“Alois. What do you think about that?”
“Hm?”
It felt great to be under the sky, when the moon was high and the sun was asleep. I felt like it was worth giving up sleep to experience this feeling.
“That’s alcohol—”
“You know I don’t get drunk.”
“But I do,” Alois said in a slightly trembling voice.
The thing I pointed to, was a bottle with a lovely flower design.
The fragrant scent wafted up to where we stood.
“I want to try it. You’re not going to say no, right?”
Of course, that wasn’t my real reason.
Since I didn’t get drunk anyway, something sweet like juice would’ve been a better choice.
The only reason I wanted to drink was simple.
“Hm? Alois??”
I just wanted to see Alois drunk.
At the party, they didn’t serve anything with particularly high alcohol content, and in private, there were no occasions where just the two of us shared a drink.
“Emilone, just be honest,” Alois said, glancing sideways at the letters scribbled on a wooden placard while clenching his fist, “You just want to see me drunk, don’t you?”
In front of each differently designed bottle of alcohol, a wooden placard had been placed.
The one I pointed at had a phrase boldly written: “Just one glass will get you drunk!”
“Do you really think that’s true?”
“Whether it is or not. If I keep drinking, won’t I get drunk eventually?”
The festival was fun.
Even though I was slightly annoyed by the robe covering my face, it was a small price to pay.
As I folded my hands behind my back and fluttered my lashes like I was asking if he wouldn’t do it for me, Alois sighed and turned his body.
Perhaps he still felt bad about raising his voice at me earlier. He was surprisingly compliant.
“It’ll be dawn soon. So…let’s drink this and then head back.”
At his words, I looked up at the moon still hanging high in the sky.
Compared to the day, the night always felt too short.
I used to like the sun more than the moon, for sure.
“Well, fine.”
But now, things were different.
Standing under the moon like this felt… very different from before.
“Shall we go somewhere with good lighting and have a drink?”
“I’m not much of a drinker, so I can’t promise I’ll be great company.”
“Just staying by my side is more than enough.”
I wondered what it would feel like if that pale white face was actually flushed red.
I couldn’t quite imagine it, so I kept staring at his back as he went to buy the drink.
“I know just the place,” Alois said lightly as he returned, having paid and brought back the bottle and two cups.
“You’ll like it too, Lady Emilone.”
He gently swirled the bottle and began walking.
I followed behind, frowning slightly.
“What kind of place is it?”
“It’s up on a mountain.”
“A mountain?”
“A secret spot only I know.”
He smiled in that precarious way of his.
***
The secret place Alois mentioned really was up on a mountain.
We didn’t have to walk for too long, but the place we arrived at was unexpected.
If it was something Alois had deemed ‘a good spot,’I thought it’d be something like a pavilion tucked away in the forest.
“This way.”
“If I fall, you’re taking responsibility.”
The spot he led me to…was a cliff.
A cliff that looked like it could collapse at any moment.
Holding Alois’s hand, I cautiously stepped closer to the edge of the cliff.
One more step and it felt like I’d be walking straight into the afterlife.
Even for me, it felt like an instant death sort of place.
“Shall we sit?”
“You’re calling this kind of dangerous place a secret spot?”
“Doesn’t it have quite the atmosphere?”
Well, he had an artifact, so even if he fell, it wouldn’t be a problem.
I sat down, perching nervously on the edge, and looked up at him with narrow eyes.
When I squinted, he burst out laughing.
“Shall I pour you a drink?”
He plopped down beside me as he spoke.
The view before us was breathtaking.
It wasn’t an especially high place, but you could see quite far.
As I tilted the glass, I thought the scenery matched the moment perfectly.
I nodded and took the cup he handed over.
When I accepted it, Alois poured into the empty glass.
The scent wasn’t all that pleasant.
I took a sip. The taste was… nothing to write home about.
“Shall I pour you another?”
“That would be appreciated.”
I wouldn’t get drunk anyway.
The bottle full of liquor was clearly more for Alois than for me.
“Drink.”
He didn’t refuse.
He hesitated, but he wouldn’t dare reject a drink I offered.
One glass became two, two became three.
It was said to be strong liquor, and that claim was definitely true.
“Lady Emilone.”
He wasn’t acting like usual.
His red eyes were filled with heat.
Between his slightly parted lips, his tongue languidly traced along his lower lip.
I watched his approaching face closely.
“Alois.”
Whenever I called him like this, he always responded the same way.
“Yes, I’m listening.”
As expected.
His answer didn’t disappoint, and I tapped his cheek with my index finger.
“You’re drunk.”
“I figured as much. My heart’s beating too fast which must mean I am.”
He let out a short laugh.
His words felt more sluggish than usual.
I quietly engraved the image of this side of Alois in my mind, a version of him that only ever unraveled in front of me.
I always thought he and Lady Ronella were alike.
Both of them hid their true selves from everyone.
Alois did it to better handle people.
Ronella did it because she wanted to be loved by everyone.
“Lady Emilone.”
He tipped the glass again, pointlessly.
“You know you’ve been saying my name over and over again, right?”
“I just want to call it.”
The drink wasn’t all that sweet. But it wasn’t bitter either.
It didn’t go down that smoothly, and the scent was just average.
It tasted exactly as cheap as its price suggested.
“Lady Emilone, do you know how hard I worked to have you?”
I turned my head to face him.
It was a precarious spot, but that made the scenery even more beautiful.
It was almost a waste to be sitting here with some cheap drink.
“You worked hard for it?”
“Of course.
“Before we met, I thought charming some naïve Saint would be easy.”
He poured more liquor into my empty glass.
Alois kept tipping his glass with that same beautiful face.
That dangerously alluring appearance of his shone even more under the influence.
Now I understood why he never drank in front of others.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t handle his liquor but if anyone else ever saw him like this, he’d quickly become someone’s prey.
“But the moment I saw you, I changed my mind.”
Even this liquor, after a while, didn’t seem so bad.
To be honest, once Alois started talking, it didn’t matter what I was drinking.
If I’d known he’d get this drunk so easily, I should’ve done this sooner.
“Lady Saintess, you were more than I imagined.”
“…”
I had never asked how he saw me.
From our first meeting until now, everything had felt inevitable. There had never been room for coincidence.
“You probably don’t know what I was thinking the moment I saw you.”
“You never told me, so of course I don’t.”
I sipped the last of my drink, using Alois’s voice as a sort of companion. Under the moonlight, he looked more radiant than ever.
“You were beautiful.”
He tilted his head slightly, his cheeks faintly colored, and smiled gently. There was no trace of pretense.
“I thought you shone more brightly than anyone I’d ever seen.”
“Because I’m a Saintess?”
“As if that would be the only reason.”
He took the cup from my hand. I let it go without resistance.
There was no reason to be upset by such deliberately sweet words.
“I still remember how you stood beneath the chandelier, proud and tall. The way your red eyes, so much like mine, swept over the nobles… I thought, no matter what happened, I had to stand beside you.”
It was truly sweet. Almost enough to feel like I was being enchanted.
I tucked my hair behind one ear and lowered my gaze.
“I thought holding you would be worth more than holding the kingdom of Eseah.”
It sounded more like a monologue. At some point, the gaze that had been fixed on me had shifted away.
He was staring out at the beautiful view. The world he was looking at was the same as mine.
“So, do you have me now?”
I already knew the answer was no. I had never once belonged to him.
And I had never held him in my hand either.
“No.”
“…”
“Now that I think about it… far from having you, I think I’ve ended up in the palm of your hand.”
Did he really believe that?
I had never once thought I had him in my grasp.
“Alois, do you know what it means to be a Saint?”
He didn’t seem ready to speak again, so I exhaled slowly and muttered to myself. My words slurred, and I rolled my tongue a few times.
I wasn’t supposed to get drunk, but maybe I drank too much anyway.
“It’s having a body that heals instantly from wounds. Immune to poison, medicine, even alcohol. It’s a blessing, sure.”
I wasn’t asking for an answer. I was just talking.
“At first, it scared me. I didn’t feel human. But thinking back, I guess God gave me this body so I could protect people.”
I opened my hand and extended it forward. Under the moonlight, it looked almost unnaturally pale.
“That must be difficult.”
“You’re the first person who’s ever said that to me, Alois.”
Even Reneben had called it a blessing. It was only natural; God had given me this power.
“I imagine it’s hard. Having that kind of power means carrying more responsibility on your shoulders.”
Alois lightly tapped his own shoulder.
“It must be heavy.”
“…You only need to take care of Eseah, but I have to look after not just the Empire, but other nations too.”
My glass was empty. The bottle was empty too.
I let my body sway in the wind, leaning forward.
It felt like I could fall off the edge at any moment.
“That must be hard.”
“…”
“That’s why I’m here. To help lighten that burden.”
His eyes narrowed like a snake’s.
The looseness from before vanished in an instant.
“You chose me. And because of that, I’ll devote myself to you, Lady Emilone.”
It was a tempting promise.
He looked me straight in the eye, sincerity radiating from his gaze.
The vulnerable version of him from earlier was completely gone.
If not for the faint scent of alcohol and his flushed, pale face, I might have forgotten he was even drunk.
“Come here,” I whispered.
Alois met my gaze, and I opened my arms.
He quietly buried his face against my shoulder.
I ran my fingers through his soft brown hair, patting his back gently like calming a child.
“You said you’d devote yourself to me.”
I murmured in his ear, like a whisper.
His leaning body relaxed but it felt quietly heavy.
Advanced chapters available on Patreon.
- Emilone’s Temptation Labyrinth – Chapter 118 - July 15, 2025
- Honey, I’m Going on Strike – Chapter 3 - July 15, 2025
- Honey, I’m Going on Strike – Chapter 2 - July 14, 2025