Chapter 156

I might have temporarily forgotten due to the booze, but the moment Eli lets her guard down, she’s in all sorts of danger.

This isn’t just about her life. Just like Grace almost faced, her virtue is at stake too.

With her pure looks paired with a body that would make anyone envious, a noble lady would be hard to approach. But Eli is a commoner.

You can tell she’s always getting hit on by the way that random scumbag came up to her.

Every time, she politely turns them down, but there are always some crazies like Delphoi. That makes her a danger zone in various ways.

Unlike Grace, who exits the story, Eli’s situation is even worse. If she gets assaulted, she’ll bite her tongue and die right there.

Even though I was drunk, my mind snapped back to reality because of all this. I was worried that while I was gone to the bathroom, something might happen to Eli.

‘Where did she go?’

Once I got close to the bathroom, I started looking for Eli. I thought I might bump into her on the way, but nope.

I was considering going back in case our paths crossed somewhere. I had to use the bathroom anyway.

“Y-You! Let go of me! Aren’t you ashamed of acting like this just because you’re a prince?!”

Just then, a very faint, familiar voice hit my ears.

Given it was a banquet, the bathroom was bustling with people, but I caught a little fragment.

Having spent time in a forest full of various bugs and beasts, my hearing is sharp. I could distinguish sounds too.

‘Is that her?’

Even if it wasn’t Eli, I had a strong feeling someone was in trouble. My wilderness instinct told me so.

I moved towards a spot slightly away from the bathroom. An isolated area outside was perfect for something shady to go down.

“Sivar! Where are you! Help me!”

This time, it was crystal clear. That was Eli calling out for me.

From the urgency in her voice, it seemed she was in a dangerous situation. In an instant, I took off, a bottle of booze in hand.

I finally reached a secluded alley out in the back, and there I spotted a familiar face.

“This place is empty. So just do as I say, okay?”

And a guy was pushing Eli hard. He had her arms pinned so she couldn’t move.

Seeing his gray hair reminded me of someone, but that’s not important right now. As soon as I saw the scene, I didn’t hesitate to approach.

“If you just become my mistress nicely, a commoner like you…”

That was as far as he got. I silently snuck up and swung the booze bottle with all my might.

He touched Eli, so he deserved whatever came next.

*Crash!*

The sound of glass shattering was music to my ears. At the same time, the guy staggered back, curling up.

Not sure if he had a thick skull or if I simply miscalibrated my drunken strength, but he didn’t drop right away.

“You… What the hell…?”

The guy turned to look at me while staggering. His eyes were sharp, not in a good way, more like a snake.

I considered stabbing him with the broken glass, but soon enough, he crumpled to the ground, wafting a hint of wine.

‘There was that guy with gray hair… who was he again?’

I racked my brain but couldn’t quite remember. Maybe I should lay off the alcohol from now on.

Whatever the case, I had saved Eli, so everything else didn’t matter. I turned to her.

She looked relieved to see me. As if she didn’t care about me smashing someone’s head with a booze bottle.

I wanted to comfort her, but I thought I might smell like alcohol, so I just stood there.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m, I’m okay.”

Anyway, here we were.

“We should probably talk details. About why my sister is sprawled out on the floor.”

The scene of the prince assaulting Eli was exposed, and we found ourselves being interrogated right there.

What was outrageous was that the guy I knocked out got treated like a sack of potatoes. The guard of the one interrogating me did the dirty work instead.

The half-broken bottle remained firmly in my grip, while the shattered glass lay around the guy’s head who just got knocked out.

Stuck in this situation, it was better to comply with the interrogation. Eli would be a witness too.

“Hmm. So your sister tried to forcibly assault you, and that’s how this happened. Is that right?”

“Yes. That’s accurate.”

“Good enough. We’ll let this go.”

“….What?”

It ended way too easily. Honestly, even I was like, ‘Is this for real?’

It felt not just refreshing but a bit stiff, and I couldn’t wrap my head around what was happening.

“My twin siblings have had their fair share of issues, you see. I knew something like this would happen someday.”

“But that person called themselves a prince…?”

“He’s a prince, alright. And I’m the crown prince.”

“….?”

Now we had the prince and the crown prince both in the mix. I suspected as much when I saw their matching hair colors.

Then, the crown prince seemed to suddenly recall something, gasped, and addressed us.

“Let me introduce myself. I’m Karas, the rightful heir of the Matra Empire. What are your names?”

“I’m Luna Estelle.”

“I’m Eli.”

“And you, the one who smashed my brother’s head?”

Karas looked at me, asking for my name. I must have made quite an impression from our first meeting.

I was met with bright eyes that had a slightly crazy sparkle. The kind of eyes that could only be described as the bright-eyed lunatic.

“I’m Sivar.”

“Sivar… So you’re that famous wild man. I’ve heard rumors about you.”

Not the best of rumors, I might add. I almost said so but held my tongue.

If this guy really was the crown prince I knew of, it was best to keep my mouth shut as much as possible.

Seeing him shrug off dealing with his brother, the one with a smashed head, like it was a sack of potatoes was quite telling.

‘That rumor about him being quirky isn’t baseless.’

In the Soul World, there are plenty of folks who have lost their marbles. The moderately crazy ones usually end up getting picked by Chaos.

The crown prince was one of them. The problem is, he was supposed to become the next emperor.

‘Putting everything else aside, his likability rating is really…’

One of the hardest people to raise likability with in the Soul World is the crown prince, Karas.

It’s not that he’s picky; it’s just that he’s incredibly chaotic. If he pulls off some crazy stunt, he LOVES it.

Just look at how he took what I did to his brother with such a welcoming attitude.

“Uh… Crown Prince.”

“Just call me by my name. So, what’s up?”

“Is Sivar really not in any trouble? I mean, even if he messed up while you were in the wrong…”

“Don’t worry about it. Honestly, it won’t be the worst thing if he just dies like this.”

“….What?”

Karas laughed as he spoke, but the undercurrent in his words was deadly serious.

As Luna’s eyes widened in disbelief, Karas kept grinning, adding, “A prince who tries to forcibly assault a woman who’s taken, only to get hit from behind and die? Now, that’s funny! That’s a different kind of history, huh?”

“…..”

Karas is throwing out lines that sound straight out of a psycho’s mouth.

He’s chillingly nonchalant about his brother getting hurt. In fact, it seems more like he just doesn’t care.

But does that mean the crown prince is a real psycho? Not quite. He at least has some boundaries.

Those boundaries are clear enough; if you don’t intentionally poke the bear, relationships can stay smooth.

‘Can’t hurt to get cozy with him.’

I’m not particularly keen on getting involved politically this early. But after smashing a prince’s head, it looks like I’m already tangled up.

Given that, there’s a high chance Karas will back me up. Or he might just keep his mouth shut entirely.

Before long, as we were chatting, we wound up back at the banquet hall. The moment we entered, eyes began to zero in on us.

Guess it’s because I returned in the company of Karas. After all, he’s quite the talk of the town in the Matra Empire.

“….Karas?”

“Hm? Ah, Lady Verche. What can I do for you?”

“It’s not that—why are you coming back with Sivar…?”

By sheer coincidence, we ran into Grace. She scanned us one by one with a puzzled look.

She was clearly taken aback, and who could blame her? After all, returning with Karas was quite unexpected.

“There was a little commotion. I happened to run into him during the ruckus.”

“A commotion, you say…”

“Was it you who smashed my brother’s head with a booze bottle?”

“….Yeah?”

It’s the unfiltered truth with not a lie in sight. But the confession plunged Grace into turmoil.

Her purple eyes were trembling as if an earthquake struck, darting around in search of answers.

She was clearly trying to piece together what on earth was happening.

“See this booze bottle in his hand? The shattered one, right? That’s evidence.”

“Oh.”

Oh crap, I almost forgot to toss the evidence. I turned to look at the bottle Karas was pointing at.

It was still in my grip, shattered from my earlier act. In my drunken haze, I had nearly forgot to let it go.

“But this isn’t gonna be a problem. My brother tried to take advantage of a woman who already belongs to someone.”

“That’s me.”

Eli raised her hand, answering with a bright smile.

At that, Grace’s eyes twitched slightly, like she’d found something objectionable.

She paused for a moment, seemingly weighing her words, then genuinely apologized.

“I’m sorry. I’ll manage this somehow.”

“Hm? Why would you handle this?”

“Normally, Sivar would have left it at just knocking him out. But since I encouraged him to drink, I seem to have influenced a bit of an overreaction.”

Half of that was right, and half was wrong.

Indeed, the booze had blurred my judgment. But even if I weren’t drunk, I would have cracked that guy’s skull.

“You don’t need to worry about it. I’ll smooth things over.”

“No. You might not realize it, but Sivar is currently my guard. According to the code of conduct I learned, a guard’s responsibility falls on the master.”

“So I’m saying it’s all good,” I interjected.

“But…”

For reasons I didn’t know, a quarrel between the crown prince and a noble lady began to brew.

One camp insisting no responsibility, while the other claimed they would.

A pretty captivating scene, watching a bickering match between a crown prince and a duke’s lady.

‘Is there more booze around?’

Even amidst all this, I was on the lookout for more booze. Luckily, I spotted a bottle within reach.

I headed straight for it. Luna called out after me, but I waved her off lightly.

‘No glasses, huh?’

I found the wine but had no glasses to drink from. I started wandering around to find some.

Had I known, I would have brought a glass with me. A bit disappointing.

‘Maybe I would have smashed his head with a glass instead?’

Not so sure about that. Anyway, the glass was the priority now.

I would’ve loved to chug from the bottle, but that crosses the line.

Though I could drink it all myself… Not going to happen.

Eventually, I managed to find a glass and returned to the group. But there was an unfamiliar person among us.

“Oh my. Who’s this handsome gentleman?”

Gray hair like Karas and blue eyes that looked sharp and cunning.

If Grace gave off an intimidating aura, the woman before me radiated poison like a venomous rose.

Her outfit, a gray dress plunging at the chest, accentuated her threatening demeanor.

Her hairstyle was also quite curly, giving her a vintage vibe.

“I’ll introduce you. This is my sister, Diana. She’s my brother’s twin, by the way.”

“I’m Diana. What’s your name?”

So, this is Diana. I thought.

She has a personality that could rival the prince I just smashed the head of.

Plus, she’s known for having quite the romantic escapades. In other words, she’s got a highly scandalous private life.

“Sivar.”

“Sivar… What a cute name. I hear you just came from the Chaos Forest?”

“Yep.”

“Hmm.”

She scrutinized me up and down, not just observing but evaluating with a predatory gaze.

Once she seemed satisfied, her smile hinted at intense curiosity.

“Excuse me, but would it bother you if I spoke to this gentleman alone, dear brother?”

I was afraid this would happen. Diana flashed a sweet smile, asking Karas for permission.

Just like the rumors predicted, she was looking to get close to me in any way possible.

Perhaps it might just be my imagination. But hearing her next words solidified my suspicion.

“I want to hear how you managed to survive in that harsh wilderness. Just the two of us.”

“….The two of us?”

Diana’s choice of words made Grace frown. She likely knew of Diana’s reputation already.

Naturally, she’d want to stop this from happening.

“I’m fine with it, but… Sivar, was it? Hand me that wine bottle.”

I obliged and passed him the whole wine bottle.

Next, he started pouring wine into a glass until it was full. The bottle emptied out quickly.

“Ah. This should do it. Now, let’s see…”

After filling the glass, Karas glanced around, and no one understood his intentions.

Then he looked at Grace, followed Eli, and offered her the empty bottle.

“Here. Take this and you can hit my brother back with it. I’ll allow it.”

“…..For real?”

Why are you excited about this?

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