Chapter 55. Dark plans

Chapter 55: 55. Dark plans

Mandrisska, still tasting the fruit of ontological horror, saw her own torn claw on the ground and took it as her new lifeline. Her compound pupils centered, straight, as if she’d lost her vision.

Then she took the claw in both hands, holding it at the base, her fingers working through signals, and finally a warm smile appeared on her face.

Mandrisska aligned the sharp tip of the torn claw in front of her other ear, the very ear she’d been trying to protect. With one last breath, she looked at me without any fear and pierced the claw into her ear. It passed into her skull so easily that she didn’t fight the pain, and she fell to the ground, bleeding.

"Ahhh, this is finally over."

I let out the most relieved breath of my life. I hadn’t thought Mandrisska was brave enough to kill herself. I’d thought she was scared of death. I have to give her respect for that, I suppose.

"Wonderful!"

Suddenly the sound of someone clapping came from the side, along with the acknowledgment. I knew that voice. Turning around, I saw Saelith in her uniform, clapping, her eyes on Mandrisska’s corpse, a look of joy spreading evenly across her soft lips. What was she doing here?

"Wonderful... I saw what you did to her. It was incredible."

Saelith passed by me, examining Mandrisska’s corpse with amusement. Why was my future wife behaving like a villainess? She likes bad guys, doesn’t she?

"I like your methods and your ideology. Looks like I did a fantastic job choosing you as my partner."

Saelith came closer but stopped short of me, rubbing her palms together in nervousness or excitement?

"Did you really become strong like I asked you to? In 3 days?"

A blush appeared on her face, her elf ears coming forward, her eyes sparkling, waiting for my answer. Then I remembered, I only have one hour of lifespan left!!

"YES!! I did it all for you. Would you like to go to the bedroom?"

Saelith’s joy spiked at my first sentence and died at the second. She seemed to think her perfect elf ears had misheard.

"Come again?"

"You said previously that you’d be with anyone who’s strong. And I just became one. So maybe we can share a bed..."

Fantastic, Mark! You have no idea what you’re saying. Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?

Saelith still gave me time to explain in case I’d made a mistake, but I was dumb enough not to use it.

"Let me get this straight. You want to mate with me? Sex?"

Saelith locked her eyes on me, gesturing, pointing at me first, then holding her chest, going slow on her words. I panicked, opened my mouth, then closed it.

? To one woman you’re a monster, and to another, you’re a mouse. This shifted quickly. ?

Lilathea’s teasing only worsened my situation. Although her point made sense. This should be hard. I swallowed. So what if this sounded insane, I wasn’t backing down.

"Yes... It may sound ridiculous, but I made a contract with a divine being. And the way my powers work... I can’t explain, but I will die if I don’t get sex..."

Saelith narrowed her eyes, judging every word I said. She spent a really good amount of time thinking and making a decision. Either she was going to slap me, or I was going to get lucky.

"I see. It’s hard to believe, but it does fit with everything else. You getting strong. Let’s have a chat in my dorm. If you behave, I might let you have me."

Saelith said it like a lady, showing no embarrassment, smiling as if things had worked in her favor. And I was left speechless. Me? With her? Her? And me? Me and her?

"I might have to wash you first, I suppose."

Saelith checked out my dusty body, a body that had been through a lot. Beetle bud goo, potions, dried blood, and now dust. Still, I smelled like calla lilies.

Wait, what did she say!!!! A bath with Saelith!?!

I see where this is going!? Thanks to whoever wrote my story.

"Elias, are you alright!?!!!"

Seraphine came sprinting toward us with another regular-sized polearm in hand, catching our attention, stopping right beside us.

Our partial couple’s talk was interrupted by Seraphine’s voice. Fine, since she was closer to me now and not trying to be annoying.

Seraphine spotted Mandrisska’s corpse and took note that the fight was over. A sudden warmth passed through her, but she didn’t show it.

"Elias, did you kill her?"

"No, I drove her into madness and she killed herself. It’s complicated."

I explained, scratching my head. Seraphine listened to every word carefully even though I said little. And Saelith’s eyes sparked again at the mention of the fight.

Something was wrong with her, and I was too scared to find out.

"I see. Well, in any case, you two shouldn’t be here. Especially you, Saelith. What were you thinking, coming exactly where the danger is?"

Saelith tried to look away after getting caught. And that’s what I wanted to ask her, what was she doing here?

Saelith reached out and pulled my hand toward her, locking it against her sternum with both of her own. The double clasp immediately closed the distance between them, anchoring my hand tightly against the steady rhythm of her pulse.

"Well, I thought I could help out. Plus, I was worried about my love."

Saelith said, suddenly being a cute girlfriend. Leaving me and Seraphine out of words.

Oh wait, why did Saelith have to do this act right now? In front of Seraphine!

Seraphine had an expression on her face, quiet, with lowered eyes struggling to glance at me.

? What are you going to do, Mark? It’s a typical harem protagonist situation. The main character doesn’t have the slightest idea which bitch to follow. ?

Getting used to Lilathea’s teasing was going to take a while. At least it wasn’t making me go crazy.

"Well, that’s still not a good reason. Now go from here. We’re still in the process of killing the remaining Sylvbeetles in the Greyclock Conservatory. And Elias, please rest well."

Seraphine smiled at the end, even though her eyes said something else. Then she knelt down, analyzing Mandrisska’s corpse.

"Let’s go, Elias!"

Saelith pulled my arm, dragging me. And in the middle of this, I thought to myself, I should stop and maybe have a chat with Seraphine, about anything.

But time was ticking. And I needed Saelith. That look from Seraphine made me realize that if I wanted to build a harem, my women needed to agree with one another. And if one of them didn’t like the harem, I’d have to let her go.

I know I said I’d be an asshole, a selfish person, but forcing someone to stay would just give me more unwanted trauma.

Anyway, Saelith took me to her dorm room. Since she’s a Rank Z royal, she’s been given a rather filthy-rich room, triple the size of mine.

A round bed with a red mattress and many soft pillows sat in the middle, with semi-transparent curtains making it seem like a honeymoon bed. An oval-shaped rug lay beneath the bed. Windows let the warm sunlight into the room.

There were several other things in the room: a dressing table, small shiftable stools to sit on anywhere she pleased, cupboards, a skull of a deer?, some elvish accessories, roots, leathers, glass containers with something inside, and etc.

"So, take your clothes off. I mean just the pants for you... Let’s give you a bath first. While we’re at it, I need to tell you something important."

I, who had just been intrigued by how elves live, snapped when my brain processed what Saelith said.

"Ahm, sure."

We moved to the bathroom, only to find that her bathroom was also bigger than mine. It had some weird items for the bath as well: Weaver-Spider Silk Conditioner? Butterfly shampoo? Sounds safe!

Before taking off her clothes, she gave me a smile. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out she wanted me to look away. Which I, respectfully, did.

Saelith took a towel and wrapped it around her body. Then, without a warning, she pushed me down, grabbing my shoulder, forcing me to sit on a bath stool.

"So, you might be curious why I want a stronger mate. And why I said I don’t care about other qualities."

"Ohh, you mean that. Yes, I’m curious. Very curious."

No, I’m not. I feel like she’s going to reveal some dark plan of hers, like my friends said. If that comes true, what would I do? I can’t stop myself from following her.

Saelith poured cold water over me with a small bucket and picked up the butterfly shampoo, of all things. I have no clue if it’s safe for human skin!!

"Good to know. But I lied. I do care about other things, but at the moment I wasn’t sure whether you’d succeed. Don’t worry, I still chose you in the end. And now I want you to hear my plan of action."