Perseverance is Common Sense for Elves (4)
“Will you marry me?”
Become my political sacrifice (X) No! Just marry me already! (O)
I mulled over the garbled translation for a moment before flashing a bright smile.
“No thanks?”
“…Eh?”
For a split second, Eve let out a dumbfounded noise, as if she couldn’t process what she’d just heard. But realization dawned quickly, and her face drained of all color.
“W-why not?!”
“Why not, you ask? Well…”
“I may be a former queen, but I was still a queen. I never felt the need to cling to the title, yet if I wished it, I could reclaim the throne at any time.”
“I could seize power whenever I wanted too, you know? I’m basically a saint or something.”
“Th-then what about wealth? I lack the talent to amass great fortunes, but the other elves do not. If I asked, they would gladly offer me all the gold they possess.”
“Maybe. But wouldn’t the temple have more money than every elf on the continent combined?”
“Kuh…”
“Besides, I’m not some gold-digger who marries for money… It’s a little sad if that’s how you see me, Eve.”
“N-no! I swear on the World Tree, I never thought that even once!”
“Hmm. Well, let’s say that’s true. Either way, it doesn’t give me a reason to marry you, does it?”
“That’s…”
Eve’s lips trembled before she squeezed her eyes shut and shouted.
“Then what about my appearance?! I know it’s embarrassing to say this myself, but I’m confident I possess looks and a figure that stand out even among elves.”
“Wow… Money, then looks. You realize that applies the exact same logic as before, right? Just like I’m not the type to marry for money, I’m not the type to marry for a face either.”
“……!”
Eve fell completely silent, her head drooping low. Of course, looks were a major factor, and someone like Eve would be more than welcome… but not yet. There was also the matter of order. At best, Eve ranked third…!
I muttered the thought inwardly while looking up at Eve, who still couldn’t lift her head. Her expression was stained with shame and self-loathing. One corner of my mouth curled into a smirk.
“Maybe you’re right and I really am your fated one. Maybe you’ll never meet another man besides me. …But that’s your problem, isn’t it?”
“……”
“Of course, your situation is pitiful. But that doesn’t mean I have to devote my entire life to you out of pity. I have my own goals and circumstances.”
“……”
Yeah. Eve had gotten swept up in the moment and blurted out a proposal like the hopeless romantic she was, but she should’ve realized it by now. She’d only proposed because the atmosphere and situation had gone to her head…!
Well, to be honest, it didn’t feel bad. In this gender-reversed world of the Pan Continent, a woman’s appearance had value, but not to an overwhelming degree… At least, not to me. But having a woman like Eve offer me everything—money, power, all of it—while saying I was the only one for her? There was no way that felt bad.
Still, as I’d said earlier, my goal was to resolve the gloomy flags I’d planted across this world. And if possible, I wanted to meet the Goddess of Love at the deepest part of the labyrinth. I couldn’t afford to be tied down by Eve right now, when I’d only just cleared the first floor.
It wasn’t that Eve would restrict me. Whether we restored the elven kingdom as king and queen or lived in retirement as symbolic figures, the fact remained that my journey would end there. No matter how diminished the presence of elven royalty or the World Tree’s influence had become, they wouldn’t just sit back and watch the king or queen’s consort wander in and out of the labyrinth.
That was why I was putting a stop to Eve’s plan here. If I handled it wrong, I might end up driving her to corruption with my own hands, so I had to leave her some hope.
I reached out and cupped Eve’s face. Soft. Her cheeks were smooth to the touch. Though her face was slender without any baby fat, her skin itself was incredibly soft.
Eve, startled, carefully opened her eyes. Not that it changed much—she’d only gone from fully closed to her usual half-lidded state. I adjusted the angle slightly so she was looking straight at me.
“Eve. Don’t look away. Look at me.”
“I-I…”
“I know. I know. You’ve been very lonely all this time, haven’t you? The situation forced you into it.”
“You understand?”
“Of course. The World Tree entered eternal sleep for the elves’ future, and while the surviving elves fell into despair, you had to overcome this bleak situation as the queen the World Tree had prepared. You must have been young back then too, so it couldn’t have been easy.”
“That’s right… I may have been born with many gifts, but experience wasn’t one of them.”
But the current me, who’s stacked up experience, has no weaknesses (X) Don’t tell me even someone like me gets forgiven…? (O)
Hmm. The fact that the Eve translator was working again meant she had some room to think. In other words, she’d recovered a little from her mental breakdown.
I gently stroked Eve’s cheek as I continued.
“Bearing the fate of an entire race alone isn’t an easy thing. Seeing the truth isn’t always a blessing either. …More than anything, the greatest sorrow must have been having no one to share that pain with.”
“…It’s fine. A queen must remain a lofty existence, after all.”
Gratitude for understanding is one thing, but pity is an insult. (X) Will this guy understand my tastes in bed too? (O)
Good grief, is your head really filled with nothing but lust, Eve Eve…? It was truly lamentable, but if she’d endured a thousand years, maybe it was understandable. I gently pulled Eve’s head, which I’d been cradling, closer.
Her head slowly descended. But when it reached the limit her neck could bend, she lowered her waist and bent her knees to match my height. I didn’t stop there—I kept pulling her in.
Her gaze, which had been higher than mine, soon became level, then dropped even lower. Her once-straight back, symbolizing a queen’s dignity, curved. Her knees were already touching the floor. Earlier I’d been looking up at her, but now the positions were reversed. I smiled faintly.
“I understand why you’re so fixated on me. But it can’t happen.”
“Then am I supposed to live like this forever? Not even knowing when this long life will end…?”
Rather than living without hope… (X) At this point, should I just close my eyes and kidnap him? (O)
Goodness. It was just a hypothetical, a what-if scenario, but… Could the reason Eve turned dark in the original story be because she got rejected after hitting on the protagonist? Like, if she couldn’t have him, she’d destroy him. I’d thought that even if she’d ruled wisely and now lived a virtuous life following the old elven ways, she wouldn’t turn dark just from rejection… But looking at the translator’s output, maybe that really was it.
Hiding my shock, I pulled Eve’s head in and embraced her. Her face buried itself against my chest. She flinched at the unexpected contact, and I gently stroked her light-green hair. Like soothing a child who’d caused trouble.
Slowly, Eve’s trembling subsided. Only after she had completely calmed did I speak in a low voice.
“No. That won’t happen. I won’t let it.”
“Eep?!”
Eve flinched at the words that seemed to contradict what I’d said earlier. But this was sincere. I couldn’t live only for Eve, but that didn’t change the fact that she was someone I needed to care for as well. An elder who had lived nearly fifty times my age combined with my past life… No, calling her an elder felt off… Hmm. Anyway, even for a long-lived species, that part didn’t change.
Eve was my kid.
With that feeling, I tightened my arms around her head just a little.
“It’s not that I dislike you, Eve. It’s simply that I can’t marry you right now.”
“Then does that mean it’ll be different later?”
“Of course. For one thing, I’ll be an adult by then, won’t I?”
“Ah… You’re so mature that I completely forgot about your age, Yona.”
Well, marrying a minor would invite public criticism, so I should hold back (X) Your aim is sharp as ever (O)
I decided to give Eve, who had once again started spinning her own fantasy, a dose of reality.
“And there’s someone else besides you, Eve.”
“S-someone else? What do you…”
Stop the NTR! (X) A 3P… is possible! (O)
I brought my lips to the long ear of this helplessly lewd elf.
“I already have another woman I’ve promised to marry. And you might not even be the last.”
“……!”
Eve sucked in a sharp breath as she finally grasped the situation. I whispered into her ear with a voice full of barely concealed mischief.
“Sorry. My lower half is a little busy.”
“……?”
Whoops! I’d only meant to comfort her a bit…! But Eve reacted so honestly that I ended up blurting it out without thinking.