Chapter 212 From One Woman To Another
Alexis looked down for a few moments, and when she created courage, she looked into Ayumi's green eyes. "I need to talk about Luke."
"About Luke?" With arched eyebrows, Ayumi asked.
"Yes... he told me that you two are engaged."
Ayumi widened her eyes and blushed a little. "So, did he really tell you? Ah~ So this makes me shy... I thought he wouldn't tell anyone yet. Do the others already know?" The Matriarch referred to the half-wolf's friends.
"As far as I know, only Meredith and I know. For the rest of the group, Luke has only told them that you two are dating."
"Well, there's no way to hide that from people so close to us forever. I think it's okay... even Nathalia already knows." Ayumi said, as she sat down in a comfortable armchair. "But I think he will agree with me that we should wait for these problems to pass before we can finally start planning the event."
Alexis was quiet for a few seconds, afraid to continue the conversation, but remembering the gentle touch of the half-wolf's warm hands, she dared to continue.
"I am happy for you, Ayumi, for real. But that's not what I'm here to talk about." The Class-S sat down in the armchair across from where the Matriarch was sitting. "I like Luke too, no... actually, I think I love him..."
The blonde Elf was speechless, as she never expected Alexis to feel this way.
Immediately, Ayumi began to feel like an idiot for never having interpreted as anything romantic the way the half-dragon was always looking at Luke, or calling him to train.
With determination, Alexis looked deeply into the Matriarch's surprised eyes and said:
"You may have been the first woman who was able to penetrate his heart, but I believe I can also make him happy."
Ayumi opened her mouth to try to say something, but she was so perplexed that she couldn't form a sentence that could express her confusion. "Since when...?" She asked Alexis after a few seconds of silence.
At that moment, the half-dragon looked down at her own hands. "Since the moment I first saw him. You must have felt the same thing I did. I looked at him and realized how different he was from any other man I had ever seen in my entire life... His soft ears, deep yellow eyes, way of thinking, and way of acting. I, who have never fallen in love with any man and thought the love was a merely silly thing, slowly became attached to Luke, his presence, his voice."
With that revelation, some things that previously had no answers, made sense in the Matriarch's mind. "Is that why you didn't leave and continue helping us?"
"Initially? No, that wasn't the reason. Because I didn't even know what I was feeling." Alexis said, wrapping a lock of her hair around the tip of her right index finger as she looked up and thought. "But everything that intertwined Luke with the First Servant intrigued me, and it made me even more aware of who Luke was, what he was doing... So, I realized I was liking him when I saw him looking at you with love, and, at that moment, I wished to be you."
Ayumi widened her eyes and looked at the half-dragon in front of her. "Me?"
"Yes... A woman who imposes her own will and can get any man she wants. A powerful woman who is not afraid of anything or anyone, and commands one of the most powerful Families on the continent. Since college, you have been one of my greatest inspirations, and it's because I have learned from you to realize my own worth that I will not let you keep Luke just for yourself."
The young Matriarch was experienced enough to handle any problem and not become easily irritated. Then, she sighed deeply, massaged her temples, and spoke:
"Alexis, I have known you for a long time, and I know that you would never joke about things like that. Because we are friends... no, because we are women, I understand how you are feeling, and I understand that you can't suppress this feeling because it's very intense. Therefore, tonight, after our meeting about the future, come to my room."
"In your room? Why?"
"You'll have to convince Luke and me of what you can really make him happy by my side, because I'm not going to leave him."
*
When Luke arrived at the residence, he immediately noticed that not only Ayumi and Alexis were acting strange, but also Meredith. All three exchanged glances and were hardly exchanging any words. He was curious about what had happened, but deduced that maybe it was just tiredness from the trip.
Without a second thought, Luke introduced Nathalia to all his friends who didn't know her yet. The men were amazed by the young lady's beauty, whose red eyes resembled the sparkle of an ancient amber stone or a ruby crystal. Nathalia looked exactly like Ynosuke's descriptions, a young goddess.
After Nathalia's introduction, Luke didn't feel he needed anyone else who wasn't present to begin the serious conversation about the First Servant and the future of the Broteforge Empire.
Succinctly, Luke explained everything, starting with his encounter with Lescar, the mysterious young man. Luke's friends already knew about Lescar, because he told them about the boy during the trip, and Ayumi also knew, because he told them before leaving Oukiwa. The only ones who didn't know about him were Shiro, Nathalia, and Martha, who were surprised and wondered who this boy really was.
"Did he tell you to call him when the world needed him?" asked Nathalia, sitting on the couch next to the other people in the living room.
"Yeah, basically that."
The Elf brought her hand up to her chin and asked, "What would happen if you called him now? Would he come?"
Luke denied it with his head. "I don't think it's so simple... For some reason, I think his hands are tied now. I could feel that he wanted to talk more to me, to do something more, but for some reason, he couldn't."