The Heat of a Drunken Night (1)
Heading towards Ariel’s quarters through the north gate of the Grand Castle, I encountered Remian reaching out towards the sky.
She was lifting her head, reaching out into empty space, grasping at something with her outstretched left hand, which was repeatedly opening and closing.
That hand was wrapped in several layers of thin bandages.
“……”
It was a rather bizarre sight, watching a person standing still in the middle of the road, moving slowly as if time itself was lagging around her.
Moreover, it was an exceedingly precarious scene.
A faint bruise on her cheek, the bandaged left hand, eyes filled with emptiness looking towards the void, and that twisted smile.
What on earth had happened to her in just one day?
What had she gone through to become so disheveled in such a short time?
I couldn’t grasp it at all.
It felt as if something had broken inside her.
Like a string had snapped.
As if she had given up on everything due to some unbearable force.
Remian, who had been behaving like a marionette for a while, eventually lowered her hand and head.
The eyes that had been gazing up at the sky without focus now landed on me.
They no longer contained rage or malice but were filled with incomprehensible emptiness and resignation.
“…What are you… doing?”
I asked out of curiosity.
What were you doing in the middle of the road in the dead of night?
Why were you waving your hand at empty space?
What on earth had happened?
For some reason, I couldn’t just pass by, ignoring her like before.
Her voice, which should have rung out clearly just a day ago, now sounded like it was struggling to escape from a deep cave, sounding utterly defeated.
“I was… watching the clouds.”
A blank voice and vacant eyes, as if she hadn’t slept for days.
It was hard to believe she had deteriorated so much in just one day.
“What happened to your hand?”
I asked, looking at her bandaged left hand.
And then.
“Did you… hurt yourself?”
It was a story hard to believe.
She told me that she had pressed her palm until it bled with the same nails that had once scratched my cheek.
“The wound… healed, huh?”
Remian, lightly brushing her cheek, looked somewhat surprised and asked.
Noticing how Rachel’s ointment had healed my cheek cleanly.
“Yes.”
At my answer, Remian’s cracked lips formed a faint curve.
It was a smile whose meaning I couldn’t fathom.
“That’s… a relief.”
What did she mean by a relief?
Was it a relief that the marks of her impulsive violence had vanished, giving her some solace?
Was it a relief that she felt she could mend her fractured convictions?
Our coincidental reunion, which started with questions, only left more questions, and I was about to leave with just those questions in mind.
“I’ll… be going now….”
Unlike the past when Elden would always pass her by in the Academy, this time it was Remian who passed by me, Elden.
“Lady Grand Duchess.”
And then.
For the first time, in both Elden’s original memory and my own, I called out to her.
I never regretted the things I had done to escape my unjust life.
Not now.
Not in the future.
I had no intention of blaming my obsession for the catastrophes that unfolded due to those actions.
Nor did I feel any guilt towards her emptiness.
But still.
“Please take this. It will help your wounds heal without scarring.”
I had no intention of holding back something I could give.
I didn’t want to become a stingy person who wouldn’t even give away small things.
Above all, unlike the past when I had nothing to offer, I now had something and could make small gestures of generosity.
It was a help I could offer now because my situation had changed, and I no longer had to avoid and ignore to escape.
Therefore.
After placing the ointment in Remian’s hand, which she had been staring at blankly, I turned and walked towards the north gate.
Shortly after, a light drizzle began to wet the northern territories under the dry night sky.
“Oh. Why is it raining all of a sudden? Let’s hurry, Rachel.”
“Yes.”
We had to head to Ariel’s quarters quickly.
**
“Everyone, gather up-!”
““Yes-!””
On the night when the drizzle started.
The attendants at Ariel’s quarters entered emergency alert mode to welcome the imminent guest.
It was also an emergency alert mode to present the best party to the young lady’s first invited friend.
The problem was that the guest had a notorious reputation.
“No, really, there’s no need to go to such lengths. Elden isn’t scary anymore.”
Ariel tried her best to ease the attendants’ wariness, feeling guilty for disturbing their peaceful night by inviting Elden.
“Guys, really, you don’t need to be scared. Elden has really changed. Believe me…!”
“Make sure everything is in perfect alignment! Set the dishes and utensils in perfect rows and columns!”
““Yes!””
“Why are you doing all this? He’s not the Elden you used to know!”
“Guards, all off-duty personnel will remain on emergency alert until the party ends!”
““Yes!””
Ariel felt distressed as she ran around trying to reassure the terrified attendants and guards, but it was all in vain. Their ears were too filled with fear to listen.
She almost wanted to cancel the party.
“Ugh…….”
He wasn’t the same old Elden.
He had become a remarkable man, more so than anyone else.
There was no need to be afraid at all.
Ariel felt frustrated with the attendants who still regarded Elden as a figure of terror, but she also felt a bit saddened.
She understood though.
They hadn’t witnessed Elden’s change firsthand, so how could they believe it?
It was just disappointing that the efforts of her precious reading companion were being undermined.
In the end, Ariel entered the dressing room with her personal maid.
She couldn’t even remember when she last held a party.
She might have had a few when she was younger, but she had no memory of what she did or ate because she wasn’t interested at all.
For a young girl who preferred reading books to socializing, parties were just unnecessary time.
Naturally.
“Do I really need to wear a dress and put on makeup…? It’s just a casual meal with a friend I see all the time.”
Ariel lacked the virtues of a lady, and dresses and makeup felt cumbersome to her.
But her personal maid was adamant.
“It would be disgraceful for the young lady of a count’s family to host a party without wearing a dress and makeup.”
“That’s true, but….”
She hadn’t intended to go this far.
Why were they all making such a fuss?
In the end, Ariel was led by her maid and wore a dress after a long time.
It was a red dress that went well with her blonde hair.
The dress was cut low across the shoulders, with wavy lace around the top, exuding a feminine charm. Ariel, feeling somewhat awkward, ran her fingers through her hair in front of the full-length mirror.
Especially since the back was cut low enough to reveal her shoulder blades, it felt rather indecent.
“Isn’t it too much…?”
“Not at all. Everyone wears this kind of thing. Parties are very important for nobles. Elden will probably wear a splendid uniform too.”
“A splendid… uniform?”
“Of course. Imagine how embarrassed he would be if the young lady greeted him in shabby attire when he’s wearing a grand uniform…!”
The personal maid shuddered at the thought.
Ariel looked puzzled.
Elden, in a uniform?
She couldn’t imagine Elden, who always wore comfortable clothes, in a uniform.
She had only met him on days without final evaluations or after they were over, when he wasn’t required to wear a uniform.
What would Elden look like in a party uniform?
Ariel, suddenly curious, waited for Elden to arrive, and when she heard he had arrived, she ran out to greet him eagerly.
“Elden! Welcome! ……Huh?”
She was surprised by the silhouette standing next to him.
A woman in a red dress similar to her own.
Rachel, who usually wore stiff knight’s uniforms, caught her attention with her dress.
Moreover, her hair, usually tied up, was now let down.
The change in her feminine appearance drew Ariel’s gaze.
Seeing Rachel in a different light, Ariel felt grateful that she had worn her dress, which she initially thought was too much.
“Thank you for inviting me, Lady.”
And Rachel, standing close to Elden, greeted her with a strange feeling.
Was it because they looked so good together without any sense of discord?
Was it because Rachel was wearing the same red dress as her?
Ariel, feeling an inexplicable twinge of jealousy, greeted Rachel with a bright smile.
“Welcome, Sir Rachel.”
Thus, the party began.
**
At the round table in the party hall, Ariel, Elden, and Rachel sat, dividing the
table into three equal parts at exactly 120 degrees.
“Thank you for inviting me, Ariel.”
“Hehe. Of course.”
“The dress looks great on you. You look beautiful.”
Blush!
At Elden’s casual compliment, Ariel’s face turned redder than her makeup could hide.
She fiddled with the lace on her dress, feeling shy.
Receiving a compliment as a woman for possibly the first time, she didn’t know how to react.
“You… you look great in your uniform too.”
“Really? That’s good to hear. I tried to put some effort into it.”
They exchanged compliments, and soon, food and drinks filled the table.
As Elden scanned the dishes, he asked Ariel with a surprised look.
“Monster dishes, too?”
“I thought you’d like it, so I prepared it.”
If there weren’t attendants around, Ariel would have mentioned that she found the monster dishes delicious herself.
Holding back those words, Ariel picked up her wine glass.
It was a glass of deep purple wine.
Following her personal maid’s instruction, the party host should raise the first toast.
“Shall we toast?”
“Sure.”
The table was too wide to clink glasses, so they raised their glasses to face level as a form of toast.
Gulp, gulp.
Elden and Rachel drank the wine without hesitation.
Ariel, looking down at the liquid in her glass, hesitated for a moment.
In truth, she had never tasted alcohol before.
Her claim of knowing how to drink was a small act of defiance born out of some unknown impatience.
One by one, the glasses were placed back on the table, and seeing Rachel’s empty glass, Ariel mustered her courage and gripped her glass tightly.
With a sense of determination, she closed her eyes tightly and drank the wine.
Gulp.
Gulp.
‘Hmm?’
But then, she opened her eyes.
It didn’t taste bad.
Just as she found the monster dish surprisingly tasty, the wine she tasted for the first time wasn’t unpleasant.
She didn’t know if she liked the taste yet, but the sweet and bitter flavor wasn’t off-putting.
Thus.
Clunk.
“Hoo……. What? It’s actually… not bad…?”
Exhaling deeply to release the strong aroma of alcohol from her mouth, Ariel placed the empty glass on the table.
Then, looking at the empty glass with satisfaction, she thought.
‘Oh. Maybe I’m actually pretty good at… drinking?’
Ariel, whose boast about being able to drink wasn’t entirely unfounded after all.
A little while later.
“Heheh, I’m drunk.”
Her speech began to slur.
Thanks for the chapter 😁