I Became a Gallery Manager in Another World - Chapter 94: A Big Step Forward (3)

“Please, Yuris. I really love Ian so much. So, could you please give up on Ian? Now that I think about it, he’s really been awful… But to me, he’s the first and last love of my life… So please… give him up.”

What could I possibly say?

Not taking my eyes off Evelyn was the best I could do.

Swoosh-

Then, Yuris took Evelyn’s hand and said,

“I’m sorry, Miss Evelyn. I love Ian too. I can’t give him up.”

“Yuris, you’re a candidate for saintess, right? And practically confirmed to be the next one!! So, you could find someone better!!! No! You definitely will!! But, I can’t!! Ian is the only one for me!! The only one!!”

“So, if you could find someone better than Ian, would you be willing to give him up?”

“There’s no man better for me than Ian in my life!!!!”

Evelyn shouted, shaking off her hand.
“Sniff…Sniff…I just know!! In my life…than Ian….Sniff!!…No…he’s just my life!!”

“Yes. I understand how much you love Ian.”

“Ah..! Haha…?..Sniff…Then…you’ll give up…?”

“But even so, I have no intention of giving him up.”

“…You said you understood…?…Sniff…You understand how much I love Ian!!! Sniff!…And you still want to intervene?”

“I’m sorry. Just like Ian is your life, to me, Yuris, he’s ‘the one’. I can’t give up on him.”

“Why does it have to be Ian!!! Why!!! Y, Yuris, it’s been 10 years. I’ve harbored feelings for that jerk for 10 years!! How long have you loved Ian, Yuris? A few days? A few weeks? At most it hasn’t even been a year!!! Sniff!!….This is the end for me…When I first realized I loved Ian, I decided I had to be with that jerk. So… No, it can’t be… Ian is my man!!…Please….Sniff…”

As Evelyn sank to her knees, Yuris also knelt down and said,

“You’re right. Compared to you, Miss Evelyn, the time I’ve loved Ian might be short.”

I was surprised.

The Yuris I had observed until now seemed a bit foolishly kind and pure.

That’s why I thought Yuris might give up on me.

Because Evelyn’s cry was so desperate and earnest…

“Then!!”

“Sometimes, a night’s firework leaves a deeper impression than a star that has shone in the night sky for a thousand years. Though the time I’ve loved might be short, I don’t think my love is any less than Miss Evelyn’s.”

But it was a misunderstanding.

The Yuris before me now revealed her true feelings to Evelyn without a hint of hesitation.

“Sniff!….Ha…Hah!….Yuris..to go to this extent…to say…then…my pleading is useless, isn’t it?”

“Yes, I’m sorry. No matter what Miss Evelyn says, my feelings won’t change.”

“……..Ha!….Hahahat!…Hahaha!”

Evelyn’s dry laughter was suffocating.

It reminded me of the sound I made when I was building ‘real trust’ with Laplace.

Swoosh-

Evelyn, standing up and looking up at the sky, stretched out her hands and said,

“Ha…!Hahahahahat!!! Elise…? Does this even make sense? I’ve held back so much!! 6 years ago!!! At the ‘Summer Festival’, when I was about to confess to Ian, I held back even when the fireworks went off!!! 3 years ago, at ‘Pinkmulya’, when Ian was about to confess to me, I held back even when six carriages passed by!!!! And recently, at the ‘Cream Pie’ inn, right before we were about to kiss, the door closed, and I was so angry… But I still held back!!!!”

“….”

Certainly, at ‘Pinkmulya’, I had tried to confess to Evelyn.

“Haha…the carriages…they run too fast, be careful…hahaha…”

“Let’s… go eat after washing up….”

But I naturally brushed it off, never imagining Evelyn had noticed.

“…And now, a saintess candidate herself is trying to take Ian away? …Ha…Hahahat!”

“Miss Evelyn. …I don’t want to take Ian away… I don’t even think about it.”

“Shut your mouth!! Are you pitying me now? Ha..Haha!!…Sniff!!”

“Evelyn…”

“Shut up, Ian!! You, you, you have no right to butt in!! Sniff!! Really, nothing goes right!! Ugh, Elise!! Why!! Why am I going through this!! Ahhh!! No one understands me!! I just want to be happy for once!! Why can’t I, Evelyn, be happy!!! Why does this absurd situation have to happen!!! No matter how much I think about it, that, that, that bastard!!! Should have confessed to me a long time ago!!!”

“….”

From today on, I decided to refrain a bit from calling myself a perceptive man when expressing myself.

…Because, like she said, if Evelyn had noticed my feelings, I would have confessed to her long ago.

“Evelyn…”

“Why!!! Why!! Sniff!!…Why are you calling me!!!”

“…I would like to share, if possible, with you, Evelyn. The owner…Ian, he is a man worth that.”

“No!! I hate it!!! I don’t want to share!! Ian is ‘my man’! It has always been that way, and it will continue forever!! I just wish he would always be mine!! Really, I’m asking the Goddess Elise, just give me a straight answer!!! Why are you doing this to me!!!!! I’ve lived a good life!! Maybe not as much as the saintess candidate!! But I’ve been active in volunteering!! Donating!! And I haven’t done bad things…!! Yes!! Honestly, I did a little to Ian!! But almost none to others!!!! Then this shouldn’t be happening!!! The world should only screw me over so much!!! Did I ask for too much?? Just wanted to live a sweet life with that bastard Ian, having three sons and three daughters!!!! Why are you blocking this!!! Ahhh!!! Damn!!! Really, do you want to see me go crazy!!!!!!!”

Finally, Evelyn, having vented everything, hung her head low.

“….”

It was a good decision not to confide about Elise to Evelyn.

Even now, Evelyn, standing in front of the ‘saintess candidate’, had sworn at Elise.

…But what if she knew that Elise was the starting point of my harem plan?

I genuinely thought Evelyn might become a ‘heretic’.

Twist- Twist- Thud-

Then, Evelyn, with her head down, walked towards me and bumped her head into my chest.

“….Hey. Ian.”

“Yeah… Evelyn.”

I couldn’t even begin to imagine the expression on Evelyn’s face as she hung her head down.

It seemed like anything I would say now would only hurt Evelyn more.

“You said you loved me. …Do you still love me?”

“…Yeah.”

“Really…? You also said that I was too good for you, right? …Was that sincere too?”

“…Yeah.”

“But you said you couldn’t be satisfied with ‘sex’ with me… and that you couldn’t love just me?”

“………Yeah. I did.”

“….This piece of trash. Heh, even hearing it again, it’s unbelievable?…Are you even human? You’re a bastard, right?”

“….”

“Sigh… Damn… I must be crazy… I know too well that you’re a bastard… It would be normal to hate the sight of you…”

I couldn’t refute her words.

Listening to Evelyn and Yuris’s conversation once more…

I was indeed a bastard.

“But… why… Why do I still like you so much I feel like dying?”

“…Evelyn.”

My voice trembling, I was about to gently place my hand on Evelyn’s shoulder when…

Flash-!!

Suddenly, Evelyn lifted her head, and in her eyes blazed blue flames.

“…E,Evelyn?”

“Huh… Damn it!! Yeah!! I’m Evelyn!! You bastard!! I’ll take it all!!!”

“…What?”

“I’ll take all of your shitty libido!!!! If you can’t love just me because the number of times we have sex is not enough!!! Then if I take it all, you can just love me!!!”

“….”

“Why? Are you shocked because I’m doing this? Did you think I would cry and reluctantly permit you to have a harem?”

…That wasn’t it, but honestly, I was a bit shocked.

Given Evelyn’s demeanor and trembling voice just moments ago, I naturally thought she was crying.

Crack-!!

“Damn it!! Don’t underestimate my pure love!!! You bastard!!!!”

“…What?”

“Ian, listen well! Even if the world ends, I won’t give up on you! Because you are more important to me than the world itself!!! A world without you and me together? Such a world doesn’t exist! Why? Because I would destroy such a world myself!!! Got it?”

“…So this is?”

“That was just because you’re a bastard, so I hit you! Why the fuss??”

“…No.”

“Then take another hit, you bastard!!!”

Crack-!!!

Evelyn, having satisfyingly slapped my cheek, glared at Yuris and said,

“Yuris… no, Yuris. You heard that? This bastard loves me. He thinks he’s too lucky to be loved by me. All that’s been lacking for me was sex. So, until I satisfy this bastard with sex, there’s no place for you to butt in. Understand?”

“…Miss Evelyn?”

“Don’t give me that… Just call me Evelyn. From now on, we’re in a fight to the bottom, so let’s not bother with pointless formalities.”

“Evel…yn? And fight?”

…Clearly, Yuris was no ordinary person either.

She seemed slightly happy to be called by her name in such a situation.

“Yes!! We fight!! No crying! No begging! So what if we have to fight!! Damn it!! We have to fight!! So just call me by my name from now on.”

“…Understood. Evelyn.”

“Huh… Good! Whether it’s ‘saintess candidate’ or ‘childhood friend’, strip away those trivial titles!! Just as a woman or rather… as a ‘female’ aiming for a ‘male’, let’s fight with the weapons between our legs!! So, Yuris!!”

Snap-!

Evelyn, pointing her finger at me, declared to Yuris,

“If I satisfy this bastard with sex, then you give up on Ian!!”