Chapter 139 : Whose Dream
Chapter 139: Whose Dream?
“First of all, would the two of you please calm down?”
Standing inside the wrecked wedding hall, Levi rubbed his forehead as he reached out to calm Lavinia and Joe.
Naturally, there was no way he could allow Lavinia to stab Joe to death. So the moment she drew her knife, Levi shot it out of her hand before coming over to deal with the current situation.
“So, Mr. Levi, what should we do now?”
Looking at Joe, who was hiding behind Levi in tears, and Lavinia, who stood before him glaring furiously, Annie asked.
“First, we need to figure out whose nightmare this actually is.”
Levi glanced at the two of them and sighed silently.
Meanwhile, the wedding guests still stood exactly where they were, as if everything before them were perfectly normal.
As though the building in front of them weren't a church whose wall had just been smashed through by a warship, but a genuine cathedral where a wedding ceremony was taking place.
“Isn't it Mr. Joe's? He almost got killed. That should qualify as a nightmare.”
“That depends on which perspective you're looking at it from.”
Levi explained to Annie.
“From Joe's point of view, perhaps it is. But if you look at it from Miss Godney's perspective, having the groom try to run away during the wedding ceremony is already quite a nightmare.”
“That may be true, but she still shouldn't arbitrarily kill someone because of it.”
“This is a dream, little miss.”
The Cheshire Cat laughed.
“In dreams, you can do whatever you want. Laws, logic, common sense—none of them can restrain you.”
“Exactly.”
Levi was beginning to feel that Annie's materialistic way of thinking was so NPC-like that he was starting to wonder whether she was actually a real person, or simply a character his own dream had created.
“In dreams, you can do whatever you want. Forget pulling out a knife—even if she suddenly summoned a giant mech and declared she was going to blast Joe into dust, that would still be perfectly fine.”
“…………………?”
“Alright, I was just joking.”
Seeing Annie's puzzled expression, Levi decided not to continue down that line of discussion.
Instead, he looked back at the two of them.
At this point, he felt like he was caught in Journey to the West, facing both Sun Wukong and the Six-Eared Macaque.
No one could tell which one was the real one.
So the only option was to question them first.
Levi approached Joe.
“What exactly happened?”
“You're asking me? Honestly, I don't really know either.”
“At first, I was in a room. Then someone came in and told me I was getting married.”
“I was still half-asleep and wondering how a bachelor like me could suddenly be getting married.”
“Then I walked outside... and discovered Miss Godney was my bride... I...”
“Do you like her?”
“To be honest?”
“I do.”
“Miss Godney is cheerful, passionate, and gets along with everyone. Everybody likes her.”
“I've even thought before that it would be nice if I could marry someone like her.”
“Mmm...”
After hearing Joe's answer, Levi recalled his own impressions.
Neither he nor Annie knew the archaeology team very well.
However, as for Miss Godney, his impression matched Joe's.
Perhaps because she frequently climbed mountains, she had remained energetic and enthusiastic throughout the journey.
She had also shown considerable concern for Annie, who had only recently joined the team.
“Then I thought... marrying Miss Godney wouldn't be such a bad thing.”
“Then why were you calling for help the moment you saw me?”
Levi looked at Joe in confusion.
From the way Joe described things, he seemed quite satisfied with the marriage.
“Because right after we vowed to love each other forever... she stared at me and started listing a whole pile of demands I'd never even imagined!”
Joe's face turned deathly pale as he spoke.
“She said that from now on I'd be the head of the household.”
“I'd have to earn money to support the family.”
“I wouldn't be allowed to drink at bars anymore.”
“I wouldn't be allowed to go to the gym anymore.”
“She also said archaeology had no future, so I'd have to find a job paying at least twenty pounds a year.”
“I'd have to hand over my wages every single week.”
“And after that I wouldn't be allowed to smile at other women.”
“Or even talk to other women...”
“Uh...”
“I nearly pissed myself right then and there, you know?!”
“I can understand.”
For a man...
That really was a nightmare.
Compared to that...
Being chased by a Tyrannosaurus didn't even seem like much.
“I didn't even know what to say!”
“I wanted to refuse!”
“But then you people... crashed in.”
Joe glanced toward the warship.
“Please take me away!”
“I absolutely refuse to get married!”
“Even if it's Miss Godney? Didn't you say you liked her?”
“I do like her!”
“But how was I supposed to know she was that kind of woman?”
“She always seemed cheerful and generous.”
“She never looked like someone who cared so much about money.”
“But hearing all that, I felt like she wanted to put a bridle on me and work me like a mule!”
“Mmm... Love and married life are two different things, after all...”
Levi had enough experience to understand Joe's feelings.
The romance and passion before marriage were entirely different from the realities of daily married life.
Of course, if Joe and Lavinia had already gone through a proper courtship, things might have been different.
But in his case, he'd been dragged onto a wedding altar without any warning or emotional foundation.
Then, before he'd even processed what was happening, Miss Godney dumped all those conditions on him...
It was basically the same as going on a blind date where the woman immediately demanded a house, a car, and a massive bride price.
Any man would turn around and run.
In short...
Levi completely understood Joe's side of things.
Next...
He turned to Miss Godney.
“When I opened my eyes and found myself standing in the church wearing a wedding dress... I was very happy.”
As Lavinia spoke, her expression remained calm.
“I knew I was getting married.”
“But I didn't know who the groom would be.”
“I assumed it would be someone I already knew.”
“But can you imagine how shocked and terrified I was when the doors opened... and I saw a bear wearing a tuxedo walking toward me?”
...Understandable.
For any young woman, a wedding in her dreams would naturally be romantic and perfect.
Her groom would be handsome and charming.
Even if he wasn't one percent as handsome as Levi...
He should at least be one-thousandth as handsome.
Not...
A burly, beast-like, ordinary-looking man.
From Miss Godney's perspective...
That truly was a nightmare.
“What happened after that?”
“What did you do?”
“I thought... perhaps I could still accept it...”
Lavinia fell silent for a moment before continuing through gritted teeth.
“Although Joe isn't the prince charming of my dreams, and he's a little too big...”
“He's still a warm-hearted and courageous person.”
“I still remember several occasions when he protected me from men who tried to harass me.”
“So I did have a favorable impression of him.”
“Oh...”
That made sense.
Joe had mentioned earlier that they had gone on numerous archaeological expeditions together.
Naturally, they had encountered plenty of dangers.
Miss Godney was also an attractive, cheerful young woman.
As long as a man wasn't blind, he would naturally be interested in her.
Joe's imposing physique had obviously helped keep those troublesome men away.
“So I thought perhaps I could accept it.”
“But... marriage is a very serious matter.”
At this point, Lavinia's expression also became solemn.
“Look.”
“If we're going to start a family, we need our own house.”
“I've actually already decided that after graduating from university... I'll become a full-time housewife.”
“Oh?”
“After all... it's very difficult to find employment with an archaeology degree...”
Miss Godney sighed softly.
“Then why did you choose that major in the first place?”
“I was reassigned internally.”
That sounded painfully realistic.
“Of course, academically speaking, archaeology is very interesting.”
“But treating it as a career is exhausting.”
“And the income isn't stable.”
“Many people spend their entire lives without accomplishing anything.”
“Right now, I'm still young, so I can follow the professor around on expeditions.”
“But what about later?”
“So I thought... since I'd eventually have to get married anyway...”
“And Joe seems like an honest man.”
“I wouldn't have to worry too much.”
“So you made those demands?”
“I admit... perhaps I went a little overboard.”
“But he could have negotiated with me.”
Lavinia's face flushed.
“But instead, he looked like he'd just seen a ghost!”
“What was that supposed to mean?”
“Even if I was asking a bit too much...”
“I still think I'm quite pretty.”
“I was already willing to marry him.”
“Wasn't I allowed to make a few excessive demands?”
“The more I thought about it... the angrier I became.”
“The angrier I became...”
“The more I wanted to pull out a knife and stab him.”
Yes.
Entirely reasonable.
Perfectly logical.
After listening to both sides, Levi motioned Annie over.
“What do you think?”
“I believe Miss Godney's demands were entirely reasonable.”
Annie answered with complete composure.
“In nature, males must inevitably pay a price to earn the favor of females.”
“For example, male bowerbirds attract mates by constructing elaborate, beautiful, aesthetically pleasing nests.”
“This is an entirely natural instinctive requirement and deserves to be satisfied.”
“If you're putting it that way, lions don't even hunt or build nests.”
“They just deal with outside threats.”
“The lionesses do everything else.”
Levi immediately shot back.
Even in another world, men still had to worry about buying houses.
Life really was hopeless.
“………………………”
Annie didn't answer.
She simply stared at Levi.
“...What?”
“Back at school... I once conducted an experiment.”
“Hm?”
“We carried out a study on chickens to determine whether animals possess social structures similar to humans.”
“Eventually, we discovered that a rooster with beautiful feathers and a magnificent comb was attacked and killed by several other roosters.”
“At the time, there was abundant food and water inside the coop, so there was no survival pressure.”
“Therefore, we concluded that even animals possess social emotions and hierarchical conflicts.”
“That particular rooster was obviously killed because the others perceived it as a threat.”
“...Why are you telling me this?”
“Nothing.”
“I merely wished to demonstrate that animals also possess symbols of social behavior.”
“That only proves animals still aren't social enough.”
Levi muttered a complaint before decisively changing the subject.
He knew very well that discussing gender issues with a woman would never produce any results.
“None of that's important.”
“The real question is...”
“Between Mr. Joe and Miss Godney...”
“Which one of them is actually the owner of this dream?”
(End of Chapter)