Strategy Meeting – 3

“Ugh… Water…”

Hestia opened her eyes, holding her head that felt like it might split open. She instinctively searched for water. Her head was throbbing. Not only that, her throat was parched, and her stomach churned.

This hangover was something she could never get used to. To begin with, she rarely drank alcohol, so experiencing hangovers could be counted on one hand. She barely managed to raise her upper body and look around.

‘The dormitory?’

The familiar ceiling. It was her own dormitory room. When did she return? Hestia tried to recall last night’s memories. So, following Cordelia’s suggestion, they went out for drinks, and she took one sip of the alcohol placed in front of her, and…

‘I can’t remember anything.’

She had no memory after that. My goodness. What on earth happened during the time her memory was lost?

She buried her face in the bed and was about to scream, but the terrible headache prevented her from even doing that, and she just went limp. This is why she didn’t want to drink.

Hestia was, not in a figurative sense but literally, the type of person who got drunk just from smelling alcohol. Once, she had visited her family’s brewery and ended up sick in bed all day.

Normally, she would have made an excuse to avoid drinking altogether, or if it was unavoidable, she would have pretended to drink and spilled it, but yesterday she couldn’t bring herself to do that.

Though she denied it herself, it was a complex interplay of youthful pride, jealousy, and a need for recognition to appear mature.

Pride that she couldn’t be the only one of the four not drinking, a strange jealousy toward other women forming commonalities with Mikhail without her, and a desire for recognition to show a mature image to her fiancé who was still smiling at other women without any backbone. In the end, it was because of Mikhail.

If Mikhail had known, he would have discouraged her from such nonsense and told her not to drink, but unfortunately, he lacked the ability to read Hestia’s inner thoughts. In the end, Hestia attended the drinking party without disclosing her infant-level alcohol tolerance and completely lost consciousness at the lethal dose of half a glass.

“I should wash up first.”

Her whole body felt grimy, suggesting she hadn’t properly bathed yesterday. Since she had no memory after taking that first sip of alcohol, she must have passed out right there. So who brought her here?

At that moment, Hestia noticed a note placed by her pillow. She reached out and grabbed it. She read the note aloud.

“To Hestia. If you’re reading this, you must be awake? You were unconscious, so I carried you to the dormitory on my back. You owe me one? Also, let’s postpone our meeting scheduled for today until tomorrow. Rest well today, and I’ll see you tomorrow. Mikhail.”

After reading the note completely, Hestia laughed like a simpleton, “Heh.” This neat yet stiff handwriting. It belonged to Mikhail.

Mikhail. My fiancé. The person I love? This, she wasn’t quite sure about yet. She had been struggling to control her feelings toward Mikhail recently.

‘Is this love?’

She never thought the day would come when she would have such cringeworthy concerns. Hestia instinctively covered her cheeks with her hands and twisted her body with a groan.

She felt a flutter when she saw Mikhail. Being with him made her feel good, and she found herself smiling for no reason. But is this really love? Hestia couldn’t be certain.

The reason being, the only kind of love she knew was the passionate kind portrayed in novels and plays, the kind that seemed capable of burning down the world. The sweet, innocent love where two people slowly open their hearts to each other was not in her dictionary. The only thing she was certain of was that she couldn’t even imagine him leaving her or showing more interest in something else.

There’s no need to rack her brains over a question that won’t yield an answer no matter how much she ponders alone. Hestia simply gave up and decided to read the note Mikhail left once more. It felt somewhat like a love letter, making her heart flutter a bit. Maybe she should suggest exchanging letters later. He would probably really like that.

Humming happily with these pleasant thoughts, Hestia read the note again. He says I owe him one? She felt like she could do almost anything for him, as long as it wasn’t an unreasonable request. Besides, Mikhail didn’t seem like the type to make unreasonable requests anyway. The meeting scheduled for today is postponed until tomorrow…

“Wait, tomorrow?!”

Hestia abruptly got up to check the time. The original meeting was scheduled for 10 o’clock today, and it was now 10:30. She collapsed back onto the bed with a plop. Then she flailed her whole body on the bed, expressing her frustration.

“Ugh, I’ve ruined it.”

Hestia glared at the letter suggesting they postpone the appointment until tomorrow. She was grateful that he had accurately predicted she wouldn’t wake up on time today and had been considerate, but thinking about not being able to meet Mikhail today drained all energy from her body.

‘Well, I should wash up first and then go see Cordelia.’

She had already missed the appointment time anyway. After finishing her tasks, she decided to get plenty of rest today. Although she was distracted by Mikhail’s note, the most important thing now was to find out what had happened after her memory cut off yesterday. Hestia decided to trust Cordelia, whose alcohol tolerance was slightly better than hers, though not by much. And also her own lifelong cultivated manners and etiquette.

‘I probably didn’t cause any major incidents, right?’

Given that someone had carried her back, she probably just fell asleep quietly. She should thank Mikhail later. Hestia entered the bathroom without even guessing the shameful behavior she had exhibited last night.

“Miss Cordelia, did I cause any trouble at the drinking party yesterday?”

“Ughhhh, I don’t remember either. Water, water please…”

The Cordelia she had made an effort to find was in much worse shape than Hestia. Seeing her unable to even get out of bed, holding her head and groaning, Hestia couldn’t help but sigh.

Hestia handed a glass of water to Cordelia.

“Don’t drink it too quickly or you’ll get indigestion. Drink slowly, slowly.”

“Thanks… Ugh, my head hurts. Sorry. I don’t remember anything either. Ask Lily. She looked completely fine.”

“No, it’s okay. Rest well.”

Hestia closed the door and stepped into the corridor. She placed a hand on her chest and sighed deeply. Does this mean she needs to ask Miss Lily? She was about to turn her feet toward Lily’s dormitory.

“Oh my, are you up now?”

Hestia paused her steps when she heard a voice from somewhere. She turned her head to see who it belonged to. It was the maids working in the dormitory. Hestia nodded politely.

“Ah, yes.”

Maids? Hestia recalled the contents of the note. Come to think of it, since Mikhail couldn’t have entered the girls’ dormitory room, the maids must have carried her from the dormitory entrance. Hestia felt both apologetic and grateful. Although there might be many students who are carried back like that, it doesn’t mean the maids should naturally have to transport drunk students.

“I’m sorry about yesterday.”

“Not at all. We were quite worried yesterday when Young Lady Gratia was carried on Young Master Mikhail’s back.”

Hestia is always gentle and considerate to the staff. From maids to various laborers. Though it hasn’t been a very long time, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that there isn’t a single person among the academy’s staff who dislikes Hestia.

And this same Hestia, completely inconsistent with her usual demeanor, was carried to the dormitory in a state of intoxication on her fiancé’s back. Naturally, it became a topic of conversation among the maids. The maids, with nothing particularly to do on a Saturday morning, gathered around Hestia.

“Are you experiencing any hangover? We could prepare some honey water…”

“No, it’s fine. Please give it to Miss Cordelia instead.”

“We were really worried yesterday because you had completely lost consciousness.”

“Really? Ah, could you explain how I returned yesterday?”

Getting drunk and losing consciousness was already embarrassing, but what if she had also inconvenienced others? Hestia didn’t know where to put herself from embarrassment.

“You were just quietly carried on Young Master Mikhail’s back.”

“Mikhail carried me?”

Of course, she already knew this from the note, but she wanted to hear it from someone else’s mouth once more. The other maids nodded affirmatively and added a few words.

“Yes. He even took off his coat and placed it over you to keep you warm.”

Hestia had to forcefully control the corners of her mouth from rising. He even covered me with his coat? It’s such a shame that she forgot everything from yesterday due to the alcohol. Would he carry her if she just asked for it? However, her good mood didn’t last long.

“That’s right, that’s right. He was really cool. When I first saw him, he seemed a bit scary, but after seeing him yesterday, I think he also has a gentle side…”

The maid who had spoken couldn’t finish her sentence. This was because she discovered Hestia staring at her with eyes full of killing intent, though Hestia herself wasn’t aware of it. The maid hastily took back her words. The sharp-witted maids already added a note of caution to their network: don’t bring up Mikhail in front of Hestia.

“But he still seems a bit scary!”

“Mikhail? No. He’s a kind and gentle person.”

Only then did Hestia relax her expression and smile. The maid couldn’t bring herself to say that it was Hestia, not Mikhail, who was scary.

“Ah, by the way, do you know where Miss Lily might be? She should have returned with me yesterday.”

The atmosphere among the maids instantly froze. Of course, they had been moving around the dormitory tirelessly since dawn, and naturally, more than a few maids had seen the two leaving together. Hestia, who assumed they would obviously know, was asking about their whereabouts with an expression of complete surprise. It was a state of emergency.

“I saw her going somewhere with Young Master Mikhail earlier. Weren’t you going together?”

But there’s always someone tactless wherever you go. Despite the sharp glares from those around, one maid spoke up and revealed their whereabouts.

“The two of them?”

The corner of Hestia’s eye twitched. Mikhail and Miss Lily? Without even telling me? Why? I would have been fine if they had just asked me to join them too?

Her mind started racing. The postponed appointment, Cordelia’s testimony that Lily had been completely fine. Her delusion circuit began to boot up.

‘How is Hestia doing?’

‘Don’t worry about her. Right now, you’re the only one in my eyes.’

‘Mikhail!’

‘Lily!’

And then the passionate continuation between the two…

It’s a typical and predictable story, to the point of being tiresome.

“Kyaaaaaaaa!”

A hellish wail erupted from Hestia’s mouth. This cannot be. It’s impossible. Cordelia wasn’t the problem right now.

Though it was a delusion far from reality, the affair between the two had long been established as fact in Hestia’s brain.

She may not know about anything else, but she must prevent them from kissing at the very least.

‘I haven’t, haven’t even done that yet!’

Unaware that history had already been made between the two while she was unconscious, Hestia ran out.

‘But where do I find those two?’