Chapter 267: Main Event
"Elisebeth."
She went very still.
"When you’re around, I look for you. When you’re gone, everything gets too quiet."
Her grip tightened.
"I know who Elisebeth Hera is now," Martin continued. "I want more of the woman who screams over critical hits, argues with NPCs, pouts when I tell her no, and pretends mine carts are beneath her after crying in the death room."
"I did not cry."
"Your eyes were red."
"The room was windy."
"It was indoors."
"A poorly designed indoor room."
Alexandra turned her face away, but her shoulders gave her away.
Martin looked back at Elisebeth. "That’s the person I care about and want to know better. I’m attracted to you, and I want you around. I’m just not going to turn that into a promise today because it would sound nicer."
Her expression softened. The disappointment did not disappear, but it no longer swallowed everything else.
"That was almost romantic until the end."
"I’m trying not to lie to you."
NukEncore clicked her tongue. "Unfortunately, that’s one of the things I like."
Alexandra moved closer to Martin’s other side.
NukEncore noticed immediately.
"Don’t start."
"I haven’t said anything."
"You’re positioning yourself."
"I’m standing."
"Near him."
"So are you."
NukEncore looked down and finally seemed to realize how firmly she had wrapped her hand around Martin’s sleeve. She made no attempt to correct the situation.
Alexandra’s lips curved. "Interesting."
"Shut up."
Martin turned to Alexandra. "Explain the harem properly. And don’t make it sound like a speech."
"You wound me."
"Alex."
"Fine."
One of her hands remained buried in Kumoe’s wet fur as she faced NukEncore.
"When I picture you kissing him, I want to drag you away by the hair."
NukEncore blinked.
No smile followed the statement.
"I want every date, every kiss, and every free hour Martin can give me," Alexandra continued. "Watching the two of you grow closer made me miserable. Agreeing to try a harem did not cure that."
"At least you’ve finally started making sense."
"I am not offering this because I enjoy sharing."
"Good, because nobody would believe you."
Alexandra glanced toward Martin. "I reached him first. I could demand that he choose me and call it a victory."
"Perhaps he would," NukEncore said.
"Perhaps."
The easy agreement took some of the satisfaction out of NukEncore’s face.
Alexandra ran her thumb through the fur beneath Kumoe’s right jaw.
"But I know he cares about the rest of you. If I forced him to cut everyone else away, I would see the missing pieces every time he looked at me."
Martin watched her.
Alexandra lifted her chin, and some of her familiar competitive energy returned.
"I still intend to make every date harder to beat. I intend to remain the woman he thinks about when he is with someone else. What I refuse to do is lock every door and call myself the winner because nobody else was allowed inside."
NukEncore stared at her.
"I’m competitive, Encore. I’m not cruel."
For once, no insult came immediately.
NukEncore turned toward Martin. Her posture straightened until the muddy road might as well have been a concert stage.
"I am not a party slot. I am not a spare route you keep open because there’s room in your schedule, and I will not smile politely while another woman takes the best parts of you."
"That isn’t what I want," Martin said.
"I am the main event."
Alexandra’s lips twitched. "You had that line ready."
"Because it’s true. I share stages. I do not share men."
Martin covered the hand gripping his sleeve with his own.
"Then say no."
NukEncore lowered her gaze to their hands.
"No one is enrolling you in anything," Martin continued. "But you don’t get to choose for me, and neither does Alex."
Alexandra nodded once.
"Alex and I already had our talk. I’m having one with everyone else too, alone. No audience and no secret rules. Then I decide what I can actually promise instead of guessing what everyone expects."
NukEncore remained quiet for several seconds before looking at Alexandra.
"My answer to your harem is no."
"Then no, Elisebeth," Alexandra said. "I meant what I told Martin. Nobody gets dragged into this."
"I don’t share."
"I know. I still intend to beat you."
NukEncore’s eyes narrowed. "You’re awfully confident for a woman who just crossed half the forest without touching the road."
"I landed beautifully."
"You landed in a bush."
"After flight. It was practically a stunt."
NukEncore tightened her fingers around Martin’s sleeve again.
"And I’m not changing my mind because my class quest wants me to use openings made by allies."
Alexandra’s eyes brightened. "So your magic cooperates."
"In battle."
"Of course."
"But I’m not leaving him alone with you either."
Alexandra looked pointedly at her hand.
"That sounds inconveniently close to staying."
"Those are completely different things."
"Are they?"
"Don’t push it, bitch."
Kumoe’s curious head forced her muzzle between them before Alexandra could answer. She sniffed NukEncore’s robes, then sneezed at the lingering scent of smoke.
NukEncore’s face softened immediately.
"Sorry, Kumoe. I wasn’t aiming at you."
The right head stared at her.
"I didn’t hurt her."
The stare continued.
"I barely hurt Alexandra."
Alexandra touched the scorched edge of her armor. "You threw me through three bushes."
"You’re alive."
The right head lifted her chin toward Martin.
He recognized the reminder.
"Yes, I remember the food."
The curious head barked, and the middle opened one eye.
"We’re going back to the academy," Martin said. "I’ll cook all three portions as soon as we arrive."
The right head finally seemed satisfied.
Martin started walking with Kumoe pressed against one side. NukEncore kept hold of his sleeve and moved with him, refusing to surrender even an inch of space, while Alexandra fell into step on his other side.
NukEncore noticed immediately. "Why are you walking there?"
"Because this side was available."
"Walk behind us."
"I’m injured."
"You were healed."
"I’m emotionally injured."
"You deserved worse."
Martin looked ahead and laughed tiredly.
Less than an hour ago, he had been terrified Alexandra and Kumoe might never return. Now Kumoe was alive, Alex was arguing beside him, and Elisebeth had confessed after inventing an Epic spell to launch her romantic rival into the forest.
He still had no idea what he was going to say during the other conversations waiting for him. Elisebeth had rejected the harem, Alexandra still hated sharing, and the agreement suggested several women had decisions of their own to make.
At least he finally knew there had been an agreement.
Kumoe’s right head looked up at him again.
"Yes," Martin said. "Three portions."
NukEncore lifted her chin. "I want something too."
Alexandra glanced across Martin. "You blasted the woman he was kissing into a forest and still expect him to feed you?"
"I created an Epic skill. That deserves a reward."
Martin sighed. "Fine. Four portions."
Alexandra smiled. "Make it five. Surviving the Beastslayer evolved my class."
Martin turned toward her. "You finished the quest?"
"Packblade."
NukEncore stared at her. "Martin has Warden waiting, you already have Packblade, and I get homework?"
Alexandra touched the scorched edge of her armor. "You also received an Epic tantrum."
"Diva’s Rejection is a masterpiece."
"It threw the subject of your masterpiece through three bushes."
"You keep counting them like that makes it more impressive."
"It does."
"Food first," Martin said before they could begin another argument. "Then both of you are explaining your new classes."
Kumoe’s right head lifted her chin approvingly.
Behind the bickering, her three tails swept happily through the rain.