Chapter 60

“Miss Sollier, you have to hold onto this man.”

“Pardon? But I…”

“He’s really a good guy, our Captain. Don’t you think so too?”

“That’s true. The Duke is a good person.”

“Exactly! Even if the whole world falls apart, our Captain Lionel will stick with you to the end…”

“The world won’t fall apart, get a grip. Hey, Isaac!”

Drunk, Isaac finally ended up with his head on the table. As his shoulders suspiciously shook, Lionel hurried to help his friend up. Clarette was startled.

“Are you alright, Mr. Hunt? Are you sick?”

“I’m dying… Ugh…”

“Get up! Don’t act pathetic in front of Clarette.”

As Isaac dry-heaved, Lionel skillfully supported him. Clarette looked on, not knowing what to do, and the Duke quickly reassured her.

“Just stay here for a moment, Clarette. I’ll take care of this guy and be right back. It won’t take long.”

With that, the two big men disappeared out the back door of the pub, leaving only Clarette at the wide table. She looked anxiously at the messy table and then at the bottles the Duke had emptied.

‘The Duke drank more, but he doesn’t seem drunk at all. He must really be strong with alcohol.’

Clarette looked down at her own glass, which was more like a soft drink. She’d come to a pub, but while the two men enjoyed themselves, she felt like just a distant spectator.

‘A cocktail doesn’t even make me tipsy. I wish I could let myself go a bit more. You can’t really drink too much at the ducal residence or at parties, so there’s no chance except here.’

Clarette recalled Marian Belvard leaning on the Duke at the auction party. Of course, she didn’t want to get that drunk, but she envied Marian’s carefree attitude.

‘If I get a little tipsy, maybe I can be more affectionate with the Duke? We came all this way, so I want to be closer than usual. Now that Mr. Hunt is drunk, he might need another drinking companion…’

Anxiously fiddling with her glass, Clarette quietly called the pub owner.

“Excuse me, could you recommend something? Something strong.”

“Pardon? Miss, you want to drink too? Then I’ll bring you what the blond gentleman was drinking…”

“Oh, no. Something cheaper than what he drinks, please.”

All the drinks the Duke ordered tonight were expensive. After thinking it over, the owner brought Clarette a cheap, strong, and vividly colored drink.

* * *

“Sorry, Lionel… Fiona told me not to drink, and now my tolerance is shot…”

“No wonder you passed out so fast. Feeling better now?”

Isaac, drenched after being splashed with water countless times in the pub’s backyard, shook out his wet hair and nodded.

Lionel felt a sense of déjà vu as if he’d gone back to old times and turned to leave. Now that Isaac was sobering up, he could walk without support.

“That was close. Clarette’s never been to a pub, and you ended up like that…”

Lionel lightly opened the back door and stopped for a moment. He stared at Clarette’s empty seat.

“Where did Clarette go? Hey, owner. The woman who was sitting here…”

As Lionel approached her seat, he spotted a new glass—not the cocktail glass—and raised his eyebrows.

The new glass was nearly empty. Lionel eyed the small amount of green liquor left at the bottom.

It looked similar to the cocktail Clarette first ordered, but something was different. He sniffed the empty glass and immediately frowned.

“Hey! What is this? Who gave her this?”

“Oh, the young lady asked for something strong, so I served her this…”

Lionel’s tone was sharp, so the owner nervously held up the bottle. At the sight of the familiar green liquor, Lionel muttered in exasperation.

“…Absinthe? No, seriously. You gave that to her? To a woman who can’t even drink?”

“She asked for something cheap and strong… But she drank it well.”

Lionel was too worried to even scoff. Something felt off.

Clarette couldn’t possibly handle strong alcohol, and he couldn’t understand why she cared about the price. After all, he was paying tonight.

“So where did she go?”

“She said she was going out for some fresh air.”

Lionel stared out at the black night sea through the window. He rushed outside to look for Clarette.

* * *

Clarette wondered for a moment why she was standing barefoot on the sand.

‘Because it feels nice.’

The fine sand beach was a deep blue, a blend of night and moonlight. Clarette gazed at the bright full moon and slowly walked forward.

‘I’ve never seen a sky like this. The moon is so bright. The ground is sparkling everywhere.’

But what she was really looking at was the distant sea. The world was a blue canvas, and the moonlight reflected on the waves was a white brushstroke. As she walked, Clarette suddenly felt her skirt growing heavy and looked down.

‘The seawater has reached my ankles.’

Of course, the sea hadn’t changed—she’d just walked directly into it. Clarette found the wet hem of her skirt wrapping around her legs annoying.

‘Alcohol is powerful. Even the seawater doesn’t feel cold at all.’

They say alcohol helps you forget pain. Is that why soldiers drink so much? Is that why the Duke, Captain Lionel, started drinking? Because it was hard and painful?

‘The Duke said he prefers life now over his days as a soldier.’

Clarette remembered what the Duke had said at Lake Frey.

‘So, I hope the Duke stays the Duke…’

As she stood under the moonlight and recalled Lionel’s face—

Splash! Suddenly, someone grabbed her arm from behind, pulling her back.

“Clarette!”

Stumbling, Clarette looked up at him with dazed eyes. His tousled blond hair covered his handsome forehead, and she reached out to brush his hair aside.

But Lionel caught her hand and hurriedly checked her condition.

“What are you doing out here? Where are your shoes?”

“My shoes are over there, that way.”

But there was nothing where she pointed. Lionel sighed briefly and led Clarette out of the water.

“Are you drunk? From that absinthe?”

“Abs… in…?”

“The drink you ordered… Did you just drink it without knowing what it was? Why did you do that?”

“To drink together, and talk…”

“What?”

“I have a lot I want to say to you, Duke.”

Clarette stubbornly stopped and looked up at him. Lionel gazed at her, frowning at her sulky expression.

Though it was confusing, he found her honestly cute, so he fought back a laugh and cleared his throat.

“Alright, then. Tell me. I’ll listen.”

“First of all, we…”

Clarette clung to his arm, barely keeping her balance.

“We have to save money. If not, Duke, you’ll be kicked out of the estate…”

“Clarette, why would I be kicked out? I’m the owner.”

“That’s true, but…”

Suddenly, Clarette shivered as if she felt a chill. She sniffled like someone about to cry and muttered,

“The estate belongs to you, but so does the debt, Duke.”

Lionel was at a loss for words as he looked down at Clarette. She was drunk, but it didn’t seem like she was just rambling nonsense.

“Who told you that? That I have debt.”

He tried to sound calm, but she nodded with conviction.

“I know everything. Actually, I overheard it. I’m sorry…”

“You overheard? When, where?”

“That day, with Earl Crowley and you, in the tea room…”

Ah, that day. Lionel closed his eyes tightly and opened them again.

Clarette already knew everything. About the debt he wanted to hide, probably in quite some detail.

She was the last person he wanted to know.

“Clarette.”

“Yes.”

It was almost funny to say this to someone so drunk, but Lionel couldn’t help it. He gripped her unsteady shoulders firmly.

“Forget all that. It’s not something you need to worry about.”

But Clarette immediately shook her head.

“But, it’s hard not to care. Duke, you have been so… good to me. Sometimes I’m scared. If I can never repay what you’ve given me…”

“No, Clarette. I just want you to stay by my side. Why do you think I brought you to the annex and insisted on being your model?”

“Because, Duke…”

Hesitating, Clarette suddenly pressed her face against his chest. Lionel quickly caught her, thinking she might fall.

But in the next moment, Clarette wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. Lionel froze in surprise, and she nuzzled his chest and mumbled,

“You want to sleep with me…”