“Michelle.”
“Yes, my lady?”
“Michelle, you have a lover.”
“W-What?! I don’t have a lover!”
Michelle’s voice suddenly rose, and I was startled, looking at her. Her eyes were darting around as if she was hiding something, but that wasn’t important right now.
“No, I was just imagining. Let’s say you did have a lover.”
“Ah… I see! Imagining! Right, if I didn’t have a lover, there’s no way I could have one, right?”
“Why are you speaking like that… Anyway, let’s just say that love of yours is being overly friendly with another friend of yours.”
“Another friend? Someone like Emily?”
“Yeah. If he’s being excessively kind to someone like that…”
Click.
I heard something break, and when I looked at Michelle, I saw her holding a perfectly red apple, now cut neatly in half.
“Why would he be so nice to Emily?”
“Hmm? Oh… No, I’m just imagining. Why are you so mad? I mean, Emily’s a good friend of yours, so he’s just being nice.”
“I don’t think there’s any reason for my lover to be overly kind to my friend.”
Michelle’s firm words made me sigh deeply.
“Right?”
At my weak response, Michelle, quick to catch on, must have realized something was wrong.
“My lady, what’s going on? Please, explain it to me in detail.”
I didn’t know how to fix this. If only I had experience in relationships! If only I had been popular before!
“Michelle… I think I messed up.”
I spilled everything that happened at the ball. After hearing the full story, Michelle was silent for a moment.
“Well… you did it with good intentions, right?”
“Yeah…”
“But did Lord Armin really ignore you and leave the ballroom?”
Michelle’s cautious question made me remember Armin turning away coldly and walking off. I nodded gloomily. Despite Michelle trying to defend me, I couldn’t help but answer honestly.
“You made a mistake, my lady.”
“I think I did too…”
Seeing my dejected expression, Michelle seemed concerned. She usually didn’t take the time to make cute little bunny-shaped apples, but today, they were stacked neatly on a plate. She looked at me, as if gauging my mood, and finally spoke.
“But you shouldn’t be upset with Lord Armin, you know that, right?”
Michelle really was a loyal maid. She was clearly trying to make sure I didn’t make things worse, and I could see her genuine care in that.
A sigh escaped me. I knew I shouldn’t be upset, but honestly, I was. If I hadn’t been, I wouldn’t have drunk so much.
Michelle, noticing I wasn’t responding, began to gently explain things in a reassuring tone.
“My lady, think about it from Lord Armin’s perspective. If you saw him paying more attention to someone else than to you, even the calmest of people would feel upset, don’t you think?”
Yeah, I could already see that with how Michelle had been reacting to the imaginary boyfriend situation earlier.
I downed the rest of the honey water in one go, hoping it would help with the throbbing headache. The pain in my head seemed to ease a little.
Noticing my troubled state, Michelle began bringing up something that was harder to ignore.
“You shouldn’t have interfered like that in the first place.”
“But…”
“You had good intentions, but look at the result. You caught the attention of the royal family, and now everything is just more complicated.”
“Wait… Did I go home with the prince last night?”
When Michelle mentioned the royal family’s attention, I immediately became anxious. I really hoped that I wouldn’t have to get involved with Prince Zeta anymore. I meant that sincerely. Prince Zeta was a good person, but being close to him might ruin my relationship with Armin, and I was sure of that.
“My lady, don’t you remember anything from last night?”
In my foggy, half-conscious state, the only thing I could recall was someone helping me and bringing me home. I couldn’t remember the rest. Realizing that I couldn’t recall the details, Michelle began lecturing me again, telling me never to drink alcohol again.
“I really… can’t stand people who drink and then forget everything.”
Michelle shivered at the thought, and I could clearly tell how much she despised people who drank. Even though I didn’t think it was the right time to argue, I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. After all, I was an adult, and being scolded like this for drinking made me feel awkward.
“It feels like I’ve turned into Andre now,” I muttered to myself. Andre, who always had a nonchalant expression, would casually say, “Ah, yes, I see,” and his only hobby was collecting local specialty wines from the regions he traded with.
Why would someone collect alcohol, if not to drink it all? But unlike Andre, neither I nor Sasha liked drinking that much, so the guild leader would always scold Andre for his deep love of alcohol.
My simple comparison seemed to annoy Michelle. With a crack, the red apple in her hand split in two again.
Startled, I looked at Michelle, and she gave me a cold smile as she spoke.
“If you drink like Andre, it’ll really be a problem. Drinking that much isn’t what you’d call drinking anymore, my lady.”
“Huh? Uh… okay, I understand.”
“That’s what you’d call becoming a dog.”
Her grumbling voice continued, as she complained about how he couldn’t remember anything after drinking, how he always had a nonchalant expression when he was drunk, and how he would wink like a fox whenever their eyes met. Anyone who saw them would think they were both hungover.
“Michelle, how do you know so much about Andre’s drinking habits?”
I asked out of pure curiosity, but Michelle looked disgusted.
“Why would I know that…? I have no reason to know anything about Guildmaster Andre.”
“Huh? No, the way you’re talking, it sounds like you two drink together often.”
“No, I just heard it through someone else. Maybe one of our household staff is close with Andre’s drinking buddies.”
I nodded absentmindedly, assuming it was something like that. Michelle’s flustered expression quickly faded as she steered the conversation back on track.
“Anyway, you should never get involved with the royal family again. You should have seen how stiff Lord Armin’s face was yesterday.”
Wait. So, Michelle’s story…
“Then the person who brought me back…”
“Of course it was Lord Armin. Who else could it have been?”
Her casual tone made everything in my mind come to a sudden halt, like hitting pause on the mental loop of ‘Closer than friends, further than love’ that had been playing over and over in my head.
“Armin? Not Sasha?”
“Well, of course, your older brother went through a lot too.”
It wouldn’t be surprising that my older brother had taken care of me; that was just expected. Taking care of a sibling was like a tax that came with having the same parents.
But Armin? Armin had brought me home? The same Armin who had coldly turned his back on me the night before, as I came out of the balcony with Prince Zeta?
“Huh? Are you thinking something weird again, my lady?”
“What do you mean by weird?”
I snapped back sharply, and Michelle, who had known me since I was little, could tell just by the tone of my voice what I was thinking.
“My lady, don’t jump to conclusions. You’ll regret it later if you do.”
Michelle threw me a meaningful glance before going back to peeling the apple. At that moment, the door to my room opened.
There was only one person who would enter now—my sibling, always ready with a lecture, perfectly dressed as if ready to go out. Completely the opposite of me, still in my pajamas.
“Hey, drunkard.”
“What are you saying?”
“Are you feeling better?”
I nodded, and while observing me, Sasha spoke up again.
“Then why do you still look like that?”
Only those living in this house truly know me well. I could tell by the way Michelle and Sasha exchanged glances.
“Tsk.”
Sasha let out an exasperated sigh, as if he had no words left.
“Watching you makes me wonder how people even manage relationships in this world.”
“Are you starting something?”
“No, I’m just fascinated by you. I’m genuinely fascinated.”
Sasha crossed his arms and stared at me.
“What? Why are you staring like that?”
“I’m just amazed. Looking at you, it makes me question whether the ‘green lady’ from yesterday was really you.”
“Don’t you know the saying ‘A woman’s transformation is never a crime’?”
“You, drunk, are guilty. Just remember that.”
His voice was full of sarcasm. At this point, I couldn’t help but groan. I knew my brother would react this way. It was the usual response, and I could tell by his look that he was thinking, “Oh, this again?”
“And for the time being, you’re banned from going out.”
“What?”
I jumped up from my bed at those words. Banned from going out? What is this about?
“Why can’t I go out? I’m not a child!”
“Honestly, it would’ve been better if you were. For the time being, you’re not allowed to go out. Our parents agreed too.”
“Because I drank?”
At this point, I was starting to feel a little scared. What could I have done last night after drinking?
But Sasha shook his head. That wasn’t the reason.
