Chapter 215

Chapter 215: Chapter 215

Lucy had one particularly admirable quality: once she gave her word, she kept it.

As a Celestial Spirit Mage who valued contracts more than almost anyone, she rarely broke an agreement.

Her earlier failure to show up for Marshall’s experiment didn’t technically count, at least according to Lucy.

She had simply exploited a loophole in their agreement by never taking the initiative to report for duty.

Of course, the fact that she knew perfectly well she had taken advantage of a technicality was exactly why she had felt so guilty afterward.

This time, however, Lucy had explicitly promised to spend a month playing the role of Marshall’s "pet," and she had no intention of going back on her word.

Unfortunately, keeping a promise did absolutely nothing to reduce a teenage girl’s sense of embarrassment.

When Lucy finally stood in front of Marshall again wearing the ridiculous rabbit-themed costume he had prepared, complete with the little collar prop, she wanted nothing more than to find a crack in the floor and disappear into it.

’This is so embarrassing...’

’Why did I ever agree to something this stupid?!’

More importantly...

’Are Marshall’s hobbies starting to get a little weird?’

And why did the stupid costume fit her so perfectly?!

"Not bad, not bad~ It suits you really well, Lucy."

Marshall looked her over with obvious satisfaction, and for a moment, the image before him began overlapping with a memory from the first time he had met Lucy.

That gave him a rough idea of the timeline.

Lucy, Erza, and the others traveling back through time to the past should happen fairly soon.

"Ugh... Marshall, have you been picking up bad habits somewhere?"

Lucy tugged awkwardly at the costume.

"Where did you even get something like this?"

Marshall figured Lucy had already seen enough of his real personality that there was little point pretending to be innocent anymore.

"Hehe. I didn’t pick up anything. I’ve always been bad."

He grinned.

"And I had the outfit custom-made. There are plenty of other designs too, so I guarantee Lucy-nee will never get bored!"

"What is wrong with you?!"

Lucy stared at him in horror.

"Marshall, don’t tell me you’re actually a little pervert!"

Marshall immediately gave her a thumbs-up, flashing a dazzling smile.

"☆BINGO! Correct!"

He paused.

"No prize, though~"

"Huh?!"

Lucy instinctively hugged her arms around herself, but after seeing how completely relaxed Marshall looked, she slowly let out a breath.

Forget it.

He was just an obnoxious brat who liked saying outrageous things.

There was no need to take him seriously.

For all his inappropriate jokes, sadistic pranks, and constant habit of tormenting his guildmates for entertainment, Lucy still believed Marshall was fundamentally a good kid.

His personality was just... pretty awful!

"I’m not all talk, you know."

Marshall smiled smugly.

"I already have three girlfriends~"

"HUH?!"

Lucy’s eyes nearly popped out of her head.

"Th-Three girlfriends?!"

She leaned toward him in disbelief.

"Seriously?! You’re not just bragging, are you? Who are they?"

"Hehehe~ Of course I’m serious."

Marshall began counting them off on his fingers.

"Levy, Juvia, and Mira have all agreed to be my girlfriends. We just haven’t made the relationships public yet~"

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH?!"

Lucy covered her mouth.

"Th-They have?!"

She genuinely hadn’t noticed at all.

Marshall and Levy and the others had already reached that kind of relationship?

Wait.

Why was Marshall telling her something this important so casually?!

And more importantly, did this brat actually understand what having a girlfriend meant?

"Marshall! Did Loki teach you this nonsense?! You know this isn’t normal, right? Do you even understand what ’girlfriend’ means?"

Lucy planted her hands on her hips.

"And what are you planning to do when you eventually get married?"

"That’s easy."

Marshall answered without hesitation.

"I’ll marry all of them!"

"???"

Marshall had absolutely no intention of hiding his Crystal Palace ambitions from Lucy.

Mostly because, in his mind, Lucy occupied a rather unusual position.

He didn’t really think of her as a girlfriend.

Lucy’s personality was simply too distinctive, and Marshall had trouble imagining what actually dating her would even look like.

As a friend, though, Lucy was practically perfect.

She was easy to hang out with, good-natured, able to take a joke, and rarely made things awkward.

If he tried to treat her like a girlfriend, Marshall suspected they would somehow hang out for a while and accidentally end up acting more like best buddies instead.

That said, Lucy was still a genuine heiress from a great family, beautiful and charming in her own right, so Marshall certainly had no objection to keeping their relationship exceptionally close.

Since he simply couldn’t picture himself behaving romantically around Lucy in the same way he did with the others, Marshall decided there was no need to maintain any particular image around her.

He could simply act like himself.

And when Marshall said he wanted Lucy around to keep him company, that part hadn’t been a lie either.

Being around Lucy was relaxing.

More importantly... Lucy was ridiculously fun to mess with!

"Marshall! I can’t believe you’re this kind of person! I completely misjudged you!"

Lucy spent a while indignantly condemning his outrageous ambitions before her own imagination abruptly betrayed her.

"Still... Levy, Juvia, and Mira are all wonderful girls."

Her expression softened dreamily.

"Living together with all three of them would probably be really nice... Ugh, damn you, Marshall! I’m actually jealous!"

"Right?!"

Marshall immediately became enthusiastic.

"Levy is adorable because of that unexpected side of her, Juvia is adorable because she’s completely devoted, and even Mira is adorable when she’s plotting something evil. Big sisters are the best!"

"I knew it!"

Lucy slapped her palm.

"I knew Mira had a secretly devious side! Hehehe... but honestly, that just makes her more charming."

Marshall leaned closer conspiratorially.

"Did you know Levy is actually surprisingly dirty-minded?"

"What?!"

And just like that, the two of them became completely absorbed in discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the girls around them.

To Marshall’s surprise—or perhaps not much surprise at all—Lucy could analyze other girls with frightening enthusiasm.

Despite being a proper young heiress, she clearly had no shortage of her own fantasies about surrounding herself with beautiful women.

Marshall had overheard enough of Lucy’s thoughts in the past to know that the two of them actually had quite a lot in common.

"Lucy, you really understand this stuff!"

Marshall slapped her enthusiastically on the shoulder.

"We truly are kindred spirits! Best friends!"

His eyes lit up.

"Come on, lend me your strength and help me win over even more beautiful girls!"

"Sure—LIKE HELL I WILL!"

Lucy abruptly snapped out of the moment.

The instant she realized what she had just been enthusiastically participating in, she covered her burning face and collapsed to the floor in shame.

How had Marshall dragged her into this?!

What had she even been saying?!

"Hehehehe..."

Marshall looked down at her with an evil grin.

"Actually, I already know everything, Lucy."

Lucy stiffened.

"You love writing, so you’re always carefully observing the people around you. You deliberately look for the things that make each person special, then your imagination starts running wild."

With every sentence, Lucy’s face grew redder.

"You’re always worrying that you’re too ordinary yourself, secretly wishing you had something brilliant and distinctive that made you shine like everyone else."

Marshall smiled knowingly.

"And eventually, you pour those feelings into your writing."

By the time he finished, Lucy had practically transformed into a steam engine.

She felt completely exposed in front of him.

"Lucy-nee is pretty adorable too~"

"Stop! Stop talking!"

Lucy waved her hands frantically.

"Marshall, how do you even know this stuff?!"

Marshall puffed out his chest.

"Heh. Because I’m already a famous bestselling author."

He tapped his temple.

"My powers of observation are greater than yours!"

"...Marshall."

Lucy lowered her head in defeat.

"You win."

Her embarrassment came quickly, but it faded just as fast.

She couldn’t actually refute anything Marshall had said, and once the initial humiliation passed, she strangely began to relax.

Even wearing the ridiculous rabbit costume no longer felt as unbearable as it had at first.

There was something oddly liberating about reaching the point where both sides knew each other’s embarrassing secrets.

Lucy sighed.

"You know, sometimes I feel like you don’t even see me as a girl. Why do you tell me literally everything?"

"Because Lucy-nee is my pet."

Marshall answered as though it were obvious.

"A master and his pet shouldn’t have any secrets from each other."

"...Marshall."

Lucy smiled dangerously.

"Can I hit you?"

"No."

Marshall raised his chin.

"I’m your master."

"Pets bite, you know!"

"You dare?"

Marshall narrowed his eyes.

"Still want your Second Origin unlocked?"

"..."

Lucy’s anger vanished instantly.

"Dear little Marshall, I have suddenly achieved enlightenment."

Marshall smiled.

"And what should you call me?"

"Ugh..."

Lucy’s shoulders slumped.

"M-Master..."

Marshall nodded with satisfaction.

"Hehehe. Good."

Then his expression became mock-serious.

"Lucy, now that you know so many of your master’s secrets, I’m not asking you to help me with anything. But you do understand what you’re supposed to do, right?"

"I-I won’t tell anyone!"

Lucy hurriedly raised a hand.

"My lips are sealed!"

"Mm. Good girl~"

Marshall patted her head.

"I’ll treat you to carrots tonight~"

"?"

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