Chapter 183

Chapter 183: Chapter 183

It didn’t take long for Juvia to come rushing over.

Marshall still hadn’t figured out exactly how he was supposed to handle her, so all he could do was respond as things developed.

Embarrassing as it was to admit, among all the girls in the guild he liked, Juvia was probably the one he had put the least effort into.

Maybe it was because she was simply too easy to win over.

Or rather, Juvia was already far too devoted to him.

There was no special trick to it. He had simply seen it so many times that he was used to it.

Every time Marshall saw her, he could practically feel the words radiating from her face:

’Marshall-sama, Juvia likes you so much, so much, so much!’

If Juvia hadn’t still possessed enough restraint to keep their age difference in mind and stop herself from openly confessing...

Marshall genuinely wouldn’t have known what to do with her.

He couldn’t deny that he enjoyed the feeling of having someone love him so wholeheartedly.

That was part of the reason he liked Juvia too.

Who could possibly dislike a beautiful girl whose eyes were always fixed entirely on you?

When Juvia liked someone, she simply couldn’t hide it.

Marshall’s problem was the opposite.

He liked too many people.

So he had needed to hide it.

Well, that was over now.

Although he had always known this day would eventually come, even Marshall hadn’t expected everything to unravel this quickly.

He sighed.

For now, he might as well see what Juvia intended to do.

"Marshall!"

"Juvia, what are you—"

Marshall barely finished speaking before Juvia rushed directly in front of him.

She was breathing heavily, her face bright red, and before Marshall could understand what was happening, she grabbed him by the collar and stared at him with absolute determination.

"Marshall!"

"Y-Yeah?"

"L-Let’s kiss!"

Marshall blinked.

"?"

Juvia’s face somehow became even redder.

"Let’s kiss, kiss, kiss!"

Marshall nearly lost control of his expression.

’Girl, is that really the first thing you say when you see me?’

Had she been suppressing herself for that long?

He instinctively leaned backward.

"T-That doesn’t seem like a very good idea..."

"Why not?!"

Juvia immediately protested.

"You kissed Levy, didn’t you?! If Marshall wants to know what kissing is like, Juvia can do it too!"

Her determination intensified.

"J-Juvia understands kissing better than Levy!"

"That’s not really the important part..."

Marshall was now genuinely worried that Juvia might simply overpower him if she got any more worked up.

He needed to calm her down first.

"Juvia."

Marshall chose his words carefully.

"You know I already kissed Levy."

Juvia froze.

Marshall watched her closely.

"You... don’t mind?"

"..."

For one brief moment, Juvia stopped moving entirely.

Then she turned her face away.

"I-If Juvia gets to kiss you too..."

Her voice became tiny.

"Then J-Juvia doesn’t mind..."

"..."

Marshall stared at her.

’Wait.’

’What happened to your principles?’

’Aren’t you supposed to be the champion of pure love?!’

’Don’t lose to temptation!’

Marshall felt almost disappointed in her.

"Then what if I keep kissing Levy in the future?"

Juvia’s heart visibly took damage.

But give up? Impossible!

"I-If Juvia can join too..."

Her face burned.

"Then... then it’s okay..."

"..."

The room became very quiet.

Juvia lowered her head, too embarrassed to look Marshall in the eye.

She herself could barely believe she had just said something so shameless.

But what else was she supposed to do?!

Levy was already far ahead!

If Juvia didn’t at least close the distance now, how was she supposed to catch up later?!

There was absolutely no way she could allow that sneaky little thief Levy to monopolize Marshall!

If Juvia failed to seize this opportunity, she might not even qualify to compete anymore!

Never underestimate Juvia’s determination!

Marshall remained silent for a few seconds.

Then realization struck.

’Oh.’

He understood now.

’So this is what they call romantic competition!’

When the snipe and clam fought, the fisherman benefited.

The ancients truly had been wise.

Marshall’s eyes slowly began moving as a completely different line of thought emerged.

Originally, he had been worried that the girls discovering his intentions would create an uncontrollable battlefield around him.

But now... perhaps he knew how to deal with it.

"Ahem."

Marshall cleared his throat.

"Juvia."

"Yes?"

"If it’s just kissing..."

Juvia’s eyes widened.

"I guess that’s not impossible."

"Really?! Then Juvia is coming—!"

"W-Wait!"

Marshall quickly dodged Juvia as she lunged at him.

"There are a few things we need to agree on first!"

He was absolutely trying to use Juvia’s competitive instincts to negotiate benefits for himself.

Marshall was simply that kind of shameless person.

Juvia forced herself to stop.

"F-Fine."

She swallowed.

"Tell Juvia."

"First..."

Marshall raised one finger.

"The kissing stays a secret between us."

Juvia blinked.

"I don’t want anyone else knowing about it yet."

Her eyes immediately lit up.

"No problem!"

She nodded repeatedly.

That sounded great to her.

Juvia had absolutely no intention of letting the rest of Marshall’s fan club discover that she was secretly making progress either.

This arrangement suited her perfectly.

"And then..."

Marshall hesitated.

"Because I already made an agreement with Levy first..."

Juvia’s smile stiffened.

"You can’t stop Levy from kissing me either."

Marshall looked slightly nervous.

"Is... is that okay?"

"Ugh..."

Juvia visibly struggled.

Then finally nodded.

"F-Fine!"

She clenched her fists.

"Juvia will just pretend she didn’t see it!"

The old Juvia probably would never have accepted something like this.

Unfortunately, after spending so long trying to persuade Envy to abandon her extreme mentality, Juvia had somehow managed to talk herself into the same philosophy.

Somewhere in her subconscious, she now believed that as long as things hadn’t reached an irreversible point, a certain amount of compromise was acceptable.

Besides—who the final winner would be was still undecided!

Letting Levy enjoy a small advantage for now didn’t matter!

Marshall, meanwhile, was delighted.

’Hehehe.’

Excellent.

His harem plan had just taken a massive step forward!

’I’m such a bastard!’

’Keep it up me!’

"Then if another girl wants to kiss me in the future—"

Marshall never finished.

Juvia’s head snapped up.

"You still want to kiss other women?"

Her face moved so close to his that there was barely any space left between them.

Her eyes slowly became hollow.

"Juvia should be enough, shouldn’t she? Juvia can fulfill everything Marshall wants, so why would you need anyone else? Nobody can be better than Juvia. Juvia loves Marshall the most. Juvia loves you, loves you, loves you, loves you, loves you..."

"!?"

Marshall nearly jumped.

He immediately realized that pushing any farther would end disastrously.

He couldn’t increase the pace too quickly.

He had almost driven Juvia straight into blackening.

At this point, there was only one solution.

"Mm!"

Marshall kissed her.

After all the practice Levy had forced on him recently, his timing had improved considerably.

One move.

Instant victory!

Juvia fell completely silent.

At that moment, she felt as though she had ascended directly into heaven.

’Oh my goddddd!’

’We kissed!’

’Marshall kissed Juvia!’

’So happy!’

’I can die without regrets now!’

Tears of pure emotion appeared at the corners of Juvia’s eyes as she completely surrendered herself to the moment.

Her feelings reached Marshall without any concealment.

That overwhelming, wholehearted affection moved him deeply, and he returned the kiss with equal sincerity.

For Juvia, nothing else seemed to exist anymore.

After a while, they finally separated.

"Haah..."

Juvia stared at Marshall.

Her eyes were filled entirely with him, leaving no room for anything else.

Then she threw her arms around the person she had dreamed about for so long and hugged him tightly.

"Marshall..."

Her voice was soft and overflowing with happiness.

"Juvia loves you the most~"