It had been a long time since I had a male guest in my room, just the two of us.
It was already rare for a man to step into my room. The last visitor had been a male student with a depressed face, who had knocked on my door late at night not long ago.
Looking back now, those were truly nostalgic memories.
I wondered if that male student had recovered well after going to the temple.
I was worried he might have suffered a serious incident during the monster attack. Or perhaps he had become one of those who blamed the imperial princess for his plight.
However, that male student hadn’t entered my room of his own accord, nor had he received courteous treatment from me.
The only man who had come to my room as a guest and even received alcohol was Ru Pin.
And now, an unexpected character was being added to the list.
Ru Pin of the Rainelle Clan.
He, who always maintained the elegance of a nobleman, was sitting before me looking rather disheveled for once.
His tangled hair and the smell of burnt smoke were quite striking.
He looked as if he had just emerged from a fire.
Including that point, it seemed we were going to have a conversation gradually. I took out a bottle of whiskey from the cupboard and poured it into a glass.
The glass filled with a slosh, and the strong scent wafted through the air.
As soon as Ru Pin caught the smell, he grimaced.
“……What’s this cheap alcohol? Don’t you have anything more luxurious?”
I contemplated slapping him.
A moment of serious deliberation crossed my mind, but I decided to suppress the inner violence.
I already knew Ru Pin was somewhat rude. In fact, he was the younger brother of Senior Elsi, whom I deeply valued, so I could endure him a few times.
Yeah, just a few times.
I hoped he wouldn’t exhaust all chances today.
“Isn’t that a bit shameless for a sudden visit?”
“Shameless? Ha… It’s all because of you! It’s your fault that my sister…!”
Ru Pin exclaimed, showing signs of another outburst.
I quickly raised my glass before he could froth at the mouth.
Fortunately, it seemed that Ru Pin hadn’t gotten so worked up that he completely forgot his noble demeanor.
He clinked his glass against mine with a disgruntled expression. And the aroma of whiskey flowed down his throat, burning.
I exhaled a heated breath and turned my gaze toward Ru Pin.
He took a sip of the drink, then stuck his tongue out in disgust.
It seemed the cheap alcohol didn’t suit his taste.
Or maybe he just had a tendency not to handle alcohol well.
Either way, the drink was merely a lubricant for conversation. I seized the opportunity to press Ru Pin.
“Come on, instead of just getting angry, why don’t you tell me the details? That way I could understand what I did wrong… if I need to apologize or something.”
“Good job speaking, you trash! You need to hear exactly what crime you committed against my sister!”
Already feeling the effects of the drink, Ru Pin became even angrier as he yelled.
To summarize the long-winded explanation that followed, the problem had to go all the way back to the day when I first encountered Senior Elsi.
On that day, Senior Elsi, who had suffered an unexpected defeat at my hands, not only faced humiliation and shame but also found herself at the center of unpleasant rumors.
Specifically, the rumor about her “wetting herself.”
At least according to Senior Elsi, this was just a ridiculous slander. But who would honestly confess they wet themselves in front of their juniors?
When the true story lost its clarity, the public usually accepted the version they wanted as truth.
At that time, Senior Elsi’s reputation was at its worst. The truth preferred by the Academy members was something that would diminish Elsi’s standing in any way possible.
It almost caused her marriage prospects to plummet.
No matter how equal men and women’s rights may have become, society still imposed heavier obligations of chastity on women. Not to mention for a noble lady.
To have been made a fool of by an outsider and to wet herself?
While it seemed like a somewhat funny incident at first glance, it drastically changed the narrative the moment it traversed the harsh whispers of social circles.
What could have been a mere embarrassment could quickly turn into a scandal.
Of course, even if it happened just once, it wouldn’t necessarily destroy one’s standing in the marriage market. Still, Senior Elsi had already committed far too many misdeeds over time.
Her cruel and violent disposition was one of her clear shortcomings.
Especially given that her abilities were remarkable, if she were paired with just about any groom, the future of becoming a victim of domestic violence was glaringly obvious.
Amidst all this, news had come through that she had been humiliated by the second son of a rural baron.
Count Rainelle made a swift decision.
He decided to marry off Senior Elsi before she caused any more trouble and diminished her value in the marriage market.
Thus began Count Rainelle’s efforts, which bore fruit not long ago.
Senior Elsi had been betrothed, and worried that she might cause another incident, Count Rainelle decided to hasten the engagement.
This was the long-winded explanation Ru Pin had given me for why knights from the Rainelle Clan were coming to take Senior Elsi away tomorrow.
Hmm, a heavy sigh escaped from my lips.
It was an engagement forced upon her. Moreover, since Count Rainelle said he was hurrying, there would have been no time to select a proper match.
The images of several heroines facing tragic destinies flashed through my mind.
Unfortunate souls who had to get engaged to incompetent men who were older and had bad personalities without even loving them.
Senior Elsi couldn’t just sit back and let that happen.
I asked Ru Pin, my face serious.
“So, what about the fiancé? Is he older, violent, incompetent…?”
“No? He’s a handsome gentleman from a prestigious family with a promising future.”
Count Rainelle was unexpectedly competent.
Upon hearing Ru Pin’s words, I felt all the air leave my body. I even gulped down my drink to quell that sense of emptiness.
In that case, it wasn’t something I needed to worry about from the start.
No matter what anyone said, I was an outsider of the Rainelle Clan. No matter how close I was to Senior Elsi, that was a reality that wouldn’t change.
“What’s the problem then? It’s not uncommon for noble families to engage their children like they’re selling them off… the fiancé is more than acceptable.”
“Do you… still not get the problem?!”
Now with his face flushed from the effects of drink, Ru Pin slammed his hands on the table in anger.
“It’s a forced marriage! My sister cried so hard, I’m telling you?! Look, this is the result of trying to comfort her!”
With that, Ru Pin spread his arms, showing off his pitiful appearance.
I had to swallow a laugh in disbelief.
“But what can we do? If you’re born a noble, it’s an unavoidable fate. It’s a price you pay for having lived a better life than others.”
I pointed out a completely reasonable aspect.
In the noble society, the family always took precedence above all else. Born as a noble child, the life one desires is supported only by the family’s halo.
Senior Elsi would have been the same.
Now it was time to pay that price.
To be honest, it made my stomach turn a little, but I tried to maintain my calm.
However, my commonsensical narrative only served to anger Ru Pin further.
“……Family?”
A sudden voice snapped with an intensity I hadn’t expected.
The emotion contained in the harshly released words caused me to pause, halting the hand that tilted the glass. Ru Pin’s blue eyes were ablaze with fury.
It was a density of emotion unlike anything I had encountered before.
Only long-concentrated rage and hatred could emit such a color.
“What has the family ever done for us…?”
It was an essential question.
So obvious that it was difficult to unravel and explain.
With my mind already somewhat intoxicated, I couldn’t think straight. The best I could produce were the clichéd words that tumbled out of my mouth awkwardly.
“Uh, well… things like feeding us and giving us a place to sleep? You know, those types of things.”
“Our parents did nothing for us…!”
He spat out the words through gritted teeth.
Even so, it was implausible that the family hadn’t provided food and shelter. However, the anger Ru Pin displayed bordered on what could even be claimed as abuse from the Rainelle family.
Ru Pin was drunk and was finally laying bare his true feelings.
“To our parents, we were just dogs in a fighting arena… thrown in and waiting for the strongest one to survive. Do you understand how miserable we were as children?”
His voice became increasingly intense. The bloodshot eyes swirled with fierce pain.
“I was dragged out to get beaten when they were bored! For no reason, just because it seemed fun! And when I told my parents? They just scolded me once and that was it… And as retaliation, I had to get beaten even more brutally. Sometimes I was even made to fight the dogs they raised… I begged them to stop!”
I couldn’t utter a word in response to the torrent overflowing without warning.
I simply poured whiskey into Ru Pin’s now empty glass.
For the tears he should have shed.
“Back then, the only person who protected me was Elsi… she fought that huge dog in my place. At first, she got bitten and bled everywhere, and you should have seen the shock on the face of the older brother who arranged the fight, right? Heh… but you know what’s funny? When the knights arrived long after, Elsi had already choked that dog to death.”
Amidst that, Ru Pin let out a sound that was neither laughter nor crying. His head thudded heavily onto the table.
At that moment, I cautiously tried to stop Ru Pin.
“Ru Pin, you’ve had too much to drink. You should get back now…”
“I just got free!”
Shouting with fervor, Ru Pin gulped down the whiskey from his glass in one go. The sharp scent of alcohol wafted through the air.
“Yet, you want me to return to the family? After they’ve done nothing for me, now that I’ve become a fine dog, they want to sell me for a price?!”
I was left utterly speechless by the intensity of his longing.
With a sigh, I sank into the backrest of my chair. As I tilted my glass again, the fiery liquid ignited my insides.
It was probably the alcohol.
“I can’t do anything… I’m too weak compared to my sister, and all I can do is shut my mouth and get hit…”
Once more, Ru Pin drooped his head helplessly onto the table.
He was out of his mind.
Thus, he could share his unfiltered feelings.
“But you’re not like that, you’re… stronger than my sister…”
That was all the reason Ru Pin had come to find me.
I was probably the only person he could think of right now. Even at the Academy, there were few who could persuade Senior Elsi.
Weeping and exhausted, Ru Pin murmured sorrowfully.
“Is Rainelle’s fate to be decided by Rainelle? What does that have to do with you all…?”
“‘Rainelle’s fate is decided by Rainelle.’”
It must have been the family motto of the Rainelle Clan. A cliché, the kind that every noble family should boast.
Ru Pin seemed unable to bear those very words, groaning even in his sleep.
For a while, I silently poured the drinks, finishing the remaining whiskey from the bottle.
“……A weakling like you shouldn’t be acting tough.”
With a grunt, I rose and roughly tossed Ru Pin onto the bed.
And having no interest in sharing a bed with a man, I decided to sleep on the small couch instead. Even while sleeping in a curled-up position, I thought.
What on earth was Senior Elsi hoping for?
So, my inebriated consciousness faded into darkness.
And the next morning, when I returned to my senses.
“……Stop.”
In front of the knights from the Rainelle Clan who had come to take Senior Elsi away, I was already spouting that kind of line, wafting the smell of alcohol all around.
“Let’s not touch Senior Elsi anymore.”
I really didn’t want to go through with this.
A sigh naturally escaped my lips.
