CHAPTER 72: TAKING INNITIATIVE

’Husband.’

That was the safest-for-work out of all the options that flashed through my mind.

But could I be blamed?

After how Selia acted back at the inn, I would have to be impotent or gay not to think about all the possible ways in which I could be her ’chosen one.’

She was the one that implanted that suggestion in my mind, so now it was only her fault that that’s what my mind defaulted to, right?

RIGHT?!

I breathed out a deep sigh.

"So that’s how it is..." I muttered before dropping my eyes down to the table and playing around with the leftover cake on my plate. "How do you plan to tackle it?"

In the end, we were both adults here. And the most adult way to go about such a confusing situation would be to just talk about it.

At least, that’s what I’ve heard tens of thousands of times from the people that would either get hitched and then run a divorce RTA no% speedrun, people who got caught in the pregnancy and ended up pressed by their small society to marry, and people... that were never in any sort of a relationship to begin with.

And sure, there was some charm in the idea of solving our current problem by just getting a room and screwing like rabbits for a while. At least, for the duration of the act, we wouldn’t really have to trouble ourselves with any long-term solution.

But for something to work out long term?

Yeah, talking was our best shot at figuring it out.

"I..." Selia, with her blush only growing by the second despite already cycling through all the shades of red twice by now, attempted to say something. In the end, however, she merely closed her mouth and pinned her eyes down to the table, mirroring the very same position I assumed.

’I guess it’s on me to lead here, isn’t it?’

I took a deep breath, muting my thoughts for a while by focusing on the one special place in a man’s brain filled with the one thing that most women never understood—nothing.

It was in this void that I kept myself for a moment, up until the physical calming down from my breathing pattern positively affected my brain too, forcing my thoughts to slow down and calm down.

"Okay, it’s hard to talk about the endpoint of this conversation, so let’s start from the beginning. I will try to offer no judgment, nor will I protest against any of your wishes," I started. "I merely want to get the best possible understanding of your standing, what you want, what you wish for, and what you would rather avoid."

"That’s..." Selia raised her lovely eyes, "extremely considerate of you..." she muttered, her expression somewhat detached.

"Hardly," I protested with a shake of my head. "As soon as you are done, I will do my best to do the same but from the position of my perspective."

Selia’s eyebrows shot up her forehead.

"Then what’s the point, if all we are going to do is talk about our own best wishes for ourselves?" she asked in quite the tense, almost annoyed voice.

"It’s quite simple, really," I shrugged my shoulders. "We will learn the best possible scenario for each other, so that we can figure out the most optimal scenario for both of us."

That was what I imagined all those adult talks to be about.

Obviously, in a normal situation, those talks would be far more complex, involving each side’s position in relation to the other, their outside pressures, obligations, favors, experiences...

As counterintuitive as it could be, this extremely weird, unorthodox stalemate we found ourselves in made things a lot easier—because no one else had ever found themselves in a situation like ours, there were no established patterns for us to follow.

"Okay then," Selia gulped her saliva before taking a sip of her now-cold tea. "I..." she started, only to hesitate and then quickly turn silent again. This time, however, she refused to just let her emotions hold her back. "I honestly don’t know what to say. So I will start with my situation.

"As I’ve mentioned a few times, I’m a holder of twin fates. It’s something that rarely ever happens in this world. And even when it does," she looked up, locking eyes with me for a second before quickly pinning them down to the table, "then by the time one reaches adulthood, one of their fates triumphs over the other, simplifying their situation. But in even rarer cases, before they can reach adulthood, subjects of the twin-fate curse end up pushing through their system missions far enough to stop either of the fates from achieving a clear victory."

Sitting back in my chair, I tuned in to what was shaping up to be a much longer story than I initially anticipated.

Honestly, though?

I didn’t even mind it all that much.

"In my case, I was just a few missions away from fully completing my system. And normally, that would be the end of my story. I would become a sword-saint, travel the lands, and help people in need by swinging my sword."

Selia’s face then instantly soured.

"But that’s exactly when my fate as the saintess awakened, forcing me to seek out my chosen one. On that note..."

Selia’s voice suddenly trailed off before breaking off completely as she managed to look up and then actually hold my stare.

"Did you know what’s the difference between a saint and a saintess?" she asked, her face unnaturally tense.

"Can’t say I do. In my world, they would merely differentiate the gender of the title’s holder?" I tried my best to answer. "A saint would be a title for men, while saintess would be a title for women," I added, just in case my explanation wasn’t clear already.

"That’s not how it is here, though," Selia showed a faint smile as the look in her eyes grew distant, making it seem and feel as if she was reminiscing about something distant, maybe even trying to venture to Earth with just a part of her mind alone?

Soon enough, she returned to reality and shook her head, ridding her mind of useless thoughts.

"In this world, to reach the rank of a saint is to reach supremacy within your field. That’s why we have mage saints called sages, saint wizards called archwizards, obviously the sword saints, and then even saint smiths," Selia’s lips trembled into a small smile, "One of whom you know as Greg."

My eyebrows shot up.

’That guy reached the pinnacle of his craft?’ I thought, strangely surprised.

Even if my modern eye saw most of his creations as nothing much... The queue to his smithy certainly proved he was extremely popular in the town. And what could a smith gain popularity through if not his craft?

"I guess that makes sense?" I’ve muttered, trying not to think about that weird dwarf too much.

"Then, do you care to guess what a saintess stands for?" Selia asked, the positive shine in her eyes vanishing.

"Something bad?" I tried a random guess.

"Well, it’s not exactly... bad, but..."

Selia pressed her lips together before turning her eyes away, her cheeks once again exploding into a blushing-red façade.

"It’s a saintess’s role to be by the side of her chosen one. In direct translation, to be her chosen one’s pillow," Selia added before stealing an open and exaggerated glance over to her knees. "That, and to be his guide towards the goals he is destined to achieve."

Selia breathed out a long sigh.

"Which means, no matter how bad you think of yourself, if you are my chosen one then..."

I could tell where Selia’s thoughts were going.

And I didn’t like it in the least.

Which is why, before she could utter those blasphemous and outright sad words, I stood up, moved around the tea table only to then fall down on one knee and reach out, grabbing Selia’s hands and then cupping them between mine before she had time to react or even think about an appropriate response to what I just did.

"Then," I grinned from ear to ear, "I’m free to pay you back for that test you pulled on me back at the inn, aren’t I?"

Selia’s eyes widened...

Only for her face to be covered with blush, as her grim mood was replaced by an embarrassing memory and the moral hangover that came next.

"That’s..."

She attempted to protest, only to find no right words to do it.

"That’s one hell of a card to hold," I’ve muttered, only to stand up and—while still keeping her delicate hands cupped in mine—lean in.

Our foreheads struck each other. But rather than retreating, I held my head’s place for a moment, staring right into Selia’s shocked eyes for the two seconds it took her to actually blink.

"But I’m not the kind of guy that would torture you by keeping it in rather than ever using it," I announced before pushing my chin in and seeking out Selia’s mouth with my lips.