Chapter 481: Our Men
"So, this gaming company where you can follow the story of the handsome 3D Love Interests... is cancelling its sixth Love Interest?"
Cecilia sat cross-legged on Angela’s plush velvet sofa, a cup of herbal tea cooling forgotten on the side table. The gray afternoon light filtered through the arched windows, catching the salt lamps and casting everything in a warm, amber glow.
Around her, the three women leaned in like conspirators at a secret meeting. The twins nodded vigorously, their matching blonde ponytails bouncing.
"This one?" Cecilia pointed at the image on Angela’s phone screen, a tall, red-haired man with wolf ears and a brooding expression, his character art rendered in the dangerous, wild style.
"His name is Valko," Angela answered, her violet eyes softening as she looked at the screen. "Oh, he’s also a werewolf."
Cecilia scrolled further into the controversy, her brow furrowing as she read through the news articles and forum threads and social media firestorms that had erupted over the announcement.
The more she read, the deeper her frown became. "This... is just an attack on women’s space, basically. Even the government got involved because of how loud the fans are...?" She looked up, incredulous. "So all this hate is justified because this is a female-centric game...?"
"You’re spot on!" Isla threw her hands up, her blue eyes blazing. "This is the root of the problem! Imagine if this was a male-centric game. The treatment the game company gave to the fans would never slide from day one."
"What’s wrong with dating handsome fictional men...?" Cecilia’s frown deepened. "It doesn’t hurt anyone. It’s not like men don’t wed more than one woman their entire life... or at the same time."
"It’s the male loneliness epidemic again..." Ivy sighed, shaking her head. Her blonde curls brushed against her shoulders. "They don’t want us to be treated well by these 3D boys because treating us well raises our standard. And those who don’t yearn, don’t earn anymore."
"Say that to my three boyfriends," Cecilia sneered.
The three women fell silent.
Cecilia blinked, looking from Ivy’s face to Isla’s to Angela’s. Something had shifted in the atmosphere.
"Goddess..." Angela reached out and grasped Cecilia’s arm, her manicured fingers gentle but insistent. Her violet eyes were wide with something that looked like mischief. "You know that we strive to be like you... right?"
Huh...?
"W-what?" Cecilia tilted her head, a wary smile twitching at the corner of her mouth. The sudden intensity in the room made her want to crack a joke, but she couldn’t think of one.
"You see, even in this day and age..." Ivy leaned forward, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial murmur. "We girls are still unable to have more than one man without them catching each other by the throat." She gestured at herself with a rueful shrug. "Look at me, for example. Damon still can’t accept that I have a hot ex."
"So..." Isla scooted closer on the sofa, her knees bumping against Cecilia’s. "You know, tell us about you and your boyfriends. You know? How did you do it?"
Cecilia blinked twice. Then again. Then four times. The three women were staring at her with the hungry, expectant expressions of students awaiting a master’s lecture.
"I-I..." She sighed, her shoulders dropping in surrender. "Fine. I’ll tell you what I noticed..."
The three women got ready for a long story, scooting closer to her on the sofa until they were a tight knot of silk robes and pregnancy bumps and eager, shining eyes.
"Basically," Cecilia began, "you want men who are beyond good. Like, beyoooooond, beyond good. They need to love you so much and respect you a lot and also respect each other."
She paused, letting the words settle. "My boyfriends... they called each other brothers, and they met me individually. They said they had a crush on me by themselves but didn’t know they were crushing on the same person..."
"No fucking way," Isla breathed.
"You mean, they decided themselves that all three wanted to be your—" Ivy’s blue eyes were the size of dinner plates.
"Goddess, I think this is not luck." Angela shook her head slowly. "You’re just blessed by the heavens."
"Tell us how you met each of them." Isla grabbed a throw pillow and clutched it to her chest. "TELL US!"
Cecilia ended up telling the long story she had learned from Eastiel’s documentation collection. The convention where Arkai had pretended to be a plumber. The library where Eastiel had watched her from between the shelves. The McKing incident...
The club where she had vomited on dangerous-looking men and then pulled Oathran down onto a sofa.
She told them some vague facts about the real world too, about her feelings and their dynamic, in this world and in the real world, all mixed together.
As she spoke, she rubbed the curve of her belly. The egg stirred beneath her palm, a tiny flutter of life, and she was reminded once again that she would leave this world eventually too. The seed would conclude its concept. The integration would end. And this baby—
She distracted her own feelings and turned the conversation over.
"Enough about me." She smiled. "Sisters, tell me about your men too."
"Hmph!" Angela crossed her arms over her own baby bump, her violet eyes rolling skyward. "After hearing about your men, there’s nothing to be proud of about mine."
Ivy and Isla immediately flanked her, their hands finding her shoulders in synchronized comfort. "There, there," Ivy cooed. "Remember how you chased him around... it’s worth it that you got what you wanted."
"Stevan is a very good interrogator even now," Isla added, nodding with genuine respect. "He handles criminals the best. Even mafia bosses and the cartels respect him. It’s hard coming from such a clean background."
"And guess who allowed him to keep his job!" Angela huffed, her chin lifting with defiant pride.
Isla chuckled, her blue eyes sparkling. "Yes, yes. Though, I do think Stevan is better than Sebastian."
"How so?" Angela and Cecilia blinked at her in unison.
Sebastian was... Isla’s partner, right? Even in the real world, Sebastian was a bit of a complicated man in the Cassian court. A very eccentric scholar at that.
Cecilia wondered what kind of person he was in this world.