Although she had experienced the effects of alcohol, she had never lost consciousness or lost her senses no matter how much she drank.
So, betting on drinks was a method Agnes often used when she wanted to extract something from her siblings.
Surprisingly, Zoltan lasted longer than expected. Agnes thought he would quickly become intoxicated with some moderate drinking, but he didn’t easily give in despite his flushed face.
“Sir Zoltan.”
“Huh, yes?”
“Does your brother have a secret lover?”
Feeling slightly tipsy, Agnes subtly hinted first.
“What? That’s nonsense. My brother has never even held a woman’s hand.”
He exaggeratedly waved his hands as he spoke.
“But?”
“What do you mean by ‘but’?”
“But why is your brother avoiding me?”
“My brother is avoiding the princess?”
“Yes, it’s so difficult for me to see my husband’s face.”
She complained.
Zoltan scratched the back of his head.
“If I can’t see his face during the day or night, how can we build a relationship?”
“Oh.”
Zoltan’s face, already flushed from alcohol, turned even redder.
“Are you, uh, telling me this?”
“Should I tell Niall instead?”
At that, Zoltan unwittingly agreed.
Upon reflection, Agnes realized that what she said wasn’t appropriate to say in front of her husband’s younger brother. However, at the time, she was filled with dissatisfaction.
“As far as I can see, uh, is that? Ah. My brother.”
Agnes sighed deeply, looking down before lifting her head.
“My brother! He’s truly a great person!”
“I know.”
“People are great, but he’s too great!”
He licked his lips and gulped down the remaining half of the alcohol in the bottle.
“I know…”
And that’s the problem.
“Perhaps that’s why, Princess, um, A. I can’t believe I even brought up this topic.”
He mumbled. Agnes, with a twinkle in her eye, extended the untouched bottle of alcohol towards him.
“Have this and continue talking. So, what is it?”
“No, but Princess, how are you still so composed? Are we really drinking together? Are you pretending to drink alcohol while actually drinking water?”
He took Agnes’s glass with a suspicious look, sniffed it, and muttered.
“Well, stop wasting time and just keep talking.”
She gave him a cold warning.
Zoltan blinked his eyes and parted his lips.
“Why don’t you even flinch around me?”
“W-what? It’s probably because of that.”
“Because of what?”
Zoltan scratched the back of his head and opened his mouth.
“The former Duchess, that is to say, our mother suffered a lot until she passed away after marrying into the family. As the family declined, she endured a lot of pain without showing it. She was worried about becoming a burden.”
He filled his empty glass, only to down it the next second, leaving the glass empty once again.
“In the end, when Mother’s condition deteriorated to the point where she couldn’t use her hands, that’s when the family found out.”
“Just before our Father passed away, he used to say that he regretted marrying Mother. He used to mutter that if he hadn’t married her, she could have lived a happier and longer life.”
“But I…”
“But Princess, the current situation is worse than back then.”
Zoltan’s voice grew softer.
“The task of controlling the rampant beasts is becoming increasingly challenging. As far as I know, there are significant financial problems as well.”
Agnes bit her tongue. She silently emptied her glass, unsure of what to say.
“Princess, please understand. Perhaps my brother is afraid. Perhaps he fears that you will die like your mother.”
“But… I have decided to fulfill the ritual of oath. Once we do that, we will become an inseparable couple, right?”
“Really?”
“We had planned to conduct the ritual a few days ago. It was said that it would take time due to the preparations.”
“I see.”
Zoltan’s expression changed oddly. He furrowed only his left eyebrow without responding.
“Why? Do you know something?”
“Well, uh, I believe the ritual may not proceed as planned.”
“What do you mean? We had agreed to meet for the ritual…”
At that moment, Agnes realized why the Duke was avoiding her.
“Ah.”
At first, she felt betrayed. Then anger surged towards the Duke who had deceived her with lies. However, soon her emotions became a mix of understanding and compassion.
After hearing the circumstances from Zoltan, she understood what that man was worried about.
“I see…”
With that statement, silence fell between them for a while. Agnes bit her lip and poured herself another drink.
Something rolled off onto the clear liquid. She quickly wiped it away, relieved that Zoltan didn’t see it.
Duke Arpad.
Without uttering a word, her chest felt tight. Words she wanted to say floated in her mind.
She felt the urge to run to him immediately, pour out everything while looking at his face, but she was afraid that if she saw his indifferent eyes, she would cry again.
“Come on, Princess, have a drink.”
“Yeah.”
Agnes barely managed to control her emotions.
Before they knew it, countless bottles had piled up around them.
Zoltan was now struggling to keep his balance, swaying back and forth.
The servant, who was standing a little apart, was fidgeting and glancing over in their direction.
“Come here and take your master.”
Agnes gestured to him.
“I-I’m still f-feeling fine. The sun hasn’t risen yet.”
Since some time ago, Zoltan’s eyelids were halfway to closing. The sun had not risen, but the moon had already moved to the south. Agnes nodded gently.
Agnes shook her head softly.
“You’re not fine, Sir Zoltan. Your face is a mess. What are you doing? Hurry and take him to bed.”
The servant hurried over and supported Zoltan.
Although Zoltan tried to resist by shaking his body roughly, he was weak due to having consumed a lot of alcohol. As he continued shaking his body, he suddenly bent his waist deeply.
“Ugh, I can’t hold it anymore!”
“Oh dear, sir!”
“Wait, don’t vomit here! Oh no, what if it stains Madam’s dress!”
Ney, who belatedly regained her senses, rushed over. In the end, Zoltan vomited heavily next to the table.
The servant alone was not enough to support him, so others had to be called in.
Agnes quickly stood up to prevent the vomit from splattering to her.
“Seems like I can handle my alcohol better.”
Worried that there might be gossip behind her back, she spoke definitively.
“I… still… Princess… Ugh!”
Struggling to speak, Zoltan couldn’t hold back the vomit rising inside him.
Before he could utter a few words, everything in his stomach came out in a rush.
“I’ll see you when you come to your senses. Goodbye, Sir Zoltan.”
Leaving the man who was both speaking and vomiting behind, Agnes headed to her chamber.
Ney had been giggling continuously since earlier.
“What’s so funny?”
“You were talking about bathing in alcohol or drinking it, but it was all talk. Heh. Our Princess is truly something. Prince Chavalti may have held his liquor well, but not as much as our Princess.”
“Address me properly.”
“Oh, yes, Madam.”
Initially disapproving of the princess drinking from early in the day, Ney’s expression changed as Zoltan collapsed, her lips curling upwards.
“Who dares to challenge our Madam when they can’t even handle their liquor?”
The wasted Zoltan jumped to his feet if he heard it but Agnes didn’t say anything and just laughed.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
The next morning, a man she was somewhat eager to see but also not visited her chambers.
Ney confirmed the person knocking on the door and quickly ran out.
“The master has arrived!”
Agnes greeted him, as if nothing happened, although the conversation she had with Zoltan yesterday night continued to linger in her mind.
“You’re here.”
“I heard you were drinking with Zoltan all night yesterday.”
“We didn’t drink all night. Zoltan had to vomit in the middle of it.”
Agnes corrected him. At this, Laslo let out a long sigh.
“How’s your body?”
“My body? There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with my health.”
Are you experiencing a hangover?”
Laslo looked at Agnes with a puzzled expression.
Agnes, who had downed the alcohol as if it were water yesterday, looked far too fine.
“I’ve never experienced it. I don’t know.”
“…That’s fortunate. Zoltan can’t even stand on his two feet right now.”
He recalled the pale face of his brother lying in bed.
When he returned to the castle late at night, he heard from the servant that Zoltan had been drinking with the princess for hours.
Initially, he thought Zoltan had forcefully made her drink, so he intended to reprimand his brother as soon as the day broke by visiting his room. However, what he learned from Zoltan was different from what he had anticipated.
“Your complexion doesn’t look bad.”
He let out a short sigh of relief.
“You haven’t been near me for a while, so did you come because you thought I had turned into a drunkard or something?”
“I’ve been busy and couldn’t be with you. I’m sorry for leaving you alone.”
Agnes felt the words she wanted to say rise up to her throat, but she suppressed them.
“I’m fine, no need to worry.”
“Is that so?”
He continued to look around as if he was surprised that Agnes was standing steadily on her two feet.
After Agnes reassured him twice with a wave of her hand, his concerned expression faded.
“Why did you drink for hours? I remember you didn’t seem to enjoy drinking much before.”
As he mentioned, Agnes didn’t particularly enjoy drinking as she wouldn’t get drunk no matter how much she drank.
“Well, that’s…”
