Chapter 41: Lemon

"What did you find?" Eris asked, frowning slightly because she hadn’t fully heard my whisper.

I raised my head and looked at her without trying to hide my excitement.

"I’ll be Evelyn."

Eris froze with her fork halfway to her mouth and stared at me for several seconds.

"What? Evelyn? Who’s that?"

The moment I heard the question, my excitement gave way to a brief surge of panic. Evelyn was a character from a dark role-playing game I had played in my old life after my friends repeatedly insisted I try it.

Naturally, there was no way anyone in this world could know her.

I couldn’t explain that to Eris.

She had already seen me suddenly become good at cooking and noticed how much my way of speaking had changed. If I now told her about a game from another world, the suspicions I had managed to ease with that childhood memory might return.

I needed a convincing lie.

"She isn’t an existing character," I said, trying to sound as casual as possible. "She’s an original design I just came up with."

"You thought of her just now?"

"Yes."

When the suspicion on Eris’s face deepened, I placed my fork beside my plate and began describing the character in my mind.

"Evelyn was once the princess of a kingdom. On the day she was supposed to marry the man she loved, she was betrayed. She and her family were murdered during the wedding ceremony, but she rose from her grave years later. She’s no longer human—she’s a kind of vengeful spirit determined to destroy the kingdom."

Her real story in the game was far more complicated, but no one would believe I had invented the character moments ago if I explained every detail. It was better to keep things simple.

The doubt on Eris’s face remained.

"It sounds a little ordinary. A cursed spirit returning for revenge isn’t a particularly original idea."

"I haven’t described her appearance yet."

I straightened slightly in my chair and put the image of Evelyn into words.

"She’ll have pure white hair that reaches below her waist and blood-red eyes. A small crown made from intertwined black thorns will rest on her head, and she’ll wear a white wedding dress with a bloodstained skirt."

The suspicion in Eris’s eyes slowly turned into curiosity.

"Keep going."

"A black raven will sit on her shoulder, and she’ll hold a single flower with petals that shift between red and black. One side of the wedding dress will look clean and flawless, while the other will be torn, burned, and covered in blood. Half her face will look like a beautiful bride, but the makeup around her eyes will make it clear she’s no longer human."

Eris’s expression had completely changed. She placed her fork on the plate, rested her elbows on the table, and studied me carefully while trying to imagine the costume.

"How will she act onstage?"

"She’ll stand completely still at first with her head lowered. When the music begins, she’ll look at the flower and smile as though she’s remembering her wedding day. Then the lighting will change, revealing the bloodstains on her dress. The raven will land on her shoulder, and when Evelyn raises her head, the audience will finally see her red eyes."

Since we obviously couldn’t bring a real raven onto the stage, we would need to build a light mechanism that allowed the bird on my shoulder to move. Umbrella would make solving that problem easy, but I couldn’t explain that part to Eris either.

Fortunately, she wasn’t concerned with those details yet.

"Everyone who sees her face will think she’s beautiful, but everything else about the costume will feel disturbing," I continued. "Instead of trying to look cute or attractive, I’ll leave an unsettling impression. And because she’s an original character, no one can compare my costume to another person’s version."

Eris rubbed her chin thoughtfully while looking me over.

"We can hide your blue hair beneath a white wig and use red contacts. Your skin is already pale enough that a few touches of makeup will make you look dead."

"Am I supposed to take that as a compliment?"

"I haven’t decided yet."

She narrowed her eyes and continued examining my face.

"The white dress will create a strong contrast with the red eyes. The black crown, raven, and flower will keep the costume from looking empty. You can also portray the entire character through movement without saying a single word onstage."

"That’s exactly what I thought."

"Since no one knows the character, you won’t be directly compared to the other cosplayers. If we do everything properly, the judges might even believe she came from a real game."

After thinking for a few more seconds, Eris’s smile grew wider.

"Noc, sometimes you can actually be clever."

"Oii, I’m always clever."

"Maybe you’re more excited about cosplaying than I thought."

"What?"

Eris rose from her chair and walked around the table. Sensing danger, I tried to pull away, but I reacted too late.

She slipped both hands beneath my T-shirt and pressed her fingers against the sides of my stomach.

My body twisted involuntarily as a muffled laugh escaped me.

"Eris, stop!"

"Yesterday, you said the thought of cosplaying made you sick, but now you’ve already planned your character’s entire stage performance."

"This... This has nothing to do with cosplay!"

I squirmed from side to side in my chair, trying to escape her fingers while struggling to keep my voice under control. Eris knew perfectly well how vulnerable I was to being tickled, so she deliberately targeted the sides of my stomach.

"Then why are you so excited?"

"The five-star—"

I stopped myself at the last possible moment.

Eris knew nothing about the System or the mission reward. Since I couldn’t tell her the truth, I also couldn’t explain why I was willingly participating in this humiliation.

"I just want to do a good job!" I shouted. "Don’t get the wrong idea!"

By the time Eris stopped moving her fingers, I was out of breath. I wrapped both arms around my stomach protectively and glared at her, but the smile on her face only grew wider.

"Sure, sure. You little tsundere."

"I’m not a tsundere who secretly wants to cosplay!"

"Yeah, yeah. You just want to make your bloodstained wedding dress perfect because you’re determined to win."

"Shut up!"

When Eris started laughing again, I returned to my plate and began eating the rest of my food far too quickly. I could feel her amused gaze on me every time I raised my fork, but I remained silent because I knew answering would only encourage her.

Still, as much as I hated admitting it, I was genuinely excited about the idea of Evelyn.

The thought of recreating a character no one in this world had ever seen was interesting. The more I considered the costume, the more I began to believe that my chances of winning the five-star card might be higher than I had initially thought.

Of course, if I ever admitted that to Eris, she would use it to mock me for the rest of my life.

After finishing my meal, I carried my plate into the kitchen. Eris’s plate was already empty, but instead of helping me clear the table, she stretched out on the couch and took out her phone.

"You could at least bring your plate to the sink," I said.

"I’m researching cosplay."

"I just saw you watching a cat video on social media."

"The cat was wearing a black crown. I’m gathering inspiration."

Rolling my eyes, I picked up her plate as well. As I turned on the faucet and began washing the dishes, I could hear short videos playing behind me. Every few seconds, Eris laughed and then raised the volume so I would become curious too.

I stubbornly refused to look at any of them.

Once I finished washing the dishes, I dried my hands and cleared a small space in the middle of the living room. Even though I had trained for several hours that morning, eating had filled me with the urge to move again.

White Snake’s healing effect was removing the fatigue from my muscles much faster than expected. If I took full advantage of it, reaching forty pull-ups within a week might not be completely impossible.

When I lowered myself into a push-up position, Eris looked up from her phone.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?"

"Didn’t you spend hours working out this morning?"

"I feel unusually energetic. A little more exercise won’t hurt."

As I began my first push-ups, Eris rested her elbow on the arm of the couch and watched me.

"Your body isn’t used to training this intensely yet. If you push yourself too hard, you won’t be able to move your arms tomorrow."

"Don’t worry. I know my limits."

"Says the person who fell to the ground during his sixth pull-up yesterday."

"I didn’t fall by choice."

Eris laughed softly while I stopped talking and focused on my push-ups. After completing the first set, I rested briefly before starting again. The effects of the morning’s workout hadn’t completely disappeared, but my muscles weren’t tiring as quickly as they had yesterday.

After the second set, I lay on my back and moved on to abdominal exercises. Eris watched me a little longer before sighing and searching for something else on her phone.

"If you continue like this, you’ll become too muscular to fit into your wedding dress by the time the contest arrives."

"That’s impossible in twelve days."

"Maybe if you follow a strict enough routine—"

"I’m not becoming a muscular bride."

"Evelyn spent years in a grave before returning for revenge. It wouldn’t be unreasonable for her to have some muscle."

I ignored her and continued exercising. Before long, the burning in my abdominal muscles grew more intense and my breathing became heavier.

Just as I tried to rise for another repetition, Eris sat up and held her phone screen in front of my face.

"Should we go buy the wedding dress and the other cosplay supplies tomorrow?"

I stopped halfway through the movement and looked at the screen. She had opened a shopping page filled with different styles of white wedding dresses.

After completing the repetition, I remained seated and took the phone from her.

"Can’t we order one online?"

My stomach tightened slightly as I examined the dresses on the screen. The mere thought of entering a shop with Eris and choosing a wedding dress was bad enough. If I also had to try it on, I had no idea what I would tell the employees.

Entering the women’s changing room with a wedding dress when I was a man...

Eris opening the curtain, looking at me, and bursting into laughter...

The employees mistaking me for a girl after seeing my face and trying to help me into the dress...

Each possibility was more horrifying than the last.

"If we order it, we might not find one that properly fits your measurements," Eris said. "Choosing the right design without trying it on would be too risky. If the shoulders, waist, or skirt length don’t fit, it’ll look bad onstage."

"We can take my measurements and order one based on those."

"Measurements alone aren’t enough with ready-made wedding dresses. We need to see how the fabric sits on your body and whether you can move comfortably in it. We may also need to take it to a tailor before adding the bloodstains and tears."

I returned the phone with a grimace.

"This is becoming far more troublesome than necessary."

"If you want to make a good cosplay, you’ll have to endure some inconvenience."

When I thought about the reward, even entering a bridal shop began to sound tolerable.

At least, that was what I tried to convince myself.

Eris continued speaking while showing me the items she had saved on her phone.

"We can easily find the white wig and red contacts. We can make the black crown ourselves, and for the raven, we could buy one of these models and modify it so it moves. We’ll also need..."

Instead of finishing the sentence, she pressed her lips together.

When I saw her shoulders trembling as she struggled not to laugh, I narrowed my eyes.

"What else?"

"It’s not important."

"Eris."

"You might misunderstand."

"You’re barely holding back your laughter. Tell me!"

Eris tried to endure for a few more seconds, but a quiet giggle finally escaped her.

"We’ll need to buy you fake breasts."

It took me several seconds to understand what I had just heard.

Then my face heated all the way to my ears.

"We need to buy me what?!"

"Fake breasts," she repeated, no longer even trying to hide her smile. "I don’t think a completely flat chest will create the right impression in a wedding dress."

"I’m a man! Having a flat chest is perfectly normal!"

"You won’t be Noctis during the contest. You’ll be Evelyn."

"I’ve decided Evelyn is flat-chested too."

"The top of the wedding dress won’t sit properly. We don’t need anything huge—just enough to complete the costume’s silhouette."

"We’re not buying anything!"

When I tried to move the phone away from her, Eris leaned forward. My muscles were already exhausted from the push-ups and abdominal exercises, so when she grabbed my wrist and pushed me backward, I didn’t have enough strength to resist.

My back met the carpet as Eris moved over me and planted her knees on either side of my hips to prevent me from escaping. Her crimson hair spilled over her shoulders while she cupped my cheeks with both hands and turned my face toward her.

"I think we should try a few different sizes at the store."

"Get away from me!"

"We can choose a silicone model based on the neckline of the dress."

"There won’t be a neckline!"

"You don’t need to be so embarrassed. No one will realize they aren’t real."

"I’ll know!"

When I lifted my arms to escape, Eris caught both wrists with one hand and pinned them above my head. Only now did I realize how stupid it had been to exercise again after the morning’s long workout.

As she leaned closer to my face, a mischievous light shone in her red and pale-blue eyes.

"Don’t worry, Evelyn. I’ll make sure you become the most beautiful bride in the world."

"Stop calling me Evelyn!"

Eris’s laughter echoed throughout the apartment as I rested my head against the carpet and closed my eyes.

For the sake of a five-star card, I had accepted that I would wear a wedding dress, have makeup applied to my face, and portray a female character in front of hundreds of thousands of people.

Now Eris was sitting on top of me, discussing the size of the fake breasts we would try on at the store.

In my head, I cursed the System, its mission, and the five-star card it had dangled in front of me with every insult I knew.