Chapter 3: A Drunken Mistake.

Without a doubt, alcohol was the best thing for forgetting the pain of heartbreak.

Standing before the tavern that I had arrived at before I knew it, I pulled the hood of the newly purchased robe tightly over my head and slowly opened the door.

“Welcome! How many in your party?”

“I’m alone.”

“Right this way, please.”

The owner welcomed me warmly despite my hooded robe and guided me to a seat.

I walked over and sat down where he gestured.

“What can I get for you?”

“The strongest alcohol you have here.”

“Strong alcohol? Yes, understood. Let me see what I can find!”

The owner laughed heartily and walked away, returning shortly with the liquor I had ordered.

“This is an import from a small nation called Liberdi. It’s famous for its high proof. They say just one glass makes you feel like your insides are burning!”

“Give me a glass of that, then.”

“Yes, right away!”

The owner poured the liquor into a glass filled with ice, then grinned.

“Let me know if you need anything else!”

I slowly swirled the glass, listening to the clink of the ice.

Inside the glass, the honey-colored liquor swirled alongside the ice.

Even without putting my nose directly to it, the pungent scent of strong alcohol wafted through the air.

Its rich aroma alone was quite extraordinary.

First, I took a small sip of the liquor.

Just as the owner had said, it was so strong that everywhere it touched as it slid down my throat felt as if it were on fire.

The sweet yet slightly bitter aftertaste was to my liking.

I ordered the same drink several more times.

Just how many glasses had I had?

“Ah…”

From some point, the whole world began to spin, and afterimages of people walking past appeared before me.

Feeling giddy, a silly laugh escaped my lips.

“Mariel…”

Mariel, appearing before my eyes, smiled brightly.

He wore an angelic smile, just like the day I first saw him.

I stretched my hand out toward him, but lacking the strength, I collapsed flat onto the table.

“I really loved you so much.”

With my emotions fluctuating wildly due to the alcohol, I laughed, cried, and poured out fits of rage.

Naturally, the target of my anger was not the lovely Mariel, but the eyesore himself, Mikeron Leilight.

“Mikeron. What on earth is so great about an obnoxious bastard like him!”

“E-Excuse me, customer, I think you’ve had a bit too much to drink…”

“Whataaat? You hate me too?”

“No, that’s not, well…”

The owner trailed off, waving his hands in a flustered panic.

As I downed the rest of the liquor in one gulp, the owner’s face turned white with shock.

I fumbled through my pockets.

“Sooo? You’re displeased with me too, aren’t you?”

Fuming on my own in my drunken state, I pulled five gold coins from my pocket and slammed them down.

The owner’s wary eyes softened instantly upon seeing the glittering gold coins.

“Will this satisfy you? Could you like me just a little? Because I’m about to disappear now…”

“Gasp. Gold coins!”

Leaving behind the owner, who was entirely preoccupied with gaping at the gold coins, I stumbled out of the tavern with staggering steps.

Perhaps because the rush of alcohol made my mind hazy, my sunken mood suddenly soared.

Having received the gold, the owner seemed to be in high spirits as well, calling out a cheerful farewell from behind, telling me to come back again.

***

“I had fun today, Mikeron. Thank you so much for keeping me company all day.”

“I was worried about letting you go back alone. I had fun too, Mariel.”

After closing the door of Mariel’s carriage, Mikeron stood watching until it departed.

The carriage gradually drew further away until it was out of sight.

“I was worried, but thankfully nothing happened.”

Only then did Mikeron breathe a sigh of relief.

When he had run into Leviat at lunchtime, he had been highly guarded, fearing that Leviat had resumed stalking Mariel, but to his relief, Leviat had not shown himself since.

‘Was running into him really just a coincidence? He didn’t look like the type to enjoy sweets…’

As he was lost in thought, he heard the people standing right behind him whispering.

[What is wrong with that person over there?]

[Should we just leave them like that? It looks dangerous.]

Turning his head at the concerned voices, he saw a person clad in a black robe tottering precariously, as if walking a tightrope.

Mikeron quietly watched the drunkard, who couldn’t even keep his balance.

Thinking it had nothing to do with him, he was about to head back.

Until that person lost his balance and plunged face-first into the large fountain in the plaza.

“A-Ah!”

“What should we do about that person!?”

Everyone was merely gossiping, with absolutely no intention of offering help.

They simply stared as if watching some grand spectacle.

‘He’ll drown if left like that.’

Letting out a soft sigh, Mikeron walked over, grabbed the man’s robe, and pulled him out of the fountain.

The stench of alcohol wafted off him; it was hard to tell just how much he had drunk.

“Hey. Just how much alcohol did you…”

“Cough, cough.”

The moment he looked directly at the man in the robe, Mikeron couldn’t help but freeze.

The drunkard sitting on the ground with hazy, unfocused eyes was someone Mikeron knew very well.

“Count?”

“Oh, oh! You, Mikeron!”

Having coughed up all the water, Leviat stopped hacking and pointed a finger at Mikeron.

But to suddenly say, “You, Mikeron!”

It seemed he recognized who Mikeron was, but he was clearly out of his mind with alcohol.

“Count, just how much have you had to drink?”

As Mikeron let out a heavy sigh, asking in a tone filled with sheer exasperation, Leviat began to mutter back informally.

“There’s no need! For you to know. None of your businessss!!”

“Of course it’s none of my business. Where is your carriage?”

“Mikerooon…”

He had asked where the carriage was, but the only response he got was his own name.

‘Should I just leave him here?’

‘What am I supposed to do with this man?’

Mikeron’s head throbbed, feeling as though his meddlesome nature had only brought him unnecessary trouble.

“Not my name, the carriage. I asked where your carriage is.”

“I really hate you.”

It was his second completely unrelated answer.

To tell the very person helping him that he hated them.

Mikeron was starting to get annoyed as well.

“I don’t particularly like you either.”

“I know. There isn’t a single person who likes me.”

“…”

“Everyone hates me, rrrigh’? Don’t they?”

Leviat snickered drunkenly, uttering words that weighed strangely on Mikeron’s mind.

Hearing him say such things with a smile made Mikeron feel oddly uncomfortable.

Scratching the back of his neck, Mikeron spoke softly.

“I never said I hated you.”

Mikeron grabbed the slumped Leviat by the arm and pulled him up with force.

Due to the minor commotion from earlier, people’s attention was beginning to gather.

He had to leave this place first.

Pulling the stumbling Leviat by the waist and letting his head rest against his shoulder, Leviat slowly looked at Mikeron with a suddenly serious expression.

Even though his eyes were still completely unfocused.

“Then don’t kill me…”

“What?”

Mikeron doubted his own ears.

Who was killing whom?

It was an utterly absurd statement.

“I won’t do anything, so don’t kill me. I don’t want to suffer anymore.”

“No, why on earth would I kill you?”

To make matters worse, Leviat began to sniffle.

Mikeron honestly felt dumbfounded.

Even if he was drunk, it was ridiculous to wonder what on earth Leviat thought of him to utter such things.

“Unless you stage a rebellion against the Empire, there is no way I will ever kill you. Do not be so frightened.”

Though Mikeron had comforted him with utmost sincerity in his own way, Leviat was now smiling mischievously as if he had never wept.

In that moment, irritation flared up again, and while he debated leaving him behind once more, he ultimately brought Leviat to the Ducal carriage.

“Your Grace, that person is…”

“Things just ended up this way. He can’t even stand, so I think we should take him home.”

Though the coachman was greatly taken aback upon seeing Leviat, Mikeron paid him no heed, loading the limp Leviat into the carriage first before taking his seat opposite him.

“To the Kinesis estate.”

“Ah, understood!”

The coachman drove the carriage as Mikeron ordered.

Once the carriage started moving, Mikeron let out a deep sigh.

“What did he do to deserve me going this far for him…”

Unaware of Mikeron’s thoughts, Leviat was dozing off, leaning against the window.

Mikeron stared intently at Leviat, as if observing him.

Although his eyes were closed and could not be seen, recalling the image of Leviat smiling in his drunken state brought back a dreamlike memory.

A wave of tenderness swelled in Mikeron’s heart.

Just then, Leviat furrowed his brow and shook.

Mikeron took off his outer coat and draped it over Leviat.

Perhaps finding comfort in the warmth, his expression and posture became much more relaxed than before.

Mikeron could not take his eyes off the sleeping Leviat until they arrived at the Count’s estate.

***

I was doomed.

That was the very first thought that crossed my mind the moment I opened my eyes in bed.

I was utterly doomed. What on earth should I do?

I should have drunk in moderation.

No, it would actually be better if I had no memory of it, but my wonderfully efficient brain vividly remembered exactly what embarrassing display I had made of myself in front of Mikeron the moment I woke up.

“Ah…”

Of all people, to make such a fool of myself in front of Mikeron…

My face burned with intense shame.

I wanted to bash my head against the wall and die.

Mikeron Leilight.

He pierced my heart in my past life, and this time he surely intended to make me die of sheer embarrassment.

As I punched my fluffy pillow to calm my squirming body, the words Mikeron had said to me suddenly came to mind.

“Unless you stage a rebellion against the Empire, there is no way I will ever kill you. Do not be so frightened.”

‘Come to think of it, that man did say those words to me.’

I gradually regained my composure.

“I really hope you keep that promise.”

Scratching my head roughly, I slowly got out of bed.

My stomach was burning.

A simple breakfast of bread, soup, and eggs had been prepared.

I took a spoonful of the soup first.

It tasted greasy.

“By the way, Count, yesterday Duke Mikeron brought you all the way back to the mansion while you were heavily intoxicated…”

“Pfft!”

At the butler’s words, I nearly snorted my food out of my nose, completely forgetting my table manners.

‘The carriage I rode… it wasn’t ours?’

My alcohol-soaked brain hadn’t registered whose carriage I had boarded.

Now that I knew the truth, I felt so humiliated I wanted to plunge my face directly into the soup.

“Why don’t you send a letter to the Duke?”

“Or inviting him to the mansion to treat him to a cup of tea wouldn’t be a bad idea either.”

“Count?”

When I didn’t reply, the butler called out to me in a puzzled voice.

What should I do?

I hated the idea of writing a thank-you letter to Mikeron, and the thought of inviting him over for tea was even worse.

Forget a cup of tea… I didn’t even want to offer him a single drop of dirty water.

“Can’t we just let it slide without doing anything?”

“But that would be a breach of etiquette. Furthermore, isn’t this a good opportunity to build a friendship with His Grace?”

“I have no intention of getting close to that guy.”

As I muttered quietly in a voice only I could hear, the butler asked what I had just said.

I waved my hand dismissively at the inquiring butler, saying it was nothing.

“I’ll just write a letter.”

“A wise decision! I will instruct a servant to prepare paper and a pen.”

How did things turn out this way?

I couldn’t tell if what I was eating was bread, soup, or egg.

***

When I returned to my room after finishing my meal, paper and a pen were indeed laid out on the desk just as the butler had said.

“It’s not like I asked for help. Why do I have to write a thank-you letter for something he decided to do on his own?”

Ruffling my hair into a mess, I sat down in the chair and picked up the pen.

‘Dear Duke, although I never once asked for your help, thank you for meddling and assisting me.’

Even to me, it was a letter lacking any sincerity or gratitude.

I crumpled the letter and threw it into the trash bin.

‘Dear Duke, thank you for supporting me while I was drunk and taking me back to my estate. However, you do not need to do this next time. Thanks to you, I have to write a letter like this…’

‘This won’t work either…’

I crumpled this letter too and tossed it into the bin.

Without realizing the day was growing dark, I wrote letters until the bin was full, but I couldn’t write anything that sounded decent.

As long as I despised Mikeron, pleasant words simply wouldn’t flow.

“I’ll just tell the butler to write a brief one and send it.”

Blinking my tired eyes from staring at letters all day, I crumpled the final draft I was working on, tossed it aside, and quietly set down the pen.

Slumping onto the desk and staring blankly into space, Mikeron’s handsome face popped into my mind.

Mikeron, Mikeron Leilight…

The Leilight Ducal family was blessed with light magic, famous for leading the war against the devils to victory long ago and contributing to the peace of the Empire.

His descendant, Mikeron, also possessed formidable light magic and swordsmanship worthy of his title, the Knight of Light; I heard he was also the one who led the war to victory, the very war where I lost my two older brothers.

A man praised by all, lacking absolutely nothing.

To me, Mikeron was a man born with everything.

“So it should be fine if at least one person like me hates that bastard.”

Muttering quietly, I called for the butler.

When I ordered him to write the letter on my behalf, the butler spoke with an intrigued look.

“As long as it contains an expression of gratitude, may I write it as I please?”

“Yeah, I don’t want to think about it.”

Waving my hand dismissively, I passed my chore over to the butler.

The butler bowed and left the room, saying he would take care of it.

A few days later, I was forced to regret to my very bones having told the butler to do as he pleased.

***

On a bright and sunny day, I woke up to a normal morning just like any other.

Flinging the window open, the cool air rushed in, driving away my sleepiness instantly.

As I hastily closed the window, there was a knock at the door.

Fixing my bangs which had been messed up by the wind, I permitted them to enter.

The butler opened the door and walked in.

“Philip? What is it?”

“Count, since you are awake, please get ready.”

“Ready for what?”

Before I could get an answer, several servants filed into the room in a line.

Wondering what on earth was going on, I frowned and stared at the butler.

The butler let out a hearty laugh.

“Duke Mikeron is scheduled to visit our mansion today.”

“What? What on earth does that mean?”

As my jaw dropped in sheer shock, the butler spoke.

“Didn’t you tell me to write the letter on your behalf last time, Count?”

Ah, that letter.

I had completely forgotten about it after leaving it to the butler.

“I wrote that you wished to treat him to a cup of tea as an expression of gratitude, and he readily accepted.”

“…”

I briefly debated whether to fire this oblivious butler on the spot, but the moment our eyes met, my heart softened.

The butler was looking at me with a warm gaze.

“Count, I hope you won’t remain hung up on just one person.”

Though he didn’t explicitly mention a name, it wasn’t hard to guess that the person the butler was referring to was Mariel.

“No, but still, of all people, Mikeron is…”

“Lately, you have been quite different from usual, Count.”

Had he noticed?

That I was different from before.

As the butler who served closest to me, it made sense that he would notice my changes.

“You’ve resolved to change and are putting in the effort, aren’t you?”

“It’s not to the extent of calling it ‘effort’…”

Seeing the pleased butler, I found it hard to stay angry.

Strangely, my chest felt tight with emotion.

Taking advantage of my hesitation, the butler spoke firmly.

“Therefore, let’s get you ready first.”

“No, wait! That has nothing to do with this!”

Before I could say anything else, the butler bowed, closed the door, and left.

“That bastard Mikeron is coming here again? I’m going crazy.”

It was enough to drive me out of my mind.

If possible, no, I had hoped never to cross paths with him for the rest of my life, so how did we keep getting entangled like this?

I clicked my tongue, racking my brain trying to think of a way to prevent Mikeron from entering.

But seeing the servants hesitantly glancing at me while excitedly discussing which outfit would suit me best, I ultimately threw up my hands in defeat.

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