The next day was the routine class meeting. I expected to see Elinalise sitting on Cliff's lap in the front row, being intimate.
But the actual result was that only Cliff was in the front row, and he was secretly wiping away tears.
After taking my seat, Linia and Prusena intentionally came over and sat on either side of me.
"Boss, good morning, meow! Another happy day, meow! When can we come to your place again for barbecue, meow? Prusena said if we can have barbecue, she'll let you touch her as much as you want, meow."
Prusena next to me covered her head shyly.
I ignored the morning arousal behavior of these two female animals, gestured forward with my mouth, and asked:
"Do you know what happened there?"
AI Model: gemini-3.0-flash
I was referring to Cliff wiping away tears over there. Could it be that he's crying because he was squeezed dry by Elinalise yesterday and is mourning his lost essence?
"Oh, you mean Cliff? It seems he got his heart broken yesterday, desu."
"Yeah, I heard from some Beast Race classmates yesterday that they ran into him drowning his sorrows at a bar, nyan. While he was drinking, he kept saying things like, 'Why isn't it me?' and 'Why am I not good enough?'"
"It's really gross. If he confessed to me, I'd reject him on the spot, nyan."
"Exactly, after all, he's so short and not brave at all, desu."
With the cat and dog girls going back and forth beside me, I already had a general idea of the situation.
Perhaps their voices were too loud, because Cliff looked back and glared at them before running off in a huff.
I had a bit of a headache. What was going on? Why did his confession fail? It's not following the plot at all.
Could it be caused by me again? Why on earth did this happen? It couldn't be the Human God's arrangement, could it?
It's possible, but the Human God shouldn't be able to see the future regarding Orsted, so he shouldn't see that Cliff would research a way to counter Orsted's curse.
Now that Cliff and Elinalise aren't together, Cliff won't go and research Elinalise's curse. When the time comes, will he still be able to research a way to counter Orsted's curse?
It seems a bit unlikely.
However, this doesn't have much to do with me. After all, whether there's a solution to Orsted's curse isn't very important to me.
I won't live long enough to see him kill the Human God anyway, so that's something for several generations later.
But I still wanted to investigate the cause of this historical deviation.
In the afternoon, I went to find Elinalise. She was leaning on the windowsill, looking at the distant scenery.
It wouldn't be another case of someone leaning on a windowsill with their butt sticking up high behind them, would it?
Should I check if there's anyone behind her before deciding whether to disturb her today?
But the result was quite good. She waved at me after seeing me. That means there's no one behind her!
I went up to the second floor and found her; indeed, she was just leaning on the windowsill looking at the scenery. There was no one else in the room.
"Dorin, did you miss me? So thirsty. Hasn't your little maid served you well these past few days? Or is it because her technique isn't good enough? Do you prefer Big Sister's technique?"
As expected, she's always making dirty jokes no matter the time. Truly a terrifying existence.
"Elinalise, let me ask you something. Why did you reject Cliff's courtship before? From my perspective, he was very sincere."
Elinalise smiled and looked at me as if she were looking at a fool, saying:
"Don't you think you're asking a very strange question? How could someone like me have only one fixed partner? That Cliff even seems to be a believer of the Millis Religion."
"Don't you think it would be very strange if I accepted his request? Or are you being sarcastic and actually trying to tease me?"
That's true; her answer left me speechless. However, I knew very well that in another timeline, she had accepted. I needed to know the difference between these two timelines.
"No, I didn't mean that. Um... what I mean is, Elinalise, have you ever loved a man? Or rather, is it possible for you to love a man?"
This question seemed to hit a sensitive area in her heart. Her expression shifted from aloof teasing to a flickering uncertainty, as if a flood of joys and sorrows were filling her mind and reflecting on her delicate face. Finally, she sat on a stool without saying a word.
I then sat opposite her, waiting for her to speak.
"Dorin, are you sure you want to hear it?"
"Yes, I want to know. If it's convenient, please tell me the answer."
"I once had a man I loved. You know that we of the Long-eared Race have very long lifespans. I don't even know how old I am because I woke up inside a labyrinth."
"The one who rescued me was my first husband. He was a member of the Long-eared Race. At that time, he and his companions rescued me from a mana crystal inside a labyrinth. I had no memories back then."
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