Alastair gave a twisted smile.

It was easy to see that he was putting on a front with this smooth talk.

Alastair looked impatient and nervous.

On the contrary, I was relaxed.

“You’re jealous.”

“If you know that, please don’t make me jealous.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“……Haaaa.. Please Serina.”

‘It’s strange.’

I kept laughing, everything seemed fun, and I enjoyed every little thing.

I wanted to get drunker, and I kept drinking wine.

Occasionally, Alastair took the cup from my hand, but in the end it eventually came back to my hand again.

We drank wine together with one glass.

“Unn……..”

“What’s wrong?”

“Just a little….”

I’m uncomfortable.

After sitting on his sturdy thighs for a long time, my hips hurt, and my posture was a little uncomfortable.

I tossed and turned on his lap to find a comfortable position.

“Wait, Serina…! If you move like that……!”

“Ah·······.”

As Alastair shouted, I felt something of a thrilling size, terribly poking under my ass.

“Ugh……”

While moving, I accidentally pressed on it.

Startled, Alastair’s waist reflexively bucked and moved.

His face was red with shame.

What an unexpected naive reaction. This large man was so cute.

“I’m sorry, Serina.”

“No. It can happen.”

“… I’m sorry.”

Alastair rubbed his face with his hands as if he was trying to cover his burning face.

“But when will it go down?”

“I’m not sure·······.’

Alastair’s words blurred away in a mumble in extreme embarrassment.

I poked fun at him, asking why he was so shy and what caused such a reaction.

Alastair sighed at my mischievous teasing.

“Serina, you’re drunk.”

“No. I’m fine.”

I looked at his white neck.

It occurred to me that I would like to take revenge on him for chewing my throat so well.

When I thought that far I already found myself biting his neck.

“Serina ·······!”

As if panicked, his white throat rose red. Either that, or I chewed his throat thoroughly.

It was so amusing to see Alastair flustered.

“I’m now sure ····· You are drunk.”

He murmured quietly.

“I don’t get drunk.”

“When you do things you usually don’t do, you are drunk.”

“So, don’t you like it?”

When I stopped what I was doing, Alastair shook his head right away. He didn’t know what to do with my actions, but he didn’t stop me from doing things.

I bit around his collarbone in return, leaving a trace of me.

I looked satisfactorily at his neck, which had been plastered red with my marks.

I turned to the clock to check the time. The minute hand of the clock pointed upward as if it were going to hit the sky. An hour is finally over.

“Time’s up.”

“… Already?”

Alastair seemed not to have enjoyed the whole hour. He had a somber face.

“I should go to bed now.”

I was alert before Alastair came, but not now. I was so sleepy that it wouldn’t be weird if I fell down right away.

Yawning languidly, I leaned into Alastair’s arms.

Alastair got up from his seat, holding me.

He carefully put me down on the bed and covered me with a blanket.

The bed sank by my side.

I gently opened my eyes and looked to see what was making me sink towards them.

It was Alastair. He was on the bed, lying down next to me.

“You’re going to sleep with me?”

“You’re asking something new. Can’t we sleep together?”

“If you are going to sleep, lie down then.”

Alastair laughed out loud and chuckled, finding my words hilarious.

Regardless, I’m going to sleep.

Alastair lay beside me and wouldn’t let me go.

He hugged my waist tightly and pulled me into his arms. With that power, my pillow was abandoned, and instead, my head settled on his arm.

“I love you, Serina.”

He whispered love into my ear as if it was a promise.

I didn’t answer as usual.

This relationship was very strange.

No, could it be called a relationship in the first place?

Alastair came to the Melford duchy under the guise of “friend,” but I never thought of him as a friend.

So is he like a family?

It wasn’t that either.

There are many different sorts of relationships between people.

Often referred to as family friends, lovers, etc.

But for me, Alastair is just Alastair.

He was beyond any definition.

Just, Alastair.

And when it was dawn and the day broke, I sent a letter to the mansion saying I would stay at the Agernia’s ducal estate for the time being.

I didn’t have any writing skills, and I didn’t feel the need to write a long letter, so I just wrote a note and sent it.

Then I got a reply from Mikhail.

Watch out for Alastair. There’s a ferocious beast sleeping within—what is he saying?

Not once or twice have I stayed in the Agernia mansion for a lengthy time.

I gave up trying to read the letter riddled with nagging and threw it in the fire.

***