While Lydia answered grumpily, Arsen uncorked the wine and filled her glass first.

The sweet scent of alcohol filled the bedroom.

“Then why make such an expression? What’s bothering you?”

“Because I’m too good at this. I followed you around too well. How could you, a trained knight, get caught by me every time?”

That was something Arsen wondered about too.

“Being good at something is good, it doesn’t seem like something to look so down about.”

“I should be good at other things, what use is being good at following men around? It’s completely useless.”

Lydia muttered while downing her wine glass in one go.

“How does it feel to be on the receiving end? You must be sick of me too, right? Getting goosebumps and feeling scared, right?”

“Haven’t experienced it enough to be sick of it.”

Arsen said while subtly pulling Lydia’s wine glass toward himself.

“Rather than getting goosebumps, it actually stimulated my competitive spirit.”

“What? Competitive spirit?”

“And it was quite cute. How could it be scary?”

“……”

Suddenly, silence fell in Arsen’s bedroom.

She drank the wine, so why am I the one making verbal blunders?

Arsen’s lips went dry.

He had no way to smooth over the words that had slipped out unconsciously, carelessly.

If there had been some commotion outside, he might have hoped Lydia hadn’t heard.

But nights on the border were silent under the moonlight.

“What I mean is.”

Though it would have been nice if Lydia said something. She just stared at him with eyes as round as a startled rabbit’s.

Arsen blurted out whatever came to mind.

“I meant it wasn’t scary enough to be frightening.”

“Ah, so you meant it was laughable!”

Not knowing how to react to the word ‘cute,’ Lydia chimed in, adding her own interpretation to Arsen’s words.

“That’s not exactly what I meant, but something roughly similar.”

“I understand.”

Lydia nodded so hard her head might fall off, then retrieved the glass Arsen had subtly taken and gulped it down.

Because only the wine could be blamed for her reddened face.

“Aren’t you drinking too quickly?”

Arsen watched worriedly as the red liquid disappeared into Lydia’s mouth.

“Despite how I look, I can hold my liquor better than Devon.”

Arsen didn’t believe it. Though he felt he shouldn’t let her drink more, he found himself pouring more wine when Lydia tapped her glass saying it was empty.

“I have something to discuss with you.”

Lydia, not wanting to endure the awkward silence, brought up what she had planned to discuss later as soon as the sound of pouring wine stopped.

“About the mine, I’m thinking of going to inspect it.”

Arsen also welcomed the change of topic. Normally, he would have said to discuss such matters when sober, but any conversation was better than the silence.

“Grandpa Robert said he talked to you about it.”

“He came to me directly saying he wanted to try digging the ground.”

Robert strongly believed in the possibility of a mana stone mine. If not for the people the Emperor sent, he would have gone to check immediately, but it was delayed because of them.

Lydia planned not to reveal the mine’s identity until the time was right.

If Devon or Marquis Evansi knew there was a mana stone mine here, they would obviously try to prevent Arsen from getting the borderlands.

“Don’t you have to return to the capital soon? Even if not for the imperial wedding, you need to attend the victory ceremony. I’d like to at least confirm if it’s a mana stone mine before then.”

He couldn’t skip the victory ceremony. Arsen was scheduled to receive his baron title there.

Considering Arsen’s achievements, even a title of count would not be enough, but immediately raising a noble without any title to count would likely provoke backlash from other nobles.

Richard would never make such a reckless move.

Well, even if it was dirty and petty, Arsen needed to receive the baron title first to become a lord, so he had to attend the victory ceremony.

He couldn’t just attend the victory ceremony and banquet in the capital and leave, and including travel time, he would need to stay in the capital for over a month.

It might even be longer, and then summer, when demonic beasts appeared less, would be over. So inspecting the mine after returning would be too dangerous.

“Let’s investigate if there are any demonic beasts settled near the mine first.”

If mana stones really came out, the borderlands’ livelihood would improve significantly.

Weapons made from mana stones were effective in driving away demonic beasts and much sturdier than weapons made from just iron, making them valuable in battle.

Arsen’s gaze traveled from Lydia’s hand holding the glass to her face. Perhaps from the alcohol, her flushed face looked much more vibrant than when she had drunk poison.

He had only thought of her as a strange woman.

He vowed not to get deeply involved.

Now that vow had become completely useless.

“Have I ever thanked you? I don’t think I have, not even once.”

Looking back, Arsen had only doubted Lydia.

Doubted what she was plotting, doubted if she would spread his secret, and watched her.

But Lydia never reproached him for that. She showed generosity, saying she understood, and helped him in every way possible.

From this winter’s food to next spring’s seeds for planting, they couldn’t have obtained any of it without Lydia, but had he ever expressed gratitude for that?

Arsen wanted to convey his thanks, even if he needed alcohol’s help.

“Wait, wait.”

However, Lydia found this atmosphere unbearably embarrassing. She felt so awkward her body was about to twist into a vine. Hadn’t her face turned as red as a carrot last time?

“I understand your feelings perfectly.”

“How did you know when I haven’t said anything?”

“I have my ways of knowing.”

“……”

“And you’ve done it before. When you brought out Nella and Byron.”

“Ah.”

So don’t say anything, Lydia said while continuing to tip her wine glass back.

While Arsen tried to stop her from drinking too quickly, Lydia urged him to empty his glass faster as she poured wine down her throat.

When the wine bottle emptied, Lydia used that as an excuse to stand up.

“I’ve been quite rude staying so late.”

Though she had struggled to climb through the window to get in, Lydia thought she was leaving like a proper lady.

She remained unaware that her slurred speech and stumbling body screamed ‘I’m completely drunk.’

“Don’t leave, stay here for the night.”

“Oh? Are you trying to seduce me now?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

When Arsen shook his head seriously, Lydia smiled broadly.

“I was joking. You would never try to seduce me.”

Lydia stumbled back and collapsed into the chair.

Arsen’s heart nearly stopped when he thought Lydia was falling.

“You’re not interested in women, and even less interested in me.”

As her intoxication rapidly increased, Lydia ended up almost lying face down on the table.

“Ah, and I’m not even a woman to you.”

“……Then what are you?”

“A comrade, colleague! Oh, and later, later let’s be friends.”

Until she was about to drift off to sleep, Lydia kept mumbling about becoming friends.

“Friends……”

As Arsen carried the now completely asleep Lydia to the bed, the only alcohol’s bitterness remained in his mouth, the wine’s sweetness long gone.

While pulling the blanket up to Lydia’s chin as she slept with a flushed face, Arsen let out a bitter laugh.

“So when you said you know things, that was a lie.”

You don’t know anything unless told.

* * *

“Ugh.”

A headache that felt like her head would split woke Lydia from her deep sleep.

Still half-asleep, Lydia grabbed what felt like a rope and shook it.

Though it felt too thick and firm to be a bell rope, her not fully awake mind detected the strangeness but didn’t register it as strange.

“Waater……”

“Water?”

Though she just mumbled while burying her face in the pillow, the other person understood perfectly, and she heard the sound of water being poured.

Wait, that’s a male servant, not a maid. Why is a male servant attending to my bedroom?

Lydia noticed something was strange again but couldn’t expand her thoughts beyond that.

“I’ll help you sit up for a moment.”

Her body, limp like a water-soaked cotton, was swiftly lifted up. Seeing how quickly he placed a pillow between her back and the headboard, she thought he must be quite an experienced servant.

“It’s a bit cold, so drink slowly.”

When the cold cup touched her lips, Lydia’s eyelids, which had been barely open, lifted.

Her narrow field of vision, only half open, showed only the large hand holding the water cup.

Lydia placed her hand over that hand and tilted the cup.

As the cold water flowed down her throat, her mind gradually cleared.

She must have drunk a lot, seeing how sweet the water tasted.

After drinking her fill, Lydia started to push away the large hand saying she was done, but stopped.

‘A male servant? Why would there be a male servant?’