V2. Chapter 39 — The Promise

The evening at the Merry Drunkard Tavern grew livelier with every passing hour. The more bottles were emptied across the table, the louder the conversations, laughter, and utterly pointless arguments became.

At one point, Roselle, already noticeably tipsy, suddenly shot her goblet into the air and practically shouted, “I love you guys so much!”

Her unexpected sincerity brought a brief silence to the table.

Lissandra, sitting beside her, blushed faintly but still gave a timid nod, quietly adding, “With all of you... things are better than they were with my own family.”

The moment those words were spoken, Gilmesh burst into loud laughter, casually throwing an arm over the back of Lissandra's chair.

“That's because with us behind you, you're as safe as if you were behind a stone wall!”

Estelle immediately rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, sure,” she replied with a faintly mocking smile. “As if us girls do any less work than you do.”

Girren, meanwhile, shot Gilmesh an irritated look.

“What are you even talking about, idiot?” he grumbled. “During the slave revolt, it was mostly Violet who was covering us.”

Gilmesh only laughed even louder, clearly having had more than enough to drink already.

“I didn't mean it literally!” he said with a dismissive wave. “But that's exactly how it'll be in the future!”

Then, without the slightest hesitation, he slung an arm around both Roselle and Lissandra's shoulders at once and proudly declared, “Thanks to these girls, I've taken my smithing to a whole new level!”

Then, deliberately glancing first to the left and then to the right, Gilmesh added with the utmost self-importance, “So I won't let anyone hurt you! Spark and Flower are under my protection now!”

The moment she heard that, Roselle frowned and sharply knocked his arm off her shoulder.

“Stop calling us those stupid nicknames!”

Beside her, Lissandra only lowered her gaze shyly, though the corners of her lips still twitched into a faint smile.

Gilmesh could only stare at them in indignant disbelief.

“What's your problem now?! They're perfectly good nicknames!”

“Terrible,” Roselle and Estelle said in unison.

Their perfect agreement triggered another explosion of laughter around the table, while Gilmesh theatrically clutched at his heart and groaned, “So this is how the hearts of great men are broken...”

Kael, meanwhile, simply smiled as he watched the familiar chaos around the table before unexpectedly turning his attention to the thoughtful Dorian.

“By the way, how are your plans coming along?” he asked. “Were you able to rent a greenhouse?”

Dorian nodded almost immediately.

“Yes,” he answered calmly. “Thank you for letting me use money from our shared budget.”

But Kael merely shook his head.

“Don't thank me,” he said with a faint smile. “If I know that each of you is provided for and able to succeed... it'll put my mind at ease.”

The moment those words left his mouth, the conversations around the table unexpectedly died down.

Even Barnabas stopped reaching for his bottle.

And in the very next moment, nearly everyone's gaze settled on Kael at once.

Something about what he had said sounded wrong.

Girren was the first to frown.

“It'll put your mind at ease?” he repeated slowly, looking intently at Kael. “You usually say ‘us,’ not ‘me.’”

Those words instantly stirred an unpleasant sense of unease inside Violet as well.

Without even realizing it, she placed a hand on Kael's leg beneath the table, lightly gripping the fabric of his trousers, then frowned slightly as she searched his eyes.

“I don't like that melancholy tone of yours...” she said quietly. “You're not planning something strange, are you, Kael?”

Faced with such directness, Kael parted his lips slightly, as though he had originally intended to crack a joke and steer the conversation elsewhere.

But in the very next moment, a sober thought crossed his mind.

“I'll have to tell them eventually...”

Seeing the confusion on his friends' faces, Kael slowly took a deep breath before finally offering a faint smile.

“The thing is...”

With those words, he waved a hand, activating his spatial ring.

The conversations stopped instantly, and everyone seated at the table leaned forward almost simultaneously, staring intently at the uniform.

Even Gilmesh stopped smiling.

Violet was the first to reach for it. Carefully lifting the upper half, she slowly unfolded the fabric, and the moment she did, her hands trembled almost imperceptibly.

“But you wanted to join the Scholars' Guild...” she murmured quietly, studying the embroidery. “Then why is the dragon on the chest instead of the back?”

The instant those words were spoken aloud, the same dreadful suspicion arose in the minds of everyone present.

A heavy silence settled over the table.

Then, unexpectedly, that silence was broken by Barnabas's impressed whistle.

“The Scarlet Serpent Army?” he said with approval in his voice. “You're aiming high, pup.”

The moment Barnabas finished speaking, Violet, Roselle, and Girren almost simultaneously shot to their feet.

“Kael, what does this even mean?!”

“Whose uniform is that, Kael?!”

“Don't tell me that—”

But Kael immediately raised a hand, silently asking everyone to calm down and sit back down.

For several seconds, his friends continued staring at him tensely before reluctantly lowering themselves back into their seats.

Kael slowly took the uniform back from Violet, tucked it into his spatial ring, and let out a heavy sigh.

“I'm sorry I didn't tell you right away,” he said calmly. “I just wanted us to relax and enjoy ourselves for a little while first.”

The moment those words were spoken, it felt as though several hearts around the table skipped a beat.

Now they finally understood what Kael was getting at.

The merriment that had filled the tavern only moments before quickly faded, and the atmosphere around the table grew heavier by the second.

Kael slowly straightened his back before speaking again, his voice now much calmer and more serious.

“You asked what reward I received. Well... I asked for guarantees of Lasthold's safety and the preservation of its culture. They agreed.”

Those words should have made everyone at the table happy, yet no one even smiled.

Their eyes kept returning to the military uniform that had vanished into the spatial ring.

Seeing that, Kael let out another heavy sigh.

“However, something unexpected happened during the ceremony,” he continued calmly. “Something that neither I... nor even the Archmagisters could do anything about.”

At those words, Girren's frown deepened immediately.

“Why?” he asked warily. “You haven't even graduated from the Academy yet...”

At that moment, Violet looked as though all the blood had suddenly drained from her face. The hand still resting on Kael's leg trembled slightly.

Feeling it, Kael fell silent for several seconds before calmly saying, “I've officially been enlisted in General Salazar's army.”

The moment those words were spoken, an atmosphere of disbelief and shock settled over the table.

“I have one month,” Kael continued, “to pass the examinations I need and officially join the Guilds I've chosen.”

Lissandra nervously clasped her hands together.

“A... and what happens in a month?” she asked quietly, fear evident in her voice.

Kael merely smiled faintly, trying to appear calmer than he truly felt.

“Don't worry,” he said gently. “I'll be fine.”

But the instant those words left his mouth, Violet suddenly grabbed his hand and cried out in alarm, “Salazar's army?! They want to send you to the front lines?! Were you forced into this?!”

Kael immediately tightened his grip around her hand, as if trying to reassure her.

“No one forced me,” he answered calmly. “The responsibility for this decision is mine alone. I can't tell you everything... but this really is necessary.”

At those words, Violet's lips quivered ever so slightly.

“Kael, you can't just...” she faltered. “What if you...”

But in the very next moment, Kael deliberately raised his brows and, with exaggerated offense, drawled, “Why are you burying me before my time? I might actually take offense at that.”

His reaction created an awkward pause around the table, and the tension eased just a little.

Kael laughed almost immediately before adding in a much firmer voice, “I already told you there's no need to worry this much. Besides, I'm a valuable recruit—they're definitely not going to throw me into the most dangerous missions.”

That confident tone truly did dispel some of the panic hanging over the table.

After several seconds of silence, Lissandra cautiously looked up at Kael and asked softly, “But... how are we supposed to manage without you?”

Kael only smiled warmly before replying with quiet confidence,

“You're already doing an excellent job. Besides, I believe in all of you just as much as you believe in me.”

As he spoke, Kael slowly looked around at everyone seated at the table. A familiar spark of cunning and intrigue suddenly flickered in his amber eyes.

“And besides... I already have a few ideas about how I can help each of you.”

“Ideas?” Dorian repeated in surprise, frowning slightly.

Kael simply nodded.

“Let's just enjoy the evening,” he replied with a faint smile. “You'll find out everything over the next month.”

Then, almost immediately, he added in a lighter tone,

“Think of it as me leaving each of you with a little mission. That way, the next time we meet, you won't be the only ones surprised by how much I've changed.”

At that very moment, Gilmesh's booming laughter unexpectedly shattered the heavy atmosphere.

“Come on already, quit making those sour faces!” he shouted, slapping a hand down on the table. “We should be celebrating, not moping! Kael's gone and gotten himself promoted before all of us!”

At those words, Barnabas immediately burst into hearty laughter, raising his bottle into the air.

“Agreed!” the old man bellowed, twirling his thick mustache with his free hand. “And what I like most is that tomorrow's a day off! Which means tonight I'm drinking every last one of you under the table! Khe-he-he!”

Those words finally brought smiles back to everyone's faces.

Girren, though still worried about Kael, quickly sensed the shift in the mood and realized it was better to keep it going than make things even heavier.

Letting out a deep sigh, he finally allowed himself a wry smile.

“Actually, I'm planning to become a soldier too,” he remarked calmly. “So I hope you'll worry about me just as much.”

It seemed that, in that very moment, the atmosphere around the table truly began to change before their eyes.

Casting Girren an anxious glance, Lissandra immediately asked in alarm, “You too?”

But before Girren could answer, Gilmesh burst into loud laughter again, waving a dismissive hand.

“We men are pretty simple! All we care about is throwing punches and having a drink!”

Girren immediately shot him an annoyed look.

“Don't judge everyone by your own standards.”

Dorian nodded in support of Girren, adding, “I'm perfectly happy staying in the Capital. I'd rather keep cultivating and researching rare herbs than head to the front lines.”

“Exactly!” Barnabas chimed in at once, already climbing to his feet with a bottle in hand. “One goes off to war, another tends his herbs, and someone else simply knows how to enjoy a drink!”

Almost immediately, he began filling everyone's goblets, shouting, “Drink up, everyone! Chase those gloomy thoughts away!”

Watching the others subtly steer the conversation and ease the girls' worries, Kael thought warmly, “Thanks, guys...”

For a brief moment, a strange sense of peace settled in his chest.

“The next month is going to keep me incredibly busy...” he continued thinking, his gaze drifting from one friend to another. “But I promise I'll make enough time for each of you.”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

At that moment, Kael suddenly felt Violet's hand tighten even more around his own.

Turning toward her, he immediately saw that she still looked troubled.

Despite the laughter and conversations surrounding them, concern still lingered in her violet eyes.

Kael simply smiled at her warmly.

“You really don't have to worry this much,” he said gently. “Have you already forgotten how hard I am to kill?”

Then, with a faint grin, he added, “Even damn Zeiran couldn't kill me.”

With those words, Kael calmly picked up Violet's goblet and gently placed it into her hand.

“Put those thoughts aside,” he said warmly. “Let's just enjoy the evening.”

The moment Violet heard those words, something flickered in her eyes.

For several seconds, she silently looked at Kael. Then she finally gave a quick shake of her head, as if forcibly driving away her anxiety, and, managing a faint smile, quietly replied,

“You're right... If you really are leaving in a month, then we should spend this month happily, not grieving.”

With those words, Violet raised her goblet toward the others.

Gilmesh immediately caught the mood and shouted at the top of his lungs, “To Kael's safety—bottoms up!”

Unexpectedly, even Girren supported the toast with a brief nod.

The very next moment, everyone seated around the table seemed to accept the challenge in earnest, draining their goblets to the last drop all at once.

The sight made Barnabas burst into delighted laughter.

“Now that's more like it!” he bellowed, getting back to his feet with the bottle once again. “Enough with all this doom and gloom!”

And as the old man started pouring drinks again, the atmosphere inside the tavern finally returned to its usual lively, boisterous cheer…

✦ ✦ ✦

The next few hours passed in a blur.

The more bottles were emptied across the table, the louder the laughter became, the more incoherent the conversations grew, and the more absurd the arguments turned.

Even Dorian, who was usually calm and composed, now sat with a noticeably flushed face and had spent the last ten minutes trying to explain something extremely serious to Roselle about the proper way to cultivate rare herbs.

“No, you don't understand...” he mumbled, slurring his words as he held a fork like a lecturer's pointer. “If you don't calculate the soil's moisture correctly, the root of a star myrtle... hic... starts to rot...”

But almost immediately he would lose his train of thought, frown, and start explaining everything all over again.

Roselle simply laughed quietly beside him, clearly no longer understanding even half of what he was saying.

Meanwhile, Gilmesh, now completely drunk, was practically hanging around Girren's neck, trying for what felt like the hundredth time to convince everyone of the exact same thing.

“Will you all get it already?!” he protested loudly, banging his mug against the table. “I'm the only real man here!”

Girren, wearing an utterly deadpan expression, had been trying for the last five minutes to pry Gilmesh's arm off his neck.

“If you don't get off me right now...” he said wearily through clenched teeth, “I'll find out how ‘real’ you are after I smash your head into the wall.”

But Gilmesh didn't seem to hear the threat at all.

“See?!” he declared triumphantly, poking Girren in the chest. “Look! I raised an excellent student! Now he's making proper manly threats!”

Gradually, however, the atmosphere around the table shifted from boisterous merriment to sleepy exhaustion.

Everyone had reached that stage of drunkenness where their eyelids kept drooping, and conversations continued more out of inertia than from any real desire to keep talking.

Kael himself swayed slightly in his chair, feeling the tavern begin to swim before his eyes. Yet, despite the alcohol, his thoughts remained surprisingly orderly.

Violet, meanwhile, had fallen asleep against his shoulder, still clinging to Kael's hand as though she were afraid to let go even in her sleep.

Watching his friends, who had almost stopped arguing and were now mostly mumbling sleepily at one another, Kael could only chuckle softly.

“I guess... it's about time we all went to bed...”

Barnabas, sitting across from him with cheeks and nose now thoroughly flushed, lazily lit his pipe and drawled hoarsely, “About time... Little Lissandra's already fast asleep...”

And indeed, Lissandra had peacefully dozed off with her head resting on the table. Estelle, sitting beside her, looked as though she was only moments away from passing out there as well.

But then Estelle suddenly spoke in a noticeably drunken, languid voice.

Slowly gathering her hair into a loose bun at the back of her head, she narrowed her eyes slightly before looking straight at Girren.

“Sorry...” the girl drawled drowsily. “Would you mind helping me to my room? I don't think I'll make it up to the second floor on my own right now... Hic...”

Girren visibly flinched at the request.

And if his face hadn't already been flushed from the alcohol, there was no way he could have hidden the blush that suddenly spread across it.

“H-Huh? Y-yeah, of course...” he blurted almost immediately, jumping to his feet.

But the moment he stood up, he immediately stumbled over the leg of his own chair.

“Careful there, ‘real man,’” Gilmesh mumbled drunkenly through half-lidded eyes.

Girren merely grumbled something under his breath and slowly made his way over to Estelle.

When he reached her, he gently took her arm.

“Let's take it slow...” he said, his voice a little hoarse. “I'm barely managing to walk myself.”

In response, Estelle simply leaned her whole body against him and hummed contentedly under her breath. Then the two of them slowly made their way toward the staircase, accompanied by Roselle's quiet giggles.

At that moment, Dorian let out a small hiccup before turning his slightly unfocused gaze toward Gilmesh.

“Hey... big guy...” he drawled, his words slurring. “Help Lissandra.”

Then, offering a hand to Roselle, who could barely keep her eyes open anymore, he added calmly, “Come on. I'll walk you there.”

Without much protest, Roselle immediately took his hand and, swaying sleepily, rose from her chair.

“Just don't drop me...” she mumbled.

“I'm more sober than I look...” Dorian declared with utmost seriousness, though he almost immediately swayed to one side.

Gilmesh merely snorted at that before effortlessly scooping the sleeping Lissandra into his arms.

Soon, all four of them slowly made their way toward the staircase.

Halfway there, Dorian unexpectedly turned his head slightly toward Gilmesh and muttered,

“I can tell... you're not that drunk... Once you've taken Lissandra upstairs... come back down... We still have to clean up...”

At those words, Gilmesh immediately rolled his eyes in exaggerated misery.

“Damn cleaning again...” he groaned dramatically as he continued climbing the stairs.

Watching the whole scene, Kael could only chuckle softly before leaning closer to Violet and whispering, “Wake up, beautiful. Time to sleep.”

Violet only mumbled sleepily into his shoulder and snuggled even closer.

“I don't wanna walk... I'm tired...”

“What, do you want me to carry you in my arms?” Kael asked with a grin.

Unexpectedly, without even opening her eyes, Violet murmured in her half-asleep state, “Yeah... That's a wonderful idea...”

At that answer, Kael could only let out a weary sigh, though the corners of his lips still curled into a smile.

“When did you become this spoiled?”

But in the very next moment, he slipped one arm beneath her knees and the other behind her back, effortlessly lifting her into his arms. Almost immediately, Violet wrapped her arms around his neck and settled in more comfortably, softly snoring into his neck.

Barnabas, lazily smoking his pipe at the table, merely smirked, stroking his beard.

“Ah... youth...”

Kael immediately narrowed his eyes and shot back with a teasing smile, “What are you imagining now, you dirty old man?”

Barnabas merely grunted, exhaling a thick cloud of violet smoke toward the ceiling.

“Get going already, pup.”

“Leave me some tobacco on the table. I'm out,” Kael replied calmly.

The old man simply waved his pipe dismissively, while Kael headed toward the staircase, feeling Violet's pleasant warmth in his arms and the faint floral fragrance mingled with alcohol.

As he slowly climbed the stairs, Kael inevitably drifted back into thought.

“I wonder how often I'll actually be able to return to the Capital?” he thought tiredly as his gaze idly traced the dark steps. “It's not like I'll be stuck on the front lines forever...”

Letting out a heavy sigh, he adjusted Violet more comfortably in his arms and continued sorting through his plans.

“I'll need to sell some of the gifts from all those well-wishers and buy as many useful things as I can while I still have the chance.”

He knew he had to prepare before heading to the front.

“I should practice making healing pills...” Kael thought calmly. “And offensive magic circles as well.”

Almost immediately, his memory returned to Aiden's attack and the explosive talisman that had destroyed part of the building.

“That thing was actually pretty good...” Kael admitted to himself, narrowing his eyes slightly. “I should add talismans like that to my own arsenal.”

Possible inscription designs, ink formulas, and ways to create them began taking shape in his mind almost automatically.

“The main thing is to have enough ingredients...” he continued thinking, feeling that, despite the alcohol, his mind was steadily settling back into its familiar state of cold calculation.

Lost in his thoughts, Kael finally reached the second floor and slowly made his way toward Violet's room.

At that very moment, the doors to Roselle's and Lissandra's rooms opened almost simultaneously, and Dorian and Gilmesh stepped out.

Both of them already looked noticeably soberer after their short walk through the cool hallway.

Noticing them, Kael smiled faintly.

“I'll be down in a bit.”

But Dorian simply shook his head.

“Get some rest. The two of us can handle it.”

“Yeah, right,” Gilmesh sighed heavily. “Old Barnabas is hardly going to let us wrap things up and clean up in peace...”

Kael merely chuckled softly and nodded as he calmly passed them in the hallway.

It was at that moment that his gaze happened to drift a little farther—to the door of Estelle's room.

A sly grin immediately spread across Kael's face.

“Girren still hasn't come out?” he thought with quiet amusement. “How interesting...”

Pretending he hadn't noticed anything suspicious at all, Kael merely chuckled to himself before finally opening the door to Violet's room.

He entered as quietly as possible, deliberately leaving the light crystal unlit. The room was illuminated only by the gentle silvery moonlight streaming through the window and spreading across the floor in long, pale bands.

Even in the dim light, the room felt unmistakably like Violet.

Books, pages covered with notes, and open textbooks lay scattered everywhere, while a worktable against the wall was almost completely buried beneath diagrams and papers. Clay pots with plants stood on the windowsill and beside the wardrobe, filling the room with a faint herbal fragrance.

Kael quietly walked past the desk, gently laid Violet down on the bed, and carefully removed her shoes. She immediately murmured something in her sleep and, even half-asleep, tried to cling to his clothes again, as though unwilling to let him go.

That only made Kael smile softly as he leaned down toward her ear.

“You're already in your own bed, beautiful,” he whispered so quietly it was barely audible. “Good night.”

But just as Kael started to rise from the edge of the bed, Violet's arms suddenly slipped around his neck.

Caught off guard, Kael froze for a moment.

In the next moment, Violet's violet eyes slowly fluttered open, shimmering in the silver moonlight, while a blush spread across her cheeks.

She was obviously drunk.

Yet there was a strange clarity in her eyes, as though the alcohol had simply stripped away all the feelings and thoughts she usually kept buried deep inside.

Kael instinctively narrowed his eyes.

“What is it, Violet?” he asked quietly with a faint smile.

Instead of answering, he suddenly felt her arms pull him a little closer.

Almost at the same time, Violet unexpectedly leaned forward herself.

Clouded by the alcohol, the moment itself seemed to blur, its edges dissolving.

Kael only had time to feel her warmth before he suddenly realized their lips were locked in a kiss.

For one brief moment, Violet's soft lips completely made his head spin, and Kael couldn't immediately react. Her warm breath, the delicate floral scent surrounding her, and the feeling of her slender fingers resting against his neck struck him harder than the alcohol itself.

But a few seconds later, Violet slowly leaned back on her own, gently brushing a hand across his cheek.

Her gaze was still slightly unfocused from the wine she had drunk, yet there was a frightening sincerity in her eyes.

“Promise me...” she whispered softly, her words slightly slurred. “Promise you'll be careful... Promise you'll come back to me...”

Something inside Kael twisted painfully at those words.

For a brief moment, tenderness, fear, and an almost instinctive urge to push her away all collided within his chest, as though he wanted to spare her from the pain that might await her. Memories from his previous life surfaced almost immediately—the resentment and suffering of the woman he had been unable to protect.

For an instant, Kael's fingers tensed ever so slightly, already wanting to brush Violet's hand away from his cheek.

But at the last moment, he managed to suppress that old instinct he'd carried with him since his previous life.

Gathering all his courage, Kael simply smiled gently, doing his best not to reveal how deeply something inside him had just been shaken.

“I promise I'll be fine,” he said quietly, never taking his eyes off hers. “I can't die... Because then I wouldn't be able to see any of you again. I wouldn't be able to see you...”

Swaying slightly, Violet searched his face for several more seconds, as though trying to decide whether he truly meant it.

“Swear?” she asked sleepily, almost like a child.

Kael hesitated for a moment.

But then he answered with quiet certainty, “I swear.”

The moment those words were spoken, an astonishingly gentle, peaceful smile slowly appeared on Violet's face.

She leaned toward him once more, softly kissing Kael again before finally sinking back onto her pillow.

It seemed sleep was finally claiming her completely.

“Remember... you swore...” Violet murmured, her voice barely audible as she drifted off in the middle of her sentence. “That means... that means... you have to...”

She never managed to finish.

A few seconds later, her breathing settled into a steady rhythm, and Violet fell fast asleep, still lightly clutching the edge of Kael's clothing between her fingers, as though unwilling to let him go even in her dreams.

Kael remained sitting motionless on the bed for several more seconds, silently watching Violet sleep beneath the silvery moonlight.

Her breathing had become calm and even, while a faint sleepy smile still lingered on her lips.

Slowly straightening up, Kael let out a deep breath and whispered almost inaudibly, “What am I doing...”

Too many emotions swirled inside him for him to make sense of them.

But in the very next moment, Kael quietly shook his head, as though casting aside unnecessary doubts.

“What was I expecting, anyway?” he thought with a wry smile. “I started all of this myself...”

His own words, looks, touches, and constant flirting with Violet immediately resurfaced in his mind.

“Which means...” Kael continued inwardly, feeling firm resolve gradually take shape within him. “I have to take responsibility.”

With that thought, he gently freed the edge of his clothing from Violet's fingers, then quietly rose from the bed and headed for the door.

As he stepped out of the room and slowly closed the door behind him, Kael suddenly smiled crookedly.

“I hope Violet won't remember any of this in the morning...” he murmured under his breath. “Otherwise, she'll die of embarrassment...”

Just then, a door creaked softly somewhere down the hall.

Kael instinctively turned his head and almost immediately saw Girren cautiously slipping out of Estelle's room.

And he looked so suspicious it was as if he'd just robbed the Imperial Treasury.

His eyes were filled with obvious shock mixed with nervous panic, and he moved so quietly and carefully, as though he expected to be caught red-handed at any moment.

Then, just as Girren finally lifted his gaze, their eyes met.

A thoroughly mischievous grin immediately spread across Kael's face, and his amber eyes narrowed slyly.

Girren, meanwhile, froze on the spot as though he'd been caught doing something profoundly improper.

“I can explain everything...” he began almost reflexively.

But Kael didn't let him finish.

Covering his mouth with one hand and putting on the most exaggeratedly sentimental expression imaginable, he said with blatant mockery, “My boy... They grow up so fast...”

The instant those words left his mouth, Girren's face completely twisted with embarrassment, irritation, and panic.

He practically shrank in on himself before covering the distance between them in a few quick strides and clamping a hand over Kael's mouth.

“Keep it down, you idiot!” he hissed angrily, nervously glancing toward the door of Estelle's room.

Kael merely chuckled softly against Girren's palm in response.

A second later, he finally removed Girren's hand from his face, then casually draped an arm over his shoulders and steered him toward the staircase.

“You ought to get some practice, my friend,” Kael said with the most serious expression imaginable. “You wrapped things up rather quickly...”

At those words, Girren immediately shot him a furious glare.

“Just what do you take me for?!” he hissed indignantly. “She was drunk! I would never...”

But after getting that far, Girren suddenly faltered.

Then, much more quietly and with obvious embarrassment, he admitted, “We just... kissed.”

Kael simply gave Girren an approving slap on the back and said with a satisfied grin, “Well, well... turns out you're quite the ladies' man. When did that even happen? I had no idea there was anything between you two...”

Girren glanced toward Violet's room with narrowed eyes and almost immediately couldn't resist firing back, “Look who's talking...”

Kael instantly looked away with the most innocent expression possible.

“I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.”

But Girren merely smiled faintly: “And I have no idea what you're talking about either.”

At that reply, Kael laughed quietly, then pulled Girren a little closer with the arm around his shoulders as they descended the stairs.

“You really can tell we're brothers,” he said with quiet warmth. “Even if we're not related by blood.”

This time, Girren didn't make another sarcastic remark. He simply smiled back, calm and genuinely pleased.

Before long, the two of them reached the first floor, but just as expected, there wasn't the slightest sign that any cleaning had begun.

Dorian and Gilmesh were already sitting back at the table wearing utterly resigned expressions, while Barnabas, looking as pleased as could be, continued pouring alcohol into their mugs.

And judging by the sly gleam in the old man's eyes, he clearly had no intention of going easy on them now.

“Oho!” Barnabas drawled happily as he spotted Kael and Girren. “The lovers are back!”

Dorian immediately let his head fall onto the table with a groan.

“Old man, I can't drink anymore...”

Kael could only let out a resigned sigh, already realizing there was no chance they would be allowed to quietly go to bed tonight.

It seemed this night was truly going to be a very long one.