Chapter 74
‘Hey, Viktor, you crazy bastard. Am I some kind of luggage to you?’
As I was carried at breakneck speed, the blood rushed so hard to my head that I nearly blacked out. I wondered if this bastard had any idea how many curses I was hurling at him inside my head.
By the time the dizziness from both alcohol and motion sickness made me feel like I was going to puke, I finally begged Viktor.
“P-please put me down! Colonel!”
To my surprise, Viktor obediently set me down.
Only after tugging at the collar of my dress uniform jacket to free my throat could I breathe properly again. I glared at Viktor, filled with resentment from the suffocation and nausea.
“Why are you looking up at me so sexily, sweetheart? And since you’re wet, you’re twice as sexy.”
That reaction only doubled my bad mood.
I gave up trying to talk to this lunatic and glanced around instead. It looked like the middle of a dense forest.
‘Still inside the Imperial Palace… a forest… then it must be the palace hunting grounds.’
It felt like only a few minutes had passed. Did he really carry me all the way here? I clicked my tongue inwardly as I untied the dress jacket Viktor had draped around me.
Because he was so large, the jacket practically reached my knees.
“Here.”
I held it out to him.
“Keep it on.”
“No, thank you. My dress needs to dry, and it feels a bit too warm for me.”
My drunkenness usually hit me with a delay. Heat made that timing a little faster.
‘The alcohol I swallowed in the fountain was way over my tolerance.’
Once the intoxication hit, it would hit hard. It was better to stay a little chilly and delay it as much as possible.
But instead of taking the jacket back, Viktor crouched on the ground and started doing something.
“…Colonel König, what are you doing?”
“Gathering firewood.”
He said that and then pulled out a match, striking it until a small campfire came to life.
‘He has fire abilities, yet he’s using matches?’
The thought crossed my mind, but I didn’t ask. I needed the fire anyway—my dress had to dry completely before I returned to the mansion.
“Why don’t you just keep wearing my uniform? You look insanely hot right now.”
“I’m fine. It’s just you and me here, after all.”
“…That sounds incredibly lewd, you know?”
Viktor wiggled his eyebrows and spoke in a sly, playful tone.
‘So he really was a womanizer before awakening… guess the habit stuck.’
But I knew from the game that all that flirting was meaningless.
I forced the khaki jacket into his hands anyway and bowed slightly.
“Thank you for saving me in such a difficult situation.”
Viktor stared at me for a moment before finally taking the jacket.
“I was of help to you?”
“Of course.”
He gave a short laugh, and the sight of his slightly parted lips made him look even more handsome.
“I’ll just dry off and then head straight back to the banquet hall. I promised to meet a maid again in a little while.”
Of course, it wasn’t the maid I had promised—it was actually a promise with Damian.
Viktor nodded.
Most likely, neither my mother nor Paula had heard the commotion earlier.
Mother was probably still wasting her time loitering in the Empress’s antechamber, and Paula would be too busy chasing after men outside to notice what had happened in the hall.
‘Sending them toward the rear garden was the right move.’
The garden was on the opposite side of the fountain where I had fallen. No matter how loud the banquet commotion got, it wouldn’t reach the rear garden.
“…”
Strange. The longer I sat by the fire, the heavier and lazier my thoughts felt.
“You always have this shocking side to you whenever we meet. All alone with me in some secluded place dressed like that… Aren’t you scared?”
Viktor’s teasing voice sounded oddly… far away.
“The first time we met was like that too. You always show me some new, unexpected side. It’s funny, entertaining.”
My head throbbed… That fountain wine must’ve been way stronger than I’d thought.
“Um… Colonel, this is embarrassing to ask, but… is there a faster way to dry my clothes?”
I felt uneasy—the intoxication was rising faster than expected.
“Want me to make the fire stronger?”
“No. Since you’re a fire-user, if you use your ability on me—”
“With my ability? I’d burn you to the bone. Unless you want to end up a pile of ash, just sit and dry like this.”
Oh. Right. Obviously. Why didn’t I think of that?
With no other choice, I sat back down in front of the fire.
‘But I’m running out of time… the drunkenness is coming… I need to get back to the mansion quickly…’
To do that, my dress needed to dry. Completely.
“If all else fails, there is another way. How about just leaning on me?”
He spread his arms wide, his white shirt pulling across his broad chest.
‘Ah, right. Fire-users like him always had a much higher body temperature than average humans.’
“You’re too noble and proper to actually do it, though. So just sit by the campfire—”
“Then excuse me for a moment.”
I stepped into his embrace. His body was enormous.
‘This is way better than the fire.’
More surface contact meant my dress would dry faster. It wasn’t like hugging a man—it was like pressing against a dry sauna. Definitely more efficient.
“…You really are full of surprises.”
Viktor said nothing more, just wrapped his arms around my back. The back of my dress began drying faster immediately.
In silence, the crackle of the fire and the sounds of the night hunting grounds stood out, along with the steady thump of Viktor’s heartbeat.
Oh! Right!
“Doesn’t being in the hunting grounds bother you? You didn’t end up somewhere terrifying because of me, did you?”
“The hunting grounds… ah, you’re right. …Didn’t even notice.”
His voice sounded a little surprised.
“Why… why didn’t I notice? Maybe because I’m with you?”
So he was covering his trauma with hostility? Hatred can overcome fear, I guess.
“That’s it. Because I’m with you.”
I did the same with my father—overcoming my fear of him through pure rage.
‘Hmm. That makes me curious again.’
Normally I would hold back my questions, but right now it was strangely hard to control my tongue.
“Colonel, you don’t usually attend balls, do you? I heard you don’t like them.”
Definitely not because I was drunk. I was dizzy, sure, but only tipsy—not drunk.
“You always say you hate how silly these khaki uniforms look too.”
“Did you study my tastes or something? You really do know a lot about me.”
Even in the game, he had never once worn this uniform. Which made me honestly curious. What the hell was he doing here?
Normally, I would’ve kept that curiosity to myself. But right now, it was impossible. Definitely not because of the alcohol.
‘I’m just dizzy, just tipsy, not drunk at all… Wait, why do I feel déjà vu? Didn’t I think this exact same thing earlier?’
“I was curious. Wanted to see how nobles amuse themselves.”
“I see. Well, the uniform suits you very well.”
“…Does it? Then stop grinning like that.”
His heartbeat quickened beneath my ear. The whole situation felt so funny I couldn’t help but giggle.
