The Drinking Sage 28

The next day.

The shared bed I had now grown accustomed to. I opened my eyes expecting Silvia to be naturally lying beside me, but I saw an unexpected sight.

“…”

Silver pupils staring intently at me.

Silvia Isolde was quietly looking down at me from above my face.

It was a bit startling at first, but I regained my composure and asked.

“…Why are you doing that?”

“Promise.”

The abrupt words without context or lead-in were as usual. It’s difficult to understand the context, forcing me to infer on my own.

‘A promise, huh.’

Since she specifically brought that up, it means she had made some agreement with me.

Turning the pages of my memory, the most recent event was extracted.

Last night. When I met Adela at Bardishe Bar, the conversation I had with Silvia.

-Then before I leave the Academy with the Sage, I will give you time to spend with me.

‘I see.’

I understood why she specifically mentioned the word “promise.”

However, something still puzzled me.

“You want to spend time with me, is that what you mean?”

“Yeah.”

“But why are you positioned above my head like that? I thought you would naturally be sleeping beside me.”

“Hmm-“

Silvia tilted her head at my words.

She seemed unsure herself why she had done that.

After pondering for a while, she opened her small lips.

“Just. I couldn’t sleep.”

“That’s rare.”

That was truly surprising.

Since all I had seen of her until now was her peacefully sleeping.

To hear her now say she couldn’t sleep seemed quite awkward.

At my words, Silvia blankly continued.

“I don’t know either. Just… when I thought about going out with you, my eyes opened early.”

“I see.”

To use an appropriate analogy, perhaps it was like a child’s feeling after hearing “let’s go on a picnic tomorrow” from their parents.

“But is there a need to stare at my face so intensely?”

“Hmm-“

Silvia tilted her head again at my words.

After pondering thoroughly, she said.

“I like looking at your face.”

“…”

It was a straightforward answer that made it difficult to respond.

I shook my head and got up.

“Very well. So you want to fulfill the promise today, not another day, is that right?”

“Yeah.”

At my words, Silvia’s mouth corners rose slightly, very slightly. It was an extremely rare emotional expression for her.

My legs moved toward the wardrobe. Though it’s not quite enough to call it a date, still, I was going out with a woman, so as a man, I couldn’t be negligent.

After preparing to go out, I turned to Silvia, and her appearance caught my eye.

Disheveled clothes as if she had just woken up. No makeup, not paying any particular attention to her appearance.

Nevertheless, the nobility flowing from her face was truly remarkable.

Still, this kind of appearance made me uncomfortable.

I took her hand and pulled her.

Silvia, surprisingly without any resistance, fell right into my arms. Her light build was feather-like, hardly believable for a martial artist.

“…?”

I took her puzzled, head-tilting body with both hands and turned her around.

Where my gaze pointed was the dressing table. Though it was there, I rarely had occasion to use it, but it would be used now.

“Sit over there.”

“Why?”

“Even if you don’t care, aren’t you a proper adult woman? Let’s dress up a bit before going out.”

“…”

Silvia dropped her head at my words and asked.

“Is that necessary?”

“It is.”

I responded with a firm attitude that allowed no objection.

Even if she doesn’t mind, I’m concerned.

Though I wasn’t particularly knowledgeable about women’s grooming methods, I knew the basics from being with my sister, so I planned to do it for her.

Finally, after seating Silvia and taking time to dress her up in my own way, we were able to leave the room.

“…Strange.”

Silvia’s tone was quite unfamiliar.

As if unaccustomed to her own appearance, she kept looking around at her body.

But nothing much had changed below her face. I wasn’t going to touch her body, and I didn’t know much about styling below the head anyway.

In the end, she must have been curious about her current appearance.

Silvia’s small finger traced her face. Her white finger had powder on it that had been lightly applied to her face.

Her lips pouted. She was showing her displeasure toward me.

“Something weird is on my face.”

“It’s not something weird.”

“Liar. It feels really uncomfortable.”

‘It’s all to make you prettier.’

Since that wasn’t something to say in front of someone who dislikes it, I swallowed my sigh and closed my mouth.

After taking care to do some makeup for her, the response wasn’t pleasant.

I heard there are rarely women who dislike makeup, but she seems to be one of them.

Silvia’s small finger moved position, this time toward her hair. Her silver-shining hair was neatly arranged.

A bob cut that came down to below her neck. It was the result of tidying up stray hair and combing it softly.

‘Hmm.’

Though I did it myself, it’s quite a satisfactory styling. My sister would probably compliment me if I told her.

Silvia seemed quite curious, continuously twisting her hair.

“I like this one.”

“Is that so.”

“Yeah. When you touch my hair……..”

Touch it, what?

It seemed like she had more to say, but she didn’t continue.

She closed her mouth as if thinking about something and remained silent.

Like the saying that one effective way to drive people crazy is to stop mid-sentence, I eventually became impatient and secretly activated my Dragon Eyes.

Though using Dragon Eyes like this felt uncomfortable.

‘Dragon Eyes are basically always activated anyway.’

It’s just a matter of applying more force. That’s how I rationalized it.

Mana containing Silvia’s emotions entered my eyes. I examined the colors contained in the mana.

Most of it was mana of unfamiliarity, with patches of happy mana visible here and there.

‘Hmm.’

It seems she has complex feelings about someone touching her hair.

Somehow, it felt like I was stealing a girl’s private thoughts that I shouldn’t know, making me feel guilty.

I briefly repented inwardly, then took Silvia’s hand.

“Ah.”

A small exclamation from her mouth.

Her gaze looking at my hand holding her small hand was still blank.

I spoke while leading her by the hand.

“Well then, is there anything you’d like to do?”

“…Huh?”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to spend time with me? There must be something you want to do.”

I urged her with my eyes to tell me.

Since I hadn’t thought we would be spending time together right away today, I wasn’t prepared. How could I have prepared an itinerary?

It would be best to just go along with what she wants to do.

However.

“I don’t have anything like that.”

Silvia merely answered me in a blank tone.

I frowned at her response. It wasn’t the answer I had expected.

“Don’t tell me you haven’t planned anything?”

“Yeah.”

“…”

At that, I smacked my forehead with an empty hand.

Acting as if she had something she wanted to do, and now when we’re out, this is how it turns out.

‘Well, that’s…’

I wanted to blame her, but she didn’t seem to have any malicious intent, so I was at a loss for words.

It wasn’t unreasonable that words of lament flowed from my mouth.

“Haah…. That’s a troublesome response. I thought you had already set up a schedule.”

“Yeah, really? Is there a problem?”

“Of course there is. What are we supposed to do together if there’s nothing in particular to do?”

“Hmm….”

At my words, Silvia tightened her grip on my hand.

The pressure applied to my hand was both strong, befitting a sword wielder, and soft, like a girl.

She stared at me blankly. Though it was hard to tell the focus of her silver pupils, I could easily tell that the end of her gaze was clearly directed at me.

And then, Silvia’s small lips opened and.

She uttered a phrase that greatly stirred my heart.

“I just need you to be there.”

Words spoken softly.

Silvia muttered that while looking at me.

“As long as I’m with you, it doesn’t matter. Whatever we do is fine.”

How her figure, continuing to speak in a quiet tone, stirred my heart.

As if her words were true, from her small hand that held mine strongly yet gently.

I could feel her unfiltered feelings toward me.

“…”

My mouth closed momentarily at her words.

A woman’s face flashed through my mind.

One woman, no, to be honest, two women’s faces came to mind. Though that filled me with self-loathing, nevertheless.

The gray-haired woman and.

The black-haired woman.

My heart was already complicated with these two women, and now I realized the silver-haired woman was increasingly making her presence known.

“Very well.”

I also gripped her hand firmly in return.

“However, it would be boring if we just spent time blankly together. Let me escort you.”

“Escort?”

“It’s called a date.”

While leading Silvia, who tilted her head at the unfamiliar word.

I quietly whispered to my conscience.

‘Let’s just do it.’

Whether it makes me a playboy or whatever, my future self will handle it somehow.