APML 09

Chapter 09

Just as he was about to ask about the accident, Evelyn returned, and they set off immediately, so he never got to hear the rest of the story.
An accident… It might be nothing, but the part about her having “changed” bothers me.
The woman sitting across from him looked as if she had nothing on her mind, yet the more he learned about her, the more suspicious details emerged.
I should tell Jade to hurry up with a background check.

After returning to her room, Evelyn roughly unpacked her things and flopped down onto the bed.
The bedding, still warm and soft, cushioned her body snugly.
“I’m sleepy.”

But she quickly got up and lightly slapped her own cheeks to chase the drowsiness away.
“I’m bored. I’ll go to the library and read a book.”

Evelyn sprang up from the bed and walked down the corridor toward the library, when she suddenly glanced out the window.
Perhaps because it was the north, the days were short—she’d only stepped out briefly, yet the sun was already about to set.
Of course, sleeping in late hadn’t helped either.

Come to think of it, the assassination attempt was during the spring festival, right? When does that start again?
Once the spring festival began, the “future” she had predicted would be proven true sooner, and she could relax a bit.

Thinking that, Evelyn was heading down the stairs when she stopped at the sound of loud chatter nearby.
“What is that?”

Curious, she turned toward the noise.
Following the sound, she arrived at a place with large double doors made of wood.
She peeked inside through a gap in one of the open doors.

About ten people who looked like soldiers were gathered inside.
Despite their numbers, the tables were piled high with food and alcohol, and everyone was clinking glasses, drinking, and laughing boisterously.
Judging by their faces, they already seemed quite drunk.

Wow, already? The sun hasn’t even set yet.

The noisy atmosphere looked fun, but Evelyn’s gaze was fixed on the glasses of alcohol on the table.
Just then, the door suddenly swung wide open.

“Kyaaak!”

Leaning against the door off guard, Evelyn pitched forward with a short scream.
“What are you staring at? Who are you?”

“Uh, well…”

Evelyn, sprawled forward, lifted only her head to look at the person who had opened the door.
It was a tall woman in a military uniform, with short brown bobbed hair and green eyes.

What is it? This familiar impression…

The woman didn’t bother to help Evelyn up, instead crossing her arms and glaring down at her sharply.
The room quickly fell silent, and everyone’s attention focused on Evelyn.

“Ah, sorry for interrupting. I was just passing by and heard how lively it sounded.”

“……”

As the woman continued to stare down at her, now frowning, Evelyn swallowed nervously.
“I was just curious about what you were all doing. I wasn’t spying or anything—it just sounded really fun…”

“Then drink with us!”

“Huh?”

The woman suddenly burst into loud laughter, hauled Evelyn up, and dragged her straight to the table.
She was so strong that Evelyn couldn’t even twitch a finger as she was pulled along.

“Uh, no, wait a moment—”

“The more people, the better at a fun gathering. Don’t be shy.”

She’s drunk. This woman is drunk!

Before she knew it, Evelyn was seated at the table.
The men sitting on either side of her promptly placed a glass in front of her and filled it to the brim.
The short-haired woman sat across from her, grinning.

“Drink.”

“No, um… what?”

“You said it looked fun. Didn’t you want to join us?”

Evelyn smiled awkwardly and glanced around.
It did look fun, but that didn’t mean she wanted to join this rough-looking crowd.
As Evelyn hesitated, the short-haired woman leaned in close and whispered provocatively.

“You have to at least drink that much to sit here. So? Can’t do it?”

When she finished speaking, the others also turned their curious gazes on Evelyn.
Most of them looked as if they were underestimating her—Can you even drink?

She tried to refuse, but those looks made her oddly unwilling to back down.
Besides, judging from the table, it was obvious they had already drunk a lot, and with the atmosphere so heated from the alcohol, slipping away felt awkward.

Evelyn looked at the glass in front of her.
A dark liquid, deeper in color than beer, sloshed inside a large glass.

That looks like more than 500 cc. And what kind of alcohol is this?

Back in the U.S., drinking parties had been her only escape from stress, so she rarely missed one.
Unfortunately, her tolerance was low, so she’d relied on various flashy drinking tricks she’d learned from friends from Korea to liven up the mood.
Since coming to this world, alcohol felt like a waste of money, so she’d only had the occasional drink and never enough to know her limit.

“Drink! Drink!”

Before she realized it, everyone was chanting together.
All eyes on her, the shouts urging her on, the heated atmosphere—

“Ah, whatever.”

Grabbing the glass boldly, Evelyn started chugging it down.
The more she drank, the louder the cheers became.

Huh, this isn’t bad?

The alcohol went down her throat more smoothly than she’d expected. She drained the glass completely and turned it upside down over her head.
The cheers grew even louder.

“Wow, impressive! She really drank it all!”

“Whoa, miss, where did you come from? You can really hold your liquor!”

Evelyn slammed the glass onto the table, wiped the spilled alcohol with her hand, and flashed a grin at the short-haired woman who had egged her on.

“There. I drank it all. Is that enough?”

The short-haired woman burst into laughter at Evelyn’s bravado.

“I like you. I’m Kate. Kate Ransel.”

That familiar impression made sense—she was Jade’s younger sister.
She led Cain’s intelligence unit and handled most of the information that reached him, so getting on her good side could be useful in many ways.

Evelyn did her best to smile warmly.
“I’m Evelyn.”

“Good. Evelyn, want another drink?”

“Of course.”

At Evelyn’s acceptance, Kate laughed heartily and filled the glass Evelyn had just emptied once more.

“You’re not planning to drink alone again, are you, Kate?”

“Of course not.”

Kate winked and filled her own glass as well.
As soon as they lifted their glasses, Evelyn made a toast and immediately started drinking.
Their pace was neck and neck—less drinking than pouring it straight down—which sparked another round of cheers from the crowd.

After finishing a meeting, Cain came down to the hall with Jade for dinner.
The meal was already set, but one seat was empty, so Cain asked,

“Where is she?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe she’s in the library?”

“Tell her to come quickly.”

“Yes.”

Jade gestured to a servant.
“Shall we start first?”

“How long could it take?”

“Ah, all right.”

Jade smiled gently and sat with Cain to wait.
But a few minutes later, the servant who had gone to call Evelyn returned with an awkward expression.

“What is it?”

“Well… Miss Evelyn is currently dining elsewhere.”

“Elsewhere? She doesn’t know anyone. Where?”

At Cain’s puzzled question, the servant hesitated before continuing.

“She is drinking with the subordinates who returned to the castle today.”

“Drinking?”

Cain and Jade exchanged glances.
Today was the day the intelligence unit that had been sent to Shuran to watch for any underhanded schemes during the armistice negotiations had returned.
So Cain had granted them free time and provided plenty of food and alcohol.

“Don’t tell me—”

Cain and Jade hurriedly rose from their seats.

“……”

Cain stared at the scene of his subordinates’ drinking party with a dumbfounded expression.

“Jade. How should I even interpret this?”

“Uh… well. I’m not sure.”

The place was already a complete mess.
Many were sprawled out, thoroughly drunk, and only a handful of survivors were still drinking.
Among those survivors were Evelyn and Kate.

“You can drink more, right?”

“Of course. Then this time, I’ll mix something myself.”

“Mix? What?”

Evelyn grinned, stacked a small glass on top of a large one, and poured different kinds of alcohol into them.
Then she struck the small glass with a fork, dropping it into the large one, and shook the glass vigorously to mix it.

“Oooo!”

“Wow, I’ve never seen that before!”

Cheers erupted at the flashy swirling technique, and Evelyn handed the glass to Kate.

“It tastes a bit different from what I’m used to, so I’m not sure how it’ll be, but try it.”

“What are you talking about? They’re both my favorite drinks. Mixed together, it’ll taste twice as good.”

“Wow, you know your stuff.”

At Evelyn’s challenge, Kate laughed and raised the glass, pouring it straight into her mouth.
The emptier the glass became, the louder the cheers grew, and when it was finally empty, a roar of applause filled the room.

“So? How is it?”

“It’s good. Make me another.”

“Me too, me too!”

At Kate’s request, the others nearby held out their glasses as well.

“Just a moment. Making several glasses at once requires delicate technique, you know?”

Evelyn lined up the glasses and filled them about halfway with low-proof alcohol.
Then she placed small glasses between them and filled those with strong liquor.

As everyone fell silent, focusing on Evelyn’s movements, a cough suddenly sounded from behind.

Kate, who had absentmindedly lifted her head, abruptly sprang to her feet.