No Such Thing as a Chaste Man! Just Give It Ten Tries! - Chapter 15
Maybe she shouldn’t have chosen a skirt that revealed her ankles.
Even though she knew he was intentionally keeping his distance, to be repeatedly rejected through both words and actions was undeniably painful. Each small wound he left built up inside her, and the more it accumulated, the more her heart ached.
So much so that resentment and disappointment toward him kept bubbling up unexpectedly.
It wasn’t right to demand feelings he didn’t have… but wasn’t it his fault for giving her that pained, meaningful look every time he turned her down? And besides, he was the one trying to force her to return, so weren’t they both guilty?
‘No, no…’
She resolved to keep her feelings positive.
She hadn’t given up on him yet, so now was not the time to harbor resentment. Besides, he was probably preparing to send her back with a sense of guilt, after watching her struggle on the expedition.
It wasn’t an attitude that would change overnight. Her assumption that he would respond to her wishes was wrong from the beginning, so she would have to correct her thinking quickly.
At that moment, she turned her head, almost entranced, to see two pairs of gentle eyes looking at her.
It was the elven lord and the dwarven high elder.
“If you wish it, Dame Seo-ah, we’ll find a way to stop the United Government. Surely there’d be a way if we dwarves threatened to halt all production.”
“It is, after all, the duty of those who have long watched over Genève’s rise and fall. Everyone on Mount Romi wishes for the savior of Genève to stay wherever she wants, independent of political agendas.”
“Thank you, High Elder. Thank you, my lord, and to everyone on Mount Romi!”
“But Jenny mentioned that you first plan to come to an agreement with the High Priest of the Holy Kingdom who devised the reverse summoning spell…”
As they expressed their support for Seo-ah to remain, the high elder’s cautious question made her smile crack slightly.
Well, it was no wonder Jenny’s direct relation, the high elder, was aware.
An agreement, right… It wasn’t exactly a verbal agreement, given that he kept fleeing from any attempt at negotiation.
“Yes, that’s right. I’ll keep trying for a bit longer, and if it still seems impossible, I’ll ask you all to raise your voices with me, so please do help me? Like I said, even if it’s my homeland, I don’t have any connections there anymore.”
“Of course. Every living being in Genève is indebted to you, Lady Seo-ah, and that is entirely separate from any United Government structure.”
“Yes, in the end, this United Government is nothing more than a structure the humans created to look like they’re contributing to equality. They say there’s proportional representation in the Senate, but who doesn’t know that they’re just lackeys of the humans?”
“High Elder, regardless of race, they are all children of Sol. Let’s refrain from making remarks that undermine the efforts of those who are fighting for their identities here at the Sun Palace.”
“To think you’re still putting up this false courtesy at your age… Tsk, tsk. I clearly heard you saying earlier that Senator Zelle had been away from Mount Romi for too long and was succumbing to human arrogance.”
“Ahem, what are you talking about…?”
Seo-ah burst into laughter, listening to the banter between the two elders.
After hearing Jenny and Rurina squabble for three and a half years on the expedition, she knew that this verbal sparring came from a place of mutual respect.
‘You know, our clans hardly ever agree on anything!’
Above all, it meant a lot that the two elders shared the same opinion about her staying.
‘To think so many people want me to stay here!’
Regardless of race or rank.
As she thought this, she recalled the faces of those who had eagerly approached her, waiting to give her their blessings. There were people she’d become connected to since being summoned to Genève, and others she was meeting for the first time today.
But… the one person she’d known the longest in this world, and the one she cared about the most, didn’t want her to stay.
Whenever she remembered that, her heart ached, so she decided to focus on the affectionate looks of the two elders instead.
She hadn’t given up on him yet, and there would be plenty of time to mull over her resentment later.
Today, at least, she would allow herself to fully cherish Ephelinus.
