Transmigrated Into A Tragic Romance Fantasy – Chapter 47

 Alcohol is Dangerous (E)

Why did I make such a rash statement?

Should I retract it now?

Rachel leaned against the closed door of her bedroom.

She found herself both perplexed and somewhat regretful for having readily agreed to her master’s suggestion to have a celebratory drink.

It was an offer she had heard countless times before and had always declined, without a second thought, as naturally as one comes after another.

Why?

Why did she accept the offer so easily this time?

She pondered for a moment but couldn’t pinpoint a reason.

Furthermore, she couldn’t even remember the last time she had drunk with someone else.

And now, she was about to share a drink with her employer, a notorious philanderer.

Well….

He was not as obsessed with debauchery now, clearing his past misdeeds.

“…Hmph.”

First, she needed to get ready.

Rachel removed her sword and unfastened her epaulet.

She took off her knee-high boots.

“….”

Sniff sniff.

She checked for any odor from her feet.

Fortunately, there was none.

Having undressed, Rachel opened the wardrobe where her clothes were hung while still in her underwear.

‘…What should I wear?’

Her life had been a relentless pursuit of strength.

She had fought fiercely to break free from the constraints of being a woman.

Despite that, she had one dress suitable for a party.

She had prepared it just in case, though she had never worn it.

‘It’s a party, so… I should wear something like this, right?’

Naturally, she had never attended a party.

As a bodyguard for the young master of a noble family, her primary duty was to wait outside the party venue.

‘Ladies usually wore something like this when they entered the party hall….’

Half-believing, she took out the dress.

It was a red dress.

Not fond of flashy things, she had chosen a simple dress.

She had bought it cheaply at a market, thinking she might never have a chance to wear it, and now she finally took it out.

The front bangs left behind when she tied her hair back tightly were her last lingering attachment to her femininity, which she had trampled on and overcome, just as the dress was an extension of that.

When born as a woman, one naturally desires to wear a pretty dress at least once.

‘…….’

She stood in front of the mirror and held the dress against her body.

‘…It is pretty….’

But, wouldn’t it be a bit much?

Rachel put the dress back.

It was too much.

It wasn’t the feminine charm she had hidden and repressed all her life just to show off in front of her employer.

She thought that she would wear this red dress when she met her future spouse, a man stronger than herself and of firm conviction, so she put on her regular clothes.

Instead.

Since it was a rare occasion, or rather her first party ever, she let her hair down.

Having kept it tied in a ponytail, the ends naturally curled outward.

Ruffling her hair to create a natural volume, Rachel headed to the reception room.

She didn’t know why she had accepted a drink with the employer who always turned into a drunken brute when he drank, nor why she let her hair down, but perhaps it was her teacher’s heart wanting to see if her disciple’s change was genuine.

**

“…Why are you staring at me like that?”

Rachel asked as she entered the reception room.

Elden, who had arrived first, was staring at her hair, and his gaze was blatant.

“Oh, it’s the first time I’ve seen you with your hair down.”

“Does it look strange?”

Maybe I shouldn’t have let it down.

Maybe I shouldn’t have done something I wasn’t used to.

Thinking that, Rachel reached for the hair tie she had brought just in case.

“No. It looks good.”

His casual compliment reached her.

“Is that so?”

Rachel responded indifferently and withdrew her hand from her pocket as she sat across from Elden.

She didn’t particularly feel pleased about the compliment that her let-down bob suited her, but she considered it a fortunate remark.

“Why don’t you wear it down more often?”

“To avoid obstructing my view.”

“I see. As thorough as ever.”

“You flatter me.”

Perhaps it was because she had shared meals with Lady Ariel over the past few days, but Rachel didn’t find sitting across from Elden particularly uncomfortable.

By the way.

“What exactly are we celebrating?”

She was curious.

The smile he had been wearing since returning from his duties with the central aide, and the reason he was about to drink after abstaining for days.

She had a rough guess, but she wanted to know the exact meaning to make a toast, so she asked.

However, his answer made her question her guess.

“An escape from an unjust life.”

“…What?”

It was an unexpected answer.

At least, the Elden Raphelion she had seen seemed unrelated to the word [unjust].

Unlike her, born with innate superiority, he lived according to his instincts, achieving what he wanted without restraint, so he seemed unconnected to that word of deep resentment.

Strength and status.

She, who was not born with innate superiority, had to shed blood, sweat, and tears to overcome the word unjust.

An escape from an unjust life.

She couldn’t grasp its meaning and was about to ask, but then the butler Randler entered the reception room with a grand array of drinks on the table, so Rachel had to swallow her question.

She could only.

“Cheers to getting drunk tonight!”

Clink glasses for the joy of her employer, her disciple.

Clink!

Gulp, gulp, gulp!

Thud!

“Ah! The beer tastes amazing today!”

“Hahaha! This is definitely the best beer I’ve ever had!”

“….”

Elden and Randler burst into hearty laughter after downing their first glasses.

Rachel watched them before drinking her beer belatedly.

And widened her eyes slightly.

‘…Is it always this good?’

She thought to herself.

The duty of a personal bodyguard ends when the one they serve goes to sleep.

She would delegate night watch to another guard and go to sleep.

It was a tough job, a lonely duty, but the honor and money that a commoner couldn’t enjoy allowed her to endure it.

For her, alcohol was just a solace she indulged in alone before sleep.

Even then, she had to enjoy it briefly for the next day.

She couldn’t remember the last time she clinked glasses.

Having lived fiercely, she had never felt drunk.

She considered drunkenness a danger.

“How is it, Rachel?”

Rachel, staring blankly at her empty beer glass, looked up at Elden’s question.

How does it taste?

There was only one answer to give.

“It’s delicious.”

“Hahaha! I knew it! Alcohol is always better enjoyed together. Let’s drink until we’re drunk tonight~!”

“Hahaha! Now that I think about it, it’s the first toast with Sir Rachel too! It’s an honor!”

The lively atmosphere.

Strange yet somehow familiar.

For Rachel, who had to fight a lonely battle in the male-dominated world as a woman, who had to endure the loneliness sharpened by her father’s death, the bustling night felt foreign yet warmly welcoming.

Maybe that’s why.

Rachel, for the first time since vowing to become a bodyguard, surpassed her forgotten alcohol tolerance.

Hiccup.

She hiccuped, her face red with intoxication, an act of drunkenness she had never committed since deciding to become a bodyguard.

Of course.

“What are you planning to do, my lord?”

“I’m going to travel and eat all the monster dishes that exist in the world.”

“Then… am I now unemployed?”

“Hahaha… you will become the head of the Raphelion family in my stead.”

“Pfft… then Elden, you, bring me water.”

Thanks to her natural tolerance, she was more sober than Elden and Randler, who were becoming senseless from drinking.

A little later.

Crash!

Elden, who had been jumping on the sofa, fell to the floor, and Randler, who had been jumping with him, lay sprawled on the sofa backrest like a half-dried squid.

“…….”

Hiccup.

**

Hehe.

Rachel couldn’t help but laugh.

The sight of Randler and Elden, which entered her blurry vision, was so amusing that she let out a foolish laugh.

It was a laugh she didn’t know she had in years, but she didn’t realize it as she too was struggling with intoxication.

First.

She had to get up and stagger towards Elden.

She was his personal bodyguard.

Though she had shed the heavy responsibility for the moment, Elden had fallen hard, so she needed to check on his condition.

Swaying.

Rachel shook him, lying on the floor.

Fortunately, he smiled faintly with his eyes closed and mumbled.

“Spinning… spinning… damn world… is spinning. Hehe.”

“Are you alright?”

“I’m not fallen… I’m lying down… because I’m drunk… I need to sleep….”

“You’ll catch a cold if you sleep here. Please get up.”

“Hm… I’m going to sleep….”

……Hmph.

Well, if he wants to sleep on the floor, there’s no need to drag him to a bed.

Thinking that, Rachel started to get up but then paused.

The words “escape from an unjust life” came to mind.

The question she had swallowed now hung on her lips, thinking she could find out the exact meaning now.

“My lord?”

“Yes….”

“What did you mean by an escape from an unjust life…?”

“…….”

The corners of his mouth, which had been smiling, dropped.

The excitement of intoxication faded instantly.

The joy on his face turned to sadness.

And soon.

“Because it was unfair.”

The meaning began to unfold.

“What do you mean?”

“Living miserably to pay off a debt… for something I didn’t do… is an unfair life….”

His voice trembled, almost crying.

A sigh, soaked in deep regret, indicated it was the truth.

Had he lived a miserable life to pay off the debts of a declining family?

But it wasn’t that destitute.

Since she was hired as a personal bodyguard, the family was in decline but not to the point of misery.

What story did the rogue Elden Raphelion have?

Rachel began to be genuinely curious about his inner thoughts.

“Debt…?”

Was something choking him?

He covered his eyes with his arm.

His lips, trembling and closed, seemed to be holding back tears.

And then he said.

“It was so… hard… that I wanted to die….”

As he poured out that it was so hard he wanted to die, Rachel remembered her past, enduring and biting her lip until it bled to survive.

It was hard.

Her past days, enduring alone without a place to vent or receive comfort, came to mind.

Of course, Elden’s story was about Lee Jun-woo’s past life, who had to live miserably to pay off his father’s gambling debts, but Rachel didn’t know that.

The miserable life of Lee Jun-woo, who couldn’t see the light due to debt.

His miserable life, having to pay off endless debt and getting slapped countless times, came out as a drunken confession.

“…….”

Rachel, unaware, looked down at him with heavy eyes.

Everyone lives swallowing their pain, but she hadn’t imagined Elden, the drunkard, had such hidden pain.

That he had a wound like hers, fighting against injustice, similar to hers, was something she couldn’t have guessed.

Unconsciously, her hand went to his cheek.

It must have been the intoxication.

It must have been the sentimentality of the night.

Surely, the long-forgotten intoxication meeting the night’s sentimentality blurred her reason, making her do it.

Seeing him as pitiable.

Seeing him as praiseworthy.

It was natural for a teacher to feel proud of a disciple who didn’t show his old habits despite drinking heavily tonight.

Was seeing the central aide and handling official duties to clear that debt?

Stroking his wound, enduring unknown pain to achieve ‘escape,’ was due to the intoxication.

And feeling like she was stroking her past self through that hand was due to the intoxication.

Rachel, stroking the wound she had personally treated with her thumb, asked softly.

“Does it… still hurt?”

A question metaphorically referring to the wound.

It was also a question she was asking herself.

And when that question was conveyed, his sad face lit up again, which was truly fortunate.

“No.”

Rachel smiled happily and got up, looking down at Elden, who soon fell asleep snoring, and left the reception room.

The next morning.

The blanket covering Elden when he woke was Rachel’s.

“Ah, indeed, alcohol is dangerous.”

Shivering, Elden woke from a long sleep.

It was a tough morning due to the lingering intoxication, but he enjoyed the strangely refreshing morning.