(EP-4.2) Flower Aira #4

004 – Evil Flower Aira #4

There was a lot of noise around the word "demon" here.

“I defeated it. But thanks to that, the damn Barbarian chieftain took the opportunity and ran away. One day, I will definitely catch and parade that bitch in front the graves of my fallen soldiers. Speaking of killing, wanna know how many children I killed?”

No… There was no need for such a conversation.

For me, who was trying to keep Aira away from getting triggered as much as possible, this uncouth Elga was a thorn in my eyes.

What should I do if Elga influenced Aira and she also became a murder maniac?

I deliberately planned a long expedition to keep her far away, and yet how come she was already back after a month? I expected it to take at least two years!

I was going to have a headache again for a while.

Where else could I send her away?

I thought of a map near the Angmar Kingdom in my head. Come to think of it, it was said that those fanatic Sandmen from the West were a problem, but…

“You just got back from an expedition, so get some rest, Elga. I will prepare a banquet for you.”

“I would be happy if you did. As expected of my cousin.”

Aira and Elga hugged each other.

It was a good sight to see two cousins and beautiful beauties getting along.

The combination of Angmar's two villainesses would be a disaster for their enemies.

Also to me as well…

* * *

Elga, who had changed into comfortable clothes, was a woman who looked as good in a dress as Aira did. It wasn't strange for her to dazzle men at a banquet.

“You have a bigger chest than I thought.”

“Kyaa, Elga-nim, if you do this…”

“What? What are you going to do about it?”

Both on the left and right of Elga, she was teasing dancers dressed in quirky, flimsy clothes.

Elga liked things that were beautiful and good-looking, regardless of gender. Hence, the dancers were specifically added to keep her company and have her behave.

It would be better if she stayed quiet like this.

“Come, come, everyone drink!”

Elga shouted loudly, like she owned the banquet.

Putting all other things aside, the banquet was held at the Court to commemorate the hard work of the returning expedition team.

The magician's fireworks, the singing of the court musicians, and the graceful dance of the dancers was a feast to behold.

━Haha, pour some wine! Drink!

━Uh-huh. Come, come, look at my rhythm.

━Kyaaa! So cool!

It was already well past midnight, yet, everyone didn't even think about going to sleep and just kept pouring glass after glass of alcohol…

My stomach churned from the overflowing smell.

I had gotten used to the smell of blood lately, but I couldn't stand the bitter smell of wine.

Yes.

I, Tae-oh, didn't really drink.

In modern society of the 21st century, one would face many difficulties if they couldn't drink. In this less civilized backward society, being unable to drink was a fatal weakness.

"Tae-oh, you must have had a hard time at the court, sucking honey from this and that, right? Come here, I'll pour you a drink. Drink it up!"

Elga, who already looked half-drunk, beckoned to me.

She was holding Bashkir Honey Wine in her hand, which was known to be a strong kind of liquor in the Kingdom.

"I'm good. I am a believer in the religion of light, which has the precept of abstaining from getting drunk. So I can only accept your offer in my heart.”

"Huh? The precept only says that you shouldn't get drunk, but it does not say that you cannot drink. You won't get drunk with one cup."

"No, I'm really fine.”

“….”

Elga suddenly began to laugh.

At that moment, the boisterous atmosphere of the banquet hall slowly turned silent.

The instrument, the singing and the sound of swaying trinkets from the dancers all stopped at once.

“What is this, Tae-oh? Are you saying that you won't receive my cup, a toast for fighting with the Barbarians for the sake of the Kingdom's peace?"

Elga's voice was solemn.

Her drunk appearance was nowhere to be seen. Her intense eyes gazed at me, making me feel as if my bones had been pierced by a spear made of ice.

This was troublesome.

“Sir Tae-oh, could it be that you are refusing the cup that Elga-nim is giving you?”

“As a gardener, you're refusing the favor of the 3rd Grand Duke of Angmar’s Order of the Royal Palace and 2nd in line of succession to the throne, Elga Lioness-nim?”

Shinggg, shingg-

Elga's overly loyal bodyguards were also ready to slice my neck off. I knew very well that this was part of Elga's schemes.

This woman was deliberately trying to set the mood. She was always like this, every time she came back.

I tried looking at Aira.

“……. Zzzz.”

Like her usual style of going to bed early, she was dozing off while sitting at a banquet that lasted past midnight…

Basically, there was no one there to help me.

Perhaps this was Elga's goal in continuing the banquet until very late at night.

Siik-

I could see the corners of Elga's lips rising.

Alas, I could not help it. Sometimes one just had to swallow it, even if they knew it was bad.

“Then I’ll take one drink.”

“Yeah. Drink it and prove your manliness, little sweetheart.”

A female younger than me was calling me a kid, hah? I scoffed inwardly as I took Elga's glass of wine and drank it.

Gulp, gulp.

Did someone say alcohol was a cold fire? What I was drinking right now was exactly that.

The cold liquid passed through my throat, making the stomach feel burning hot, as if it was on fire. Why did people drink this if it was not even delicious?

“Ugh-”

After I emptied the glass, I felt my legs shaking and the world spinning.

"Wah, See? That wasn't so hard, was it?”

Only then did Elga smile brightly. Soon after, her Red Flag Guards started to cheer and clap.

━Pour! Drink!

━Someone, sing a song!

━Ditch, ditch, ditch- A small ditch- Stream, stream- A little stream-

━No, what the hell is that song?

Like it was before, the banquet began to return back to normal.

But my head was spinning and my stomach was churning. Despite sitting still, I couldn't stand it at all. Damn it, this was why I didn't want to drink.

I didn't know what mistakes I was going to make if I got drunk.

"I, in a moment"

I quickly went outside, before the alcohol I had just drank got absorbed into my body.

It felt like someone was following me, but now wasn't the time to worry about that.

“Ueek-”