Chapter 1410: Intermission 5: The Stalking Girl (2)

"I..." Ella spoke quietly, her voice trailing off as she looked at me for a brief second before immediately turning her eyes away again. "I don’t know... I mean, even if I wanted to..."

Her words faded awkwardly after that, like she had more she wanted to say but couldn’t quite force herself to continue. The way she looked made it painfully obvious too. She clearly wanted something with Leon. Maybe she wanted to stand beside him properly. Maybe she wanted to become one of his lovers. Maybe she just wanted him to look at her the same way he looked at the rest of us.

Either way, it was obvious enough that even a blind person could probably pick up on it after a few minutes.

Ella really wasn’t subtle about how much she liked him.

Honestly, I didn’t think it was a good idea for her to keep hiding those feelings like this. It wasn’t unhealthy or anything dramatic like that. Nobody was going to die because she kept being shy. Still, it felt like a waste of time watching her dance around the issue over and over again.

I mean, there really wasn’t anything wrong with admitting that she liked Leon already.

At this point, I was pretty sure Leon himself already knew.

The only thing probably stopping him from dragging Ella into his harem already was consideration for her feelings.

Which was honestly hilarious in its own way.

Leon usually went completely ballsdeep into everything he did. Literally and figuratively. Thinking carefully before acting really wasn’t his style. The man was the type to charge straight through a wall first and only afterward wonder if there had been a door nearby the entire time.

So seeing him hold himself back for someone’s emotional comfort felt weirdly out of character.

Especially considering he definitely didn’t bother considering mine back then.

Did I regret what happened between us?

At this point... honestly, I couldn’t.

If Leon hadn’t done what he did to me, I probably wouldn’t even be happy right now. Looking back on it, the entire thing still felt kind of scummy. Actually, scratch that. It was scummy. There really wasn’t a cleaner way to describe it.

Still, I was glad it hadn’t been Professor Sesillian who took my first time.

Or my first times for everything else, honestly.

Just imagining that possibility left a weird feeling sitting in my chest. Regret, probably. A really ugly kind too.

So even if the way things happened with Leon was messy, rough, and honestly questionable at times, I still ended up happier because of it.

Funny how life worked like that sometimes.

"Ella," I called out to her.

She lifted her head slightly and looked at me again, quietly waiting for me to continue.

"You don’t have to hold yourself back, you know?" I said. "If you’re worried because I’m also Leon’s lover, and you think falling for him would somehow feel like betraying me, then honestly, I don’t think that’s something worth stressing over."

She stayed silent, listening carefully.

"You seriously don’t have to mind me," I continued. "And honestly, why are you even worrying about that when I’m literally just one of his women? It’s not like I’m number one or anything special like that. You don’t have to feel guilty toward me."

The moment I said that, Ella looked straight into my eyes.

Looks like I was right.

Part of the reason she’d been holding herself back this entire time really was because of me.

Honestly, I didn’t understand why she cared that much. Whether I was Leon’s lover or not didn’t really change anything about her own feelings toward him. At least, that was how I saw it.

Besides, considering the fact that I was only one of his women, I didn’t think I had much right to complain anyway.

Maybe I would’ve thought differently if I had been his first woman. Sure, I could imagine myself getting possessive at first. Probably jealous too. Thinking about it now, I’d honestly look ridiculous trying to compete with Leon’s appetite for women. That man collected women the same way rich nobles collected expensive wine. At some point you just stopped questioning where he even found them all.

Still, with Leon, I doubted things would’ve stayed simple forever.

The man wasn’t built for one woman.

His potential was way too absurd for that.

Honestly, considering how ridiculously powerful he was becoming, I doubted a single woman would ever fully satisfy him anyway. Hell, if he actually tried sticking to one woman for life, I felt like she’d eventually get overwhelmed herself and tell him to just go get another woman already.

That was honestly the kind of presence Leon had.

At least, that was what I thought.

"Well, if that’s still how you want to think about it, then fine," I said with a small sigh. "I’m not forcing you to confess or anything. I’m just bothered because things have already reached this point, and you’re still hesitating."

"I-I know..." Ella replied nervously. "I-I’ll do it soon enough... once I can properly get my footing first."

Footing?

I honestly had no clue what she even meant by that.

Was she preparing mentally? Emotionally? Spiritually? Did she need to train for confession like it was some kind of battlefield strategy meeting? Honestly, the way she kept overthinking things was almost impressive.

Still, watching her scramble around trying to organize her feelings was honestly kind of funny.

Cute too, in a clumsy sort of way.

While we were talking, an alarm suddenly rang throughout the building.

The sound echoed loudly across the guild halls, sharp enough to immediately pull both of us out of the conversation.

It was the signal announcing that office hours at the Leonamon Mercenary Guild were finally over.

"Oh, so it’s finally time, huh?" I said while stretching my arms slightly.

My body honestly felt stiff after sitting inside the office for so long. Spending half the day buried under guild paperwork was somehow more exhausting than fighting monsters sometimes. At least monsters usually had the decency to die quickly instead of making me read ten pages about supply requests.

"Guess it’s time to head out," I continued. "You’re coming with me, right?"

"Yes!"

Her response came out so quickly that it almost caught me off guard.

Ella immediately stood up from her seat like she’d been waiting for me to ask her that the entire time. The sudden movement looked so overly serious that I almost laughed.

I walked out of my office and into the main guild hall.

Several mercenaries affiliated with the guild were already moving around, preparing themselves. Some were checking equipment while others were talking among themselves in low voices. A few were organizing supplies near the walls.

They weren’t preparing to leave for the night, of course.

The guild operated twenty-four hours a day, which honestly sounded exhausting when you thought about it too hard.

They were preparing themselves in case war broke out.

Ever since I informed them that the guild was now officially tied to the Kingdom and obligated to assist during catastrophes, whether it was dangerous weather or full-scale war, they had started taking things far more seriously.

Honestly, I expected complaints at first.

Instead, even after hearing about the risks involved, they still chose to stay.

Some of them were even willing to die for the Kingdom if things truly came down to it.

That honestly surprised me.

Before this, I genuinely thought the Kingdom was rotten all the way to the core. Corruption, greed, nobles acting like idiots. The usual mess.

Yet despite all that, there were still people willing to protect it.

That was strangely comforting.

After exchanging greetings with the mercenaries and receiving greetings back, I finally stepped outside the guild building after spending almost half the day trapped inside my office.

The evening air immediately hit my face.

Honestly, it felt nice finally getting out of there.

"Ella," I called out again.

"Yes?"

"How about we go invite Leon tonight?" I asked casually, almost sounding like the idea had only just crossed my mind.