Chapter 40. The Proposal
Being attracted to women and having no girlfriend, Lucy had spent many hours in her previous life looking at pictures of very beautiful women, so she thought she had an idea of the maximum level of beauty someone could have, given that both nature's capabilities and the skills of those who edit photos in Photoshop have limits. However, the moment Yara revealed her face, whose beauty could make everyone unable to take their eyes off her while also feeling unworthy to look at her, Lucy had to admit that she had underestimated nature, which now seemed to have no aesthetic limits in this magical world she had entered.
To say that Yara's face was perfect was an understatement because perfection can become boring over time, and it is tiring to look at for too long. These things were not true about Yara, whom the more you looked at, the more you wanted to keep looking. Perhaps a better description for her face would be the word "magical," as it seemed to be an embodiment of the vitality of the forest and the mysteries of the night. Every movement of her bluish, voluptuous lips had the capacity to make everyone give in to their instincts and thirst for danger, and every glance from her seemed capable of uncovering the most hidden desires and fears.
'...I expected her to be a beauty, but not this exaggerated... It’s as if her face is always under the influence of a gothic beauty filter...', Lucy managed to form a few coherent thoughts in her mind.
Unfortunately, Lucy didn't have much talent for poetry, so it was difficult for her to express in words how impressed she was by Yara's beauty. It is true that the shock she felt at the sight of Yara's face also made her brain function more slowly.
"...Okay, my name is Rina...", Rina finally broke the silence that had settled. Although she was also captivated by Yara's beauty, the aversion she felt for the young dark-elf woman made her come to her senses much faster than Lucy. Moreover, the interest with which Yara was looking at Lucy made all her instincts scream that the young dark-elf woman was definitely a rival in love, so, like a lion before a fight, all her senses were becoming more and more active.
Seeing that Lucy, who was in her arms, continued to admire the young dark-elf woman with her mouth open and feeling her accelerated heartbeat, Rina could barely refrain from biting her ear to punish her and declare her sovereignty over Lucy in front of Yara, not wanting Yara to consider that she wasn't confident in her own strengths. Yes, it’s not a good idea to show fear in front of an opponent.
However, she could not bear for that situation to continue any longer, so she very discreetly began to rub her chest against Lucy's nape and blow her hot breath towards Lucy's ears, trying to capture the attention of Lucy's other senses. Even though Rina felt her ears burning, which was due to the fact that it was the first time Rina tried to seduce Lucy, she had no intention of stopping, finding the idea of backing down during a fight even more embarrassing.
Fortunately, although Rina's methods of seduction were a bit green, Lucy was not used to such stimuli either, so it took no more than a few seconds for Rina to capture her attention. If they had been in another situation, Lucy might have teased Rina a bit about her actions, but knowing she was in the wrong, as it’s not good to stare at other girls when you already have a girlfriend, Lucy felt a bit guilty and it was much more important for her at that moment to calm Rina down.
"Oh, sorry, I’m Lucy... It's the first time I've seen what a dark-elf woman looks like... Well, you are indeed very beautiful...", Lucy eventually said, trying to explain why she had spent so much time admiring Yara.
Feeling that Rina was not too pleased with this explanation, as she stiffened upon hearing how she complimented Yara, Lucy realized that Rina was much more affected by the situation than she had thought. Given that they had known each other for no more than a day, it was understandable that Rina might feel uneasy seeing her girlfriend find other girls attractive. Trust, unlike attraction, takes a much longer time to develop.
"Don't be upset, Rina. I like how she looks purely from an artistic point of view. Yes, like a painting...", Lucy continued, letting her body go limp in Rina's arms and wrapping her tail around Rina's tail like a very obedient cat. She was very confident that this combo of cuteness would manage to calm Rina's emotions.
However, it seems that Lucy underestimated the territorial instinct specific to lionkins, as Rina had no intention of being so easily bought off.
"Hmm, I understand... So from an artistic point of view, who looks better, me or her?", Rina asked, bringing her mouth very close to one of Lucy's ears. Although her voice was very calm, all of Lucy's instincts told her that she was in great danger.
"You! Of course, you...", Lucy replied without a trace of hesitation, fearing that if her answer did not please Rina, she might lose half of her ear.
'Just yesterday, Rina blushed just looking at me, and now she has such yandere tendencies...', Lucy complained in her mind, not expecting Rina to have such a cold and dangerous aura when her jealousy reached its peak. Thinking that in this world the percentage of extremely beautiful women seems to be much higher than in her former world, she could imagine how difficult it would be to avoid such situations in the future. 'At least it's said that yanderes are extremely dedicated in bed...', Lucy tried to see the glass half full.
"I knew that Lucy likes me the most...", Rina said with a wide grin on her face, but her words seemed directed more at the young dark-elf woman in front of them, who was rolling her eyes, bored by their interaction.
Yara was surprised by how the situation had evolved. Usually, it took much longer for those who saw her face for the first time to recover.
'Maybe their relationship is more solid than I thought...', Yara thought to herself. Considering her interactions with Lucy, she did not expect her to be such a loyal person. 'Well, it's also possible that people who look very good are somewhat immune to my beauty...', she continued to analyze why Lucy did not seem much more interested in her than when her face was covered.
However, the fact that Lucy and Rina were not easily captivated by her beauty did not bother her too much; she found it quite interesting. Yara had always been aware that she was extremely beautiful, this being confirmed not only by everyone who saw her face but also by the very laws of that world, as she had been born with the title "The Enchanting Beauty," and was used to everyone trying to win her favor and please her from childhood; perhaps this was also the reason she had an aversion to complicated situations. But if in childhood the fact that she was extremely beautiful made her life easier, after she started going out into the world, it began to have the opposite effect, generating all kinds of problems specific to extremely beautiful women, such as aggressive courting by influential people and stalking by secret admirers, so in the end, she decided to cover her face to be treated somewhat more normally. Taking all these things into account, it was not surprising that although winning over Lucy proved to be a more difficult process than she anticipated, she did not consider it a hassle, but rather she became even more enthusiastic.
"I don't see why you have to be so jealous, Rina. I don't plan to steal Lucy from you. We can both be her girlfriends...", Yara finally said, her proposal leaving both Lucy and Rina with their mouths agape.
As usual, Yara opted for a decisive strike, not intending to spend much time in a situation that did not favor her. She thought that if Rina vehemently opposed this proposal, Lucy would likely be displeased, as Yara couldn't imagine Lucy not being attracted to her as well. In that case, Lucy's favorability towards Rina would decrease, while Lucy's favorability towards her would increase, seeing her as a much more understanding lover.
If Rina agreed, she had no problem entering such a relationship, finding the idea of making Rina jealous quite amusing. Additionally, in dark-elf culture, it was quite common for someone to have multiple partners. Of course, if she were to enter a relationship with a man, it would probably bother her to see him surrounded by women, as it would seem that the relationship was not equal, but since everyone in this relationship would be women, there could be no question of inequality, as, due to her newly discovered attraction to women, Yara had no problem getting into bed with Rina as well, expecting that making the proud liongirl moan under her would be a very satisfying experience.