Chapter 107: Darling, want to get married?
Tricks to Marry Someone of a Different Race Than You.
At first Eiros only glanced at that book, but then he spotted a whole stack of others sitting across from Renessa.
The Ten Best Wedding Traditions You Might Need!
How to Hypnotize Your Partner So They Always Obey You!
Tips & Tricks for Building a Prison That Looks Like a Real House — So Comfortable the Target Will Happily Live There!
How to Quickly Have Ten Children in One Year — Is It Possible? Here’s the Explanation.
Two Thousand Adorable Baby Boy Names That Are Extremely Cute!
Eiros blinked several times. His gaze met Renessa’s as she quietly pulled every single book into her arms and smiled sweetly.
"Welcome back~"
Seeing her smile so sweetly and cutely, as if nothing at all had happened, left Eiros with no idea how he was supposed to respond.
’What was that just now?’
He had assumed the information Renessa was looking for might somehow be related to "them" — maybe seeds of corruption, or how to kill Eiros himself, or something else. There were so many possibilities. Yet Renessa was reading things for reasons he couldn’t even begin to guess?
’Should I ask...?’
Eiros stared at Renessa stiffly. The girl gathered all the books, looked at him without blinking, and said:
"Wait a moment."
Then Renessa vanished from his sight.
"...."
Almost thirty seconds later, Renessa returned without the books. She looked at Eiros with a gentle smile.
"Darling, want to get married?"
Yes, Eiros had already seen plenty of shocking things in this world. So only the most legendary information should still be able to surprise him.
Right?
"....Yes?"
Eiros found himself standing rigid, searching for something — maybe a look that said Renessa was only joking and teasing him.
But there was nothing of the sort. Her eyes were pure and innocent. And after seeing the effort she had put into those books, it was obvious she wasn’t joking!
’Wait, wait, wait a second! What just happened? This... am I being proposed to? Seriously? Why so suddenly?’
Eiros felt his mind go blank. Still, he took a deep breath and forced an awkward smile onto his face.
"...Renessa, you’re joking, right? I’m still young."
"...? What does age have to do with this?"
"Humans don’t get married before they’re old enough."
"But you are old enough, darling."
"...Still."
Eiros let out a small sigh. Renessa was being so stubborn about what she had just said that it made him wonder.
"Why do you suddenly want to get married?"
"Because I want to form a contract with you?"
’...A contract? Ah.’
Right...
To spirits, marriage in the human world was the same as forming a binding symbol to tie themselves to each other in the spirit world.
A spirit that formed a contract with their partner would remain faithful for their entire life. They did not know the word "divorce" and only ever had one partner in their lifetime.
And for Renessa, binding a contract with Eiros was probably something extremely important. That way Eiros would completely become hers, and she could monitor his condition far more carefully.
Of course, that last part was only Eiros’s own thought.
"Renessa... could you give me some time?"
"Do you have time, darling? We need to hurry."
Well, that was true. Eiros smiled nervously at Renessa, who was now looking at him with a pout.
It was because he had spoken as if he still had leftover time to think. He might have, but Renessa clearly did not want to waste even a second and intended to force him into that lifelong contract right away.
"Look, marriage is a very important thing for humans. That’s why I can’t decide it so quickly. I need time to think about it, okay?"
Actually, there was nothing wrong with accepting that "marriage" offer. The only problem was that doing so would truly bind Renessa to Eiros. The concept of being bound meant Renessa and Eiros would know each other’s location no matter where they were.
That was a scenario Eiros could not accept under his current circumstances. He might do it in the future if Renessa truly wanted it, but... not right now.
"...You don’t like me, do you?"
"Huh?"
"I heard humans only marry if they love each other. My darling, am I the only one who loves you? Do you not love me?"
’Wait... how did it turn into this?’
Seeing Renessa suddenly fall into a bad mood made Eiros tense up, a stiff smile still stuck on his face.
"Who...? What other girl do you actually like...? Ah, right... the Saintess. Could it be you’ve already fallen in love with the Saintess, my darling?"
Seeing the dark expression on her face, Eiros swallowed hard and forced a strained smile.
"It’s not like that, okay?" He hurried to calm Renessa. "Alright, how about this — I’ll do it after we advance to the second year."
"That will take half a year. I can’t wait, and neither can the thing inside your body."
"...I’ll look for a pill. That way I’ll be able to hold on, right?"
"Hmmm..." Renessa pondered, then let out a small sigh and looked at Eiros sharply. "If your condition gets worse, we’ll move it up to the middle of the semester."
"After the midterm exams would be better."
"Darling..."
"...Fine."
It had been truly dangerous, and somehow Eiros had managed to escape Renessa’s anger.
***
The sun had risen, revealing its extraordinarily bright light. The city streets that had been dark before now looked so clear. With the arrival of morning, the townspeople began to show their lively activities once more.
From the tower gate, Eiros could see how energetic they were. Shops and stalls had only just opened, yet the sellers were already shouting to peddle their goods.
Farther away there was a market packed with street vendors. Smoke rose into the air, noisy chatter filled the place, and quite a few children were running around.
In the sky, magical carriages flew beneath the clear blue expanse. And, though very rarely, Eiros sometimes spotted one or two giant airships passing by as they left the city.
The city looked very much alive. Just like Clathria, but far more practical and lively with their technology.
And across from Eiros, as usual, there would never be a day without the main characters being extremely noisy.
"I said no! If I say no, then it’s no!"
Lovia shouted in irritation, chasing after Leiden with a face red from anger. The Leiden being chased looked truly annoying as he ran and circled around Valkas and Alen’s bodies.
"Hahah! I knew it! This is really happening! You and Godon are dating, right!? Hahaha!"
Hearing that only made Lovia worse. She looked ready to tear Leiden apart the moment she started to manifest something that made both Valkas and Alen freeze.
But before that, Lovia shouted loudly:
"I already told you! Godon is not my boyfriend!!"
Then came the sound of heavy footsteps. It was Godon, who had just returned after buying some snacks. His face looked dark.
"What...?" Lovia and Leiden reflexively turned. Meanwhile Godon stared at Lovia in disbelief and added:
"I’m not your friend?"
"Eh?"
No one had expected Godon to mishear what Lovia had said. It made Eiros turn his head at the same time Valkas and Alen glanced over with equally surprised faces.
Godon stood rigid. His expression looked truly betrayed, his shoulders slumped as his face scrunched up and he said:
"...I’m not a boy?"
Well, it was easy to imagine what Godon had actually heard at that point. Eiros had no interest in finding out what happened next, so he glanced to the side and found Renessa leaning weakly against his shoulder.
Of course, Renessa never truly felt better whenever she was in the capital city of Augusta. She only endured it and tried not to be bothered by anything that made her uncomfortable.
"Erness, are you alright?"
Renessa turned and looked at him lazily, then closed her eyes.
"When are we going to the beach? It’ll be much better there."
Looking around, the students had indeed already gathered. There were a great many of them, but the supervisors were still working to find the rest. So before that, Renessa unfortunately had to be patient a little longer before they could head to the beach.
Eiros felt his lips twitch slightly. It felt rather strange when he noticed so many students staring in his direction with burning eyes.
If only they knew what Renessa was truly like, they definitely wouldn’t be able to endure it at all.
Because the beach itself was located at the very opposite end of the Imperial Castle, Renessa was hoping they would head there soon.
Fortunately, she did not have to wait much longer. At that moment all the students had gathered, and a professor stood up to make an announcement.
The beach event that so often appeared in fiction novels had finally arrived much faster than expected.
Hopefully nothing would happen.