CH 46

46 – Social gathering (1)

[Physis's POV]

As soon as the dance was over, Adilun suddenly put her hand on my shoulder.

“Adilun?”

I looked at her, wondering what the hell was going on, and she was just asleep with her eyes closed peacefully.

'Hahaha... ' 

Wrapping Adilun in my coat and caring her like a princess in my arms, I put my shoes back on, left the garden, and headed straight to her room.

Perhaps because the banquet was over, the inside of the castle was quiet.

“Um…”

Adilun's face was illuminated in the dark by the moonlight coming through the small windows of the castle, and she looked out of this world while sleeping peacefully.

That was how I arrived in front of Adilun’s room.

I opened the door, made her sleep comfortably on the bed, and covered her with a blanket.

While taking care of her sleeping figure, I sat down on the chair nearby and looked around for a while, then I stroked her hair hesitantly and immediately left the room.

My thoughts were complicatedly mixed. What should I do in the future, how should I treat her… … thoughts like that ran through my mind.

However, all those thoughts eventually boiled down to a single thing;

To make Adilun happier.

* * *

[Adilun's POV]

My head was heavy and spinning.

“Ahhh… …”

I let out an uncontrolled moan and clutched my head. The bright morning sun was beating down on me.

My eyes, which had opened, closed again with the intrusion of sunlight, and at the same time, my eyes blinked to open on their own and finally came into focus.

The appearance of the bedroom came to my glance, albeit in a blur.

'Why am I in the bedroom? Yesterday, I must have been eating something at the banquet celebrating my shedding… …?'

Playing with my hair, I recalled the memories of yesterday. 

'What happened?'

Reflecting on my thoughts, I recalled the scenes of yesterday one by one. The banquet, the drinks I drank in a good mood, and after that, like a hazy fog, there were gaps in my memory here and there.

But… … The more I recalled the memory, the more my face turned red.

‘I hate it.’

‘Hug me!’

‘Eh?’

‘Dance with me.’

As the memories passed one by one, I had no choice but to pull the blanket over my head and scream.

“Aaaaaaa… …”

What the hell did I do? No matter how drunk I was, my obsession with Physis started hitting my head in an instant.

The heat rushed to my face from embarrassment, and even that wasn’t enough, so I had no choice but to kick the blanket.

'You idiot. Why the hell did you show him that?' I said to myself.

I wanted to erase the memory of that time, but the memory came back to me even more vividly, from what I said at that time, to what Physis said, to what he did, everything began to come back vividly.

The scent I smelled when he held me still seemed to linger in my nose. From hugging his neck, smiling, and dancing barefoot in the garden.

“Ahh… …”

I didn’t know if the shame would go away, but the opposite joy also started to fill up inside me.

Even though I complained about the things he said in the past, he apologized to me for his mistake at that time again and even gave me an assurance that it would never happen. He was always kind to me and cared for me when I was drunk.

How captivating was his soft smile when he danced with me? In an instant, my heart was beating fast.

It was so funny that I couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

Maybe that’s why I fell for him first even before 8 months had passed.

'But the day he keeps his promise, then I will tell him.'

Would it be long or short…? … Somehow, I started waiting for that time.

'How will my relationship with him change at that time?'

Just as I was about to get out of my thoughts, I heard a knock on the door.

“Miss. This is Mina. May I come in?”

“Yes, come in.”

Mina opened the door and brought honey water along with a simple breakfast.

“Honey water?”

“Yes. Sir Physis said that the lady is going to suffer from a hangover, so it would be better for her to drink some honey water.”

“Aha… …”

“Did you have a good time yesterday?”

“Yes?”

“Some people say they saw Sir Physis taking away a drunken lady yesterday in his arm. Couldn’t it be that you did something stupid?”

“Oh, no. I just danced.”

“Aha. Anyway, rest a little longer, and call me if there is anything you need.”

“Yes. Thanks, Mina. By the way, if you meet Physis, would you ask him to come to my room?”

“Alright. Oh, then… … Let’s start with simple makeup. I will call the maids.”

“Yes?”

As soon as Mina finished her words, she called several maids to dress me up.

In the meantime, I had been feeling reluctance to dress up because of my scales, but whenever I saw my face with the scales peeling off, I naturally wanted to dress up, so I did not refuse Mina’s proposal.

Of course, it took quite a while to dress up, but… … The results that came out were unbelievable.

“Uh, um. I am not like me.”

“You are so beautiful.”

The maids began to exclaim at my foolish laugh, saying that the dress was so well done.

“If that is the case, won’t Sir Physis fall for you at once?”

“It wasn’t designed for that purpose.”

“Whoops. How do you feel when you see a changed version of yourself?”

“I do like it. Really.”

“That’s fortunate. Miss, you have to get used to it by now. There is a social gathering soon.”

“Yes.”

“Then, we will go away. About Sir Physis, I will tell him, I hope you have a good time.”

“Thanks.”

* * *

[Physis's POV]

When I was resting after sparring with the knights as usual, I saw a maid with light blonde hair approaching me. 

It was Mina.

“Mina? What happened?”

“My lady is looking for you.”

“Okay, I will go.”

“Ah, sir.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t be too surprised.”

I couldn’t understand Mina’s sudden words, so I asked.

“What do you mean not to be surprised?”

“You will know when you see.”

“Well… …Is that so?”

By the way, it was a call from Adilun. Was she okay with a hangover? It must be quite difficult since she was not in the habit of drinking often, but wouldn’t it be better to take a break… … Thinking of such things, I stood in front of Adilun’s room and knocked on the door.

I knocked on the door.

“Adilun, may I come in?”

“Come on in.”

When I opened the door, I saw Adilun wearing a beautiful dress. She even had on light makeup, but it was done in such a way that Adilun's natural charm was very well preserved. 

“Wow.”

I unknowingly spit out admiration.

'Is this reaction Mina had been expecting?'

“How is that?”

“It really suits you.”

“That's it?”

As I sincerely admired her, Adilun turned the side of her head around and asked calmly. I guess it was to hide the shame.

“Hahaha, originally I have poor expressiveness. Seeing as I never had a history of admiring someone else’s in the first place.”

I guess those words were the decisive blow. Adilun’s face began to turn red. Even when there were bluish-white scales, there were frequent scenes of them being stained red, but when the scales came off, the redness of the face could be seen in real-time.

“Well, if you suddenly say that… … Thanks anyway.”

“By the way what did you call me for?”

“That… … I would like to apologize for yesterday’s rudeness. And I think we should talk about the social gathering.”

“Are you embarrassed?”

“Yes, that… … I just bit off my hand.”

“Oh, you mean that? Fine. It could be if you’re drunk. Rather, It was quite good... Seeing all of Adilun’s cute side.”

“Ahhh… …”

Adilun lowered her head and blushed. Seeing as I remembered what she did yesterday, she must have kicked off the duvet quite a bit as soon as she woke up.

“Anyway, I’m really sorry. It’s my first time drinking… …”

“I was rather good, rather good. I’ve never seen you smile so brightly.”

“uh… … Did I?”

“Yes. You put your arm around my neck and smile very brightly… … .”

“Ah! Stop! Stop talking!”

Adilun, whose face had turned completely red and was about to explode, waved her hand and began to struggle to cover my mouth.

Later, I could play more with this topic. 

I laughed and teased Adilun ever since, and I stopped teasing her only because of her pleas to stop.

“Well, anyway, now I’ll explain about the social gathering. Didn’t I say that the social gathering would be held at the Daevarton family last time?”

“Yes. I remember.”

“Anyway, regarding this social gathering, there will be a lot of people who hate me. Apparently, there are some people who are jealous of my position. Perhaps because of that, there are some people who have been spreading all sorts of bad rumors about me behind my back… … Physis? What’s wrong with your expression all of a sudden?”

It was a story I already knew, but hearing it directly from her mouth really left a disgusting face.

I opened my eyes and asked her.

“… … Who is that?”

“Uh, um. At that time, I punished him, so there is no need for you to come forward. Moreover, my scales fell off this time too, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then I want to make it more efficient to break their tantrums. In fact, that is the reason why I am attending this social gathering. To find my allies, and to stamp out those who show hostility to me. So… … Physis. I have a favor to ask.”

“What is your request?”

“Would you like to do some acting with me?”

Adilun, along with those words, painted a mischievous smile on her lips like a child.