”Ugh… My head.”
Pressing her temples with a throbbing head, she raised her body.
Is it because I’m still clumsy with the fermentation method?
It seemed that the hangover from the beer in this other world was worse than modern beer.
Anyway.
”Whose blanket is this?”
It couldn’t have been the old man Randler, sprawled out on the sofa like half-dried squid, who covered me.
It was probably Rachel, who wasn’t here, who brought it, but I couldn’t remember anything from yesterday.
First, I got up.
After coughing, I covered old man Randler, who had fallen back asleep, with the blanket.
Click.
I left the reception room.
I cautiously asked the guard standing at the front.
”Was there… any trouble last night?”
I have no memory.
From the circumstances, it seemed there was nothing special, but I was worried that Elden’s drunken habits might have appeared.
Causing a disturbance, or calling maids and committing assault, etc.
”What kind of trouble, sir?”
”Well… was it noisy throughout the night?”
”There was no trouble.”
”Is that so? That’s a relief.”
Phew.
After a sigh of relief, I asked again.
”By the way, who brought the blanket?”
” Madam Rachel.”
”…Really?”
So it was Rachel.
It seemed that the indifferent master was concerned that the drunk disciple might catch a cold.
She always appeared indifferent and nonchalant, but could she actually be kind and caring?
Or perhaps the master, who enjoyed training, was concerned that the disciple might not enjoy it due to a cold.
Anyway.
If not for the blanket, the cold floor might have given me a cold.
Thinking I should thank the master, I started walking.
I needed something to soothe my aching stomach.
I had seen it in a monster cuisine book.
The ‘Minotaur Blood Soup’ that was supposedly great for hangovers.
It was the most desperately needed dish at the moment, but unfortunately, there was neither a chef to make it nor ingredients.
For now, I needed to drink something without alcohol.
With a slow pace, I headed to the tearoom.
”Huh?”
In the tearoom, I saw Rachel stirring her teacup with a teaspoon.
Rachel, too, seemed to have just woken up, wearing a white silk nightdress and slippers.
For some reason, I was afraid to greet her.
Not knowing what might have happened while I blacked out, and fearing that my drunken hands might have been rude or my drunken mouth might have said something inappropriate.
Thankfully.
”Oh, you woke up early.”
Rachel greeted me in a calm voice, as usual.
The lack of any particular expression meant nothing significant had happened.
With a sigh of relief, I entered the tearoom.
Of course, I needed to clear the lingering unease.
”Yesterday… nothing happened, right?”
Standing beside Rachel, I asked casually while picking up a glass of water.
Feeling like my insides were burning.
I wanted to extinguish it quickly with cold water, but suddenly, something was handed to me.
It was the teacup Rachel had been stirring, and she pushed it in front of me.
Instead of answering, Rachel, pouring water into a newly taken-out teacup, explained what she handed me.
”My father always drank this the day after overindulging.”
”Huh?”
”It’s honey water. Mixed with acacia honey and a bit of lemon juice. It should help with the hangover, so drink it.”
Surprised by the unexpected honey water, I almost blurted out, “Is your father also a transmigrator from modern times?”
Honey water, simple yet highly effective for hangovers.
Rachel’s father seemed to be knowledgeable about hangover cures.
”…Thanks.”
I picked up the teacup.
I was a bit dazed.
I never expected to receive honey water from the stern knight Rachel, not from old man Randler.
Did something happen last night?
Rachel had never shown such kindness to her employer, Elden.
Sip.
I took a sip of the honey water.
The sweet taste of honey and the refreshing tang of lemon created an excellent flavor, and it felt like it was not just relieving my hangover but also my fatigue.
”…How is it?”
Rachel asked cautiously.
Looking at her, I gave a thumbs up.
”It feels like my hangover is gone with just one sip.”
Finally, a faint smile appeared on Rachel’s usually stiff face.
It was a smile I saw for the first time.
In Elden’s memories, Rachel’s face was always stern.
Although it was a barely noticeable smile, it was there.
I thought she had forgotten how to smile, but fortunately, the purple-haired knight seemed to know how to smile.
Rachel picked up her teacup of honey water.
Looking at me with a content expression, she said.
”Your wound has healed cleanly.”
”Huh?”
”Then I’ll go prepare.”
That was it.
Rachel, holding the steaming teacup, left the tearoom.
Watching her back vacantly, I turned to look at the cheek reflected in the cupboard’s mirror.
As Rachel said, it had healed perfectly without a trace.
As if the wound never existed.
Ho.
’So there was a reason for using it sparingly?’
After rubbing the area where the wound had been, I drank the honey water.
Maybe it was because someone else made it, but it tasted incredibly sweet.
**
”By the way, do you have any thoughts on marriage?”
Early in the morning.
A maid poured winter flower tea for Ariel, who was reading while having breakfast, and asked.
Ariel looked at the maid quizzically, her eyes lifting from the book.
It was a question she had never heard before.
”Huh? Me?”
”Yes. I was just curious. And please, no strange remarks like being married to your books.”
”Hmm.”
Ariel took a sip of the winter flower tea and let out a quiet sigh.
Marriage, huh.
She had never really thought about it.
She had never even experienced love, let alone marriage.
For Ariel, who had lived her whole life engrossed in novels, marriage was an irrelevant matter.
”I don’t.”
”Why?”
”I just don’t.”
”…You might end up dying alone. They say women who have dated well marry well. You should start meeting people before it’s too late.”
”Books are better read by those who have read them.”
”……”
The maid, rendered speechless by Ariel’s reply, sat down across from her with a dissatisfied look.
”…What’s wrong?”
”Isn’t it a waste?”
”What is?”
”You’re in your prime. At the peak of your beauty, you should be flaunting your charm and falling in love with a wonderful man.”
”…Love? Ugh. I don’t know about that.”
Ariel, looking like she had seen something disgusting, shuddered.
She had read romance novels out of curiosity about love, but she couldn’t understand wasting time and emotions that could be spent reading more books, so she never finished one.
”…Have you really never been in a relationship?”
At the maid’s question, Ariel confidently nodded, as if to say it was obvious.
”Yes.”
”Huh…”
The maid sighed.
It was hard to believe and understand that such a beautiful and kind-hearted lady had never been in a relationship.
If I had her looks, I’d charm all the men I liked, she thought.
”Why is that such a big deal? Have you?”
”Of course. You have no idea how many love affairs blossom and wither among the attendants.”
”Huh? Really? Attendants date each other? I’ve never seen that.”
”…It’s because you’re always reading.”
”Oh, I see.”
”Aren’t you going to take this seriously? Your beauty is really too precious.”
”What’s so special about my looks? There are so many prettier people. You haven’t seen the Third Duchess. If you did, you’d see my face as common.”
”……”
Even sighing felt futile.
Such a frustrating person.
No, at this rate, my dear lady will grow old alone, the maid thought, determined, and asked with a serious face.
”Miss.”
”Hmm?”
”What is the most enjoyable book you’ve ever read?”
”Hmm… there are so many, it’s hard to choose.”
Ariel, counting on her fingers, murmured book titles until one came to mind.
The novel she read through the nights until her nose bled, savoring each page like a treasure, with a heart full of emotions at the epilogue, where she felt the happiest in the world.
”The Aftermath of the Hero Alpherion?”
”You were extremely happy reading it, right?”
With a smile that came naturally from the thought alone, Ariel nodded, and the maid showed her ten fingers.
”Falling in love is ten times happier than that.”
Ariel, stunned by a metaphor perfectly suited to a bookworm, looked surprised.
”…Ten times?”
Happier than those moments when she felt she could live happily forever on a deserted island with just that novel?
”Come on. That’s an exaggeration.”
”It’s true! You haven’t experienced it. When the world is filled with thoughts of the one you love, when you eagerly wait for the moment you can meet them, and when you finally do, it feels like you’d be willing to die from the overwhelming happiness. It’s something that can’t be compared to anything else.”
”…It’s really that great?”
”Absolutely!”
Hmm.
If it’s truly that wonderful, it would be nice, but…
”What do you think? Do you understand a bit now?”
Seeing her lady seem to ponder, the maid asked with hopeful eyes.
Of course, that hope quickly faded.
”…But then I won’t be able to read my books.”
”Oh dear.”
A sigh as profound as the morning sky escaped the maid’s lips.
**
‘…Why are they talking about love early in the morning?’
After breakfast, Ariel, accompanied by a guard, was heading to the grand duke’s library.
It seemed the topic of love was quite popular among the maids, possibly due to the upcoming end of the marriage tournament.
Well, they often scolded me for not looking at men and only reading books.
But still.
‘Can love really make you ten times happier?’
She had felt utterly happy when reading a particular novel, thinking she could spend her entire life content with just books on a deserted island. But how could anything be ten times more blissful than that?
‘Nonsense.’
Dismissing it as an exaggeration meant to persuade her, Ariel arrived at the library ten minutes before opening and looked around.
She wondered if Elden might arrive early.
She had been a bit disappointed lately that they hadn’t shared much reading time due to his frequent tardiness.
It felt a little sad that he seemed to prioritize training over reading.
Of course, Ariel knew it was her selfish wish.
‘Will he be late again today?’
Sigh.
Hoping he would come early today, Ariel glanced around, but the only ones around were the cleaning staff preparing for the day.
She clicked her tongue in disappointment and turned her gaze to the library’s entrance, which was set to open in one minute.
At that moment.
Tap tap.
Someone tapped her shoulder twice from behind.
‘Huh?’
Startled, Ariel quickly turned around and widened her eyes.
A small wish had come true.
”Well, I intended to wait for you today, but you’re never late, are you, Ariel?”
”What, what?! Elden!”
Joy filled her widened eyes, a smile spread across her lips, and an immense happiness she wasn’t yet aware of bloomed as Ariel bounced on her feet.
For some reason, Ariel felt today would be a particularly happy day.
But then she caught a whiff of alcohol.
”Huh? Did you drink last night?”
”Oh, I had a hearty celebratory drink with Rachel and old man Randler.”
”Really?”
Ariel glanced at Rachel, standing right diagonal behind Elden, in the same spot she used to sit during her academy days.
”…I can drink too, you know.”
Immediately after.
Ariel’s voice, which had been filled with joy, took on a slightly pouting tone, a small grumble born of feelings she didn’t yet fully understand.
Thanks for the chapter 😁