When it came to the strongest beings in the world, the Infinite Dragon God and the True Red Dragon God Emperor stood at the very apex of existence. They were so powerful that even a clash between them could destroy the world.
The only being capable of rivaling them was the Apocalyptic Beast Trihexa, but it was sealed right now, and very few people even knew of its existence at all.
Despite this, neither of them had any interest in the mundane world. Great Red was only interested in roaming the Dimensional Gap, while Ophis's sole goal was to kick Great Red out of it. Their desires were naive, yet the danger they posed was immeasurable.
It was a blessing that neither of them was evil and that they had so few ambitions. Otherwise, this world would have long since been destroyed.
However, recently, something had changed with Ophis. It seemed that something else had piqued her interest, other than sweets and thinking about beating up the Great Red.
It was love.
As the nominal leader of the Khaos Brigade, Ophis spent much of her time with the Vali Team, and she learned many things from them. Recently, she had been observing Kuroka, and the catgirl's usual nonchalant and playful personality now seemed more depressed and absentminded.
She learned that it was because of love. To Ophis, who had existed in this world since time immemorial, love was something she had never experienced despite her endless life.
Kuroka was one of the few people Ophis considered a friend, and witnessing the changes in the catgirl made her very interested and intrigued by this thing called love.
From time to time, Ophis would go around in the Human World trying to learn more about the thing called love. She observed the humans interacting with each other in various ways. But strangely enough, the more she observed, the more confused she became.
There were people who were together, yet they didn't love each other, and people who said they loved each other but weren't together. There were even people who claimed to love multiple people at the same time. All of this only confused Ophis even more.
Then, there was also something called cheating.
A couple of hours ago, for example, she had eavesdropped on an argument between a group of people. It seemed that a girl's uncle had been cheating on his wife with a pub server and had gotten her pregnant. Then, one day, the girl's mother saw the two of them together and fainted after discovering that the pub server her brother had cheated with was actually the daughter she had given up for adoption.
And it seemed that the girl's uncle's wife was also cheating on him with the girl's boyfriend, whom she had met after going to the girl's house to complain about her husband. She was pregnant as well. As if that wasn't enough, the girl herself was cheating on her boyfriend with her cousin, the son of her uncle.
The situation was so confusing and convoluted that the simple minded Ophis felt her head begin to hurt.
"Babe, not here~!"
"No one is going to see us, just once. Doesn't it make you even more excited this way?"
"Pervert! You're already this hard!"
"But you like it when I'm like this, hehe!"
"Hmph! Ehhh?!"
In a narrow alley, a couple was making out. The man's hands roamed greedily over his girlfriend's body, one groping her breast while the other slid beneath the hem of her skirt. The two of them seemed a little drunk. Unable to hold himself back any longer, the man wanted a quick one right then and there, and the woman didn't seem completely against the idea.
Just as she was about to lift her skirt, she happened to look up. To her astonishment, she saw a pair of legs dangling above them. Looking more carefully, she realized a girl was sitting on the edge of a rooftop, quietly watching the two of them.
"What?! Ehhh?!"
"Ehhh?!"
"L... Let's go!"
The man looked up in confusion, but the moment he noticed the girl, he let out a startled cry as well. He exchanged a glance with his girlfriend, and the two shouted at the same time. Without even bothering to straighten their clothes, they turned around and hurriedly ran away.
"Why did they stop? Strange." Ophis tilted her head. She touched her face and muttered in a puzzled tone, but she didn't dwell on it for long. Her nose suddenly twitched as the delicious scent of sweets drifted over with the wind. She stood up, and her figure flashed before disappearing from the rooftop.
A moment later, she appeared near a daifuku stall not far away.
...
"You love everyone equally?" The light in Griselda's eyes dimmed as she muttered in a low voice, "How could that be?"
Although she had come late, and although Xenovia, Irina, and all the other women had met him long before her and established their relationships with him, none of that mattered to her!
Since Yusuke said he loved her, then he should love her alone! He should break up with the other women and stay with her only! He should devote his heart and mind to her, just as she had devoted her heart and entire being to him!
Those women were only lying to him and deceiving him. Only she, Griselda Quarta, was his destined lover, the one and only woman he would ever need!
A strong feeling of disgust and dissatisfaction began to well up in her heart. She was disgusted with herself for being so weak. If only she were stronger, she could have "convinced" Yusuke and opened his eyes to the real truth! She could have made him happy with her alone!
And if the other women tried to resist, she would erase them from existence!
"Not satisfied with my answer?" I kissed her forehead gently and said, "Do you know who you look like right now?"
"Who?" Despite the dizzying, tender kiss he gave her, Griselda frowned. She didn't like the idea of him comparing her to others.
"Xenovia. As expected, you two are somewhat alike," I didn't seem to care about her reaction. He continued to caress her hair. "In the past, she, too, had the same expressions and thoughts as you. She was strongly against sharing me with other women."
"Xenovia?"
Griselda frowned upon hearing the name. She felt a bit saddened by how things had turned out. She had been the one who taught Xenovia and could even be considered someone who raised her. To her, Xenovia was like a little sister, and she had even given her her surname. But after their talk last time, she honestly felt a growing resentment toward Xenovia.
"Do you know how she ended up changing her mind?" I said with a smile.
"How?" Her frown deepened. She was very curious about that.
"We made a bet," I answered. I gave her hair a slight tug, making her pout.
"A bet? Why are you speaking in riddles? Just say it directly!" Griselda felt her curiosity growing. She frowned at me and lightly slapped my chest, her pout becoming even more pronounced, making her look especially cute with her mature face.
He and Xenovia had never made a bet. Heck, they had never even had such a discussion. But did that really matter? Would Griselda ever find out? Even if she did, it would probably be a long time from now. By then, it would be far too late, and it wasn't a big deal in the first place. It was just a small white lie.
He was only using this lie to ignite her competitive spirit. If another woman could do it, then why couldn't she, someone who believed she was better than every other woman around him?
"Don't pout. I won't be able to resist teasing you if you keep acting this cute." I poked her cheeks with my finger and laughed lightly.
At the same time, I inwardly sighed in relief.
"Hurry, tell me," Griselda urged. Her face turned deep red, and it almost looked as if steam were rising from her head. Her legs trembled, and she could once again feel love juice dripping from between her thighs. As expected of her Yusuke, he really knew how to make her heart race!
"We made a bet. She'll try to accept sharing me, and at the same time, she'll try to make me love her more than the other women. If she can prove that I don't love everyone equally, I'll give up on all my women and be with her alone," I said calmly.
That was the idea he had come up with for now. After considering everything, aside from perhaps locking Griselda away somewhere, sealing her ability to move, and slowly turning her into his obedient slave, which he absolutely didn't want to do, this was the best solution he could think of. It would buy him as much time as possible to slowly raise her submission value to the Devoted level.
The point of this plan was that if she agreed, it meant she was willing to accept sharing him with other women, even if only temporarily, which would lower her bottom line. As everyone knows, once a person lowers their bottom line once, it becomes much easier for them to accept the same thing a second and third time.
"You are telling me this... Is it because you want to make the same bet with me?" Griselda wasn't stupid. Since he had said so much, he must have had his own goal. She didn't bother asking who had won the bet. That would have been a dumb question. From what she had seen, Xenovia had clearly lost.
"Indeed. If you really love me as much as you claim, then proving your love to me shouldn't be too much to ask, right?" I answered with a nod.
The last time I had used this "prove your love" trick had been with Murayama.
'How nostalgicI'
"Of course, you can refuse," I added in a calm tone. "While I do love you, I will not give up my other women for you alone."
"I will do it! I will show you that only I am your true love! Everything else is fake! You don't love them, it's just an illusion!" Griselda took a deep breath and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she looked directly at ne with sharp, determined eyes. The lifeless, dim look in them had disappeared, replaced by an energetic, spirited, and competitive gaze.
"I will break that illusion!"
Honestly, she agreed because she didn't have much of a choice. It was either refuse, follow through with her original plan, and kill herself, or accept and do everything in her power to make Yusuke abandon the other women.
Furthermore, now that she knew Yusuke loved her, she firmly believed that, given enough time, she would make him completely give up the other women and stay with her alone. This was what was destined to happen after all. And fighting for her love... didn't that make their romance even more beautiful?
"Really? I'll be looking forward to it," I laughed heartily.
[Griselda Quarta's submission +1!]
[Griselda Quarta's submission: 61 (Dependent)]
"Let's seal the deal then." Just as I had expected, lowering her bottom line enough to accept sharing me had raised her submission to the Dependent level. I gently held her chin, brought my face closer, and captured her lips in a deep kiss.