It's for this I continue to re-read and re-edit my book. So I can notice plot holes and fill them with light and love. During this 40th re-read I felt a distinct lack of Levy scenes. I knew she deserved more praise and screen time than she had been given, so I found a place for her in Chapter 11. Now the book should be complete. Though I still haven't quite finished re-reading the whole thing:
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“Sorry about beating you unconscious and sexually humiliating you by hanging you up in public half exposed.” Sometimes I felt like my 100 dates plan was really just an apology tour for all my predecessors’ abominable actions.
“I forgave you that long ago!” Levy glared at me for bringing it up again after all this time. Levy looked a lot like an older Wendy, with the same blue hair, brown eyes and small breasts, which was about as strong an endorsement of her as Nature could give. With so many Fairy Tail brides and her quiet personality it was easy for her to get lost in the shuffle, but she was as deserving of a place in my harem as any. Brilliant and beautiful, friendly and kind to a fault, with the courage of a lion despite having the frame of a mouse, she boasted so many virtues not just me but basically everyone loved her. Her femininity was so overwhelming that everyone who met her felt the need to protect her within about five minutes.
“How many times did you save my life after that? How many times did you take a beating for my sake? Am I supposed to apologize to you for all the times I’ve been a burden? All married couples have their ups and downs. That’s why the vow is ‘for better or for worse.’” Levy defended me.
“We’ve both struggled with our competition, we’ve both felt insecure, and we’ve both tried twice as hard just to keep up with our friends and enemies. It’s our mutual secret that we don’t really belong here, but because we forgive each other our shortcomings, we do have one last place to belong – together.” Levy placed her dainty hand over mine and gave me a confidential smile.
Our date was a simple picnic in the woods at a secluded lake, which reminded me of the time we’d gone to the water park together. After years of married life together even before arriving here, our romance didn’t really need to be propped up with anything flashy. I had just wanted to set the record straight that my feelings would never allow her to come to harm again.
“My shortcomings are a little different now.” I smiled and turned my hand over to interlace my fingers with her. “I’ve read over a thousand books, including all the most famous works of my world’s most esteemed minds, so I should be able to keep up with you on that front. On the other hand, I’d have a hard time beating a squirrel in a fight.”
Levy laughed, “I noticed you’d lost a lot of weight, especially of the bulging muscle kind. Luckily I can handle a squirrel or two myself. More importantly, why haven’t you introduced me to all these authors?” Levy’s voice rose with anticipatory glee.
“Well there’s Dostoevsky, Solzhenitsyn, Tolstoy, Plato, Plutarch, Aristotle, Nietzsche, Gibbon and Hume. . .” I thought of the biggest names I’d enjoyed off the top of my head.
“What the heck? How can just their names sound so smart already?” Levy squealed, wanting to get back to the mansion’s reading room and dive in immediately.
“I’m also worried if I can really make so many different girls happy. On Earth I couldn’t even manage one.” I confessed.
“When I got here I was severely depressed. After all, I should have been well into my pregnancy with our child, but with this world’s reset it’s like I’d miscarried. So if you want to make me happy, you’d better impregnate me again pronto.” Levy demanded.
“I already promised my first time would be with Himeno.” I admitted guiltily. “But I can promise you’ll be my second.”
“Second is fine. Out of a lineup like this, choosing me second is the greatest honor I could ever dream of. Thank you so much.” Levy hugged me tightly.
“No, it’s the complete opposite.” I hugged her back fiercely. “Your love is worth so much more than I ever deserved. Thank you so much.”
“Just be this kind to every other girl and we’ll all be head over heels for you, even the mystery one who isn’t yet.” Levy playfully advised.
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