Chapter 19.2

“Is the knight training hard?” Sherri began to ask.

“It isn’t hard. Rather, there is less training than you think.”

He thought it would be awkward if he just drank, so Tol answered as he took his fourth drink. His insides would become a mess if he drank such a strong drink so quickly, but he was already drunk. Well, she assumed he knew his drinking capacity the best as he usually showed his self-control, so Sherri passed it off as normal.

“Then is there anything tiring or hard about it?” she inquired further.

“…there’s none.”

Blurting out his answer after a strangely long silence, Tol poured another two drinks down his throat. Seeing the bartender fidgeting, Sherri thought she should stop him from drinking more. Sherri hesitated a little because she didn’t think Tol was as drunk as she thought yet.

On the other hand, Tol quite liked this Drocona. At first, it was hard for it to go down his throat, but the more he drank the more his stomach felt hot. The burning in his throat felt like it was relieving his upset stomach. And when he surpassed drink number five the pungent feeling disappeared, so he swallowed it like it was water.

“Wait a second, Tol! Is it okay to drink this much?”

“It’s— fine. I’m unfazed by it. This drink, uh, is weak. Almost like water.”

For a moment, Sherri and the bartender’s eyes stole glances at one another. How could such a strong drink feel like water? It was obvious he was already drunk. Sherri, feeling like something bad would happen if she left Tol alone—even though he was still composed—hastily handed the bartender the almost empty bottle.

“It’s okay to drink this upstairs, right?”

“Yes. That’s right. Should I prepare a room?” asked the bartender.

“Please do. Tol! Can you see me?”

She thought he was fine from only hearing his voice, but when she got closer and looked, his eyes were cloudy. His purple eyes were murky and he couldn’t find his way around; he looked like he’d reached his limit long ago.

When she grabbed his face with both hands and lifted it, his head almost slumped over with exhaustion. Was he really hurt when I got angry at him earlier? Sherri suddenly wondered if that was his reason to drink so much, and sucked her teeth without realizing it.

While the bartender went upstairs to prepare her room, she slapped Tol’s cheeks to wake him up. Then, he grabbed Sherri’s wrist tightly. As her wrist was still sore from earlier, she let out a shriek. A hoarse voice came from the lips of Tol, who tried to focus on Sherri.

“I hate you, young woman,” Tol slurred. “Princess.”

“What?”

“I hate you. Seriously.”

She had brought him here to be kind, but he was telling her that he hated her? Sherri’s elegant features twisted in confusion. As there is a saying that honesty comes out when you’re drunk, what came out of his mouth may not have been nonsense.

Even though she called Tol’s name again out of shock, he shook his head and only blinked his eyes slowly. His long and pretty eyelashes caught Sherri’s attention, but the first thing to do was to check his state. Sherri lifted Tol’s face that was plunging to the floor and called his name.

But her efforts were halted when Tol’s face neared towards her. Her shoulders shook in surprise at the sight, and eventually, Tol collapsed on Sherri.

“Eeeek! Tol! Wake up!”

Tol’s tall and muscular body tilted and sank onto her body. But before Sherri could lose her balance, someone had grabbed and held Tol’s body from behind. Sherri squinted her eyes when she saw the person who had helped her. The man was wearing a hood that came down almost to his chin.

“Oh. Are you okay?” asked the man.

“Uh, thanks.” Sherri, too, was cloaked in a robe, but she had her face exposed to make eye contact with Tol when they were drinking. “Who are you?” she asked.

At Sherri’s piercing voice, the man in the robe sighed long. “I knew it. You don’t remember. By the way, your friend here looks way too drunk. Is he your boyfriend, madam?”

“He is my escort. Are you part of the staff here?”

“Uh, that’s right, for now. Shall we move to the room upstairs?”

Sherri made a suspicious face at the words “for now,” but she was forced to nod because of Tol, who was about to roll back. Then the man hoisted Tol and threw Tol’s arms over his shoulders and led the way upstairs.