Wine, wine, wine.
Every time I met her, the sharp scent of alcohol always wafted to my nostrils.
She was a woman with golden hair.
Her deep blue eyes were clouded and the face that was originally as white as snow was now drenched in a rosy hue.
At a glance, it was clear she was tipsy.
Most drunks reveal their ugliness the more they drink, but the woman sitting before me was different.
Rather, she emitted a desolate beauty like a lone flower remaining in the snowfield.
It was thanks to her extraordinary natural beauty.
Of course, the woman did not seem to care about anyone’s gaze.
She merely kept filling her glass by endlessly tilting the wine bottle.
Draining it, then filling it again.
I could sense a kind of stubbornness in that repeated motion.
As if drinking was her only duty, the woman silently drained and refilled her glass.
It was a lonely drinking session.
I would even call it a self-destructive act in silence.
As time passed, the woman increasingly radiated a lonely atmosphere.
Watching her, I thought.
Really hard to watch.
She was not much of an expressive person even when sober, and her stoic nature did not change even as she drank.
If anything, she tended to look sadder when drunk.
A hollow shell, having lost the purpose of life.
Her state reminded me of what I used to be.
Or perhaps it was like seeing the final destination that I too would eventually reach, which made me feel choked up and I spoke.
“…Stop drinking.”
It was at that moment that her hand paused for the first time.
Her aquamarine eyes flickered toward me.
They were cold, like the surface of a winter pond.
While her gaze might have made someone’s body tremble, for some reason, I did not feel afraid of her.
Considering her other name, it was surprising.
Aine (Half-Breed) Executioner.
It was a dreadful title.
One would have a hard time imagining it belonged to such a delicate beauty.
But witnessing her brutally slaying elves at the forefront of battles would immediately bring the nickname to mind.
Even today, dozens, even hundreds, perished under her cold gaze.
Every time her pale swordlight traced a trajectory, bl**d and water stained the snowfield.
A human who remembered that sight could not stand before her stare.
Still, my tongue moved on its own.
“You need to rest tomorrow, you know… You should take a break.”
For a long while, the woman said nothing.
Like a pile of burnt ashes, there was no trace of emotion on her face.
It was only after a while that she murmured faintly.
“…Senior, were you this meddlesome back then?”
“I don’t know.”
With my nonchalant answer, she drank another glass.
All the dregs disappeared down her throat in one gulp. A blue hue filled with sadness directed toward me.
“Whenever I drink, everything blurs… My reason and emotion, life and d*ath, the past and the future all become hazy, so that I can’t even tell who I am.”
“So you always rush into the heart of the enemy alone every time?”
It was a reprimand mixed with a sigh.
As if hearing a long-overdue scolding, the woman silently stared at me.
“You’ll d*e… No matter how strong you are.”
“I won’t d*e… I want to d*e, but…”
In a listless tone, the woman muttered and drained another glass.
With a thud, the glass hit the table.
Her eyes now held a deep light.
She was reminiscing about something in her past.
“…Because I still have something to do.”
It was a tone unusually thick and heavy.
There was a delusion as if a spark of blue fire had reignited amidst the ashes. In the woman’s countenance, as she spat out those words, swirled various emotions.
Hatred, resentment, regret, despair, and self-loathing.
Considering her past, it was a face not difficult to understand.
Which was why my chest tightened with pain and frustration even more.
That was why my hand gripped her wrist.
An unpleasant glance aimed at me.
Regardless, I snatched the bottle from her hand.
Typically as stoic as a statue, but the moment the bottle was taken, a dramatic reaction followed.
“What is this nonsense…!”
But before her exclamation could fully escape.
I immediately tilted the bottle and gulped down the drink in one breath.
The cold liquid slid down my throat like fire. It felt searing, high alcohol content indeed.
Still, I didn’t stop drinking.
When I finally placed the bottle down with a thud.
The alcohol exploded in my stomach like fireworks and shot up through my nose to my mind. The alcohol would soon dissipate as steam throughout my body.
I hadn’t overdrunk like this for a long time.
Since my Academy days, I’ve reduced drinking, but the sensation of alcohol entering my system after all this time felt strange. My stomach started bubbling as if it was boiling.
Of course, the regret didn’t last long.
Just looking at the woman’s expression of disbelief told me my purpose had hit the mark.
I wiped my lips and murmured.
“…Then let’s get drunk properly together. Don’t drink alone.”
Only then did the woman suppress a hollow laugh and question me.
“Senior… didn’t you say we were returning to the capital tomorrow morning?”
“If you’re worried, drink less.”
It seemed the woman had run out of things to say.
She slightly glanced at me, then sighed as if accepting her fate, and picked up a new bottle.
It was after a few more rounds that the woman got thoroughly drunk.
Truthfully, if she set her mind to it, she could have easily shaken off the intoxication.
She was a strong warrior capable of defeating dozens of elf soldiers and the creatures of the Dark Cult.
There’s no way she couldn’t overcome the effects of alcohol.
Yet, I had never once seen her recover from her drunkenness.
The woman wanted to get drunk.
Endlessly.
“Senior, didn’t you say it’s bad to drink before going to battle? Well, well… without alcohol, I can’t fall asleep. Every night, the sound of war drums echoes in my ears…”
A dry sigh devoid of any moisture.
Without saying a word, I tilted my glass.
“I have nothing left now. My family, my castle, my name, my relatives… I was foolish, you know… Back then, I shouldn’t have…”
She thumped her own chest as if desperately wanting to cry.
But no matter how much she thumped, the dried-up tear ducts would never burst forth.
The woman instead imitated a sob and spoke.
“I miss my sister… I didn’t know… I didn’t know who I was, what I was… And yet I hated her…”
At that, she abruptly rolled up her sleeve.
Her delicate arm was exposed, and she traced her fingernail along it.
Without any sharp objects involved.
Nevertheless, the skin tore with no resistance, and bl**d trickled down.
I tried to rise in alarm.
That is, if the woman had not finally wept.
“…This bl**d!”
The bl**d droplets fell thickly from the tips of her fingers.
The torn wound began to close up instantly. I could say nothing as I observed the scene.
I couldn’t fathom her heart.
I merely chewed my lips and stared at her blue eyes brimming with intense hatred.
“This bl**d… I hate it…”
While thinking of how to console her.
I stood up hesitantly. This might not have been something a senior should do to a junior I barely knew, but it was all I could think of at that moment.
Pushing through the effects of the alcohol, I took a step forward.
Just as I stood up.
Crack! A large fissure split the world.
Crossing my vision, a slash mark spread out, tiny cracks spreading like spiderwebs. Then, not long after, like a windowpane struck by a cannonball, the ground shattered loudly beneath me.
I couldn’t even let out a scream.
Endless dreams floated and passed through the darkness.
Snowfields swept by blizzards.
Boiling flesh.
Elves dressed in black.
Unfathomable landscapes invaded my view and clouded my mind.
Then, finally, the burning golden eyes of the man clutching my shoulder.
“…Remember, the memories you can take with you are few.”
They flickered with an almost unbearably bright, burning light into my mind.
“I won’t be able to help you for a while, so remember this one thing.”
I wanted to say something, but my breath was cut off.
No words would escape.
So I could only listen.
To the warning from the man I had heard long ago.
“…Never challenge him recklessly.”
With that advice, the ground beneath me crumbled again, and I plunged into endless darkness.
I woke up, screaming, at that moment.
Gasping, I tried to gather my scattered thoughts.
It was an excessively vivid dream.
Was this due to the fairy tale ratio?
No sooner had I come to my senses than I hastily turned my gaze.
Toward the table by the head of my bed.
There, as always, a strange envelope had arrived.
No less than two of them.
I could do nothing but blurt out in confusion.
“…What is this?”
But there was no time to hesitate.
I fumbled and hastily grabbed the envelopes.
Both were made of luxurious material.
At a glance, it was impossible to tell where they had come from.
Which one should I open first? I deliberated for a moment and then noticed something peculiar.
One of the envelopes had already been opened.
It was alarming.
Love letters from the future were things only I could see. The only one who could read their contents was me.
Therefore, the only person who could open these envelopes was me.
However, the envelope was already opened, and worse still, when I checked the inside, the letter that should have been there was missing.
I could do nothing but let out a faint smile of frustration.
“Huh.”
My mind was already growing complicated.
But there was not enough information yet.
I carefully tore open the remaining envelope.
Fortunately, there were a few sheets of letter paper inside.
My eyes silently began to scan the lines.
