Chapter 5

Adrian sat up and raised his voice.  

“Is anyone outside?”  

At his call, a maid entered the room.  

“Did you call for me, Sir?”  

“Bring me something to help with a hangover.”  

“A hangover remedy, Sir?”  

The maid looked puzzled, as it didn’t seem like Adrian had been drinking. However, when her eyes fell on Rivera, who was lying on the sofa, she immediately understood and bowed her head.  

[When did Lady Rivera arrive? I didn’t hear anything about her coming here….]  

Curious about why Rivera was in this room, the maid left to fulfill the order.  

A short while later, the maid returned with a hangover remedy and even brought a change of clothes for Rivera.  

“Ugh… nooooo.”  

The remedy had a strong herbal smell and tasted awful, making it Rivera’s least favorite medicine. However, if she didn’t take it now, she would definitely suffer the next morning.  

‘Why does she keep drinking when she always spends the entire day throwing up and complaining about how awful she feels?’  

Adrian tried to force the remedy into Rivera’s mouth, but she stubbornly kept her lips shut. In the end, he shook her awake. She frowned deeply before slowly opening her eyes.  

“…Ugh… why do you keep waking me up… huh?”  

Rubbing her eyes, she blinked several times to confirm who was standing in front of her. Her eyes widened in surprise.  

“If you’re awake, drink this first.”  

“Wha—?!”  

[It’s Adrian!!]  

Rivera threw her arms around his neck and greeted him enthusiastically.  

“How long has it been?! Huh? Are you back now? When did you return?”  

She clung to him, bouncing excitedly. Adrian paused for a moment before peeling her off of him.  

“One question at a time. And why did you drink so much?”  

“I had a rough time.”  

[It’s because of that bastard.]  

Adrian often felt a strange dissonance when he read her thoughts, as they were sometimes so different from what she said out loud.  

“I told you not to drink because it ruins your stomach.”  

“And the first thing you do after seeing me for the first time in ages is nag me?”  

“What else am I supposed to do?”  

Rivera pouted, sticking out her lips.  

“When a friend’s going through a hard time, shouldn’t you say something like, ‘Should I drink with you?’ instead of shoving a hangover remedy at them? This stuff tastes awful!”  

She pushed the bowl of medicine away.  

Adrian hadn’t expected her to take it willingly. Pretending to give up, he placed the bowl on the side table and asked seriously:  

“How much did you drink before coming here?”  

“I don’t know. I don’t remember.”  

She wasn’t lying.  

[Who keeps track of how much they drink at a party? You just keep drinking whatever’s handed to you. And when the bottles are empty at the end, that’s how much you drank, right?]  

Adrian pinched her soft, squishy cheek and stretched it.  

“You’re impossible. What’s so special about that guy that you’d drink yourself sick over him? What if something happens to you?”  

“I drank as if I was ready to die.”  

“What did he say to make you like this?”  

“I’m never telling you.”  

Rivera tightly shut her lips.  

[How could I admit that the lunatic dumped me because his mom told him to? It’s so embarrassing.]  

He dumped her because of that? What an absurd excuse.  

“What a despicable man.”  

“Right? He’s an awful, awful man… wait, did I tell you we broke up?”  

“Do you have any other reason to drink?”  

“Oh… right.”  

She should have been suspicious that he might be investigating her, but Rivera was surprisingly naïve.  

“Want me to get revenge for you?”  

“How?”  

Rivera perked up at the tempting offer, her ears twitching with interest.  

“Promise me you’ll cut back on drinking from now on.”  

“Okay!”  

Her answer wasn’t very convincing, but Adrian decided to trust her for now. He began recalling the man’s background.  

“How old is he again?”  

“Thirty!”  

Excited by the prospect of revenge, Rivera answered energetically.  

“Then he must have completed his military service.”  

“Yup! He said he was discharged recently.”  

“Do you know which unit he served in?”  

“Hmm… I think he said he worked in logistics.”  

Adrian already knew everything but asked anyway. If Rivera didn’t know the details, he could steer the conversation to get the answers he wanted.  

“Did he have a hard time during his service?”  

“He bragged that his father pulled some strings so he could serve comfortably.”  

The man had served in a logistics unit far from the frontlines. Among nobles, it was rare to find someone who had experienced real military service.  

Additionally, the territory that supplied provisions to his unit was adjacent to his father’s estate. Jemarc Aiden had regularly deserted his post to stay at his family’s home, according to Adrian’s investigation.  

If this information were made public, he would face a court-martial and be forced to resume his military service. Imperial law was strict in such cases.  

Since his sentence would likely be extended for desertion, Adrian spoke in the gentlest tone possible.  

“Perfect. I’ll look into any corruption he was involved in and send him to a military court.”  

“But nobles always get away with corruption.”  

“That was before I got involved.”  

Adrian brought the hangover remedy back to Rivera’s lips.  

“I promise you, I’ll make sure he’s sent back to the military.”  

“Ugh… do you really think that’s possible?”  

Though the remedy tasted awful, Rivera reluctantly took small sips, likely because she didn’t want to suffer a terrible hangover the next morning.  

“If he doesn’t have any crimes, I’ll make some up.”  

Proper military service would be grueling.  

Especially since Adrian had no intention of letting the man who hurt Rivera off easily. He planned to send him to the most dangerous border region and charge him with insubordination to extend his sentence further.  

“You know I’m capable of pulling off things like that.”  

Rivera swallowed hard and looked at him as if she were staring at the devil.  

[Wow… I’m so glad he’s my friend. If we were enemies, he’d be terrifying.]  

To lighten the mood, Adrian gently patted Rivera’s head. She loved it when people stroked her hair.  

[Hehe. I love it when he pats my head.]  

‘I love it too. Touching your hair.’  

As she enjoyed his touch with a contented expression, Rivera suddenly widened her eyes and looked at Adrian with sparkling curiosity.  

[How does he keep getting more handsome even though he spends all his time on the battlefield? He’s still the most stunning man in the Empire. Seriously, he’s so good-looking.]  

If you know I’m handsome, why don’t you fall for me already?  

Rivera stared at his face, then broke into a silly grin.  

“Want to have a drink with me?”  

“Just go to sleep.”  

Most people would use alcohol as an excuse to flirt, but Rivera seemed more interested in filling her stomach with it.  

“Just one drink, and I’ll go to bed. Please?”  

“Liar.”  

“This time, I mean it. If I break my promise again, I’ll be your family’s dog.”  

Anyone else might have been tempted to let her have one drink, but Adrian, who could read her thoughts, couldn’t help but laugh.  

[Yeah, let’s drink and become the family dog. Being the Bartman family’s dog wouldn’t be so bad, right? They’d feed me, house me, and pamper me. It’d even guarantee my retirement. Not a bad deal.]  

There was no way to win against her.  

***

Adrian glanced at the empty bottles scattered across the floor.  

‘I just wanted to have a light drink….’  

Nothing ever went according to plan when Rivera was involved.  

– Drink with me, and I’ll grant you one wish.  

Even though she had likely said it just to get him to drink, he couldn’t help but give in.  

As he leaned back against the sofa, Adrian exhaled deeply.  

His face felt hot, his head light, and his vision blurred. He could use mana to sober up instantly, but if he did, Rivera would notice and scold him.  

‘She’d probably grab me by the collar and yell, “Why drink if you’re not going to get drunk?”’  

She was the type to do exactly that.  

“Wow! This works!”  

Rivera had stacked the empty bottles into a tower. She looked tipsy but still capable of drinking more.  

‘Who did she inherit her alcohol tolerance from?’  

When their eyes met, Rivera gave him a shy smile. She had discarded her corset, complaining it was uncomfortable, and now wore only his shirt. The sight was undeniably provocative.  

Adrian’s gaze briefly lingered on the curve of her chest before he quickly looked up at the ceiling, trying to calm himself. The blood rushing to his lower body was driving him insane.  

He placed a cushion on his lap to hide it, but he wasn’t sure it worked.  

‘She better not be drinking like this outside.’  

Rivera sat with her legs spread, showing no signs of embarrassment. Even when he covered her with a blanket, saying her underwear was visible, she threw it off, complaining it was too hot.  

‘I should’ve just let her sleep instead of giving her that hangover remedy.’  

Rivera was completely drunk—dangerously so.  

As Adrian stared at her, she seemed to be having strange thoughts.  

[Hnnng?! Even if you look at me so beautifully, you can’t. You just can’t.]  

She covered her chest with both hands and turned away as if shy, though her legs were still fully exposed.  

Most people, no matter how drunk, had coherent thoughts. Since thoughts weren’t spoken aloud, they didn’t slur.  

But Adrian could hear Rivera’s words as if she were slurring them. That meant her current behavior was entirely intentional.  

‘What am I going to do with her?’  

Adrian felt himself reaching his limit.  

The alcohol was making it harder to control his emotions. The blood rushing to his lower body made it difficult to look at her directly. If he let his guard down for even a moment, he felt like he might lose control.  

“You’ve had enough to drink. Let’s call it a night.”  

“No!”  

“You’ve already finished all the alcohol.”  

Adrian didn’t care if Rivera drank all the expensive liquor she had received as gifts. But her health and the inevitable hangover made him reluctant to let her drink more.  

“We can just get more from the storage.”  

“You’ve already had a lot. And didn’t you promise me? Just one drink. I even drank more to accommodate you. You know that, right?”  

“Well… that’s…”  

Rivera couldn’t argue with that.  

“No more. You said you’d grant me a wish if I drank with you. I’m using that wish now. Go wash up and sleep in your room.”  

Adrian thought the matter was settled. But as he stood to shake off the alcohol, Rivera’s sudden shout left him speechless.  

“This time, I’ll kiss you!”