IWBQ 07

~Chapter 07~

7. A Drink of Courage
2023.08.07.

For the past few days, the one who had been giving her a headache was none other than Chase.

She thought he would agree right away when she asked to break up, but contrary to expectations, Chase clung to her in a pathetic manner.

Ever since he returned to the palace, he kept sending gifts and letters.

At first, the gifts came once a day. On the second day, they came twice — morning and afternoon. From the third day onward, they arrived irregularly, without pattern.

“So he’s trying to win by sheer numbers, is he?”

Elise didn’t even glance at them, but she could easily guess what the letters said.

“Guess I was worth something to him after all.”

Much of what Chase had achieved was thanks to Elise.

“Maybe he doesn’t love me, but at least he must see me as a retainer he can’t afford to lose. Still, I didn’t expect him to cling this much.”

Even when Elise ignored his letters and returned his gifts, Chase’s pursuit continued.

So, while reading gossip columns in her spare time, Elise began to think of ways to break up with him.

“He won’t let go for a trivial reason.”

Elise knew Chase’s stubbornness well. Once he set his mind on something, he rarely backed down.

“The amount of trouble I’ve gone through because of that stubbornness… with nothing to his name, no less.”

She sighed at the thought of the past.

To flip the table completely, she needed to disappoint him enough that he would give her up entirely — something so wounding that his pride wouldn’t allow him to hold on.

“But if I do that, I won’t be able to stay in this country anymore.”

Chase would threaten her. As for Viscount Wharton — her father — he might even try to kill her, saying she had shamed the family when it was already crucial to curry favor with the royal family.

She could end up imprisoned before she even had a chance to begin her revenge.

But it wasn’t as though there was no way to survive.

There was a way to annul her engagement to Chase, secure her own protection, and even repay a debt of gratitude.

Elise’s eyes blazed with resolve.

“Miss, congratulations. You’re twenty now.”

“Ah…”

Without realizing it, the new year had come.

“What’s so special about New Year’s Day?”

“Still, this year is different. You’ve come of age, my lady.”

In a warm, affectionate family, the first day of the year was celebrated, and a child coming of age would be congratulated. But the Whartons were not a warm family.

“No… they are warm — it’s just that I was the one left out.”

Once, she would have been hurt. But now, Elise felt no such thing. She gave a faint smile.

“Regina, I think I’ll go to bed early today.”

Regina, who was tidying Elise’s room, looked back at her.

“Already? You napped until late this afternoon.”

“Yes, but strangely, I still feel tired.”

“Are you unwell? Should I fetch the doctor?”

“No, Regina.”

It was just a feigned illness anyway, and besides, the family doctor wouldn’t come just because Elise called late at night.

In House Wharton, the only one who ever listened to her was Regina.

“If I still feel bad tomorrow morning, I’ll see him then. And I want to sleep in tomorrow, so don’t wake me until I call for you.”

Elise soothed the worried maid.

“You promise?”

After securing the promise, Regina prepared her lady’s bed.

She lit fragrant incense said to improve sleep and warmed the mattress with heated stones.

Her care was meticulous, more than usual.

Because lately, Elise had seemed… different.

She had always been bright, spirited, and optimistic. But nowadays she seemed as if wrapped in a faint mist.

On top of that, she said she would break things off with Chase, and she kept wanting to be alone.

Regina hid her worry and quietly left the room.

And a few hours later, when the moon was high, Elise’s door opened soundlessly.

She slipped out of the Wharton estate to find the one who could free her from Chase.

In a noisy pub, a man fiddled with his glass, turning his head slightly.

His broad frame and sun-kissed skin made him stand out from the people of Bedroka.

Difference often became a target of hostility.

“What’s a barbarian bastard doing here? Get lost, filth!”

“Do you even know what alcohol tastes like? Shouldn’t you be drinking monster blood instead?”

When the man didn’t respond to the jeers, the insults grew sharper.

The man finally lifted his head. His deep eyes gave off a chilling light that made his taunters flinch.

“Y-you dare glare at me, you filthy dog!”

Fear should have been their instinct for survival, but drunkenness had overpowered it, and one of them raised his hand.

Alcohol often breeds bravado.

The man’s lips curved in a slanted smile. The easy confidence in it only enraged his tormentors further.

“Lower your eyes, bastard!”

One drunk finally swung his hand.

Guess I should at least take one hit.

That was what the so-called barbarian thought. But he missed the chance to get hit.

Smack.

Someone had stepped in, catching the drunk’s wrist.

“What do you think you’re doing? Discrimination against a Tetrisian is prohibited under continental law.”

The clear, ringing voice carried authority.

“What the hell? Who does this bitch think she is?”

The drunk was enraged that a mere woman dared to hold his wrist.

But despite the crude insult, the woman remained calm.

“I am—”

She pulled back her hood. Golden hair spilled out, revealing a pale, flawless face.

Several people gasped at the sight. The so-called barbarian, too, stared in surprise.

As if inviting all eyes, she slowly looked around before finishing her introduction.

“Elise Wharton.”

She released the drunk’s wrist and looked down at the man who had been ignored until now.

I knew you’d be here, Karan.

The barbarian man, Karan, looked at her in puzzlement.

Karan Lysandro Tetris.

The Tetrisian prince who would one day come to Elise when she was at death’s door.

He was the one who could save her from her current predicament.

She had remembered this from her past life.

When Elise turned twenty, Bedroka held a festival to mark the start of spring and invited the Tetrisian royal family.

Tetris responded by sending Prince Karan.

It was an unusual occurrence for Bedroka to invite Tetris, and for Tetris to accept.

And a month before the festival, Karan arrived — only to beat a Bedrokan man bloody in a tavern brawl.

The incident, a foreign prince committing violence, had caused a great uproar in the capital.

Chase, who had been assigned as Karan’s host during his stay, had suffered endless headaches, so Elise remembered it well.

She looked at the drunks with pity.

You all should be grateful to me.

When Elise boldly stepped in front of Karan, his eyebrows rose, and his eyes fixed on her.

“Wharton? As in House Wharton?”

The drunks finally grasped the situation and faltered.

Even common laborers who frequented shabby taverns knew the Whartons.

Because Viscount Wharton was infamous for his vile temper.

He ran small businesses that forced him into frequent contact with commoners, but he treated them like stones on the roadside.

If they broke, he discarded them. If they didn’t, he ground them down.

He was notorious for showing no mercy when anyone beneath him made a mistake.

So people avoided him — not from fear, but from disgust.

“Yes. Viscount Wharton. That’s my father’s title.”

“Wh-wh-Wharton House!”

Faces turned pale.

“We—we apologize, my lady. But what brings you here…?”

Their attitude was completely different from when they had been picking a fight. Now they hunched their shoulders and rubbed their hands together like flies.

Elise looked at them with indifference.

That very indifference made them shrink back further.

“Our apologies, my lady.”

“The one you should be apologizing to isn’t me, but him.”

Elise tilted her head slightly toward Karan.

He still hadn’t intervened, nor retreated — just watching, as if this situation didn’t bother him.

“To… to him? You want us to apologize to that— to him?”

Elise gave a small nod.

Their faces twisted. Even a day laborer had pride.

But bowing to a so-called barbarian — to one rumored to eat people when food was scarce? Unthinkable.

“Won’t you do it?” Elise asked.

They only glanced at one another nervously.

Then Elise let out a small, amused laugh.

“I thought not. In that case, I shall apologize.”

Turning, she bowed deeply to the seated man. With great courtesy.

A shockwave ran through Karan’s eyes.

“Please forgive the rudeness committed by a Bedrokan.”

The tavern, once loud, fell silent as if doused with cold water.

Her mere appearance here was startling enough. But for a viscount’s daughter to bow to a so-called barbarian?

It was something that would turn both society and the council upside down.

Some rubbed their eyes, certain they must be seeing wrong.

The man frowned, seeming troubled, then finally spoke.

“This was not your fault, my lady. But since I cannot let your precious apology go to waste, I will accept it.”

His eyes softened, polite as he inclined his head — utterly unlike the gaze he had shown the rabble earlier.

Did he recognize me?

Elise faltered. His tone felt far too familiar, almost nostalgic, like greeting an old friend.

Impossible. I’m not supposed to meet Karan until the upcoming festival. Maybe he’s just heard of House Wharton?

No, that didn’t make sense either. Why would Karan care about the Whartons?

In any case, his deference was strange for a Tetrisian.

For centuries of enmity had formed certain unwritten rules — and one was that Tetrisian nobles never bowed to Bedrokan nobles.

“There’s a seat free. May I join you?”

Sensing the shift, others nearby quickly vacated their spots. With the area cleared, Elise rested her hand on the back of the empty chair.

“This is no place for a lady of your standing. If you’ve lost your way, allow me to escort you to your destination.”

“No, I came here for this.”

Elise lightly stopped his hand as he reached to take her coat.

Karan quickly withdrew, almost as if burned. His reaction was so exaggerated that Elise herself was startled.

Does he dislike even touching me? Then again, he wasn’t very fond of me in the past either.

Was it just a bad first impression? Her confidence wavered.

But I can’t back down now. Even if he doesn’t like me, we can still make a deal.

While Elise mulled it over, Karan continued to stare at her awkwardly, looking less like the “Wolf of Tetris” — the fiercest of barbarians — and more like a shy, oversized puppy.

Suddenly, Elise felt like some wicked temptress, about to lead an innocent man astray.

“How about a drink together?”

She gathered her courage. Karan’s sharp eyes narrowed.

It was not a friendly look. Elise stiffened with tension.