After a single sip of wine, General Leon, the invincible, was about to pass out.

Rosvisser tried not to show her disdain, but how could she hold back?

She knew he couldn’t handle alcohol, but this poorly? It was rare to see.

"Are you okay, you idiot..." 

Leon lay sprawled across the table, his face flushed, his eyes glazed over—clearly drunk.

Yet, glancing at his wine glass, there was still enough left to keep two goldfish alive.

"I told you I can’t drink... but you still made me..." he slurred, even in his near-drunken state, not forgetting to argue with Rosvisser.

That was the stubbornness of a top-tier dragon slayer, embedded in his very bones.

“Oh? Did I pry your mouth open and pour the wine in?” Rosvisser shot back calmly.

"You... you called me..." 

"I called you what?"

With his face still flushed, Leon shifted slightly and buried his head in his arms, mumbling, "You called me 'husband,' so I drank with you..."

Rosvisser raised an eyebrow in surprise, swirling the wine in her glass as she slowly said, "Tsk, so you admit it. Looks like I’ve found the one thing in this world that can make that stubborn mouth of yours soft."

This man’s mouth was like ginseng—soaking in wine only made it softer.

Leon remained with his head down, then slowly raised a middle finger. "I... hic—I'll never drink with you again, never!"

Rosvisser chuckled softly, "Then I'll call you 'husband' one more time. Will you drink?"

"… No!"

"You hesitated, Leon. Deep down, you want to hear me call you 'husband,' don’t you?"

"Who... who wants to hear that?"

Leon sat up, his face glowing red as Rosvisser blurred into five... no, six or eight versions of herself. But he stubbornly resisted, "One 'husband' won’t make me listen to you, no way!"

"Oho~ How manly of you, hus~band~"

"... I'm really gonna puke."

"Hmph, idiot."

Rosvisser giggled, stealing a glance at him before taking another sip of her wine.

No matter how little alcohol, it still had a numbing effect on the nerves.

It made people say things they usually wouldn’t dare to.

Of course, whether it was the alcohol’s numbing effect or just an excuse to speak the truth was anyone's guess.

Rosvisser gazed at Leon again, resting her chin in her hand, her silver eyes slightly open, gleaming like a crescent moon in the night sky—ambiguous and bright.

"Did you tell Grandma earlier that we're madly in love?"

"Yeah."

Leon leaned back in his chair, staring at the tiles on the balcony. "Wasn't that what we agreed on? To act loving in front of others?"

That was one reason, but not the whole story.

At the time, Leon hadn’t realized the old woman was Rosvisser's grandmother. He thought she was just a nosy old lady from somewhere.

As her questions kept coming, Leon started to feel offended—or perhaps it was more like he felt their relationship was being questioned.

So he emphasized, "My wife and I are very much in love"—and emphasized it twice.

That was the other reason.

Now, whether "emphasizing my love for my wife because others questioned our relationship" was Leon’s true intention...

Well, that’s up for debate.

A smart woman like Rosvisser couldn’t possibly miss the little hints hidden in his words, right?

And now that he was drunk, he was bound to let something slip.

"Now, there's no one else around. It's just the two of us."

Rosvisser gazed at Leon. "Would you say it again?"

Leon responded bluntly, "No, why would I say that when it’s just the two of us?"

After a few seconds, with no response from Rosvisser, Leon blinked, feeling the atmosphere grow a bit odd, and glanced sideways.

Rosvisser still held her pretty chin in her hand, her beautiful silver eyes fixed on him.

But now, there was a touch of expectation in her gaze.

Women are born listeners; even if the words are insincere, they still want to hear them.

Besides, not all sweet words are lies.

Leon and Rosvisser locked eyes, neither of them looking away.

After a long moment, something stirred in Leon’s heart. Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe his true feelings found a way to surface, riding on the excuse of the wine.

He opened his mouth, not even having said anything yet, and already saw the anticipation in Rosvisser’s eyes deepen, a faint joy creeping into them.

"I... I like..."

The last word was supposed to be "you."

But it was so faint, it sounded almost like a blur.

Rosvisser could understand the meaning of those words.

But it wasn’t what she wanted.

And after gathering up the courage to say it, Leon immediately lowered his head, refusing to look at Rosvisser again.

He knew it—if he kept looking at her, he’d see things he wasn’t supposed to and say things he shouldn’t say.

It was supposed to be an ordinary night; he’d only had one sip of wine...

So how had he ended up surrendering like this?

He felt a little regretful.

Regretful that he’d said something so important without being fully prepared.

Annoyed that he didn’t say it clearly.

Yes, Leon knew.

When he got to the last word, he’d chickened out; he hadn’t been bold enough to say it plainly.

It was like when the teacher calls on you in class, but you’d been daydreaming about how to impress the girl you like after school.

You panic, glance at the teacher, then at the girl sitting in the front row, and panic even more.

The teacher’s question wasn’t hard, and you could’ve answered perfectly because that smart, cute girl had tutored you on it earlier.

It had been a perfect ten minutes, a memory you’d never forget.

You could still smell her hair, and you remembered the answer to that question.

You’d promised her you’d never forget the answer, no matter when you were asked.

She didn’t say much; she just smiled at you.

But now, the answer in your mouth felt like a mangled symphony, getting worse and worse as it went on.

In the end, a bad answer led to punishment from the teacher.

And the girl’s disappointed look as she turned away.

How do you make up for that?

There’s no way to make up for it.

And after class, how could you have the courage to tell the joke you’d spent two classes preparing?

Leon’s words were even simpler than that answer.

But he still didn’t say them right.

Dragon-slaying, raising his daughters, investigating clues, uncovering conspiracies... all the things he was good at didn’t help him at all in this moment.

Now Leon’s only hope was that by tomorrow, Rosvisser would forget about this.

Or at least pretend to forget.

Act like it never happened.

That incomplete "I like..."—the last word wasn’t important, right?

"Leon."

As he came back to his senses, he caught the familiar scent of Rosvisser nearby.

There was a weight on his lap.

It was Rosvisser.

She had sat on his lap, one arm draped around his neck, the other holding a wine glass.

She took a sip of wine in front of him but didn’t finish it. Instead, she brought the glass to Leon’s lips.

The side of the glass facing him was clear and smooth;

On the other side was a faint lipstick mark, left by her lips.

He pursed his lips, gently taking her hand and slowly rotating the glass.

He turned the lipstick-marked side toward himself.

Then, leaning forward, he drank the remaining wine in one gulp.

The wine carried the fragrance of her lips, intoxicating him.

Rosvisser set the glass aside, then wrapped both arms around Leon’s neck.

She leaned closer, gently brushing her delicate nose against his skin.

His breath, warm and shallow, brushed across her face.

He was so nervous, and his heartbeat was racing.

Rosvisser fiddled with his burning earlobe with her thumb, pressing her forehead against his as she whispered,

"What you said earlier... I didn’t hear it clearly. Now that we're closer, say it again."

The girl gave you another chance—you can still make her happy.

Leon raised his eyes, meeting her warm, soft lips,

"Melkvi, I like you."

Crickets chirped in the starry night, with wine as their companion.

Who wouldn’t want to take the chance, using wine as an excuse, to say what’s really on their mind?

______________________

TL NOTE: Please don't skimp on the stars for the translation - I'd really like to see how far Leon goes and how far we can increase the number of chapters. Thanks~!