Shael must have a compelling reason if she suddenly put aside the matter of eating desserts, and wanted to drink wine.
âWhy are you suddenly interested in drinking wine?â
âNothing in particular.â
But I was sure that there must be a reason for her strange behavior. It was because Shael didnât look at my eyes while speaking. She was dodging my gaze.
Anyways, it wonât matter even if I drank a little. If necessary, I could use magic to get rid of the alcohol from my system.
However, what Shael brought out was a very strong wine, which would be impossible to get rid of even with magic.
However, I couldnât refuse.
Today was Shaelâs birthday. I didnât want to reject Shaelâs offer.
âDrink.â
Shael tipped the wine bottle and poured wine into my glass. The color of the wine, which looked poisonous even at a glance, came into my sight.
âArenât you also going to drink?â
ââŠâ
âI am feeling suspicious for some reason.â
It was a reasonable conjecture on my part, since there were no wine glasses placed in front of Shael.
As I pointed that out, Shael brought another wine glass as if she couldnât help it.
This time I poured wine into her glass.
What followed was silence. Because no one tried to touch their glass of wine.
âWhy arenât you drinking?â
âThat is what I want to ask.â
Shael, whose face had hardened, acted as if something was not working out for her.
âThen letâs drink at the same time.â
âYes, thatâs good.â
After saying that, we raised our wine glass at the same time. I even placed it on my mouth. But, the amount of wine was not reduced.
âWhat is it?â
âThis time, drink for real.â
Shael really started drinking wine. I also started drinking wine along with Shael.
My glass was empty before I know it. Then Shael filled it up again. I also poured wine into Shaelâs glass, which was empty.
Thatâs how the wine bottles piled up.
The first bottle, the second bottles, and finally the third bottle.
Shael suddenly asked, âAre you drunk yet?â
âI am not drunk. And thatâs what I want to ask you.â
Shael looked drunk. But it was natural, because she drank such a strong wine.
Even I, who usually enjoyed drinking, also got a little drunk.
âAh, I read it in a book.â
âWhat do you mean?â
âOh, a drunk person, they donât admit that they are drunk.â
Thatâs right. They deny it because they are drunk.
âSo, you said you werenât drunk, so youâre drunk too?â
âAre you drunk?â
âNo⊠hick⊠Iâm not drunk. Never.â
She seemed quite drunk. The saying that drunk people donât want to admit that theyâre drunk was certainly a fact.
âThen now, to the next⊠planâŠâ
âDid you just say the word âplanâ?â
Shael answered without hesitation.
âYes, the plan. It was too obvious to put in alcohol, so⊠I was going to take it out when you became drunk.â
âWhat kind of nonsense is this?â
At the same time, Shael rummaged through her pockets, and what she took out was a small bottle filled with a strange liquid.
âDid you say you were drunk?â
âI didnât say that.â
âItâs okay to be drunk from wine, so drink this.â
Of course I would never drink that. Its smell was nasty, which also made me not want to drink it.
It reminded me of the advice that was written in the journal Ruelle had given me, but I didnât think that I should drink this juice. Even with just one glance, it was clear that she wanted to torment me with the bitter taste of the juice.
Shael opened her mouth, and what she said didnât really match our current situation.
âI though that if I drink alcohol, I would forget about the taste of the desserts.â
ââŠ?â
âSo I forcibly stopped myself from eating the desserts and drank alcohol.â
âIs that why she didnât eat the desserts? Is she afraid that she would forget the memories of enjoying the desserts?â
Then that was a truly absurd reason.
âSo, quickly drink this.â
ââŠâ
I received the unknown bottle from Shael. âIs it juice? So what kind juice is it?â
I didnât know. Itâs not poison, but⊠to be honest, I didnât want to drink it.
âDrink!â
ââŠâ
I handed the bottle to Shael with a smile on my face.
âIf you drink first, then I will too.â
ââŠâ
What it meant was that I wouldnât drink unless she did.
However, Shael nodded her head. It meant that Shael accepted my offer. On top of that, she added without forgetting. âThanks for the meal.â
âYes?â
Shael took thee bottle from my hand before I knew it. Then she opened the cap and drank all the juice.