Chapter 83

“Hey, isn’t that the local Nezu wine? Surely you didn’t go out today to…”

Maki spread out her hands and shrugged .

“We went out because we wanted to see the town . I just bought this along the way . Regardless, there must be an emergency for you to come in without knocking? Chiharu and I were about to enjoy a girl’s party . ”

Maki said bluntly . Chiharu looked at her with excitement .

“What do you mean, ‘girl’s party’? Anyway, I was going to ask if you needed anything . But it looks like you’re really enjoying yourselves already . ”

Then he stepped into the room without any hesitation and confiscated the bottles from them .

“Kids shouldn’t be drinking . Now hurry off to bed . Really, what is wrong with Saintesses these days . ”

He muttered to himself as he left the room .

☆

Aaron held both bottles in one hand and opened the door to his room and said,

“I can’t believe it . They were about to have a party . ”

He showed Edwy the bottles .

“I thought they would be tired, so I went to their room to give them some ointment . But I forgot all about it because I was so exasperated . ”

“And then you took their drinks . You have a long way to go, Aaron . ”

Edwy also sounded exasperated . Then he chuckled .

“What do you mean?”

“Besides, they are both grown adults . 25 years old . ”

“What? 25? That’s only 2 years different than me . You must be joking . ”

“They are the same age as Nyran . They may look younger because of their height, but they are grown women . So you must treat them as such . ’

“But, still…”

After seeing them in their disguises during the day, it was hard to not see them as children .

“They really looked like they wanted to drink our ale during dinner as well . ”

“I’m sure they just wanted the meat . Or, that’s what I thought when I gave them some of mine . ”

“No, you’re wrong . They just found it too awkward to reject you . I saw it on their faces . ”

“I didn’t notice . ”

So much that had happened today was confusing . Aaron scratched his head .

“Well, then . We should go soon, so you can really come to understand Maki and Chiharu . Though, it doesn’t really matter if you do or not . ”

“Huh? What are you saying?”

Aaron tilted his head to the side . Edwy took out a small paper bag and accepted the two bottles from Aaron .

“Do you think they will give up just because you took their drink? With those two, it’s much better to act with them instead of trying to stop them . ”

He said . And then he left the room .

“Uh, hey . Wait a minute . What’s wrong with him?”

Aaron ran after Edwy .

☆

“What was that? He comes in without knocking and then steals our drinks . How rude . ”

Maki was quite prickly . Chiharu was also disappointed .

“Ahhhh . I really wanted to drink that Nezu wine . ”

“Yes, it’s a rice wine made near the Lowland sea, combined with the Nezu fruit . ”

“Ohh, Maki-chan . It looked so good . ”

Chiharu lamented . Maki grinned mischievously and rummaged in her bag and came out with two more bottles!

“What!”

“Yes . I thought we might all drink it together, so I bought four . But I don’t care about that anymore . Let’s drink . ”

“I’m with you, brother . ”

“I’m not your brother . ”

Maki said .

“Now, we should lock the door this time . That’s what started this whole problem . ”

Just as she stood up to lock the door, they heard someone knocking .

“Maki . Chiharu . It’s Edwy . Can I come in?”

“Edwy, wait just one minute . Chiharu, did you hear that? He’s so polite . There’s a certain fourth prince who could learn from him . ”

“I’m here too . ”

“Ugh, there’s some other guy here too!”

Maki was being extra rude . In the meantime, Chiharu put the bottles back into the bag . Maki slowly opened the door .

“What is it? Edwy . ”

“Uhh . Nothing much . It’s awkward standing in the hallway . Do you mind if we come in?”

Maki glared at Aaron for a second, but then opened the door and invited them in .

“I came to return these . ”

“The Nezu wine!”

Chiharu was overjoyed .

“You two are both adults, after all . It was a ridiculous thing that they were confiscated . Also, if you want…”

Edwy then took out the small paper bag and handed it to Chiharu .

“What is this? It smells nice . ”

Chiharu said as she sniffed at it .

“It’s the Nezu fruit after it’s been soaked in the Nezu wine . They cover them in sugar and let them dry out in the sun . It should go well with the wine . ”

“Wow . Thank you . ”

There was something childish about how happy Chiharu was . Edwy smiled .

“Well, then . We won’t disturb you any longer . ”

He said as they were about to leave .

“Wait . ”

“Maki?”

“Ahh, I have no choice . This is out of respect for Edwy . ”

And with that, Chiharu took out the two other bottles from the bag .

“Y-you have more!”

“Didn’t I tell you? Taking away their drinks wasn’t going to solve anything . ”

Edwy said with a sigh as Aaron looked on in shock . And then he thought for a while . Maybe he had gotten too used to Maki and Chiharu, and it was he who was starting to lose sight of what was normal .

As Edwy wondered about this, Maki waved a bottle in front of his face .

“Well, I originally bought four so we could all drink together . So you might as well drink with us now . ”

She said .

“Do you mean it?”

“Yes . Just one bottle won’t affect us tomorrow . ”

“Then I accept . Aaron?”

“Uh, thank you . ”

The first sip of the Nezu wine was quite sharp at first, but then a mild aroma like that of pine needles filled your nostrils . And then the sweetness of the rice lingered in your mouth .

“Ahh, it’s delicious . ”

“Nezu wine is pretty great . ”

Maki and Chiharu said as they enjoyed their wine . Edwy looked at them with gentle eyes . Edwy was quite strong when it came to alcohol, as he had to drink it a lot socially . But he felt as if he was getting drunk off of one sip as he watched them .

Chiharu nibbled on a piece of the sugared Nezu as if it were precious .

“I’ll buy some more for you if you like it . ”

Edwy said . Chiharu shook her head .

“I think it tastes so good because we’re eating it here . ”

“That’s true . ”

While they were drinking the Nezu wine slowly, the bottles were quite small, and so they did not last very long .

While they wished that they could drink more, the small drinking party came to a close, and Maki and Chiharu went to bed with a feeling of happiness .

Edwy and Aaron returned to their room . It was clear that Aaron had something on his mind .

“We should get some sleep as well . ”

“Hey . ”

“What is it?”

“While it was one day, I’ve been swung around a lot and…”

“By the birdfolk?”

“No . ”

“I know what you mean . ”

Edwy said with a snort . He supposed that there was now one other person who had awakened to Maki and Chiharu’s appeal .

“But for some reason, I’m not mad about it . ”

“If you’d like, I can talk all night . About how wonderful they are . ”

“No thanks . ”

“By the way, you’re royalty and not even an Adventurer . I understand that you see yourself as a man for the common people, but you should do something about the way you talk . ”

“I do . When I’m making a public appearance . ”

“Really, I don’t see how you are able to treat Maki and Chiharu like children . ”

“I won’t anymore . ”

Edwy wasn’t necessarily sure if that would be good for him or not .

“In any case, let’s get some sleep . ”

“Yes . Good night . ”

And that was how their first night ended .