Chapter 148
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I'll Purchase Divine Power with Money
Chapter 148
The day I first drank together with Lute at the Temple of the Sun God.
I had once asked Lute to tie me up and throw me on the bed if I got drunk.
Naturally, I'd assumed Lute would have a stronger tolerance for alcohol than I did.
But it turned out there was no need for that.
"I never expected you to have such a weak tolerance."
In truth, objectively speaking, she wasn't particularly weak.
Just between the two of us, we'd gone through five bottles of whisky.
I simply hadn't expected her to get drunk before me.
Come to think of it, Ju Hyun-jin really did have an exceptional capacity for alcohol. It was as if she converted alcohol into water itself.
It seemed my own tolerance was similar to hers.
"Excuse me, Duke. If you sleep here, your mouth will go crooked."
I watched Lute nodding off with an unusually gentle expression, then gently tapped her knee.
Lute's eyes snapped open, and she stared directly at me.
Oh, startled.
She glared at me menacingly as if wondering when her eyes had cleared, and I nervously withdrew my hand from her knee.
"Duke?"
Looking at her flushed cheeks, she seemed thoroughly intoxicated...
Now that I thought about it, I didn't know Lute's drinking habits.
Surely she wouldn't unabashedly express her crude nature?
I quietly clenched my fist and reinforced it with divine power.
If that were the case, I would knock her out without hesitation for both her honor and my own safety.
Lute would understand.
"...Why."
I waited quietly, holding my breath, when Lute's lips—unusually moist from the alcohol—moved slightly.
I clenched my fist tighter and leaned slightly toward Lute.
"Why do you keep calling me Duke?"
"...?"
And at Lute's following words, all my strength drained away.
"Why won't you call me by my name? Why Duke? Is my name Duke?"
If I laughed outright here, Lute with her heightened instincts might get angry, wouldn't she?
I bit my lips hard and barely suppressed the laughter threatening to burst out.
"My name isn't even that difficult. So why do you keep saying Duke? Is my name really Duke?"
From the way she was speaking, she was thoroughly drunk, yet her pronunciation and the clarity in her eyes were remarkably sharp.
This was a side of her drinking I'd never seen before.
"Do you really dislike it when I call you Duke?"
"I like it when you speak casually."
Lute smiled gently, as if she'd never glared at me at all.
She was just as temperamental even when drunk.
No, maybe it's because there's no brake. It seems to be getting worse.
"I never said you could speak informally to me."
"Do you prefer formal speech?"
I didn't expect such an immediate reaction.
Considering the aftermath when she sobers up, I should be more careful with my jokes.
"It's fine. Do whatever you want. I'm not that particular."
Come to think of it, we'd known each other for several months now, and I'd never seen Lute Sheary speak formally to anyone but me.
That she consistently used formal speech only with me was remarkable.
She truly respected me greatly. I felt genuinely grateful all over again.
"What are you talking about? In all my life, you're the most difficult person I've ever met."
But Lute Sheary's expression turned serious again.
Unlike before, she looked genuinely wronged—anyone watching would think I was the difficult one.
"What? Why me? Aren't I actually quite easygoing?"
"Because you show no desire."
Desire?
"Even the money you accumulated so desperately was ultimately for others, not yourself. That's why I don't know what you truly want."
Ah, so that's what she meant.
If you put it that way, maybe I am difficult.
What I truly want doesn't exist in this world.
I left everything behind in my original world, a place I can never return to while alive.
"Is it that obvious?"
"How would I not know? I'm so interested in you."
Lute Sheary's silvery-gray eyes gazed at me intently.
With that familiar warmth in her gaze that I'd come to recognize.
"Though you don't seem very interested in me. That used to frustrate me sometimes, but I'm okay with it now."
"Why are you okay with it now?"
"Because you quit being the High Priestess and left the Temple of the Sun God."
Lute Sheary looked directly at me and smiled, her eyes crinkling softly.
It was such a beautiful smile—the most beautiful one I'd ever seen from her.
Her face was even flushed more than usual, which made it all the more striking.
I thought I'd gotten used to it, but smiling like that is cheating, isn't it?
Could flirtatiousness be Lute Sheary's drinking habit?
"And you came straight to me without going anywhere else."
"...."
"Though saying you'd kill me was too much. I was really angry about that back then."
Lute Sheary's face twisted into a grimace.
As that beautiful smile vanished in an instant, I found myself exhaling the breath I'd been holding without realizing it.
"But it's fine now. You're in my mansion."
Lute Sheary took my hand.
Her hand was naturally warm, but now it felt even warmer than usual, probably from the alcohol.
"Here, take this. You like this, don't you?"
Lute Sheary placed a portable wine storage pouch into my palm—something I had often coveted.
"And this too."
She then dropped the sapphire gemstone she had retrieved earlier onto it.
"Wait, what else do I have... This is strange. I own so much, yet why can I only find these right now?"
Lute's expression darkened considerably.
As if she would give me anything else she possessed.
I observed her actions quietly before asking.
"Why do you keep trying to give me things?"
"Because I want to keep you from leaving."
Keep me from leaving?
"I abandoned the Temple of the Sun God itself without a shred of regret after years there. How easily would I leave after merely a few months with you?"
"...."
"Don't leave. Fortunately, I have much, and perhaps among it lies something you desire. I'll give you everything. Whatever you want, I'll give it all to you, so don't leave. Stay here with me."
Lute gripped my hand—the one holding the pouch and sapphire—firmly with both of hers.
Contrary to her composed expression, she held me as though desperately trying to keep me from slipping away.
"If you saved me, then you must take responsibility."
At her shameless words that followed, something inside me deflated, and I let out a hollow laugh.
What did she just say?
"You didn't save me—I saved you. Yet you're asking me to take responsibility?"
"Yes."
Ha! In all my years, I've never heard such audacious words.
"Of course you must. You've made me someone who cannot live without you."
That phrasing... it sounds strange when put that way.
"Your face is turning red. Are you cold?"
Lute gazed at me intently and asked.
"Well, it has grown cold lately. Let's head back now."
Rising from where we sat, Lute pulled my hand along with her.
Without resistance, I stood obediently, and she removed her outer robe, draping it across my shoulders.
"You could warm me with magic, couldn't you? Is magic just for show?"
I asked, looking at the garment now covering my shoulders, and Lute shook her head firmly.
"No. Then I couldn't take off my clothes for you. Keep that on."
Worried I might remove it, Lute pressed gently on my shoulder.
"Now, let's return to the mansion."
And she held my hand tightly as we headed toward the estate.
I followed quietly behind, watching Lute's figure ahead of me.
To be honest, I wasn't cold at all.
I was burning up.
'I should have drunk more moderately.'
Who could have known that Lute would become intoxicated before me, and that she possessed such a drunken disposition?
I stared at the back of his round head, which I wanted to smack once, and let out a sigh.
What good would it do to blame Lute?
The real problem was that even in this heat, I still hadn't removed Lute's outer garment.
I should have just lifted her up quickly and put her in the hidden room the moment she got drunk, instead of having a conversation with her.
Now my mind was just in turmoil for nothing.
Lute, you wretch—I'm never drinking again until we get drunk together a second time.
* * *
A strange sound came from somewhere.
'Don't leave. Stay here by my side.'
My voice.
But it sounded as if I were pleading with someone.
'I'll give you everything you want, so don't go.'
Despite my desperate pleas, the person before me turned their back coldly and stood there.
'If you saved me, you have to take responsibility.'
'I care about you so much.'
And the moment I said that, the person before me spun around sharply.
'What? Why me?'
Along with words so cold they made my chest chill.
Flash!
"...."
Lute jolted awake mid-sleep, blinking her eyes several times.
What was that? That last part was definitely Ordel Kiris.
Ordel Kiris coldly rejecting my pleas.
"That can't be right."
Lute's face scrunched up hard.
Right, it couldn't be. Ordel Kiris would never treat her so coldly.
'What? Why me?'
But why was that voice so vivid? As if I had actually heard it before.
Was that really a dream?
Now that I think about it, my last memory was drinking heavily with Ordel Kiris last night, so why is she in the bedroom now?
Did I get drunk and cause trouble for Ordel Kiris, and then get rejected?
"...That can't happen."
Lute's face grew serious.
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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