Chapter 211: Elisebeth Hera (1)
Rias recovered first. She hurried to Martin’s side, planted a hand on his shoulder, and turned him slightly to make sure he was paying attention. She had known Elisebeth long enough to understand how much courage the confession had taken. Watching Martin answer it with the same casual smile he used for everyone else should have been reassuring, yet his complete lack of recognition was so ridiculous that she could not stay quiet.
"It’s Elise!" Rias exclaimed. "Elisebeth Hera! She’s one of the biggest singers in the world! Every song she releases tops the charts, and millions of people idolize her! You can’t seriously act like you’ve never heard of her!"
He glanced sideways at her, but Rias only tightened her grip on his shoulder.
"Do you have any idea how worried she was that her status might scare you away? She’s been hiding all this because she didn’t want things between you to change!"
Martin continued staring at her, his expression asking one simple question.
So?
That single glance told Rias everything she needed to know.
H-He doesn’t care?
Elisebeth remained frozen in front of him, caught between relief and disbelief.
Once it became clear that nobody intended to shake his hand, Martin lowered it and studied her more carefully. He rarely followed celebrity news, and most famous faces disappeared from his memory as soon as they left the screen. Still, now that Rias had forced him to think about it, Elisebeth did seem familiar.
An old memory surfaced.
He remembered waiting for a cup of hot cocoa and a warm bun at a street stall on a cold day. A television had been mounted above the counter, and a gorgeous woman appeared in an advertisement for Monster Hunter Academy Online.
Her sultry voice had made him pause, while her figure held his attention longer than he intended. Even Martin, who had never cared much about celebrities, remembered that advertisement. She had owned the screen without seeming to make any effort.
Recognition finally clicked into place.
"Oh, you’re that diva with the huge tits."
Elisebeth’s relief vanished.
"Martin, you horny bastard!" she shouted, grabbing the upper rim of his Worldshell Carapace with both hands and shaking him as hard as she could.
The heavy armor barely moved, but she kept trying anyway.
"Are my tits the only thing you see when you look at me?!"
Martin raised his hands, awkwardly trying to calm her without grabbing her somewhere dangerous.
"I mean, that’s the only part of you that you didn’t disguise!"
Elisebeth opened her mouth to argue, but no words came out. Her brows drew together as she considered the situation from his perspective.
She had hidden her face, concealed her identity, and used an appearance nobody could connect to Elisebeth Hera. Meanwhile, her chest had remained the most obvious part of her.
After biting her lower lip, she reluctantly nodded.
"Fair point. You... You got me there."
"Yeah, I did!" Martin grinned, pleased that logic had somehow saved him. "So, did you manage to bring your makeup into the game world too?"
Her outrage returned at once.
"Idiot! I barely use any makeup! All the effort goes into my hair!"
Before Martin could respond, she caught his wrist. Rias’s eyes widened as Elisebeth lifted his hand and pressed his palm against her cheek.
Martin’s heart skipped a beat.
He had fought beside plenty of beautiful women and grown used to seeing impossible appearances inside the game, but this felt different. Elisebeth’s skin was soft and warm beneath his palm, and the intimacy of the gesture caught him completely off guard.
More importantly, he had never touched someone this gorgeous so directly, let alone with his palm pressed against her cheek.
"Look," Elisebeth demanded.
Martin did exactly that. With her face only inches from his, he examined her smooth skin, long lashes, and naturally striking features. There was no strange cosmetic effect or exaggerated game filter. She simply looked this good.
"You’re telling me you’re naturally this hot?"
Elisebeth’s anger melted into satisfaction.
"Mhm. Now you’re speaking properly."
She kept his hand against her cheek for another moment, clearly enjoying his undivided attention, before narrowing her eyes.
"And remember what you did to me."
Martin immediately became defensive.
"Hey, hey, hey. You jumped on me too, didn’t you?"
Rias slowly turned toward Elisebeth and sent her a glare cold enough to freeze the entire forest. Unfortunately, it had no effect.
Elisebeth’s face had already turned so red that she either failed to notice the hostility or no longer had the strength to retreat. Her grip on Martin’s wrist loosened, though she still had not fully released him.
Martin watched her grow even more flustered and chuckled.
"You’re so... awesome."
Her eyes snapped back to him.
"Awesome?" she repeated. "Use proper words, Martin!"
He considered the matter for a moment.
"Sexy, sure, but that might be a little too much to say to a friend, you know."
At the word friend, Elisebeth’s embarrassment shifted into something bolder. She moved one foot forward while still holding his wrist, seemingly ready to cross the boundary the four of them had agreed none of them would cross alone.
Before she could go any further, two more beauties quietly appeared behind her.
Martin’s gaze drifted past Elisebeth’s shoulder, and she caught the change immediately. Her eyes widened as she spun around, sending her midnight-violet hair sweeping across her back.
The sister duo stood there, both wearing expressions that suggested they had witnessed far more of the conversation than Elisebeth would have preferred. They did not even need to speak. One glance at their composed faces told her they had been watching long enough to understand exactly what she had almost done.
Her mouth opened in disbelief.
Those damn actresses.
They had waited until the exact moment she was about to take control of the scene, then appeared together and stole Martin’s attention without saying a word.
Of course they had. Timing was their profession, after all.
Elisebeth silently cursed them both.
Comments