Chapter 149
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I'll Purchase Divine Power with Money Chapter 149 "Karl, what time did I return to my room last night?"
As I changed into fresh clothes, I asked the butler about the previous evening's events.
"Around two in the morning, ma'am."
"How did I get back?"
Karl, who had been answering readily, blinked at the follow-up question.
"Surely you remember, don't you?"
"I remember drinking whiskey with Ordel Kiris—four bottles of it—but everything after that is hazy."
Karl's eyes widened at my casual admission. Lute Sheary had blacked out from drinking? Her? He'd served her since birth, but this was a first.
"W-well, according to the servants who cleaned up the gathering, the two of you consumed a total of five bottles of whiskey."
"Five bottles? If I drank one more after already being drunk, of course I don't remember."
I let out a hollow laugh.
"However, both of you returned to the estate perfectly fine without requiring anyone's support."
"Ah, is that so?"
"Yes. In fact, you personally escorted Ordel Kiris all the way to her bedroom before returning to your own room."
I nodded at Karl's explanation. So I hadn't been completely unconscious after all.
"What about Ordel Kiris? Is she awake?"
"Yes. She's currently exercising in the garden."
My expression turned incredulous at that. It was only nine in the morning. Even for someone who'd been drinking until dawn, waking up this early was impressive. But Ordel Kiris was actually exercising on top of that?
"She's more diligent than I thought. You said she seemed fine last night too, didn't you?"
"Yes."
So I was the only one who drank myself into a blackout. In all my years, I'd never lost a drinking contest to anyone. This was truly infuriating. Just how strong is Ordel Kiris's tolerance?
"Then Ordel Kiris must remember everything I said while drunk."
"Do you recall what you said, ma'am?"
"Fragments. Honestly, I'm not even sure if what I said was accurate. But they were things I'd wanted to say for a while, so maybe I did."
"What did you say?"
"I begged her."
"...Pardon?"
Seeing Karl's confused expression, I smiled brightly.
"I begged her not to go anywhere and to stay here. There's a reason the saying 'drunk words are sober thoughts' exists, after all."
"Y-you b-begged...?"
"But when Ordel Kiris begged you to stay, you coldly rejected her."
"Pardon?!"
Karl was nearly fainting from yet another bombshell revelation from Lute Sheary. The fact that Lute Sheary had pleaded with her not to leave was shocking enough to turn the world upside down, but she'd rejected that plea so callously?! To reject Lute Sheary—truly, Ordel Kiris was a remarkable person. Admirable, even.
"Tell Ordel Kiris to have breakfast with me."
Yet Lute Sheary, who had been rejected, showed no sign of hurt whatsoever. She was even smiling contentedly. Though I had served her my entire life, I still found Lute Sheary's psychology difficult to comprehend. I heard that Lute Sheary was the one who pleaded, and Ordel Kiris was the one who refused. Yet somehow, I felt more sympathy for Ordel Kiris. I sincerely hoped she would find strength. * * * When Lute Sheary suggested we have breakfast together, I was genuinely surprised. I naturally assumed she would avoid me. If she remembered what was said last night, she'd be too embarrassed to face me, and even if she didn't remember, wouldn't she worry about having made a mistake and try to avoid me?
"Did I perhaps beg you last night not to leave?"
But I had forgotten something crucial. Lute Sheary was not ordinary. After freshening up and arriving at the Dining Hall, she asked me this the moment we met.
"Well, yes... that's true."
"Ah, so it really happened. I'm glad."
Does this woman have no sense of shame? If anything, I'm the one feeling awkward here.
"Usually when people get drunk and ramble, they feel embarrassed about it, but you don't seem to have that at all."
Though I must admit, seeing Lute Sheary's face turn crimson with embarrassment is far more terrifying.
"Did I perhaps also beg you not to call me Duke, but by my name instead?"
At my words, Lute Sheary's expression darkened. So she disliked that plea even more than the other one?
"You did. You kept asking why I insisted on calling you Duke when that's not even your name."
"Wow, I really said everything I wanted to say, didn't I? So... did we also talk about us?"
"Are you sure you don't remember?"
But I do remember. I remember everything.
"Since that's also correct, then your cold rejection when I begged you must be real too."
"...?"
This is absurd. I remember everything else perfectly, so why do I remember this part so strangely?
"I said I'd give you everything you wanted, just don't leave. I said you should take responsibility since you saved me. I asked if you knew how much interest I have in you. And you kicked away someone pleading like that."
And yet she remembers exactly what she herself said.
"And she refused with such harsh words—'What? Why me?'!"
Lute Sheary vented her frustration by slamming her fist against the dining table. Wait, I'm the one who should feel wronged here, not you.
"Now that I think about it, you've mixed up the order of events. That wasn't what I said at all."
"But you did say something equally cold-hearted."
Lute Sheary cupped one cheek and sniffled dramatically. If I'd actually kicked her, she'd have a real reason to complain.
"You're responsible. You made me this sad—you have to take responsibility."
"Whether you're drunk or sober, you say the same nonsense."
I let out a hollow laugh and placed the pouch I'd brought onto the table. It was a portable wine storage pouch. Lute Sheary, who had been feigning tears, tilted her head.
"Why do you have that?"
"Because you gave it to me last night. Along with this."
I set a sapphire beside the pouch.
"Wait, so you're saying I gave you this pouch—this one filled with alcohol?"
Yet Lute Sheary's eyes never once glanced at the sapphire.
"I thought I'd only done good things last night, but it turns out I did something foolish too."
"The wine pouch is a bigger problem than the sapphire?"
"Of course it is!"
At my bewildered question, she burst out indignantly.
"Because you love alcohol more! This has been such an effective lure all this time—if you take possession of it, what will I use to keep you in line?"
"...."
"How am I supposed to hold onto you from now on?"
Lute Sheary lamented with genuine distress. I'd naturally intended to return it, but seeing her like this made me reconsider. If I kept this, I could demand that anyone who wanted to drink wine with me had to obey my every word, couldn't I? I'd return just the sapphire and keep the wine pouch for myself. Of course, I wouldn't carelessly drink from it without Lute Sheary's permission. Knock, knock.
"Pardon the interruption during your meal. An invitation has arrived from the Imperial Palace."
At that moment, Butler Karl announced himself with a knock.
"Tsk. This Imperial Family really has terrible timing."
Lute Sheary clicked her tongue with an annoyed expression. I doubt anyone else would treat an Imperial letter with such disdain.
"It's an invitation to the Harvest Festival."
Lute Sheary casually tore open the invitation that Karl had brought and spoke in a flat tone. The Harvest Festival was the grandest celebration held in autumn. 'And in the original story, significant events unfold there too.' Though the Harvest Festival this year would actually take place next year. But now, variables had emerged. As time reversed, Evil too began displaying behavior patterns different from the past. Though the creature possessed no memories of its former self, there was nothing preventing it from committing the same acts this year rather than next.
"Will you be attending the Harvest Festival?"
"I suppose I must. Though I find it rather tedious."
Lute Sheary waved the invitation card before me, her gaze fixed and penetrating.
"Ah, that's right. You should come along as well."
I was already considering attending in case something unfolded at the Harvest Festival....
"What if you flee while I'm away? That simply won't do. So we're going together."
So that was the concern.
"I'm not running away."
"I still remember how coldly you brushed aside my pleas not to leave."
"That never happened."
True, I hadn't answered her, but at least I hadn't brushed her aside. She simply hadn't given me time to respond.
"In any case, we're going together. Understood? Ah, I'll need to start preparing for the Capital City trip now."
But as if my answer mattered not in the slightest, Lute Sheary abruptly rose and departed the Dining Hall.
"I said I'm not going anywhere...!"
My belated protest fell on deaf ears. Only Karl, who remained behind in Lute's stead, regarded me with sympathetic eyes. Thus my journey to the Capital City was decided—half by circumstance, half by my own will. * * * Lute Sheary was not the only one to receive an invitation to the Harvest Festival.
"This is troublesome."
At the Sun God's Temple. Airic Dert, receiving an Imperial invitation for the first time, exhaled a weary sigh. 【We earnestly hope that the High Priestess of the Sun God's Temple will grace the Harvest Festival with your esteemed presence.】 The invitation specifically named the High Priestess, which only deepened his exasperation.
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