“Did I come to the wrong room? Why are you here?”

Niol was in high spirits because Delia had sought him out first. When he opened the door to their meeting place, he didn’t expect to see an unwelcome face.

As if that wasn’t enough, a cold gaze immediately flew his way.

“That’s what I want to ask. Why are you here?”

“I’m here because Miss Delia invited me. What about you?”

As the hostile atmosphere began to fill the air, Delia burst in through the door, which opened belatedly.

“Hey! Everyone, nice to see you! Ah, you can put those over here. Thank you!”

The maid who followed her began to lay out bread and sausages that filled the tray she carried. Among them, what stood out was none other than…

“Have you tried it? You’ve heard of it, right? It’s called—”

Kaiel added.

“Somaek.”

Nothing was better than this for promoting friendship and harmony.

Delia, who looked at Kaiel with surprise for his ready answer, clapped her hands.

“Somaek, that’s right. You know it well.”

As Delia sat firmly between them and picked up a glass, both their expressions twisted slightly.

“No.”

“Surely you’re not suggesting we three share drinks cozily together? ……Delia?”

Ignoring their disgust, Delia began pouring drinks carefully.

Only the clear sound of alcohol being poured continued through the passing silence.

“Here you go.”

The glass placed in front of Kaiel was half full. In contrast, the glass placed in front of Niol was filled to the brim.

“Why give me so much?”

“Think of it as my heart and accept it.”

“I—”

“Grand Duke, you can’t drink well, right?”

There was no way Delia wouldn’t know the alcohol tolerance of her two characters. Therefore, these were perfectly customized portions.

Not knowing this fact but accepting it for their own reasons, both took their glasses without further complaint.

“Cheers!”

Hearing this unfamiliar toast, Niol smiled and repeated after her.

“Cheers!”

“Grand Duke, you need to say it too.”

Belatedly, his voice rang out mixed with a sigh.

“……Cheers.”

As soon as his words ended, Niol emptied his glass in an instant. Delia also wet her throat following him.

But as Delia put down her glass and tried to refill it, she paused.

“Grand Duke?”

Kaiel was just staring at the drink in his glass without even picking it up. He wouldn’t glare at innocent alcohol like that, so there must be another reason.

“Why aren’t you drinking? Are you feeling unwell……”

Before she could guess the reason, past days flashed through Delia’s mind.

“……Don’t worry, Kaiel. It’s just normal alcohol. I haven’t done anything to it.”

“I see.”

While Kaiel belatedly picked up his glass to drink, Niol watched them with a strange expression. Then when his eyes met Delia’s, he smiled brightly again.

“Shall we keep drinking?”

As several rounds of drinks passed, Delia continued to pour drinks considering their alcohol tolerance appropriately. Thanks to this, after about an hour, the atmosphere had become satisfyingly languid to a proper degree.

“Now, you two. Spread your hands like this. Wide. Yes, like that.”

Suddenly, Delia suggested a new game.

“It’s a game where the person whose fingers all fold first loses. Got it? If you lose, you take a shot.”

Niol, who had been resting his chin on his hand while smiling at Delia the whole time, waved his spread hand with interest.

“What a cute game.”

Kaiel quietly stared at Delia’s hand before looking away.

“How childish.”

Delia giggled.

She knew that despite his words, he would follow her well. But Niol carelessly threw out words.

“Then don’t play.”

“What?”

As Kaiel’s eyebrow twitched, Delia hurriedly stopped them both.

“Wait wait wait wait! Kaiel! It’s not childish at all! You’ll see when we play. Your Highness……!”

When Delia pressed her lips together and gave him a look, Niol cleared his throat softly and straightened his posture.

“I’m sorry. I’ll behave.”

“Phew. Alright. I’ll start first. You need to fold one finger if you match the condition I say. Hmm……”

Delia, who was thinking about who to attack first to make it fun, suppressed her desire to pursue entertainment and decided to maintain neutrality.

No matter what anyone said, this gathering was meant to promote harmony between the two.

‘It would be best if I become the target.’

After looking back and forth between the two for a moment, Delia opened her mouth. It would be better to start light.

“Two men. Fold.”

At those words, Niol laughed lightly and folded one finger. Kaiel also quietly folded his finger and looked at Delia.

“Done.”

Usually, this would create a flow where the initiator who hadn’t folded any fingers would be attacked.

“Your Highness’s turn next!”

When it was his turn, Niol opened his mouth without hesitation, as if he had thought about it beforehand.

“Lord Tranade. You, fold.”

“……”

With these two together, any hope for a ‘normal’ case had to be abandoned.

“Well, well done. That’s how people usually attack! Hahaha!”

Forcing a big laugh, Delia gulped down her full glass.

This much was expected. Putting these two together. She had already prepared for this.

“Now, next is Ka…… no, Grand Duke!”

Kaiel calmly turned his head to meet Delia’s gaze. Finally, he spoke.

“People with black hair fold.”

Delia was dumbfounded. Niol had blonde hair, and she had red hair.

‘You’re the only one with black hair, Kaiel!’

“Grand Duke? Did you not understand the rules? If you do that, only you will have to fold, remember?”

Kaiel answered while folding his finger.

“I know. Next.”

Niol also looked at him as if he couldn’t understand his behavior, but soon turned his gaze to Delia as if it didn’t matter.

“It’s Delia’s turn.”

“Yes. Um, then I’ll…… right. There’s someone here that you either like or dislike! Fold!”

It was truly a fresh and classic question.

All three folded their fingers simultaneously. Niol opened his mouth.

“That was an interesting question, Delia. It’s my turn now. Fold if you’ve ever hurt or tried to harm someone here, excluding duels or fights. Whether intentional or not.”

The room fell silent for a moment at his question.

‘Niol……’

Delia thought she knew why he had stated that condition.

He was clearly trying to bring up how Kaiel had hurt him when they were young.

Niol had been seriously hurt once when he was young. According to Empress Roena Roches, it was because of Kaiel. While she didn’t explain in detail to Niol, who had lost his memories after the injury, the Empress had kept Niol away from Kaiel ever since.

As they grew up, the two thoroughly avoided each other, and this was their present.

Kaiel was silent but quietly folded another finger. He now had only one finger left.

The problem was Delia.

Glancing at Kaiel nervously, Delia quietly folded her finger. Whether intentional or not, she had both hurt and tried to harm Kaiel before.

Niol’s eyes widened.

“……Delia?”

“N-next.”

When Delia tried to avoid Niol’s gaze and pass the turn, he didn’t press further. But suddenly Kaiel spoke.

“You fold too.”

Niol raised one eyebrow.

“Me? Why?”

Niol shrugged and added.

“I’ve never hurt or tried to harm anyone. Right, Delia?”

“That……”

But Kaiel was firm.

“You have.”

“When?”

“When we were young.”

Niol made a “huh” sound. Then he shook his head with a sharp smile as if the other person was talking complete nonsense.

“You must have dreamed it. Never happened. Delia, I really never did anything like that.”

Delia smiled along but felt somewhat frustrated.

In the original story, the current Niol had never actually hurt or tried to harm Kaiel. If there were such incidents, they hadn’t happened yet.

But that didn’t mean Kaiel’s words were wrong.

‘The side story.’

There had been ways to somehow fill the plot holes in <Lapocia> that had eaten plausibility for breakfast. If they had organized the narratives and episodes that could justify Kaiel’s perspective into a separate side story, they might have received less criticism.

One of those narratives was about the summer when Niol was seriously ill at age six.

But the side story was never written before Delia entered this world, so that story didn’t exist.

And yet.

“Fold.”

“I’m telling you I never did!”

“Next! Grand Duke! Let’s move on quickly!”

As the atmosphere began to heat up, Delia tapped her glass and passed the turn.

Perhaps what she knew wasn’t the same incident. It was more likely that he had hurt him while playing as children, after all. Wasn’t that the age when children rough-house?

Then Kaiel opened his mouth.

“People wearing black clothes fold.”

“Again……!”

Delia grumbled at Kaiel who kept attacking himself.

“That’s no fun! You’ve already folded all five fingers! That means you have to take a shot!”

“Give it.”

Delia started to hand over the penalty glass but pulled it back. Kaiel had low alcohol tolerance, so if they weren’t careful, the game might end this round. Then the plan to promote friendship between the two would burst like a bubble.

“Sigh. Just this once. I’ll be your black knight.”

Before anyone could stop her, Delia drained the glass completely. The already large glass looked like a huge basket as it approached her face.