Chapter 74

Chapter 74. Please Do Not Lie (14)

A terrible smell of alcohol filled the room.

What is this?!

I looked around.

Then, near the window where moonlight was coming in, I discovered a table, the liquor bottles on top of it, and the shadow of a person with long ears.

Alcohol?!

Rene?

I frowned slightly and quietly looked at her.

At that, the shadow I assumed was Rene tilted her head at my reaction.

Then, soon, Rene’s drunken, slurred voice reached my ears.

“Oh my~ Han? Why are you so angry? What did I do wro… hic?! Wrong?”

Rene said that and slowly rose from her seat, walking toward me.

Stagger, stagger.

Why am I so angry?

In any case, after barely walking up to me, Rene deliberately raised the liquor bottle in her hand and drank straight from it.

I frowned more deeply than before, but I did not snatch the bottle from her.

Let us watch a little longer.

Feeling displeased at the strength entering my arms, I quietly watched her disheveled appearance.

With the bottle pressed to her mouth, Rene kept moving her slender throat. After quite a while, she finally pulled the bottle away from her lips.

“Haaah! Mm, this is quite tasty, is it not? It was bitter at first. Hic?! Oh my? Han? Why are you making such a frightening face? Mm, I hate seeing you make that face. I will kiss you. Stop being angry. Pleaaase?”

As she said that, she came into my arms. No, rather than coming into my arms, she nearly leaned against me.

How much did she drink that she cannot even stand properly?

I received her with an expressionless face.

Rene grinned, wrapped her arms around my neck, closed her eyes, and kissed my lips.

However, I kept my mouth tightly shut and jerked my head sharply to the side, pulling her lips away.

Rene looked at me with round eyes, and I ignored her as I wiped the corner of my mouth with my sleeve.

The smell of alcohol is overpowering.

Rene stared at me like that for a while, then smiled loosely as though she had realized something.

Slowly pulling her arms away and moving back from my body, she casually threw the liquor bottle in her hand to the side.

The liquor bottle flew into the darkness and rolled across the floor with a THUNK.

An empty bottle?

Did she drink all of that?

Then she poked my chest with her finger before sliding her hand into the gown I was wearing and slowly feeling around my chest.

“Hic?! Haaaan~ Come ooon~ Are you very angry? You will not even accept my kiss. Do not be like that. Understand how I feel. Hic! Mm, all right. Then how about this?”

As she said that, she grabbed the hem of the shirt she was wearing with one hand and slightly lifted it.

Her exposed white legs and underwear looked even whiter in the moonlight.

And when I saw her behavior, something began boiling up inside me.

Ghh!

I glared at her with a scowl, but the drunken Rene paid little attention to my gaze and continued looking at me in that posture with a smile.

I clenched my fists tightly, struggled to stay calm, and slowly opened my mouth, carefully moving my tongue so my words would not come out wrong.

“What are you doing right now?”

At my words, she smiled loosely and said,

“Take it off. Then I will tell you.”

My hand rose on its own.

I tried to stop it, but my hand flew quickly and struck Rene across the cheek.

SLAP!

After being struck by me, Rene’s head snapped to the side. She staggered slightly, then collapsed where she stood.

I looked at my hand with a startled face.

What did I just do?!

I looked for a moment at Rene as she sat on the floor, one hand on her cheek, staring blankly up at me. Then I hurriedly knelt and checked her condition.

“Ah! Um, h-honey, are you all right? Are you hurt? Hm? Does it hurt a lot?”

I looked over her arms and legs, then raised my head.

I saw Rene’s small smile, the corners of her eyes lowered slightly.

Slowly lowering the hand she had placed against her cheek, she closed her eyes, let out a small sigh, and said,

“I am sorry.”

With my support, Rene straightened her body.

I brought her to the bed and sat her down, then pulled over a chair from the table and sat in front of her.

Sitting on the bed with her head lowered and her legs hanging over the edge, Rene began to swing her legs as she opened her mouth.

“Where did you go?”

What would be the point of lying in this situation?

It had all been revealed already.

I turned my head slightly to avoid her gaze and opened my mouth.

“To stop Aiarunit.”

“To save whom? The country you saved is a country that once knelt beneath your feet. Was it the justice of the strong, wishing to protect the weak? Hm? Did you have something like that? Hehehehe!”

As she spoke, Rene suddenly began laughing.

I frowned, but she did not care.

A short while later, after she stopped laughing, Rene reached behind her and felt around the sheet. She seemed to be looking for something, and after turning her head and glancing around the bed, she soon turned her gaze back to me.

“Give me alcohol. Or else, hold me like this and try to turn your eyes away from the reality before you.”

At her threat, I let out a tremendous sigh and rose from my seat, then walked over to the table.

I picked up one of the liquor bottles sitting there at random.

It was empty.

There were about five liquor bottles on the table, and most of them were empty.

I took one bottle whose seal had not yet been opened and handed it to her.

Rene took it with a smiling face, then looked straight up at me.

“Let go.”

I did not let go of the bottle.

“I am begging you. Please stop drinking.”

“I refuse.”

Aaaah, El Rantra! Your child has learned the taste of alcohol. What am I supposed to do?

In the end, I forced myself to close my eyes as I watched Rene snatch the bottle away and gulp it down.

As she said, if I forcibly took the bottle away now and held her while she was drunk, the matter would end simply. But it was obvious that from the next day onward, our relationship would grow awkward.

Naturally, I did not want that.

I did not want to live while offering a false smile to her, to my beloved wife.

A short while later, just as I was considering the option of snatching the bottle from her mouth and holding her anyway, Rene finally slowly lowered the bottle from her lips.

“Haaah! I truly am sorry. For treating you like a fool. Mm, I even lied on purpose, but you do not understand my feelings at all, and you just go away. I think I understand a little of what it feels like to be betrayed.”

At her words, I remained silent and merely looked at her.

Apparently, Rene did not like that attitude of mine.

“What are you going to do about the promise you made to me?”

Rene shouted, and I closed my eyes as I opened my mouth.

“I am sorry. I will not do it again.”

“You…! Do not lie!”

Rene said that and threw the liquor bottle at me.

I easily caught the flying liquor bottle and quietly looked down at it.

Rene made a huffing face, then slowly stiffened her expression as she alternated between looking at her own hand and at me holding the bottle. Then she lowered her head deeply.

“I am sorry, honey.”

“It is all right. It did not hit me. And you were worried, were you not? That lie, I mean.”

Rene nodded heavily, and I looked at her with a soft smile.

Holding the liquor bottle in my hand, I continued speaking.

“I understand your feelings well enough now. Thank you, and I am sorry. I was human, and so I was once their enemy, but I could not stand by when I knew they were in danger.

I am truly sorry that I did not understand your feelings. I knew and still did it. Otherwise, like Aiarunit, you would have abandoned your pride as an elf and directly stopped me from going.

And as you said, someday I may lie again and break the promise I made to you. But please believe in me. Even if I fill you with nothing but sadness, I will never abandon you.”

At my words, Rene lifted her head and stared at me with a tearful face.

I looked at her face and smiled faintly.

“Do not cry, pretty lady. Tears do not suit you.”

“Then do not make me cry.”

Rene said that in a nasal voice as she wiped her tears with the back of her hand.

I smiled softly as I looked at her.

I stood up, placed the liquor bottle I was holding on the chair, went to Rene’s side, and sat down.

She was sitting on the bed, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand, and when I sat down, she shifted slightly away from me.

That is a little better than before.

Is she sulking now?

However, this time, I did not particularly try to soothe her.

If I kept doing that, she would only become more spoiled.

Should I try a different method this time?

I raised one hand and pointed to the liquor bottle on the chair. Then I placed my other hand on my chest.

“Do you like me? Or do you like alcohol? If you like me, come over here. And never drink alcohol again. If you like alcohol, I will be disappointed in you and drink every last drop of alcohol in this house.”

When I said that, Rene turned her face, which looked as though she was about to cry, and slowly moved her body until she sat beside me.

As soon as she sat down, she lowered her head deeply like a little child being scolded by her parents for doing something terribly wrong.

I smiled bitterly and placed my hand on her shoulder.

At that, Rene, who had lowered her head, spoke slowly.

“I am sorry. You are very angry, are you not?”

“Ah, a little. But why did you drink so much alcohol?”

“Because I heard that if you drink alcohol, worries disappear.”

“That is only escaping reality. I am surprised you would do that.”

At my words, Rene leaned her head against my shoulder and wrapped her arms around my waist as she opened her mouth.

“I wanted to try even that.”

At her words, I showed a bitter smile.

She wanted to try even that.

This makes me feel as though I have become an unforgivable man who goes around causing his wife nothing but heartache.

At that moment, Rene tugged lightly at my collar, and I lowered my head.

She slightly parted her mouth, which was filled with the smell of alcohol, and looked at me with hot eyes.

Hm?

“If I kiss you this time, will you refuse again?”

Rene said that quietly with a face that said she would cry if I said yes.

I smiled bitterly and gently cupped her cheeks with both hands, giving her what she wanted.

“Mm.”

I deliberately tilted my head slightly and pressed my lips to hers.

If it was only a light kiss, doing it straight on did not matter, but when kissing deeply, the nose got in the way.

The moment I kissed her, sweetness and the smell of alcohol rushed in, but they did not especially interfere with the kiss.

Like that, we pressed our lips together and began confirming that the affection between us as husband and wife had not yet grown cold.

Rene kept clinging to me, rubbing her cheek against mine like a cat.

As I stroked her soft hair, I lowered one hand with an attitude of leaving things to fate and wrapped it around her waist.

With my other hand supporting the back of her head, I began kissing her again.

At that moment, Rene suddenly opened her eyes wide, unwound the arms she had wrapped around my neck, and tried to push my chest away with both hands.

“Mmph?! Mmm~ Mmph, mmph!!”

However, by then, I had already lost my senses, so I could not easily release her as she wanted.

At that, Rene’s face turned pale, and cold sweat ran down her skin as she began striking my shoulder with her fist.

THUMP, THUMP, THUMP!

“Mmmmmph!? Mm-mm!”

Feeling that something was strange about her groans, I hurriedly pulled my lips away.

As soon as her lips separated from mine, Rene took a deep breath, and now she began struggling to loosen the hand I had around her waist with both hands.

“Rene? What is wrong?”

“Let go! L-let me go… ugh?!”

At her words, I hurriedly released the arm I had wrapped around her waist, and Rene covered her mouth with both hands, climbed down from the bed, and ran forward.

With her mouth covered and her body bent over, Rene quickly looked around. With a defeated expression, she turned to head for the door.

At that moment, by some coincidence, she stepped on a liquor bottle rolling on the floor and fell forward just like that.

THUD!

In one sense, it looked somewhat comical, but the current situation did not make me laugh.

Given the circumstances.

In any case, the moment Rene fell to the floor, she quickly curled up. Startled at the sight, I hurriedly ran to her and tried to hold her shoulder and support her.

“Rene?! Honey! Are you all right? Are you hurt?”

However, Rene only raised her hand and waved it wildly, refusing to get up. The reason soon became clear.

“N-no! Do not come near… mmph?! Bleeeeegh?! Cough! Cough?! Ugh! Blegh?! Uweeegh~~! Keh! Cough, cough! Haaah, haaah~ Hah, mmph!?”

She vomited.

Of course she did, after drinking that much alcohol.

I looked for a moment at what Rene had vomited, then knelt beside her and lightly patted her back.

Pat, pat, pat~

At that, Rene turned her head toward me with a tearful face, vomit mixed with gastric fluid and food smeared all around her mouth.

She waved her hand and tried to say something, but…

“What are you do… urp?! Bleeegh! Ugh! S-stop, ugh! Uweeegh?! Cough, cough! Keh! Hah, hah~ Ugh! Ugh?!”

Soon, all she could do was keep vomiting.

“It is all right. We can clean it up. Throw it all up. Alcohol is not very good for the body. On top of that, when you cannot even drink well, how can your stomach work properly after you gulped it down like that?”

I kept patting her back as I said that.

Rene retched a few more times. Then, perhaps because there was nothing left to throw up, she slowly straightened herself.

Sitting there, Rene lowered her head blankly and looked at what she had vomited onto the floor.

I sat beside her and looked at it with her, but because the moonlight alone was not enough illumination, I raised my hand and snapped my fingers.

SNAP! FLASH!

Ugh! My eyes stung, but they soon adjusted.

I lowered my head and glanced at the vomit.

There were not many solids in the vomit soaking the floor.

There were only a few pieces of bread from dinner and some carrot from the soup mixed in. The rest was all alcohol.

She drank a lot.

I quietly raised my head and looked at Rene.

Rene had not even wiped her mouth properly and was staring blankly at it.

It seemed the shock was quite large.

“It is all right, honey. Do not worry about it so much.”

“……”

Rene continued looking down at it without even glancing at me, and I smiled faintly as I rose.

Then I went down to the first-floor kitchen, brought up a bucket and a large rag, and found Rene still looking down at it.

I closed the door, set the bucket down on the floor, walked to her side, and crouched.

I should comfort her first.

At that moment, Rene’s eyes slightly came back into focus.

“It is dirty, is it not?”

“My wife threw it up. It is not dirty.”

“Do not lie.”

“I am not lying.”

As I said that, I took the handkerchief from the table and cleanly wiped the corners of Rene’s mouth.

Rene stayed still and let me do it, then asked once more.

“Tell me honestly. It is dirty, is it not?”

I cannot handle this.

“Yes. What will you do if it is?”

I should not have said that.

After hearing my words, Rene suddenly began to tear up, then lowered her head and whimpered like a child.

Uaaah! El Rantra~ Your child is now throwing a drunken tantrum!