Chapter 5

Xiaoming stood at the classroom door, took a deep breath, and firmly gripped the secret letter from his mother.

---

Amid the cherry blossoms dancing in the wind, Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of promise written there.

---

Due to Altair's piercing gaze, Xiaoming had overeaten to empty his plate, and his stomach was a mess. The alcohol he hastily drank while extremely tense was also a problem. The strong drink made him tipsy, and his face felt hot.

‘What should I do…’

As the alcohol started to kick in, drowsiness overwhelmed him. If only someone would talk to him, it would help, but after Cain, no one had come to see him. A few knights had approached him quietly, but they quickly turned pale and hurriedly moved away from him. Amid the noise, he felt like an outcast.

‘I really owe Cain.’

If it weren't for him, he would have left the banquet without saying a word. As he absentmindedly touched the empty wine glass, he began to feel increasingly pitiful. To come to a strange place where no one welcomed him and to live in fear… The knights were drinking and having a great time, and they were all drunk and sprawled out. It seemed that Altair was the only one who was still sober.

‘Why do I have to live like this? I'm a valuable person too! What if I knock them all over?’

The alcohol gave him a sense of confidence that he could do anything. He instinctively stood up from his seat. He felt more unsteady than he thought, and he could feel his body swaying.

‘Right. I'm drunk. So I can knock them all over! This dirty world!’

But that great confidence vanished like a bubble as soon as he saw Altair's cold eyes, which followed him as he stood up.

‘Even when drunk, the scary person is still scary.’

He nodded in agreement with his survival instinct and bowed deeply. He could feel Altair approaching him.

“You seem drunk.”

“No, I'm fine. Everything is good.”

“...You're definitely drunk.”

Altair frowned and grabbed his arm. His body swayed and leaned towards Altair. As the distance closed, Altair flinched. Xiaoming quickly bowed his head.

“I'm sorry. I touched you.”

“Why do you keep saying sorry to me?”

“I'm sorry for saying sorry. I'll try to expand my vocabulary. If I try, nothing is impossible.”

“What are you talking about?”

“So, if I try…”

Before it could get any longer, Altair raised his hand to stop him and lifted him up. As his body floated, Xiaoming instinctively wrapped his arms around Altair's neck. As he blinked, Altair turned his head, and his exposed ear was red.

“See? It's much better when you don't struggle.”

Altair's stern eyes, which seemed strangely embarrassed, made Xiaoming's mouth slowly open in surprise.

‘Could this be…’

Because of the alcohol!

‘Right. It must be because of the alcohol.’

He concluded. After all, the crazy villain wouldn't be embarrassed just by holding a woman.

‘Wow. This alcohol must be really strong to make me see things.’

He firmly decided.

‘Alcohol is the problem. This damn alcohol. I won't drink it again.’

---

Nadia soon fell asleep in Altair's arms. Seeing this, Altair let out a hollow laugh. She had been trembling and kneeling every time their eyes met, but now, drunk, she was sleeping soundly in his arms. If she were fully conscious, she would have been terrified and jumped out of his arms. When they met in the corridor, she had flailed and tried to escape from his hands. Altair looked at Nadia with a complicated expression. How could someone of the same age be so different? Her white skin, small hands, smooth skin, and soft pink hair made her look like a noble lady. In contrast, Altair's skin was tanned from the sun, and his large hands were full of small scars. He looked more like a mercenary than a noble. He went out every day to wield his sword and fight enemies, which was inevitable. The knights of Eilsford, including Altair, were rough. They were all simple, rural young men at heart, but their appearance was intimidating. Even the mercenaries who occasionally visited Eilsford were afraid of them, so it was natural for a delicate lady from the capital to be scared.

“My lord.”

Pavel approached Altair, who was quietly looking at Nadia's face. On his back was the heavily drunk Anna.

“Anna is in no condition to attend to the lady. My lord, please change her clothes.”

“What?”

“What else? The lady's clothes.”

“...What?”

“Yes. She can't sleep in this state. She was already sick and collapsed. She won't be able to rest properly if she's uncomfortable.”

“So, you want me to do it?”

Altair stood there like a broken doll, his mouth wide open. Pavel looked at him with disdain and shook his head.

“Then the husband should do it. Should I do it?”

Pavel shrugged nonchalantly, and the frozen Altair reacted.

“What can you do?”

“You mean my lord should do it.”

“...”

“Since the lady collapsed, you haven't consummated the marriage. If you keep this up, when will you share a bed and have an heir?”

“Ha. She faints at the sight of me. Consummate the marriage? See an heir? It would be a miracle if she doesn't faint again.”

‘And yet, she says she'll make an effort to look me in the eye…’

Altair let out a hollow laugh, looking amazed, and frowned, but Pavel's attitude didn't change.

“Why did you appear covered in blood on the wedding day? If you're from Eilsford, where conflicts happen frequently, it might be understandable, but the lady grew up in the safe capital. She would be shocked to see you like that.”

“Did you and Blan plan this? You sound just like him. Are you trying to pass as brothers?”

“Thinking we look alike because we're brothers is a prejudice.”

They were brothers with a two-year age gap. Blan was the older brother, and Pavel was the younger brother.

“From appearance to tone, there's no difference. You're both nagging, annoying people. The only difference is that one wears glasses and the other doesn't.”

The one with glasses is Pavel, and the one without is Blan. Altair clicked his tongue and nodded.

“Anyway, it was an unavoidable situation. You know the level of the enemy I had to face.”

“That's true, but... it would have been better if you had bathed and changed clothes before appearing.”

“I would have had to keep the bride standing for a few more hours.”

“Hmm. Wouldn't it have been better to keep her standing for a few more hours than to show her that terrifying appearance?”

Pavel's words made Altair close his mouth. It seemed he thought it wasn't entirely wrong.

“Let's drop that.”

As the conversation turned against him, Altair naturally changed the subject.

“What about the one we spared? It's time for him to talk.”

“According to Blan, it seems to be the work of ‘them.’ They definitely targeted the lady.”

“Of course.”

Altair frowned and looked at Nadia in his arms. Does this woman even know what situation she's in? Balhael is a despicable man. He will continue to target Nadia, who is an easier target.

‘This delicate lady, who trembles at the sight of me, would be devastated if she knew…’

“I'll take care of this. Please look after the lady, my lord.”

Before Altair could think deeply, Pavel sighed, glanced at Anna on his back, and left. As Altair, left alone, looked down at Nadia again, she snuggled closer into his warm embrace.

‘Ugh.’

Altair's ears turned bright red as he flinched and slightly pulled back.

---

I woke up with a terrible stomachache. I had no memory of what happened after I stood up, determined to knock everything over while drunk.

‘Ugh…’

Holding my head in pain, I looked around and saw the familiar room I had grown accustomed to in just two days.

‘How did I get back?’

I searched for an answer, and quickly found it.

‘My terrifying homing instinct. It's still there.’

When I was sober, I had the habit of quietly getting up from my seat and finding my way home when drunk. I would even put on my coat and take my bag, which my friends found amazing. Now, even though my appearance is completely different, my soul is the same, so my drinking habit seems to have followed me.

‘But why is the tie loose?’

My clothes felt loose, and when I reached back, the tie around my upper body was loosely undone, as if someone had tried to untie it but gave up halfway.

‘Did I try to take it off myself and fail?’

It would be difficult to untie the tie on the back by myself. I understood the situation and got out of bed. My stomach was churning, and I wanted to drink some water.

‘Kettle… water…’

I moved like a zombie towards the table, but there was no kettle. As I confirmed this, the door opened, and Anna, looking even more like a zombie, entered with a kettle.

“Lady… you're awake… I thought you might be thirsty, so I brought some water…”

She seemed to know what to do, albeit a bit awkwardly. I was grateful that she came to do her job despite her haggard appearance. She could have passed it off to other maids.

“If you're not feeling well, you should have sent someone else.”

“Someone else?”

Anna tilted her head at my words.

“Someone else, like Pavel? It would be strange to have Pavel attend to the lady.”

“Pavel? You mean the butler? Why did you mention his name?”

“Someone else… Ah! Or did you mean the cook, Brett? But it would be even stranger to have Brett attend to the lady.”

Our conversation kept going in circles due to some misunderstanding.

“I meant that you could have passed it to another maid.”

“There's only one maid here, me.”

“What?”

“Pavel is the butler, Brett is the cook, and I am the maid. There are only three of us working in the castle.”

“What?”

Only three people working in this large castle? It was unbelievable. A butler, a cook, and a maid were the minimum staff. In a well-maintained castle, there would be various servants in different positions, such as footmen, gardeners, coachmen, housekeepers, and maids. Since there was no lady of the house in Eilsford, it made sense that there were no housekeeper or maids. But there was the lord, Altair. A footman to attend to him was essential.

“I've never seen a house without a footman. Who attends to the lord?”

At my question, Anna shrugged.

“He finds such things bothersome. He mostly takes care of himself, and Pavel helps when needed.”

“What about when guests come? Without a footman, who does it?”

“Actually, guests rarely come to this rural area… but if they do, Pavel handles it.”

“And the butler also manages the household, like bookkeeping, since there was no lady of the house.”

“That's right.”

It seemed that all the tasks typically handled by male servants were done by Pavel.

‘So, all the tasks for a female servant were done by Anna.’

I had a rough idea of how things worked.

‘Why did it end up in such a distorted form?’

As I pondered alone, a chilling answer came to mind.

‘Really… the lord…’

He was even more of a pauper than I imagined…