Bab 40: Moment of Confrontation
Jessica then sat down, drinking some of the orange juice she had squeezed for herself, sighed, took a deep breath, and said, "Blaze, you tell me, what happened that you're behaving like this?"
Blaze was a little uneasy about being pointed out, but since he was being questioned, he had to respond, so he said, "Yesterday... after eating that Devil's fruit, we lost consciousness... leaving you unguarded all in the middle of the night…when someone could've trespassed in our area… we are very sorry, Jessica."
Blaze completed his words but couldn't help getting even more nervous as he waited for Jessica's. But contrary to his expectation, he heard her chuckle as she said, "Sometimes, your way of thinking is really beyond my understanding. Firstly, you guys should take care of yourself first because your faces look as if you've just come from pulling an all nighter in front of a screen, so go and wash your faces to get your minds back in place, and secondly, you guys don't have to worry about my security because Cerra was right here to keep me company."
Jessica got up and went toward Blaze and pulled him up with his arm, making him stand, followed by Levi, and pulled them to the stone basin. Then she went toward Ell and pulled his arm, but unlike others, he refused to comply with her, so Jessica forcefully turned him by his shoulder to see that his chest was covered in some hickeys that he was trying hard to hide, and when he saw Jessica looking at those marks, he couldn't control his emotions and hugged her and started sniffling.
He knew that it was Blaze who left those marks on him because when he woke up with the severe headache, he saw him lying on top of him. Because of this, they both had a lethal fight in the morning, but for some reason they were not able to use their powers or their strength. Ell would've already healed himself or Blaze would've healed him only if they were still able to use their power, which made both of them fall into an abyss because their strength was the only thing that made them different from all other males and something that they relied on the most.
Jessica couldn't help but worry when she saw Ell act like this because she assumed he was stressed out because of the hickeys, which were undoubtedly Blaze's fault, but when she looked at Blaze's guilty-filled face, she couldn't help but sigh because, in reality, no one was at fault after all, they were both drunk, so she caressed his back to console him.
After sometime, Ell did calm down and wash his face but still couldn't get rid of the worry, so he came and sat down beside Jessica, who was making a vegetable soup. He leaned on her shoulder and asked, "Jessica, would you hate me if I lost all of my strength?"
"Why?" she replied while stirring the soup.
"It looks like the Beast God has punished me for my deeds, and I have lost all my power," he said, trying hard to utter every word.
His words indeed shocked Jessica, so she asked him to explain, to which he told her that he is now just like a beast with a single power level, merely relying on the physical strength he is left with.
Jessica was worried but didn't know what to say in order to console him, so she caressed his head and said, "It's alright. So what if you lost your power? It's not like you can't get it back. I'm sure if you try hard enough, you can get it back just like you got it, so Prince Eleanor should stop worrying."
Ell nodded his head and slowly whispered, "You won't hate me, right?"
"Don't worry, I won't," Jessica replied and turned to stir the soup again when Blaze and Levi, who earlier went outside after washing their faces, came inside. When Levi saw Ell sitting so close to Jessica, he couldn't help but clench his fist as he took some heavy steps toward him, grabbed his shoulder, and dragged him away.
Jessica was about to ask Levi a question when Blaze came toward her and said, "Jessica, I think you should come with me for a moment," while placing the soup that was done away from the stove.
Blaze took Jessica outside, where Levi was forcefully feeding Ell something from a bowl as he said, "Stop sulking; your powers didn't go anywhere."
Ell coughed a little after drinking the medicine as he looked at Levi with an irritated face while wiping his mouth when he suddenly felt the movement of the power once again in his body, which made his eyes widen. Just after a wait of several minutes, he realised that he got his power back and was able to use all of his powers as he tried by creating the flames and using his space, which made him smile all of a sudden. "Jessica, I regained my abilities. Look!" he said enthusiastically while showing her his power.
Jessica smiled and looked at Blaze to ask what he wanted to show her when she heard Levi say, "Now that you've got your power back, you can worry about explaining your mistake to Jessica," in an irritated voice.
Ell was stupedified, he gulped because he didn't dare to accept his mistake but when he saw Levi's threatening look he couldn't help but to reveal about how he planned to make Jessica to eat that fruit accompanied with the information about the Devil's fruit and how it turned into his biggest mistake.
Jessica didn't said anything instead she just stood their silently listening to his words because she already knew that he wanted her to get drunk but why? She didn't thought nor did he told her. But the reason why she wasn't the least worried was because she had a very high alcohol tolerance that she created for her own survival in her office parties so she just said that it was fine and turned to go back inside the hall.
She poured some soup for herself and sat down on the stone bench. Levi and Blaze looked at each other in confusion but didn't say anything and came back inside. Ell was relieved, so he came and sat down amusingly because he didn't have anything to worry about when Jessica suddenly said, "By the way, Ell, do you care to explain the reason why you wanted me to get drunk?" which made him halt and Blaze and Levi's faces brighten because they really wanted Ell to get an earful from Jessica, so they both came and sat down beside her, occupying the two sides of the stone bench.
"That…that… Is that necessary?" Ell tried to change the topic by laughing awkwardly, but when he saw Jessica's sharp gaze looking him in the eyes, he couldn't help but get a cold sweat because he knew she wouldn't accept any nonsense, so he suddenly blurted out, "Iwantedtobecomeyourmate"
Jessica instantly got choked as she coughed out the soup in her mouth. Blaze caressed her back, and Levi moved his hand to wipe her face when she said, "What?" Her words were more of a shock because she indeed heard his words and even understood them no matter how fast he said them, but she still decided to ask because if she got the words wrong then she would be making a fool of herself.
Ell got worried, but he took a deep breath and said with confidence, "I wanted to become your mate."
His words left Jessica in shock for a moment, but when she recovered, her calmness was taken over by embarrassment as she felt her face heat up, so she said, "I don't think that reason was enough to justify your act of getting me drunk," trying to compose herself again.
"I did that because I only have one chance to be accepted by you, and that too in that situation," Ell replied in a pained tone, explaining how helpless he felt and how he was prepared to face Jessica's direct rejection because what he did was a very cowardly act in achieving a female.
But to his surprise, Jessica said, "Why do you think like that? Don't you have the confidence to confront me head-on?" while trying to hide her face, which had started reddening because of his words.
Ell was stunned for a moment, but then he said, in a slightly doubtful tone, "Would you have accepted me?"
"Who knows? I mean… Levi asked me, and I did accept him as my pursuer," she said, looking at him with an awkward smile.
Her words surprised both Ell and Blaze, so they instantly looked toward Levi to find that he was having a smug look as if mocking them, which made Ell realise that he himself made a joke of himself by showing his insecure side to Jessica.
But suddenly everyone's attention was drawn toward Blaze when he said, "Jessica, I like you. Please make me your mate," he said, grabbing Jessica's hand, which stunned the woman, who had a flushed face. She looked at Blaze's determined emerald eyes, which made her heart skip a beat, but she couldn't respond because she was flustered, so she looked toward Levi, asking for help.
When Levi saw her reaction, he couldn't help but smile from ear to ear because Jessica was looking at him for a solution, and that too of accepting another male; this kind of gratitude was only given to the family's head males, which made him proud and satisfied from deep within because he was now quite confident that no matter what, he would become the head male of their family.
Levi leaned forward and placed his head on her shoulder. He said, "Jessica, accept him; he really likes you."
"Bu…but…" Jessica tried to reply in her bewildered state as she was looking at her hands in Blaze's hand.
"Don't worry, you can have multiple males as your mates here, so you don't need to worry about it," Levi replied calmly, trying to relieve Jessica from the mental pressure of accepting another mate, which would have been hard for her after living in a society promoting monogamy according to him.
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