Ch.140 How About the Two of Us Forming an Alliance?
Mia, Scarlet, and I sat at a tea table set on one side of the terrace.
Mia calmly poured tea leaves and hot water into the elegant teapot.
Her long golden hair seed to bother her, so she tucked it behind her ears.
Then she poured the brewed tea from the beautiful teapot into Scarlet’s and my cups.
Pitter-patter…
Once the steaming cups were placed before us,
Scarlet closed her eyes slightly and savored her tea.
Slurp…
Watching her sip the tea with such grace made my mind swirl.
Just monts ago, Scarlet had dropped a bombshell:
—“Oh? Really? So the rumor that you two spend every night together in the sa room is also false?”
She made it sound as if we were deeply in love—but in truth, though Mia and I did et every night, we had nothing to hide.
I simply couldn’t sleep well at night, so I drank tea that had calming effects on the mind and body.
But how did she find out?
It had only been a little over a week since I started drinking the tea.
How could Scarlet possibly know what happened in such a short ti?
Did she plant soone in my territory?
Or…?
The physical distance between here and the Imperial Capital was about a week’s travel.
So how could she have learned about events in my domain within less than a week?
Now that I think about it…
There was sothing that could shorten that week-long journey.
Giovanni and Icira had recently visited the Imperial Capital and returned almost imdiately—Icira ca back right away, while Giovanni remained there.
Giovanni… was it you?!
Inside, I felt betrayed—had that guy blabbed about this?
“So… you two really spend every night together? How exactly did that happen?”
A cold, restrained anger radiated from Scarlet, but Mia sipped her tea with perfect composure before replying,
“We only drank tea together.”
“What?”
Scarlet’s face twisted in fury.
—Thud!
She slamd her hands on the tea table and stood up.
“You expect
to believe that?”
Since Scarlet clearly didn’t believe her, Mia fixed her with a look of mild offense.
“I’m a High Elf. Don’t you trust my word?”
“You may not lie, but you can still deceive cleverly, can’t you?”
Mia and Scarlet locked eyes.
This… I’d better diate.
Coming here to relax only to end up in a shouting match wasn’t ideal.
“Look… Scarlet, it’s true. Why would we even do that? Mia only offered
tea because it helps calm the mind and spirit.”
Perhaps because I sided with Mia,
Scarlet shot
a sideways glare.
“Are you really saying nothing happened? Seriously?”
“I’m telling you, it’s the truth!”
“Hmm…”
After studying both Mia and , Scarlet sighed in a deflated tone.
“I guess I misunderstood.”
Relieved that Scarlet’s anger seed to have cooled—
She suddenly turned to Mia and said,
“Hans, I’d like to speak with Mia alone for a mont… Could you please step away?”
“Huh?”
I was puzzled by Scarlet’s odd request.
Was she planning to grab Mia by the hair and start a fight once I left?
We’d just argued over a delicate topic, and now she suddenly wanted
to leave them alone?
It was suspicious enough.
Moreover, Scarlet was a Hero.
In a one-on-one fight, she could easily overpower Leah, Mia, or Cecilia.
Given that disadvantage, Scarlet would feel confident—and if she lashed out at Mia?
Ugh… just imagining it was horrifying.
“You’re not planning to fight once I leave… are you?”
At my question, Scarlet waved her hand with a faint smile.
“Oh, co on! Do you really think I’d do that?”
“Still…”
I said it, but sothing felt off.
If she’d just arrived and wanted to exchange greetings before having a private girl-to-girl talk, I’d understand…
“O Sage, please stop worrying and just step aside.”
Mia must have sensed my inner conflict—she asked
directly to leave.
“W-wait a second! You don’t really think I’m going to brawl with Mia, do you?”
Was it the awkward tension in the air? Scarlet’s eyes burned as she glared at .
“No? Of course not?”
Caught off guard, I felt slightly flustered.
“You’re being suspicious.”
“Haha. How could I? I know exactly how kind you are, Scarlet—why would I think that?”
She was kind, indeed.
It would’ve been strange if soone with a cruel heart had beco a Hero.
Mia gave
a serene look, while Scarlet watched
with clear suspicion.
Faced with their intense auras, I rose from my seat.
“Ahem… Well then, please talk things through.”
***
As soon as Hans left the room,
Scarlet turned to Mia and asked,
“Be honest with —your claim that you hate Hans is a lie, isn’t it?”
“Hmm… But I do think he’s not a particularly good man.”
Mia’s evasive answer made Scarlet frown.
“Fine. I’ll ask you straight out: Are you deliberately spreading a bad image of Hans to eliminate your rivals? Just answer yes or no.”
Elves couldn’t lie.
After traveling with Mia for so long, Scarlet knew that when lying wasn’t an option, Mia resorted to clever wording.
This was clearly a strategic move—combining her elven identity with subtle manipulation.
“Why should I answer that way?”
As Mia’s reply dragged on, Scarlet snapped impatiently,
“Don’t beat around the bush. If you can’t give a simple yes or no, I’ll assu my suspicion is correct—and tell the others.”
Scarlet felt deeply wronged.
Before, Leah, Cecilia, and Mia had bombarded her with scathing remarks about Hans, calling him human trash.
But Scarlet knew Hans hadn’t been deliberately tornting the Hero Party mbers—so she never joined their criticism.
In fact, when she defended him by saying he wasn’t a bad person, the other three had even tried to gaslight her.
She’d endured their pressure…
‘But… was all that just to get rid of rivals?’
Was she made to suffer over sothing so trivial?
Realizing Mia’s deceitful, two-faced sche had made her struggle in vain, Scarlet’s anger boiled over.
If this was true, she wanted Leah and Cecilia to feel the sa frustration she’d experienced—directed at Mia.
“You’d really tell them?”
For the first ti, Mia showed a flicker of genuine emotion at Scarlet’s words.
“No! You can’t!”
“Hah! Now you’re scared of their nagging?”
Mia shook her head at Scarlet’s mocking tone.
‘I finally managed to separate those two…’
Leah and Cecilia had loved Hans just as much as she did.
Mia had just begun making progress in approaching him after finally creating distance between them—
the last thing she wanted was for them to change their minds.
If they did, a disaster would unfold: Hans would end up shared among three won.
‘As a High Elf, I have my pride! That can never happen!’
If word spread among her family or fellow elves that she—a High Elf—had not only sworn herself to a human but was also sharing her husband with three human won…
Mia would never be able to show her face again.
—She’s a High Elf, yet she swore an oath to a human—and now shares her husband with three human won!
—How could an elf, let alone a High Elf, do such a thing? Is Princess Mia really that unattractive as a woman?
If the Elven Queen heard such rumors, she’d be utterly disappointed.
—She can’t even compete with human won… I’m ashad of my own daughter.
Imagining the elves’ reaction, Mia panicked.
‘What should I do?’
Currently, four won had deep ties with Hans.
From Mia’s perspective, sharing him with all of them is absolutely unthinkable.
While living with all four together made no sense…
‘But perhaps… one of them could be a compromise?’
If she absolutely had to accept soone, Mia thought Scarlet would be far preferable to the eccentric Leah or the scatterbrained Cecilia.
Watching Scarlet, Mia made her decision.
‘It’s better to tell Scarlet the truth and drive out Leah and Cecilia…’
The situation was already tangled.
If Leah and Cecilia discovered Mia’s interest in Hans, their reactions were unpredictable.
With great difficulty, Mia opened her mouth.
“You’re right. I was waiting for you all to leave on your own.”
At Mia’s calm admission, Scarlet’s eyes flared with fury.
“Hey! Then what about all the grief I went through because of you three?!”
Mia looked away from Scarlet’s burning glare.
“Well… it’s just that… you were clearly my biggest rival…”
“What? What are you talking about?”
Caught off guard by Mia’s unexpected admission, Scarlet was confused.
“Aren’t both Leah and Cecilia full of issues? Compared to them, you’re tall, slender, beautiful—and your personality is far nicer. Of course I’d see you as my main rival.”
Though Mia spoke matter-of-factly, Scarlet felt… just a tiny bit pleased.
“Ahem… I appreciate the high regard… but still, that’s not right. Badmouthing Hans all day like that is just inhuman.”
Back on the ship leaving the New Continent, and later during their stay at the Imperial Palace,
Scarlet had genuinely feared her own party mbers—not because they lied, but because they relentlessly slandered Hans, one after another.
They’d claid he never bathed properly,
or that ‘any old lady would fall for him if he just threw on a skirt.’
The accusations were so absurd Scarlet found them hard to believe.
‘If you’re going to lie, at least make it believable…’
“Well… I suppose you’re right…”
Mia scratched her cheek, looking embarrassed.
“But why are you being so honest all of a sudden? Are you asking
not to tell Leah and them?”
Mia nodded at Scarlet’s question.
“Yes. And… don’t you still have feelings for Hans?”
“Well, I…”
When it ca to n other than Hans…
Hans had occupied her heart for so long, she’d never even imagined being with anyone else.
“But… why?”
Scarlet asked curtly, her cheeks slightly flushed.
“How about the three of us—, you, and Hans—live together?”
Scarlet couldn’t understand Mia’s suggestion.
“What? The three of us living together?”
‘Is she seriously suggesting two won share one man?’
Just looking at this mansion, Hans already lived with Icira, Aria, and nurous maids—so why bring this up now?
But…
a few seconds later, as the true implication of Mia’s words dawned on her,
Scarlet’s face turned as red as a beet.
“What?! Wh-what are you even saying?!”
The flustered, stunned Scarlet—
a village girl who’d never heard anything like this in her life—
shouted at Mia in shock.
“You… you shaless elf!”
Mia gently tried to calm her.
“Relax. Have you even thought about what happens if you tell Leah and Cecilia?”
Scarlet, who hadn’t considered that, shook her head.
“No… I hadn’t thought that far.”
“Their feelings might co back.”
Scarlet instantly understood Mia’s point.
‘Wait… so everything would go back to how it was?’
Seeing Scarlet’s conflicted expression, Mia offered,
“If that’s the case… how about we form an alliance—just the two of us?”
Thus, an alliance was forged between Scarlet and Mia—against Leah and Cecilia.
That evening, when Scarlet arrived,
I’d already instructed the kitchen to prepare a feast in honor of her long hardships.
“Phew… At least nothing serious happened.”
I’d feared Mia and Scarlet would fight on the first day, but after their talk, the atmosphere didn’t seem tense at all.
“Ti to head over, I suppose.”
I left my study and walked toward the dining hall.
I’d prepared several things for Scarlet tonight—
not just the banquet, but a full suite of relaxation treatnts to ease her accumulated fatigue: an Eastern masseuse I’d scouted from the Imperial Capital, premium bath salts, and fine wine to enjoy after her soak—everything needed for her to truly rest.
“I hope this helps lift the bad mood from earlier.”
Scarlet, who’d suspected sothing improper between Mia and
the mont she arrived…
How exactly did she see —as so kind of human skin collector, involved in that sort of relationship with him?
Scarlet, who’d suspected sothing improper between Mia and
the mont she arrived…
How exactly did she see —as so kind of human skin collector, involved in that sort of relationship with him?
That evening, when Scarlet arrived,
I’d already instructed the kitchen to prepare a feast in honor of her long hardships.
“Phew… At least nothing serious happened.”
I’d feared Mia and Scarlet would fight on the first day, but after their talk, the atmosphere didn’t seem tense at all.
I’ll say it again and again—I have absolutely no desire whatsoever to beco a leathercraft item.
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