Chapter 111

‘Maybe the two of them really could end up as a couple.’

 

At the sudden surge of hope, Enria’s eyes sparkled as she looked at Tearen.

 

But as expected, her line of sight was immediately pulled back by Caldeon.

 

“How do I make these pretty, disobedient eyes hold only me, hmm?”

 

He looked faintly displeased—but in the end, like someone so in love he might die from it. Caldeon toyed with Enria’s chin using his thumb and brushed a feather-light kiss against her lips.

 

“Can’t you live looking only at me with these eyes, Enria?”

 

“Huh? How could I look only at you? I have to look at Hayden too, and—”

 

“Hayden is our son. I can tolerate that.”

 

Enria found herself wondering whether it really made sense to use the word tolerate for a person simply looking at another person.

 

Nearby, Roseanne also frowned subtly and asked Tearen, “Was Lord Caldeon always like that since he was young? Or is that… peculiarity exclusive to Enri?”

 

She muttered the last part almost to herself, and Tearen let out a quiet laugh in response.

 

The sound was so pleasant it made Roseanne’s heart pound, and her face flushed red in an instant.

 

Watching Tearen gaze at Roseanne with such gentle eyes, Enria sincerely hoped Roseanne would gather the courage to confess soon, so the relationship between the two could move forward.

 

And that wish seemed like it might come true sooner than expected.

 

All thanks to what had somehow turned into a wine party.

 

Belona and Rahar, who had gone out bickering, returned carrying armfuls of delicious wine, turning the gathering quite literally into a wine party.

 

The drinking started a little awkward and stiff, but as time passed, the atmosphere gradually warmed.

 

And Roseanne—pleasantly tipsy—asked Tearen all sorts of questions far more boldly than she ever would while sober. Tearen, too, eventually turned his entire body toward her, continuing a conversation meant just for the two of them.

 

Sipping her wine and watching them quietly, Enria thought again how nice it would be if Roseanne would just pull Tearen aside and confess already.

 

As if she’d heard that thought, Roseanne stood up, saying she had something she wanted to discuss privately with Tearen.

 

He rose naturally and followed her.

 

Enria shouted Yes! inwardly, hiding her rising smile behind her wineglass.

 

“Does it suit your taste?”

 

Caldeon suddenly asked.

 

“Oh—this wine? It goes down easily.”

 

“Don’t drink too fast just because it does. If you get drunk, I’ll carry you.”

 

“I’m not drinking enough to get drunk. This is only my second glass.”

 

“Hm… then drink until you do get drunk.”

 

“What? Why did you suddenly change what you were saying?”

 

He’d just told her not to overdo it, and now he was telling her to drink until she was drunk. Enria’s eyes widened slightly.

 

Clearly finding her reaction adorable, Caldeon smiled warmly and gently pinched her nose between his index and middle fingers. When she frowned and complained that it hurt, his lips brushed hers before pulling away.

 

“I just realized—you’ve never gotten drunk and caused trouble before.”

 

“Trouble? I don’t cause trouble when I’m drunk.”

 

Do I? I don’t, right? Probably not?

 

She tilted her head, muttering uncertainly, and Caldeon pulled her shoulder closer, rubbing his lips against her hair as he whispered, “I want to see your drunken antics.”

 

“You want to see them? What if my drunken behavior is yelling, hitting people, stealing things, or seducing random men?”

 

“The first three sound cute.”

 

“Those are cute to you?”

 

At her utterly baffled expression, Caldeon’s pitch-black eyes briefly gleamed with something cold.

 

“But if the last one is your habit, I’d become a murderer.”

 

“A murderer?”

 

“I couldn’t just let the bastards you seduce live, could I?”

 

“No, I mean—if I did that. Hypothetically. My drunken self.”

 

“Either way, if he looks like the kind of bastard worth seducing, then he deserves to die.”

 

‘What in the world…’

 

Enria found herself admiring—if not exactly approving—the way Caldeon could say completely absurd things as though they were perfectly logical, simply because he was the one saying them.

 

It wasn’t eloquence. It was just that his existence alone made everything he said sound convincing.

 

“So Duke Jupiter is this much of a lovesick fool.”

 

Belona, pleasantly drunk, clicked her tongue as she shook her head.

 

Beside her, Rahar—looking just as tipsy—nodded.

 

“Even I, his longtime friend, didn’t know it was to this extent.”

 

“So that ridiculous devotion is Enria-exclusive, then?”

 

“I suppose so. I wouldn’t know if it works on other women. She’s his first love.”

 

“Oh? Really?”

 

Now completely casual with each other, the two of them continued chatting freely about Caldeon right in front of him.

 

“I’m serious. You didn’t see him back at the academy—he was the type who looked like he wouldn’t bleed even if injured. A cold-blooded bastard.”

 

“And how did you even become friends with someone that awful?”

 

Since the friendship between Caldeon, Rahar, and Tearen was famous throughout the Empire, Belona already knew they’d been close for a long time.

 

“Probably because my personality is exceptionally good.”

 

Rahar placed a hand over his chest and smiled smugly.

 

Belona frowned and scoffed, and Rahar raised an eyebrow, asking if she didn’t believe him.

 

“Well… no. I think that’s partly true.”

 

“Partly?”

 

“Yeah. I’m not exactly a great person either.”

 

“Oh, you know yourself pretty well.”

 

As Rahar lifted his wineglass, he looked at Belona with admiration, as if impressed she understood that much. She shot him a sideways glare, then let a small smile curl at her lips.

 

“Well, seeing you go along with a day like this, I guess you are a pretty decent guy.”

 

At that, Rahar’s expression turned strangely serious.

 

The fact that Belona had noticed his effort—despite all his grumbling—filled him with surprise, fluster, and an indefinable emotion that left his head spinning. He wet his suddenly dry lips and called her name.

 

“Belona.”

 

“But… is it really okay for us to be doing this?”

 

Suddenly, Belona stared at her wineglass with a slightly troubled frown.

 

Rahar, Enria, and Caldeon all turned to look at her at once.

 

“I mean… the dark mage is probably somewhere out there right now, preparing some other terrible thing. And we’re just here drinking…”

 

“There’s such a thing as maintenance,” Caldeon cut in.

 

He set his wineglass down on the table, leaned back against the sofa, and crossed his legs with casual arrogance.

 

“Everything requires time to reorganize what’s been thrown into disarray. This is that time.”

 

“You call this reorganizing? Just fooling around?”

 

“It’s rest—so we can respond in perfect condition to what’s coming.”

 

“Belona, you were unconscious until recently,” Enria added gently. “You need rest too.”

 

Rahar nodded as well, frowning slightly.

 

“You were the one who wanted wine in the first place. And now you’re saying this…”

 

“I just started wondering if it’s okay for us to be enjoying ourselves like this.”

 

At her words, Enria and Rahar’s expressions stiffened slightly.

 

Enria understood why Belona had suddenly said that.

 

This time was more enjoyable than expected—and that very fact likely stirred guilt over Grohen’s death.

 

Guilt for smiling and laughing before she’d even avenged him.

 

It wasn’t a feeling only Enria understood. Caldeon and Rahar seemed to grasp it just as well.

 

“A man who loved you wouldn’t hate seeing you smile,” Rahar murmured, running a hand through his hair.

 

Caldeon, just as calmly as his expression, said that all they needed to do was give everything they had when they faced the dark mage.

 

Belona paused, thinking, then gave a bitter smile and nodded slowly.

 

“You’re right. When we face him… that’s when I’ll kill him.”

 

“And don’t go throwing your life away when you do.”

 

Rahar clicked his tongue quietly, already worried she’d charge in without regard for herself.

 

Belona shot him a glare and snapped back, asking what business it was of his.

 

Caldeon, utterly uninterested in their exchange, turned his gaze to Enria instead.

 

She had been sipping her wine with a heavy heart and smiled awkwardly when their eyes met.

 

“Third glass? Your face is really red.”

 

“Oh—really?”

 

Setting her wineglass down, Enria quickly cupped her cheeks with both hands and asked.

 

Caldeon gently took her wrists and lowered her hands.

 

“You’re pretty. Don’t hide it.”

 

He kept pecking at her flushed face, laughing and calling her cute over and over.

 

“That might be a bit much…”

 

Belona muttered under her breath without thinking, and Rahar nodded.

 

“I’ll agree with that.”

 

“……What kind of relationships do you have, then?”

 

Belona suddenly asked Rahar.

 

Caught completely off guard, Rahar’s eyes widened.

 

“Me…?”