Chapter 91
Chapter 91
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: Her Father
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As class time at the academy dragged on, my anxiety only grew worse.
Tremble, tremble, tremble...
It was a primal fear bubbling up from my instincts.
I hadn't felt anything like this even during my battle with the dragon in the tower.
"...Ken, are you okay?"
Emily, who'd come by during break, looked at me trembling with unease and asked worriedly.
I forced a smile and replied.
"Of course. No problem."
"You look like you've got a ton of problems."
"I'm really fine...."
The truth was, I wasn't fine at all.
Because after the academy let out, the task ahead of me was to boldly declare to a girl who liked me that I was two-timing.
Actually, not two-timing—three-timing.
Of course, I hadn't given Mary an answer to her confession yet, so we were still just friends, technically.
'No, my answer to the confession is already set.'
The real issue came after the confession—breaking the news about the three-timing to Mary.
And figuring out how to handle her reaction.
The absolute worst-case scenario was something like:
'...Then please pretend my confession never happened.'
"Guh...!"
"You sure you're really okay...?"
I already had feelings for Mary. No—they were bigger than I'd realized.
Considering that all the kindness she'd shown me up till now had been because she liked me.
Her presence in my heart couldn't help but swell.
But if that swollen heart got pierced by a needle of contempt in her eyes...
The punctured balloon was bound to burst.
"Well, in the worst case, I'll be right by your side."
"Don't say that.... I want everyone to be happy."
"I know. I just said it out of greed."
Emily blushed and primly turned her head away.
She was so cute that I reached out and firmly grasped the hand of Emily, who was standing next to my seat.
"W-Wait a sec...! Someone might see us in the classroom...!"
Emily blushed and panicked, but she didn't pull her hand away.
She just hid our clasped hands behind her body and glanced around.
'Ah, such a calming warmth.'
Even so, holding Emily's soft hand and feeling her warmth settled my mind.
"Sheesh.... Idiot."
Seeing my face relax, Emily shyly glanced at me from the corner of her eye.
But she tightened her grip on our joined hands.
"Still, isn't it kinda off to soothe your anxiety about confessing to one girl by holding another girl's hand?"
"Guh...!"
Her playful tease made me clutch my head again.
Maybe I really was trash.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "...━Ken."
Once classes were finally over and everyone started heading home, I was packing up my books and such when Mary called out to me from the front door of the classroom.
"You got here awfully fast."
"...Yeah, I was in a hurry."
Surprised by my question, Mary approached with flushed cheeks and answered shyly.
My heart pounded at the sight, turning my own face red.
But the moment I recalled what I had to tell her soon after, my head cooled right back down.
"Shall we go?"
With that, we set off down the path home together.
We'd made plans to meet after classes ended, but since there wasn't anything specific to do, we naturally headed toward the dorms.
"...That sounds like it was a big deal."
"Yeah, but since everyone pulled together, it wasn't too tough."
Our steps toward the dorms were agonizingly slow.
We took one careful step at a time, chatting about nothing in particular.
Before I knew it, I was even talking about what happened on the uninhabited island.
'Bringing it up... isn't easy.'
I was too tense to get to the main point.
We laughed over the trivial banter and enjoyed the conversation.
But in the silences between exchanges, an awkward air hung heavy, and we'd both look down or away.
'Mary must've really mustered her courage back then...'
It hit me anew just how hard it must've been for her to confess to me after our date ended.
And here I was, only needing to give an answer—yet I could barely open my mouth.
"......"
"......"
Thud, thud.
As we walked slowly, chatting, the distance between us gradually shrank.
Our hands were brushing now, close enough to touch—but unlike before, we didn't clasp them.
We just blushed shyly and let them bump without pulling away.
'Don't hesitate...!'
Mary had already mustered her courage once to lay her true feelings bare to me.
Even with the anxiety of possible rejection.
For a guy like me to waver like this was just pathetic.
"......Uht."
I gently took hold of Mary's bumping hand.
She let out a small, surprised gasp beside me.
"......"
Mary blushed and clasped my hand in return.
Before long, our fingers were interlocked, and we walked silently toward the dorms, feeling each other's warmth.
Thump, thump.
'No... my heart's gonna explode.'
This wasn't the dread of confessing my true feelings to Mary.
It was the nervous thrill of walking hand-in-hand with a girl I liked.
"Mary."
"Y-Yes... yes?"
But I couldn't just let it end without a word, so I steeled myself and spoke up again.
She jumped a little, answering in a voice tense like mine, her trembling eyes gazing at me expectantly.
"Wanna sit down for a bit?"
Meeting her gaze, I pointed to a bench along the path to the dorms.
Mary nodded silently.
'No more hesitation now that we're here...'
We were already holding hands.
She had to know what my answer to her confession was by now.
So I just had to say it without fear.
"I like you too, Mary."
After sitting on the bench and exchanging a few idle words, I paused for a moment before answering her confession.
I could feel her shoulder trembling beside me.
"T-Then.... with you now...."
Mary looked at me with a tense expression.
"...it's okay to think we're not just friends anymore, right?"
Her softly quivering voice asked me, as if it were the most important thing.
I nodded carefully in response.
Her tense face broke into a smile of genuine joy.
Mary beamed at me, looking truly happy.
'The real problem starts now...'
But I still had unfinished business, so I couldn't smile back at her.
"Mary, one more thing. ...I've got something important to say."
"Oh, you too? Funny, I have something I really want to tell you as well."
"Huh?"
Just as I was about to dive into the main topic, Mary—looking in high spirits—spoke up with a smile.
She took my hand in both of hers, fiddling with my fingers shyly as if it were precious.
"But go ahead—you talk first."
She looked refreshed, like she'd just shed one layer of a heavy burden.
The thought that expression was about to change made my chest ache.
"Mary, to be honest... this is gonna sound really rude to you."
"......Pardon?"
My uneasy opener made the smile she'd worn moments ago stiffen.
We were one step away.
Just one more burst of courage to push through.
It was something I had to do anyway. If I couldn't get past this, there'd be no happy future for the three of us.
I gazed seriously at Mary, who was anxiously gripping my hand.
And forced my mouth open.
"...The truth is."
Then I explained everything.
The story of Rapne, the first to tell me she liked me.
And Emily's confession to me during the loop—one I'd forgotten about.
I summarized the events along the way and how my feelings for them—and for Mary—had evolved.
As she listened to that long-yet-short tale,
Mary's face grew darker with each passing moment, tears welling in her eyes.
It hurt to watch, but
I had to say it.
What kind of future I wanted for the three of us.
"So! Shameless as it is, will you marry me?!"
"......Eh?"
"......Huh?"
In my haste, I'd boiled it down too far, and Mary's darkened expression filled with bewilderment.
Then her cheeks gradually flushed,
And with eyes spinning in confusion, she asked back.
"M-M-M-Marriage...?"
Of course, I was just as flustered.
"No, I mean! Lillias Kingdom allows polygamy, so i-it's not exactly marriage, but premised on marriage...! Wait, no, that's not it either...!"
I'd meant to ask if she'd be okay with us all dating.
In polygamous Lillias, it was about dreaming of a happy future together with the three of them.
But I'd condensed it so much that it came out as an instant proposal.
"So what you're saying is... you want to marry three people, including me?"
"If we're just looking at the end result... yeah."
Boiled down to one line, it sounded like the trashiest statement imaginable.
But instead of a look of contempt,
Mary gazed at me with tears brimming and eyes trembling.
And then.
"I'm glad...."
She sobbed and clung to my arm.
"Glad... why?"
"While you were talking, I thought it meant you had other girls you liked, so we couldn't be together.... That's why I'm glad...."
She must've thought my explanation was a roundabout way of rejecting her confession.
'So she wasn't shocked by the three-timing itself?'
For a moment, hope glimmered.
"T-Then... you're okay with it?"
"...The marriage talk?"
"...Result-wise, yeah."
She smiled brightly through her tears at my answer.
"You're a worse guy than I thought, Ken."
"Guh...!"
It was probably her way of teasing with a joke, but it hit me like a critical blow.
Seeing me clutch my chest, Mary laughed in a rare, amused way.
"But this is the conclusion you reached after agonizing over it, right?"
"...I'll do my absolute best."
It wasn't a lie.
Sure, I was a greedy trash heap trying to have three girls at once.
But my desire to make all three happy was sincere.
At my response, Mary smiled ruefully and nodded.
"Well, no helping it then. ...I like that bad side of you too, Ken."
"......Mary."
Her gentle gaze melted away all the anxiety I'd carried.
And filled my chest with warm comfort.
"Now that your confession's accepted.... Can I ask one favor?"
"...A favor?"
At my puzzled reaction, Mary shyly bowed her head as if steeling herself,
Then threw herself into my arms with a whoosh.
"I love you. ...I'm confident my feelings are the strongest out of the three—no contest."
With her face buried in my chest, she hugged my waist tight and said it.
I could feel her warm body heat and soft form pressing against me.
"M-Mary...."
"At times like this, stroke my head. ...You took responsibility, remember."
"Y-Yeah...."
Heart pounding with tension, I shyly ran my hand over Mary's hair as she looked up at me.
She smiled happily.
The usually stoic girl with faint emotions was smiling so brightly now, and it made me happy too.
'...Good thing I mustered the courage.'
She'd accepted my true feelings without getting too upset—better than I'd hoped.
She looked a bit bummed, sure, but there was no opposition at all.
Truly a relief.
"But was that 'something you wanted to say' just asking for a hug?"
She'd definitely said earlier she had something to tell me.
But a hug request felt too light for that.
When I voiced the question, Mary jolted like she'd forgotten and hurriedly pulled away from my chest.
"Actually, I was gonna say it after confirming your answer to my confession...."
She continued a bit cautiously.
What she wanted to say
was.
"Will you come home with me to meet my family?"
A sudden talk of meeting the parents.