The Drinking Sage 53

Silence flowed over the table.

None of the three women spoke. Without exception, they all swallowed, waiting for me to speak to Lorela.

“…”

‘It’s heavy.’

Love was such a heavy and genuine emotion that it was far too difficult for me.

Nevertheless.

-Please tell me. At this point, who do you like the most?

Lorela’s words might perhaps be a good opportunity.

I glanced sideways to look at one woman.

A woman with long, pitch-black hair. I could see the dress she had carefully put on to dance with me at today’s party.

How could I not know? That Adela Ciadellia was so sincere toward me.

And.

-On the last day of this party. I’ll confess to Your Highness for certain.

That I could no longer avoid making a decision.

Therefore, Lorela’s statement was, in a way, an opportunity.

Before the Sage confessed to me. Who I, Loran von Welert, truly held in my heart.

“Sigh…”

I closed my eyes.

My vision was immersed in darkness, and I held the faces of the three women in my mind.

The Saint with ash-colored hair.

The Sage with ink-colored hair.

The Sword Star with silver-colored hair.

The times I had spent with the three women. The emotions I had shared with them. The experiences we would share in the future.

After deep contemplation, the image of one woman came to mind.

And so this was a tragedy.

‘How cruel.’

Today, I had to cut off one woman’s pure love.

“…”

Having made my decision, I gestured to Lorela. Sensing my intention, Lorela brought her fair ear to my mouth.

“Hmm.”

My sister, who had put her ear to my mouth, made a nasal sound as if what she heard from me was quite interesting.

At the same time, she didn’t forget to manage her gaze to avoid showing any sign to the “sisters-in-law.”

“Hmm. If that’s what brother says, Lorela won’t say anything.”

Lorela dusted off her dress and gently rose from her seat.

“Are you leaving already?”

“I’m sad to part ways so soon after seeing you after a long time. But, I’m also busy these days.”

Busy, she says.

The Lorela I knew was always a pure child engrossed in baking.

Meeting my suspicious gaze, Lorela cleared her throat and pushed up her chest. Her perky breasts pushed up her dress.

“I’m planning to enter Bardishe Academy as a freshman next year. So I’m working hard.”

“Hmm.”

Only then did I understand the background of Lorela’s statement.

While I was directly invited to the academy and entered without taking an exam, normally one must pass a difficult test to enter Bardishe.

Learning that Lorela was preparing for that, I felt quite proud as her brother.

However, I couldn’t help but wonder.

“But is there really a need for that?”

It was a reasonable question.

It’s beneficial for royalty to reside in the Imperial Palace. Both for themselves and for the citizens of the Empire.

Since a royal entering the academy itself could cause various problems.

‘Just like my confrontation with the Northerner.’

In an academy that pursues equality, the highest-ranking status would always be a foreign element.

To my question and concern, Lorela simply smiled brightly and answered.

“Well, because you’re there, brother.”

“…”

The sincerity uttered without hesitation was intense. The emotion in Lorela’s blue pupils was pure.

Admiration for me, her brother. Affection for the closest family member.

No, beyond that.

“I can’t live even for a moment without you, brother.”

Seeing her hand raised to her chest as she smiled gently.

“So, the day you die is the day I die too.”

And, watching her make dangerous statements with a clear tone.

‘Perhaps.’

The feelings Lorela directed towards me might not be those one would have for family.

That’s what I found myself thinking.

 

After Lorela’s stormy appearance, the one who broke the silence at the table was Adela.

“Your Highness.”

“Yes.”

I inquired about her intention with a look.

The sight of her white fingers brushing back her black hair.

“Honestly, I’m really, really curious about what you said to your sister. But I’ll refrain because it wouldn’t be proper.”

“Thank you.”

“Because, anyway, I’ll hear the answer.”

She tried to speak calmly, but couldn’t hide her trembling.

Adela’s eyebrows were subtly trembling. The quivering black eyelashes were the woman’s heart itself.

“You remember what I told you before, right?”

“…”

“See you there. I’ll come to hear your answer in 10 minutes.”

With those words, Adela rose.

Despite consciously trying to walk with dignity, I noticed her smooth legs trembling.

‘She’s nervous.’

The great Sage was anxious. The feelings of a girl waiting for a man’s answer are always like that.

The only issue was that the person in question was me.

-See you there.

Surely, by “there,” she meant the terrace we had seen before dancing.

A place where the scenery of the Tower could be seen at a glance. And, a spot where the night sky and the stars adorning it could be captured in one view.

There, I had to give my answer.

“Yawn…”

While sitting at the table with a rather serious heart.

The one who broke the rigid atmosphere was, of course, Silvia.

The Sword Star rubbed her eyes with her small fingers. Just like her usual self who often took naps, she looked sleepy.

“Loraan… I’m sleepy.”

“I see.”

I didn’t say, “So what do you want me to do?” No matter how complicated my feelings were, it wouldn’t be proper to vent them on Silvia.

Silvia approached me with small steps, yawning widely.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, can’t we sleep together? I’ve had a hard time without you.”

“Hmm.”

“So, let’s go now and… Ugak!”

Since I had to visit the terrace soon, and beyond that, it wasn’t yet time to sleep.

While I was contemplating how to deal with this troublemaker, the Sword Star’s cheek was stretched once again.

Of course, there aren’t many who can treat Silvia so harshly. It’s something only possible for someone like the head of the Sword Angle, to which the Sword Star belongs.

It was the Sword Empress’s reappearance.

“Did you already forget what I told you just now? Hmm?”

The Sword Empress persistently pinched her cheek with fingers that bore the passage of time but hadn’t lost their beauty. Silvia’s cheek turned a bright red.

“Ummm, Ummmm…”

“Really, even when I tell you, you don’t listen.”

While the Sword Empress sighed, Silvia slapped her hand away with a smack.

“Ah, really! Old hag, are you going to keep interfering?”

A rare sight of Silvia fuming, considering she was usually dazed.

The Sword Star shouting sharply. The corners of the Sword Empress’s mouth turned up towards her.

But that smile wasn’t kind or warm. More of an ominous and sinister kind of smile.

“Oh? So you’re that fond of the Third Prince, Sword Star?”

“So what if I am?”

“Then we need to have a little talk.”

“What?”

Without caring about Silvia’s incredulous look, the Sword Empress’s hand gripped the Sword Star’s arm.

“That’s not how you approach a man you fancy. Come here, I’ll teach you.”

“Ah, eek, wait! At least let me sleep with him for one day!”

“No- way.”

Silvia tried to twist her body to come to me, but ultimately couldn’t escape the Sword Empress’s grasp and was dragged away.

“Hmm.”

Still, seeing her eventually go along with the Sword Empress’s stubbornness, it seems she trusts and follows the Sword Empress in her own way.

At the table, after the storm called Lorela and the typhoon called Silvia and the Sword Empress had passed.

“…”

Only the Saint, Rinet Michaela, remained, silently turning the water glass in her hand.

As there was no reaction from her side, I ended up speaking first.

“Aren’t you going to say anything?”

“What?”

“…It’s not my place to say, but everyone else has taken their own actions.”

It truly wasn’t my place to speak. A man who receives the love of three women yet can’t make up his mind.

However, I couldn’t help but be concerned.

‘Actually, no reaction is even more unsettling.’

It made me more tense, like a bomb that could explode at any moment.

“Hmm.”

Rinet, who had been looking at me, made a nasal sound once and then.

“Then, shall we talk?”

She said as she lightly rose from her seat.

“Talk about what?”

“The homework I gave you before.”

Her words brought back a memory.

-This kind of thing will happen frequently in the future. Will you act like this every time? You shouldn’t.

When we watched the harem comedy play.

The conversation I had with Rinet while Silvia was sound asleep.

Remembering that, I answered with a grim face.

“…I’m sorry, but nothing comes to mind yet.”

“Is that so?”

Rinet’s answer was short.

As if she didn’t care. As if it was the result she had expected. As if it wasn’t good.

She momentarily displayed complex emotions on her face and then.

“Then we should talk more.”

As she said this, she beckoned me with her hand.

At the end of where she was heading was the terrace.

The terrace that Adela had designated. That resembled Adela.

On that terrace, Rinet smiled with the night sky behind her.

“Actually, I haven’t been able to smoke since coming here.”

“What?”

“Shall we have a smoke together?”

With the same unruly remark that was impossible to think of from a Saint. Between her fingers, which she had somehow drawn from her bosom, there was a cigarette.

“What do you plan to do if someone sees?”

Haah- Exhaling a long sigh, I also rose from my seat and headed towards the terrace.

The clock I passed while walking indicated that already several minutes had gone by.

It quietly informed me that there wasn’t much time left until the 10 minutes Adela had promised.