At such frank words she heard after so long, Ramona suddenly realized how properly she had been living for the past few years. But her companion was the great Lady Clematis. Before someone who could easily manipulate both her and her husband’s families, Ramona needed a moment of silence to maintain her composure.

“If I may be so bold, it’s not difficult to tell you. But to be helpful, shouldn’t I know what situation you’re in…?”

“Well, yes. To be honest, I want to sleep with my husband.”

“……”

The response was so unexpected that Ramona was dumbfounded.

Impossible. The ‘Rose Clematis’ is worried about relations with her husband?

“My husband is similar to Count Carpenter, isn’t he? Polite but prickly, and so ascetic you’d wonder if he even knows about women.”

“……”

“This question might seem strange, but Ramona, will you tell me?”

Ramona finally noticed the trouble in Rose’s eyes and the awkwardness in her slightly upturned lips.

Strangely enough, she saw herself in her.

Her own anxious self when she was pining for her current husband, Count Carpenter.

It was an absurd leap. A lady who had everything, in an unrequited love? What madman would dare reject Rose Clematis?

Nevertheless, her intuition was eerily bringing up her own image.

Ramona swallowed hard.

“…Actually, I haven’t forgotten how you helped me attend that party the day I became lovers with my current husband.”

“Ah? That time.”

Though it was a minor help for Rose, it was because Ramona could attend that gathering that she was able to prevent what might have been an accepted engagement and become lovers with Count Carpenter.

“You still remember such a small thing?”

This lady was cold but not heartless. She gave what she had whenever needed. And never showed off about it. That’s what I liked about her.

In this world where one had to arm oneself with pretense, vanity, and authority, Rose had the power to be genuine and brazen, and she wielded it freely. While many disliked her for it, even hatred is a form of attention. Whether people loved or hated her, she had a charm that everyone had to admire.

“I’m not sure how helpful my story will be… my lady, I went the classic route.”

“Hmm?”

“It’s cliché. I just got drunk and slept with him.”

After a moment of awkwardness, Ramona skillfully displayed her former way with words, explaining how she came to spend her first night.

‘Alcohol and night, huh.’

Indeed, there was a saying in the Empire that as long as there’s alcohol and night between men and women, pleasure would never end. The capital had a developed drinking culture.

“Ah, I didn’t use any drugs. I’m not that low.”

“I know. I hate those types too. So about your story. Were you drunk, or was he?”

Rose naturally assumed Count Carpenter must have been very drunk, and that Ramona was the one who got him to drink. Looking at Count Carpenter’s appearance, he didn’t seem like someone who could handle alcohol well. Ramona scratched her cheek.

“Um, I was completely drunk. So after spilling out everything I could and couldn’t say… well, yes. That’s how it happened.”

Rose tilted her head at this unexpected fact.

“That worked?”

“You’ll understand, my lady. People like us… we can never be honest, even if we die.”

When one becomes skilled in any field, the initial purity disappears, and calculations happen unconsciously.

Because they knew too much about relationships between men and women. Because they knew most would end in political marriages anyway.

Rose and her group were spontaneous yet cynical.

“That’s when I realized. It’s not so bad to let everything go and just go for it.”

“……”

“My husband said this. He said that while I was always smiling, there seemed to be something fake about it, but when he saw me drunk and rambling, he felt my sincerity for the first time.”

“……”

“I was always sincere. Rather, it seems my calculated attempts to appear as a gentle lady and make things work out well came across that way.”

Ramona smiled with a more mature face than Rose remembered.

“Knowing too much about relationships between men and women doesn’t seem to help much. After all, there might be parts of ourselves that even we don’t know.”

* * *

That night.

Rose sat at the table, lost in thought.

Various bottles of alcohol were on the table. And this was Maverick’s bedroom.

When Rose persistently visited Maverick’s bedroom, he always slept elsewhere. After about two weeks, when Rose stopped visiting at night, Maverick finally started using his bedroom again.

Alcohol.

‘It’s not like I haven’t thought about it.’

It’s certainly a classic. She had seen countless couples who became lovers after getting drunk and sleeping together. So it should have been worth trying, but there was one reason she hesitated to attempt this method.

‘I’ve never been drunk…’

That’s right. Since her first drink after coming of age, Rose had never once been drunk. She knew her alcohol tolerance was extraordinary.

Before marriage, she had even made bets that she would date any man who could outdrink her. But countless young men had disappeared after making fools of themselves, and Rose lost interest in alcohol.

‘Should I just keep drinking and drinking?’

Plus, one more important fact.

Maverick was also good at drinking.

She found this out on their wedding night. Instead of lying in bed on their first night, the two shared drinks in the bedroom. Someone had left crates of high-proof alcohol, though who had brought such things to a newlywed’s room was questionable.

‘Do you like alcohol?’

‘I don’t particularly like it, but shall we drink?’

It wasn’t planned from the start, but it happened when Maverick agreed to Rose’s spontaneous suggestion.

‘Hmm, you don’t get drunk easily either.’

‘…How could I get drunk?’

At the time, Rose understood Maverick’s words to mean that he wouldn’t get drunk from alcohol of that strength. Given the high alcohol content and the amount they drank together, it was remarkable that neither of them got drunk. The next day, though not drunk, Rose experienced her first and last mild hangover.

It was still early evening, so there was time before Maverick would come to the bedroom.

The servants’ mouths were well sealed, so Maverick wouldn’t know she was here.

‘Alright, let’s drink it all quickly.’

So Rose drank the alcohol on the table quite hastily. After drinking about 90% of it, she fell into serious contemplation.

This is crazy. My stomach is so full!

Her stomach was just bloated, but she remained perfectly sober.

Rose wiped away the wine trickling down her lips and looked at the last remaining bottle.

<Dragon’s Tears>.

This was secretly taken from the Duke’s wine cellar. Enjoying fine drinks one glass at a time was the Duke’s long-time hobby. Rose had secretly brought the highest proof alcohol among them. She hadn’t done something like this since she was thirteen.

The yellow liquor was distilled spirits. If she remembered correctly, it was said to be the strongest alcohol in the continent. Would this finally make her drunk for the first time?

‘Well, I’ll find out once I drink it.’

Rose was generally brave. That’s why she recklessly poured straight what others would dilute multiple times, without even knowing much about it.

“Hmm? The taste isn’t bad.”

The saying ‘ignorance is courage’ perfectly described her current state.

* * *

How much time had passed?

“Haa…”

Rose blinked. Her body was hot.

‘It’s hot.’

Rose threw off the cardigan she was wearing lightly. It fell carelessly to the floor, but she didn’t notice. Only when the thin-strapped slip underneath was revealed did Rose feel cool, but it was momentary.

‘Why is it so hot?’

Yet she was shivering. But it wasn’t exactly cold either…

‘Is this what being drunk feels like?’

Me? Rose Clematis is drunk?

‘Finally…!’

It felt like she had achieved something remarkable. It seemed like she could succeed at anything now. Even seducing that Maverick!

‘Just wait, I’ll definitely pounce on you and put it in. Yes!’

She didn’t know that this elation was the kind of nonsense only drunkards could make. In other words, Rose was that drunk.

Once drunk, it really felt like she could do anything. For example, saying things she couldn’t say because of pride.

Rose, highly excited, jumped up from her seat.

‘I can’t just wait for Maverick here.’

Who knows when the alcohol might wear off!

In fact, Rose tended to recover from hangovers quickly. So, this drunkenness might disappear quickly too. She felt urgent to get everything done quickly.

Study.

Maverick would probably be in his study. Though it was very late to be working, it was a common occurrence. Rose burst out of Maverick’s bedroom and headed for the study.

Her steps were unwavering. Of course, because he would be in that study where she had visited at dawn on her first day of regression. Not only was it close to this bedroom, but even in her drunken state, his study remained clearly in her mind.

As luck would have it, she had stationed people in the corridor to prevent mistakes like before. Thanks to this, Rose was able to reach the study without encountering anyone.

Rose opened her refined mouth without delay.

“Maverick!”

Maverick briefly stared at Rose who had burst through the study door. Though she thought he would be sitting at his desk as usual, for some reason he was standing with documents in hand. As if he had been pacing.

He, who had been free to move, quickly backed away from Rose who tried to embrace him.

“You’re drunk.”

“Wow, you can tell right away?”

“I have a nose, after all.”