Chapter 205

Chapter 205: Chapter 205

After waking up, Mira simply refused to leave Marshall’s room.

Normally, Mira was a girl with a strong sense of boundaries.

Even though she and Marshall had been neighbors for years, she rarely entered his room without a good reason.

To her, someone else’s bedroom was an extremely private place, and unless you shared an exceptionally close relationship, it was better not to invade another person’s territory.

She certainly wouldn’t let Elfman or Lisanna wander freely into her own room.

But now things were different.

Marshall had already promised that he would marry her someday, which meant they were practically engaged, right?

And if they were engaged, then Marshall’s room was basically her room too.

Surely there was nothing wrong with staying a little longer and taking a proper look around.

Having successfully convinced herself, Mira began exploring.

What she discovered was surprisingly... simple.

People often said that the way someone decorated their room reflected their inner world, yet Marshall’s bedroom contained almost nothing beyond the necessities of everyday life.

It was clean and tidy—probably because Virgo regularly took care of it—and aside from the unusually large bed, it looked like a perfectly ordinary room.

Even the bookshelves were filled entirely with serious books on Magic.

There wasn’t a single suspicious or improper book anywhere to be found.

It was a room with almost no personality at all.

Mira found that strangely surprising.

Was a normal boy’s room really supposed to be this clean?

Then again, Marshall had never exactly been a normal boy.

It wasn’t until Mira opened the door leading to the inner room that she realized she had been wrong.

So this was where Marshall kept his secrets.

The inner chamber had been converted into something resembling a private exhibition hall.

Glass display cases filled the room, each one carefully holding all sorts of different "collections."

And every single item on display was a gift Marshall had received over the years.

Mira’s expression softened immediately.

So this was where he kept the things that mattered most to him.

Marshall could be surprisingly dishonest sometimes.

He always acted as though gifts weren’t important, yet behind everyone’s backs he had carefully preserved every one of them.

’Hehe. What an adorable idiot.’

Then Mira noticed something familiar inside one of the display cases.

A stack of underwear she had given him the previous year was neatly stored away, apparently because it no longer fit.

Mira covered her mouth to hide a laugh.

’That idiot even kept these...’

Then she paused.

Wait.

Why had underwear from last year already stopped fitting him?

Had Marshall really grown that much in a single year?

While Mira was still puzzling over the question, she heard the bedroom door open outside.

At first she assumed Marshall or Virgo had returned, but when she stepped out to check, she discovered someone considerably more troublesome instead.

"Erza? Why are you in Marshall’s room?"

"Marshall told me you were here. I came to find you."

Mira raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Me?"

"Mm."

Erza nodded seriously.

"I want to join Marshall’s girlfriend fan club. You’re the president, right? Please add me to the group. Thanks."

"?"

The two girls stared at one another.

For several seconds, the room became unnaturally quiet.

Mira was inwardly alarmed.

’What is Erza playing at?’

She could have joined earlier.

She could have joined later.

Why had she suddenly come running over to join the fan club now?

What was the meaning of this?

’Did Marshall tell her about our... engagement?’

’Did she finally lose her nerve and come here to establish dominance?’

Erza had always been Mira’s lifelong rival, and not merely because their personalities clashed or because the two of them had spent years fighting at every opportunity.

The more important reason was something Mira had noticed a long time ago.

Marshall really liked Erza.

Not that Erza liked Marshall. Mira couldn’t care less how many people liked him. Half the guild seemed to like Marshall.

What mattered to her was who Marshall liked most.

At first glance, he treated everyone well.

As long as a girl was pretty, Marshall seemed happy enough to spend time with her.

But if you watched carefully, there were subtle differences in how he treated certain people.

Among all the girls around him, Cana and Erza stood out the most.

Between the two of them, they occupied an unusually large portion of Marshall’s affection.

Cana, at least, had the advantage of arriving first.

She had been the second person Marshall befriended after joining Fairy Tail, so Mira could begrudgingly accept that Cana received a little special treatment.

Erza was different.

Marshall seemed to genuinely admire her personality.

Sometimes, when he looked at Erza, there was a trace of unmistakable respect in his expression.

That particular kind of admiration was unique to her.

And Mira hated it.

Marshall was supposed to be the person she admired most, yet Marshall himself admired somebody else?

Mira had never been able to accept that!

It was one of the reasons she had always enjoyed challenging Erza.

One day, she wanted to defeat Erza completely and prove to Marshall that there was nothing so extraordinary about her.

Only Marshall himself was the greatest!

Erza was Mira’s greatest enemy.

She had been in the past.

She was now.

And she would continue to be in the future.

So when dealing with Erza, Mira had absolutely no intention of holding back.

She opened with her ultimate move.

"Erza, how did you find out that Marshall and I are engaged?"

"What?! E-Eng-eng-eng-engaged?!"

Erza’s eyes instantly widened like a startled cat’s.

For a brief moment, she looked almost adorably blank.

Then steam practically began pouring from her head.

Her face turned bright red as she suddenly bowed deeply toward Mira and stammered,

"C-Congratulations to us! I-I know I still have a lot to improve on, but please, please, please take care of me from now on!"

"?"

Mira almost laughed from sheer frustration.

What in the world was this idiot imagining?!

"Listen carefully! I said Marshall and me! Not you and Marshall!"

Mira planted her hands on her hips triumphantly.

"Marshall and I have already privately promised ourselves to each other! We’re engaged! Marshall admitted it himself!"

She laughed smugly.

"Hahaha! Be jealous!"

It took Erza quite a while to recover from whatever strange fantasy her mind had wandered into.

Once she finally understood what Mira was actually saying, the heat slowly faded from her face and her brows drew together.

"N-No!"

She looked suddenly serious.

"I don’t approve of this marriage!"

Mira immediately exploded into her demonic form.

"HAAH?! Are you an idiot?! What right do you have to disapprove?! This is my engagement to Marshall! Since when do you get a vote?!"

"..."

Erza opened her mouth.

Closed it.

Opened it again.

Finally, she turned her burning face away and muttered something so quietly that Mira could barely hear her.

"Because... because..."

"Huh?! What did you say?! Speak up!"

Erza squeezed her eyes shut from sheer embarrassment.

"B-Because I like Marshall too! I don’t approve of your engagement!"

She drew a shaky breath and forced out the rest.

"U-Unless... unless you include me too!"

"HUH?!?!"

The room fell into another terrifying silence.

Mira stared at her.

’What the hell is this woman saying?’

For a moment, Mira genuinely wondered whether someone had replaced Erza with an impostor.

Erza had actually admitted outright that she liked Marshall?

Hadn’t she always hidden behind the excuse that she was his older sister?

When had she become this bold?!

No.

Forget that.

The important part was what she had said afterward.

What the hell did "include me too" mean?!

Did she think this was some kind of bizarre party?!

"Erza! So this is what you’re really like?! I completely misjudged you!"

Erza looked genuinely confused.

"W-What? Did I say something wrong?"

"When did you start liking Marshall?! Aren’t you supposed to be his big sister?!"

"C-Can an older sister not like her younger brother?"

Erza’s face grew red again.

"I’m only a little older than Marshall anyway. Aren’t you the same?"

Mira nearly choked.

"That’s not even the point! What do you mean by ’include you’?! Do you think Marshall is something we can just share?!"

Erza blinked.

"But... aren’t we all family?"

She looked at Mira with complete sincerity.

"You like Marshall. I like Marshall."

Erza tilted her head.

"So we’re on the same side, aren’t we?"

"Huh?!"

Mira was completely dumbfounded.