Chapter 56
“Heh heh… Enemy of women, yes, enemy of women…!”
Elettra laughed like she’d lost her mind.
“Gilliam Everchess, so you’re an enemy of women in another sense, too…!”
“Elettra! Please get a grip!”
I was so flustered that I grabbed her shoulders and shook her.
“!”
Elettra’s eyes trembled.
“W-what on earth was I saying…!”
“Seriously, what’s wrong with you? You didn’t eat something weird last night, did you?”
“I didn’t eat it.”
Elettra looked at my face, then down, then back at my face.
“I couldn’t even touch it.”
Then she suddenly slapped her own cheeks, *smack smack!!*
What is wrong with her? She’s starting to scare me.
“You really are okay, right…?”
“I-I’m okay. I’m okay now.”
Elettra placed her hands on both cheeks and took a deep breath.
“Haaah….”
With her cheeks flushed, the way she looked at me felt oddly sensual.
“Hoooo….”
She kept taking deep breaths as she looked at my face, down, back at my face, then lightly slapped her cheeks again.
Only then did she finally return completely to the Elettra I knew.
“You really didn’t get caught up in anything strange last night, did you? Or get hit by magic?”
“I’m really fine now. It’s just… my head was a little confused.”
“Well, that’s good.”
“I really am fine.”
Elettra emphasized it again and took her textbook out of her bag.
She seemed to be back to her usual self, at least.
‘I need to do Elettra’s Bond Quest, too.’
I brought up the quest window in the corner of my vision.
【Bond Quest - Tyrannical Nature】
〈Joint Domination〉
Objective: Dominate a target together
Reward: Connection with the Tyrannical Nature (LV.3)
‘Maron’s is studying forbidden knowledge, and Lucy’s is hearing her secret.’
And Elettra’s was dominating something.
‘Do they each feel a little connected to their theme?’
Villainess and witch.
Loner and secret.
Tyrant and domination.
‘How many stages does the Bond Quest have in total?’
How many levels did bonds in subculture games usually go up to?
‘Five?’
If I assumed five, then Maron, Elettra, and Lucy each still had three more levels to go.
‘There’s a lot to do, really.’
I had to do sex ed with Maron.
And hear Lucy’s secret.
Find the other Fate holders, too.
Then progress their Bond Quests.
‘I also need to read the “Collection of Fate Holders in History” Senior Librie recommended.’
I had to prepare for midterms, too.
‘There’s an awful lot packed into each event.’
I wanted to spend about three months just taking it easy.
Though this was the karma I’d earned by running around stirring things up with my knowledge of the original story.
“Yeah, karma….”
“?”
Elettra blinked at Gilliam muttering to himself beside her.
‘Why is he suddenly saying that?’
Had he finally realized?
That he was heading toward a future where one day women would grab him and kill—well, not kill him, but grab him and do something to him?
‘Karma. Honestly, no man suits that word better than you.’
Get ready to be crushed by your karma someday, Gilliam Everchess.
‘If we tie him up and all pounce together, it won’t be so scary.’
With the sunlight shining down, I definitely felt like my senses were returning.
Right.
We must have all been swept up in madness last night. Or maybe Professor Mella left some weird medicine lying around in the infirmary.
‘I’m a princess.’
And not just any princess—I was seriously aiming for the throne of the Empire.
If I could just get past Roderick, I’d be the next emperor.
‘Though it’s a little embarrassing for a future emperor to be unable to keep her own man in line….’
But there was no helping it now.
‘Should I really have him bound hand and foot and locked up after I become emperor?’
And assign only male attendants to him.
If I physically made it impossible for him to contact other women, what could a womanizer do about it?
Honestly, it was an appealing option.
But Gilliam would definitely hate it with all his heart.
I didn’t have it in me to be that cruel.
‘…In the end, I chose this myself.’
If I wanted to leave this man, I could do so at any time.
The only reason I couldn’t was ultimately Elettra herself.
“Sigh….”
The Empire’s Second Princess sighed.
‘There’ll surely be a whole bunch of other women hanging off him tonight.’
He’d said he wanted to monopolize my time.
But when I actually went, whether it was Maron, Lucy, or one of the professors…
Or he might casually bring along some woman Elettra had never seen before.
‘Maybe the date spot will be that bunny girl restaurant again.’
That was the kind of man he was.
He’d surely bring me there, saying, “You seemed to like it, too.”
Then all I could do was smile with a face full of embarrassment and say, “Y-yeah, I really wanted to come here, too…!” while wearing the same white bunny outfit as last time and becoming his personal bunny girl.
“……Sigh.”
What was so great about this piece-of-trash delinquent?
Was a good family, a handsome face, a great body, and a sturdy package all a man needed?
“….”
What else was there to ask for?
Uh….
Hmm….
‘Intelligence?’
“Everchess, do you know the answer to this question?”
“Marholtz, isn’t it? It’s excellent at suppressing the excessive effects of fire-aspected mana.”
“…Excellent. I asked, but it’s still a strange question—how do you know that?”
“I came across it while studying in the library recently.”
“Are you interested in herbology?”
“I think it’s one of the most useful fields of study.”
“Oh….”
Wait, was he intelligent, too?
“Come to think of it, Elettra, are you preparing for midterms?”
“M-midterms? I… am, right?”
Elettra was genuinely flustered.
This was a romance-fantasy world.
Grades mattered to commoners, but not particularly to nobles.
It wasn’t as though noble children needed to get jobs, after all.
They did study.
But there was no need to engage in a cutthroat competition for grades.
So everyone studied only enough to feel satisfied with themselves.
In other words, they took it easy.
“Really?”
The way Gilliam looked at her was just a little—very, very little—disappointed.
‘H-huh?’
Strange?
Had Gilliam just looked down on me? Only a little, but still?
‘Ah, but thinking that Gilliam looks down on me is….’
It felt like a sweet, soft current running through my body.
Tingling.
Shivering.
“Then I’ll see you tonight, after all the classes are over.”
.
.
.
The fountain plaza, their meeting place.
In the humid air from the fountains, Elettra arrived before anyone else.
There were still thirty minutes until the time they’d agreed on.
But she’d wanted to come even earlier, so this was already late.
‘I can’t lose to the other women.’
Surely one or two women besides her would show up at the meeting place.
And surely they’d all be thinking the same thing: arrive first and make sure he knew it. I’m the most devoted. I can endure the most pain for Gilliam, and that’s proof of my love.
‘Hmph. Predictable.’
The problem was that making a plan and actually carrying it out were two different things.
Elettra had arrived thirty minutes early, prepared for one or two women to already be there, but…
‘There’s nobody here?’
None of the women she knew who were involved with Gilliam were there.
‘Am I first?’
Heh.
As expected.
‘Yes, this is the power of the legitimate wife.’
Elettra’s heart pounded.
Before long, Gilliam appeared, too.
The orange sunset dyed his silver hair the same color.
‘…Ha.’
Th-that face.
‘Haa…♡’
Her breath grew sweet.
That wicked face, seriously.
‘I don’t think he was that handsome before.’
She’d seen him once before. A pathetic wastrel slumped in a corner of a party.
‘It’s so strange.’
His facial lines and features seemed the same as then, so why did the man who’d only looked foolish then look like that now?
Back then, it was as if his soul drained away all the beauty of his features, but now it was as if the charm of his soul had been added to that beauty, amplifying it dozens of times over.
“Sorry, I’m late.”
“N-no. I got here too early.”
Elettra flashed him a bashful smile, then linked arms with him—to intimidate the next woman.
But.
“Shall we go?”
“Huh…? Is no one else coming?”
“Hm? I told you, didn’t I? I wanted you to let me have all your time today.”
That was true.
‘Did that mean he was giving me all of his time, too!?’
Elettra’s insides rang with a sharp, electric *zzing…*
‘Is he really going to look only at me tonight…? From dinner all the way through the night!?’
What a kind and wonderful man! She’d been sure he’d bring another woman!
“Heh, hehehe….”
Elettra’s face naturally broke into a broad smile.
She wanted to boast. Everyone in the neighborhood, come look! My man’s not going to play with another woman today—he’s going to play with only me. Isn’t he so considerate!?
As a woman, her mindset was already terminal—no, beyond terminal, completely hopeless….
But what could she do?
This was the path she herself had chosen because she liked it.
“W-where are we going?”
“Hmm? Is there somewhere you want to go?”
“Anywhere is fine, as long as I’m with you…!”
Yeah.
Really.
Even if Gilliam dragged her into a dirty back alley because he couldn’t be bothered to go anywhere, somewhere completely unfit for a princess, and used her body like a tissue, Elettra was sure she’d be happy.
“Let’s go get something delicious first. There’s a restaurant I’ve been wanting to try.”
“You’re even going to escort me!?”
【The target is drenched, in overwhelming joy】
<Praise Points: +4500(1000→5500)>
*×3 multiplier applied
‘?’
I hadn’t praised her.
And.
‘Had it ever had a comma there before?’
It looked like a comma meant to prevent a misunderstanding caused by a double entendre.
Drenched in joy.
Drenched, in joy.
‘Does it mean something else?’
Beside Gilliam, who tilted his head, Elettra pressed her thighs together and rubbed them.