whose legs were so useless that he shouldn't even have wanted to touch her.
Thump─! Thump─! Thump─! Thump─!
It had made her feel like a princess being served by a prince...
She had been so happy, so overjoyed that she thought Ian might be able to hear her heartbeat, but...
She had been even more afraid.
‘...I...have to!..Estelle.... I...have to..!...I have to!...I...have to do it...now!!!’
Clench─
‘Water-Drop’
A thin stream of blood ran from between Estelle's lips.
“...I...ruined...everything...”
The brief time she had spent alone with Ian in the library...
Had been so peaceful and enjoyable that it could have been the first time since her parents' deaths.
There hadn't been a single thing about Ian's actions, manner of speaking, or gaze that wasn't warm.
She had come to understand all too well why Ian had no choice but to be the protagonist of their class.
To the point that she had mistakenly thought she might be able to open her heart to Ian just a little.
But...
This was the only way she could do it.
‘...You're unpleasant. Get out.’
She knew Ian would hate her...
‘Don't ever come back.’
She knew she was destroying the precious time they had shared with her own hands...
But if she didn't do this....
Ian would surely...
“I don't want this...”
Tears streamed between Estelle's fingers as she covered her face with both hands.
“...Now...I...I don't want...why...why only me...why...do I have to...sob...”
The emotions she hadn't been able to pour out onto the gallery spilled from her mouth instead.
“...Ah...ahㅡ..aaah....sob....I...I'm sorry....I...I didn't...want...this.”
Even though she knew she mustn't let someone like her get close...
“Aah...but...I hated it...now...I...I don't want...to be...sob...alone...”
Too weak to overcome her loneliness, she pretended not to notice and accepted it.
And then...
In the end, she hurt Ian and made him leave.
“Sob...I'm...sorry...sob...I'm...sorry...I'm sorry...for not...being strong...I'm sorry...for hurting you...sob...”
Even though she knew Ian had no reason to be hurt.
Even though she knew Ian always deserved to be happy.
Knowing all of that, she still wanted him to stay by her side.
‘...Yeah. ...Sorry. I won't come anymore.’
When she recalled Ian leaving with a sad expression as he apologized until the very end, it felt as though her heart were being torn apart with a knife.
“...Sob....I'm...sorry...I...couldn't...die...because I'm a coward...I'm...sorry...for being...born...sorry...sob...”
Estelle found herself...
Unbearably disgusting.
****
[Fresh Produce Morning Sale][5]
[Want me to show you something really amazing][3]
[My prospective boyfriend smelled fucking suspicious today, but I have no idea what it was...][13]
[The gallery disaster I saw early yesterday morning][4]
...
..
.
[Poster : 8FapsADay◆]=[Ian]
[Feeling depressed...][0]
Should I just go out and die...
ㅇㅇ(74.812) : Why is the admin depressed?
ㄴEightFapsADay◆ : My dick took over my brain, so I did something awful to a classmate.
ㄴㅇㅇ(74.812) : ??? Are you fucking crazy? ㅋㅋ What did you do?
Estelle used the gallery too.
Thinking that writing too much would give me away, I removed as many details as possible before replying.
ㄴEightFapsADay◆ : No... somehow we ended up having physical contact... But I guess she found it fucking unpleasant, because she cut me off in a voice full of contempt.
ㄴㅇㅇ(74.812) : For real. The admin was a fucking piece of trash. Just go die.
ㄴEightFapsADay◆ : You're right... I was trash... I'll die.
ㄴㅇㅇ(74.812) : No, now that I think about it, don't die. Just cut off your dick. Who's going to manage the gallery if you leave?
ILikePeasants■ : You should've been better-looking. Then she would've liked it even if you touched her...
ㄴEightFapsADay◆ : Yeah... Being plain-looking is a sin.
My chest hurt.
My childhood friend Eveline always told me I looked like a
‘country boy whose defining feature was being plain and unremarkable.’
I was always hearing comments about my appearance like that.
I already knew all too well that I wasn't handsome; she didn't need to tell me in the comments.
ChildhoodFriendRape■ : ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Ah, fuck, this is hilarious. The admin isn't normal either. How'd you touch her? Don't tell me you groped her like a fucking pervert?
ㄴㅇㅇ(122.39) : Says the bastard who raped his childhood friend.
ㄴChildhoodFriendRape■ : If you're jealous, you should do it too ㅋㅋ And she likes me so much that it's practically consensual.
ㄴEightFapsADay◆ : I didn't actually touch her in a lewd way... though I did think she was soft.
ㄴChildhoodFriendRape■ : ㅋㅋㅋㅋ You really are hopeless, you idiot ㅋㅋㅋㅋ You think about how soft she was while sexually harassing her? Ugh, you're disgusting ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Hearing someone say that about Eveline, I let out a deep sigh.
ㄴEightFapsADay◆ : For real, even I think it's disgusting... What should I do...?
ㄴChildhoodFriendRape■ : What do you mean, what should you do ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Forget it and jerk off until you drain your libido. Then buy her a present next time and prostrate yourself before her. That's the answer.
ㄴㅇㅇ(122.39) : Do you also prostrate yourself before your childhood friend?
ㄴChildhoodFriendRape■ : Is this anon illiterate? I've been telling you since earlier. It's practically consensual between us! She likes me so much that she even said she'd definitely get a job at the same workplace as me later.
ㄴㅇㅇ(122.39) : ㅋㅋ What nonsense. That's just what you think ㅋㅋ
ㄴChildhoodFriendRape■ : I'm serious. She said it first.
ㄴㅇㅇ(122.39) : Then go ask your childhood friend again right now ㅋㅋ
ㄴChildhoodFriendRape■ : Okay, I'm going now.
‘She didn't say that much...’
Eveline's answer had been quite reasonable.
The real problem was that my brain was filled with semen.
If that hadn't been the case, I wouldn't have slapped her, spilled my coffee, or groped her leg in the first place.
[Time remaining : 36 minutes 24 seconds]
I nodded as I looked at the time remaining until I could break my abstinence.
‘A bath should be just enough.’
I figured I could take a proper bath, then jerk off furiously to Miss Yuris's pictures until my balls were empty, and prostrate myself before Estelle next week.
***
ㄴㅇㅇ(122.39) : Then go ask your childhood friend again right now ㅋㅋ
ㄴChildhoodFriendRape■ : Okay, I'm going now.
The moment Eveline saw the comments, she rose from the bed.
She had planned to remain childhood friends for a while, but....
When she recalled the look in Ian's eyes, as though he had been carrying deep worries for the past few days, she could no longer hold back.
Click─
As soon as she opened the door, she saw her nanny.
“Nanny.”
“Yes, Miss Eveline.”
“Please prepare the carriage. I have somewhere to go.”
The moment she heard that, a broad smile spread across the nanny's mouth.
“Understood. I'll tell the coachman we're going to Lord Ian's house.”
“...What? I never said I was going to see Ian.”
“Oh my, isn't that so?”
“...It is, but...”
“Heehee... I wonder how long that boy Ian is going to make Miss Eveline suffer. So? Do you think you'll succeed this year?”
“...I don't know. That bastard.... Ahem. Ian is so incredibly dense, I'll just have to try.”
“Good luck, miss. I've bet that you'll succeed this year.”
“...Bet? On what?”
“Oh my! I'll go prepare the carriage. Come downstairs in five minutes.”
Eveline sighed as she watched her nanny run off, laughing merrily.
“Ah! But don't forget your contraception! The lord is crying.”
“...Ah! Nanny!”
In the past, she would have blushed and shouted that it wasn't like that, but they were long past that stage now.
Even the household servants all knew about the feelings that only that idiot Ian remained oblivious to.
‘Why the hell doesn't that idiot realize it?’
After climbing into the carriage, Eveline pressed her fingers to her temples and fell into thought.
Hadn't they practically done everything except confessing?
She had kept showing off her broad forehead, which had once been her complex, ever since Ian told her it was pretty...
Every year on the Day of Ellis, she dutifully gave him homemade chocolates...
Whenever she bought new underwear, she used muscle aches as an excuse to have him rub various parts of her body while showing them to him...
She had even learned loads of cooking because he said his ideal type was a woman who could cook well...
They had even taken a mixed-gender bath during their birthday hot-spring trip...
And although Ian didn't remember... they had even had se-sex.
‘...And he doesn't know?’
Surely there was a limit to how dense someone could be.
‘How the hell am I supposed to make it any clearer... you hopelessly dense bastard.’
If Ian had even half the social awareness of an ordinary person, he would have become Ian Marigold by now.
‘...He doesn't know because he dislikes me and is pretending not to.... Right...? That can't be it...’
Rattle─ Rattle─
“Miss Eveline. We've arrived. Shall I... wait today?”
“...No. Go back first.”
“Understood. I'll tell the lord you're spending the night at Lord Ian's house.”
“...Yeah. Thank you.”
As you can see, her relationship with Ian was effectively one even approved by their parents.
Her mother even asked without hesitation when, exactly,
they would have an heir.
“...Phew. Fine, I've given up on being confessed to. Instead, let's settle this today.”
Knock─
Eveline Marigold.
Today, she stood before the door not as Ian's childhood friend of fifteen years...
but as a woman who had come to see the man she loved.