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Chapter 45
“Hehe, of course! Not just anyone can make something like this. Wait and see—I’m going to show you an entirely new world.”
With that, she began pouring several types of liquor into the glass in sequence.
Eden watched her, mesmerized, and she, as if this was only the beginning, started swirling her wrist with a flourish.
“No! There’s a whirlpool inside the glass! It’s like a tornado!”
“That’s right. Now, try it. The taste is going to be tornado-level.”
Eden laughed heartily at the aggressively colorful metaphor and took the glass she handed him.
He took a sip, and his eyes widened.
“Whoa! Where on earth did you learn to make something like this?!”
“Hohoho! Let’s just call it a trade secret~!”
“How unfair!”
“The world is naturally unfair, Your Highness~!”
To think that someone would tell the Crown Prince that the world is unfair… Indeed, Eileen’s liquor skills were something Eden had always thought about, but…
“Back then I thought it was cute… now it’s a little dangerous.”
Dangerous. Her cheerful smile, combined with her disheveled blonde hair, made her look exactly like a golden retriever.
Her cuteness was almost painfully overwhelming.
“She’s even smiling more brightly now that she’s had a drink.”
He had thought, since she liked alcohol, that her tolerance might be high, but seeing her now, it seemed more complicated. He would have to be careful at drinking occasions.
“Florian! Come on, you too! My bomb cocktail is really delicious!”
At her shout, Eden, already tipsy from the drink, waved his hands in protest.
“Oh, you boring human. Let’s drink together. I’ll drain this entire liquor storage if we keep going!”
“There’s wine too, actually. From an oak barrel, no less.”
“Whoa!”
“But if you mix it, the hangover tomorrow will be terrible.”
“Really?”
“However, liquor doesn’t cause a hangover, so it might be fine…?”
“Is that so!”
“Cheers!”
“Cheers!”
Florian, realizing he could no longer stand watching, grabbed the glass from Eileen’s hand and poured it into his mouth.
Eileen blinked, surprised, slightly parting her lips as she looked up at him.
Thunk—.
Placing the empty glass on the table, Florian grabbed Eileen’s hand and said firmly:
“The drinking session disguised as a business meeting is over. Both of you. Eileen, you’ve had too much. Don’t regret it tomorrow—so that’s enough—”
“Black Knight!”
“—Huh?”
“Black Knight! Woooah!”
Suddenly, Eileen’s eyes sparkled.
“Whoa! What’s that?!”
“The one who drinks instead of you is the Black Knight! Love, that’s love! Wooah! I’ve always wanted to have a Black Knight once! Usually, guys just get you drunk to try something! Wooah! I have a Black Knight too!”
She clapped her hands and laughed with pure joy, leaving Florian speechless.
Black Knight or whatever—forget that for now. Who are these guys trying to do something by getting her drunk?
“Ah! A husband who truly loves his wife! Wow, you’ve changed so much—! I’ll be your Black Knight too! Okay? For our friendship, I’ll be your Black Knight!”
Florian’s hand firmly pushed away Eden, who was offering his own drink to be drunk instead, showing a thoroughly disgusted expression.
“Hey, friendship and love are different, Eden.”
“How unfair!”
“I told you, the world is unfair!”
“Then make it fair!”
“Fair? Then let’s just all drink together!”
“Yeah, drink! Let’s all toast! Florian, you too, have a drink, quickly!”
Florian let out a deep sigh amidst the drunk shouting.
How would they handle tomorrow after all this, he wondered. Sigh.
In this chaotic situation, there was only one thing Florian could do: prevent these two drunks from drinking any more.
Accidentally caught up in this drinking session, Florian started to mingle with them with a look of resigned detachment.
“This is impossible.”
“We haven’t even started talking yet.”
Mera wasn’t the type to need everything explained to her to notice.
She shook her head as if this shouldn’t be happening.
Even though she had married the old duke, she had long harbored feelings for Helias.
So naturally, the image of the late Northern Duke’s actions formed in her mind.
Despite countless victories, Helias was never fully recognized.
He was always restrained by the royal family.
All the lingering questions she had suddenly seemed to resolve.
Thinking this, a smirk spread across Mera’s face.
Her eyes glittered with desire, and her full chest rose and fell with excitement.
“If I help you find your place, will you welcome me as Empress? Honestly, I’m still a little proud that you chose me over Eileen.”
“Are you asking me to propose?”
“That woman—Eileen Helios. I want to see her ruin with my own eyes.”
“Whatever kind of downfall you want, if that’s what you wish, it can be done.”
“Just in case she resents me… if the woman I once loved blames me—”
“That won’t happen, Mera.”
“Really?”
“It’s also what I hoped for.”
“….”
“If I can’t have it, it’s easier to destroy it.”
The two looked at each other and smiled a cold, bitter smile simultaneously.
“But above all, Mera, in your current state, you won’t achieve what you want.”
“That’s true. In society, they’ll laugh at me. I’d rather die and be pitied than be laughed at.”
“Does it have to be you who dies?”
“….”
At that moment, Mera’s eyes gleamed once more.
Helias rolled his sultry eyes once, then looked at Mera and asked:
“Any last wishes you want to change?”
“…No, none.”
If he dies, everything will be mine.
But Mera’s expression stiffened slightly.
“I don’t want blood on my hands.”
“If it were possible, it wouldn’t have dragged on this long.”
“…Will you do it instead? Really?”
“In exchange for taking the blood on my hands instead of yours, give me part of the Duke’s territory.”
“Part of the territory?”
“The Thanatos lands.”
“Why that useless land?”
“Nothing in this world is useless, Mera.”
“Fine. I can give that easily enough.”
In truth, the duke’s territory was far from the city.
Moreover, the land Helias wanted connected to the western desert region, where sandstorms came in summer, and in winter, nothing grew on the frozen soil—a true land of death.
Why he wanted that land, and for what scheme, Mera didn’t know.
She nodded readily.
After all, once the duke dies, all his assets are hers, and she was only asking for the least useful part.
It wasn’t a bad deal for her either.
Most importantly, this man, Helias…
“I really needed him,” Mera thought with a sly smile.
Helias continued speaking gently, coaxing her.
“Before that, you’ll need to help with some tasks as well.”
After saying this, he took something from an inner pocket and placed it on the table.
Inside a tiny vial, no larger than a thumb, was something dark red.
“You said my hands wouldn’t get bloody.”
“Correct. Your hands won’t touch blood. This is just—a medicine that slightly worsens the condition, not a poison that will kill.”
Mera picked up the tiny vial.
“…It would be nice to go to the sea for summer vacation. The villa we built on the beach is finally nearing completion.”
“That sounds wonderful.”
At Helias’ response, Mera already felt her heart flutter with excitement.
