FDSML CH 07

CHAPTER 07

Since it would mean nothing unless Alperen saw it, I tried to wave her off.

“No, I can go by my—”

Just then, Nanael linked arms with my wobbling self and smiled brightly.

“How could I let a lady who’s staggering like this go alone? What if something happened?”

No, going with Your Highness sounds like the scariest option in the world.

But the alcohol had already gotten hold of my body.

In the end, unable to shake off the princess, I tottered along with her toward the garden.

Then I rubbed my eyes without thinking when I saw the stairs ahead.

There looked to be twice as many steps as usual.

Were there always this many stairs?

The ground seemed to sway beneath me.

If I tried to go down like this, I’d definitely fall—so I stopped.

Far off, I saw Alperen and Adrian heading our way.

I lifted my hand to wave, relieved—

“From here, you can go alone, right?”

With a low voice, Nanael gave me a light push on the back.

“Huh?”

It was just a small shove, but my drunk body tipped forward easily.

It all happened in an instant.

“Kyaa! My lady!”

Nanael’s high-pitched scream came a beat late.

Only then did I realize I was pitching down the stairs and squeezed my eyes shut.

She totally did that on purpose!

Wearing high heels and a fussy dress made it even harder to balance.

I’d been careless, and now I was helpless.

I’m going to hit—

I’d suspected something was up when she insisted on accompanying me, but pushing me down the stairs?

She’d probably claim it was an accident afterward.

Everyone had seen me drink like a fish, so of course it would look like my fault.

While the one who pushed me to drink—Nanael—would slip away clean.

I braced for impact, covering my head.

“Deli!”

“Don’t!”

Adrian and Alperen shouted.

Thud-thud-thud—!

With a racket, my body tumbled down the steps.

I skidded to a stop on the landing, gasping for breath.

“Ugh.”

After rolling so hard, my stomach churned—yet, strangely, nothing hurt.

What?

The expected pain didn’t come, leaving me confused.

Then I realized someone was holding me, and I cracked an eye open.

And there he was.

“Ren… Oppa?”

Alperen—hair, once neatly slicked back, now a mess—was looking down at me.

He looked a little angry.

He swallowed something down, smoothed his expression, and asked, “Are you okay?”

He started checking me over, and I stared blankly.

Did he… leap from that distance?

He’d been pretty far away.

Far enough that even Nanael shouldn’t have seen them yet…

I didn’t have the presence of mind to remember he was a mage.

Blinking in his arms, I couldn’t tell whose heart was pounding—the thudding between our pressed bodies felt like an earthquake.

The alcohol shock-cooled out of me; I scrambled out of his arms, stammering,

“Y-yeah. I-I’m f-fine.”

“Are you really okay?”

While Alperen double-checked me, Adrian rushed in and fussed between us.

“Deli, are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“I’m fine. But Ren Oppa rolled down the stairs instead of me—”

I was trying to check on Alperen when—

“Sir Alperen!”

Nanael came running like an actress on stage, voice pitched high.

Hurrying down the stairs, she shoved me aside and examined him.

“Are you alright? Oh my, your wrist is swollen!”

Her pure, theatrical concern robbed me of words. I stared at her, dumbfounded.

She looked as if she had nothing to do with any of this.

“I’m fine.”

Alperen slapped her hand away, face set.

At the mention that he was hurt, my blood ran cold.

“Oppa, are you okay? Because of me…”

Nanael slid between us with a sugary, fake worry.

“Are you hurt anywhere, my lady? Good thing Sir Alperen was nearby.”

“Sure… I guess.”

I answered flatly, and the princess sighed in relief.

“That was almost terrible. I told you we should go together, but you rushed ahead. I knew you were impulsive from the way you drank so fast…”

“Excuse me?”

“Still, thank goodness it wasn’t worse. Right?”

She smiled brazenly, and my mouth went dry.

So she was going to gloss it over like that?

I wanted to argue, but my stomach was churning.

Hangover, no doubt.

Seeing my condition, Adrian frowned.

“How much did you drink?”

“Ah… Her Highness kept pressing drinks on me…”

“What?”

Adrian turned a glacial look on Nanael.

She flinched, then played dumb.

“She kept accepting what I offered, so I assumed she could hold her liquor.”

“And yet Your Highness seems perfectly fine.”

“That can’t be. I’m tipsy too.”

She swayed on purpose and leaned into Alperen.

“Speaking of which, could you escort me to my carriage? I’m so shaken my legs are trembling.”

I’m the one who should be shaken, and she’s this shameless?

It was transparent what she was trying to pull. I shot Alperen a look.

Surely he wouldn’t go along with that… right?

Don’t go, don’t go, don’t go.

I beamed telepathy at him with my eyes.

“Let’s go.”

To my surprise, Alperen agreed without fuss.

He stood and held out his hand as if to escort her.

Nanael took it with a triumphant smile, making sure I saw.

“Deli, get home safe. Make sure you treat that cut on your hand.”

He glanced at me briefly, said his goodbye, and left with Nanael.

I could only watch his back grow smaller, feeling pitiful.

I drank myself silly and rolled down the stairs because of who, exactly…

Did he miss that she pushed me on purpose?

It stung to think I’d just thrown away the perfect chance.

Then Adrian scooped me up.

“Come on, Deli. Let’s go too.”

“Okay.”

Like a dog who’d lost the rabbit, I slumped against him.

Looks like I need a Plan B.

***

Meanwhile, at the carriage, Nanael thanked Alperen.

“Thank you, Sir Alperen.”

“…”

“I’m quite drunk—could you see me all the way to my rooms?”

She leaned into him and cooed, but he didn’t react.

Puzzled, she looked up—

—and met a gaze as cold as ice.

Overwhelmed by that stare, she parted her lips, but he stepped back.

“There are plenty of others who can see you to your rooms besides me.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means you don’t need to flutter at me with words you don’t mean.”

At his bluntness, a crack ran through her smile.

Everyone knew, as an open secret, that she kept multiple lovers.

But it was the first time anyone had dragged it into the open like this; it threw her off.

“Is this about the men I see? If the duke had been warmer to me, I wouldn’t have looked elsewhere.”

Nanael tried to flip the blame, and Alperen smirked.

“Frankly, I don’t care about Your Highness’s love affairs.”

He’d only kept this engagement to avoid needless trouble.

Even if the imperial family monopolized holy water, he hadn’t given up on his father’s situation.

If the secret experiment underway succeeded, he planned to break the betrothal.

Nanael, knowing none of this, still looked brazen.

Normally, even this would have passed without much thought, but…

Thinking of what had just happened, Alperen’s voice turned icy.

“But what you did just now—I can’t overlook.”