Chapter 207

Chapter 207: Chapter 207

"I understand now. Thanks for explaining it to me, Mira! I’ll make sure to teach Marshall properly so he learns to take relationships more seriously!"

"Mm-hm. That’s Erza for you. Good luck!"

Mira smiled sweetly and waved as Erza disappeared down the hall.

The moment she was gone, Mira clenched a fist and quietly pumped it in victory.

’Yes!’

She had completely fooled that idiot Erza!

From now on, Erza could stand on the front line and play the villain whenever Marshall needed to be disciplined, while Mira stayed behind as the sweet, understanding big sister who comforted him afterward.

One troublesome little brother?

Please.

He’d be wrapped around her finger in no time!

’Don’t blame me for fighting dirty, Erza. The battle for first wife has always been ruthless.’

Besides, everything Mira had taught Erza was technically the "correct" way to think about relationships. She hadn’t lied!

Erza had only accepted it so quickly because it made sense to her.

If anything, Mira had done a good deed.

After reassuring herself with that flawless logic, Mira quickly stopped feeling guilty altogether.

Oh, right.

She still hadn’t settled the matter of Levy and Juvia with Marshall.

Although... why did she suddenly feel a little guilty about confronting him?

Then an idea came to her.

This time, she would go easy on him and make sure Marshall remembered how kind and understanding she was.

Hehe.

Another glorious victory for Mira!

Humming happily to herself, Mira headed toward the elevator.

The doors opened—and revealed Marshall standing inside with the deadest expression imaginable.

"Eh? Marshall? What are you doing here? Didn’t you run into Erza?"

"...No. Guess we just missed each other."

In reality, the moment Erza stepped out of the elevator, Marshall had jumped down from her armor and slipped away.

He had absolutely no desire to face an Erza who was currently overflowing with enthusiasm about "correcting" his romantic values.

"Where are you going?"

"I’m tired. I’m going back to sleep."

Mira blinked.

Marshall looked genuinely miserable.

Wasn’t this the perfect opportunity to demonstrate what a wonderful, understanding big sister she was?

She immediately changed her plans and followed him back into his room.

"Marshall~ I think we need to have a little talk."

"Okay."

"?"

Mira hesitated.

His response felt... wrong.

Was he still in a bad mood?

She cautiously continued.

"About Levy and Juvia... what exactly are you planning to do?"

Marshall was silent for a moment.

"...I’m going to marry all of you."

Mira’s eyebrow twitched.

Of course.

This precocious little womanizer had finally stopped even pretending to be ashamed!

Even though she had mentally prepared herself for an answer like that, hearing him say it so shamelessly still made her want to smack him.

Mira took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.

No.

She was supposed to be playing the role of the understanding big sister today.

She couldn’t ruin it now.

"I-I see. Well... if that’s Marshall’s decision, I suppose there’s nothing I can do about it..."

"So you’re saying you don’t object, Mira-nee?"

"?"

Mira froze.

Something about this was definitely wrong.

Wasn’t Marshall supposed to be overflowing with gratitude for her incredible generosity right now?

Why did he suddenly sound so self-righteous?

Why was this brat getting cocky?!

Still, she had already committed to the act and could only force herself onward.

"O-Of course. I spoil you more than anyone, after all..."

Mira smiled stiffly.

"But Marshall, you’ll still have to figure out how to handle the relationships between all those girls. We girls can get very jealous, you know. Nobody’s going to make your ridiculous dream easy for you..."

"True. There’s always some evil woman sticking her nose into things and ruining my plans."

Marshall narrowed his eyes.

"Sometimes I really want to string her up and give her a good spanking."

"..."

Mira’s heart skipped a beat.

’No, no, no.’

Something was very wrong with Marshall.

Was he angry?

And why did that sarcastic little speech sound suspiciously directed at her?

"Marshall... are you upset?"

Marshall finally stopped pretending.

He folded his arms and huffed.

"Mira, I heard everything you said to Erza."

"..."

Mira’s smile froze solid.

"Um... I just remembered I have something important to do. Marshall, I’ll be going now—"

Marshall continued in the same pointed tone.

"Mom once taught me that I should stay far away from bad women. Turns out Mom was right."

Mira instantly spun around, hurried back, and grabbed his hand.

"Oh, come on~ Marshall, did you forget? I’m Marshall’s mommy too~"

"...Mira, you’re awful! I hate you today!"

Marshall turned his head away.

"I’m going to hate you for the whole day!"

Mira clutched her chest as though he had stabbed her through the heart, then covered her face and began fake-sobbing.

"W-Wah... Marshall, I’m sorry! I was wrong! I’ll never do it again~ Please forgive your big sister~"

"Stop acting."

Marshall didn’t budge.

"You can fool the idiots in the guild with that, but you think it’s going to work on me?"

Not a single tear had fallen from her face.

Mira slowly spread two fingers and peeked through them.

When she realized Marshall genuinely wasn’t falling for it, she dropped the performance completely.

For one glorious moment, the arrogant little demon Mira from their childhood returned in full force.

She planted her hands on her hips, puffed out her chest, and raised her chin.

"Fine! I did it!"

She looked completely unrepentant.

"I was just giving Erza the proper education she desperately needed. What exactly did I do wrong?"

Mira snorted.

"So? What are you going to do about it?"

"You wicked witch! I’ll teach you a lesson right now—"

"Ah! Hahaha! N-No! Stop! Hahahaha!"

Marshall tackled Mira onto the bed and immediately started tickling her.

Then he discovered something extremely useful.

Mira was ridiculously ticklish.

Marshall’s eyes lit up.

’Oh, you’re weak to this?’

’Then you’re finished!’

The two of them rolled around across the bed in a chaotic wrestling match, laughing and struggling until both were exhausted and the blankets were completely wrecked.

Eventually, Mira’s defenses collapsed under Marshall’s relentless assault, and she was forced to surrender.

"Ahahaha! S-Stop! Stop tickling me! I can’t take it anymore! I surrender! I really was wrong, okay?! Spare me! Hahaha!"

Marshall had gotten carried away too. Realizing they had already made enough of a mess, he finally let her go and sat beside her to calm himself down.

Truthfully, Marshall and Mira were fairly close in physical strength only because she had been letting him get away with it.

If Mira had seriously resisted, Marshall couldn’t beat her through raw strength alone.

After catching his breath, Marshall’s expression gradually became more serious.

"Mira... do you really think I’m being unreasonable?"

He hesitated.

"Wanting to marry so many girls, I mean."

Mira gave him an irritated look.

"Hmph. So even a giant idiot like you knows he’s asking for too much?"

Still catching her breath, she straightened her messy hair and lightly knocked him on the head.

"You’re only getting away with this because your big sisters spoil you so much."

Her voice softened slightly.

"If a person gets too greedy, sometimes they end up losing everything."

Marshall fell quiet.

"Then... will Mira leave me?"

"Absolutely not!"

Her answer came instantly.

"Don’t even think about it!"

Marshall looked at her.

"...Then what if you end up getting hurt because of me?"

Mira sighed.

"What else am I supposed to do?"

She gave him another light smack.

"I’ll beat you senseless when you deserve it."

Then she looked away.

"And after that... life still has to go on, doesn’t it?"

Marshall’s expression softened.

"Mira... I’m sorry."

He paused.

"But I’m not going to give up."

"Hmph!"

Mira bit her lip.

"Come talk to me again after you’ve dealt with Erza, you greedy little bastard."

Then she hurried out of the room.

"..."

Marshall scratched his head and flopped backward onto the bed.

He understood.

Mira had already accepted his wandering heart.

But it wasn’t because she didn’t get jealous.

It was because she loved him too much to walk away.

Marshall had understood this from the moment he first began dreaming about his Crystal Palace.

A relationship this unfair could never exist without someone eventually compromising.

And what Marshall had chosen to gamble on... was that the girls would love him too much to leave.

Levy.

Juvia.

Erza.

Mira...

He had been given far, far more love than he deserved.

That was why Marshall silently swore that he would make every one of them happy.

No matter how hard it was.

No matter how much effort it took.

He would make it happen.