Transmigrated Into A Tragic Romance Fantasy-Chapter 48: Alcohol is Dangerous (2)

Why had she so hastily agreed?

How could she retract her words now?

Rachel reached her bedroom, closed the door, and leaned against it.

She was bewildered yet somewhat regretful for accepting Her Lord’s offer.

It was an offer she had received countless times before, and one she had refused almost daily.

Her reactions to Elden’s proposals were as natural as counting from one to two.

But then,

For what reason had she so easily agreed this time?

No matter how much Rachel thought about it, she couldn’t find the reason.

Moreover, she couldn’t even remember when was the last time she had drunk with someone, let alone with her lustful Lord.

Well......

At least Her Lord wasn’t as much of a wastrel as before.

“Hm...”

Regardless, she must prepare.

Rachel pushed herself away from the door, unbuckling her sword and loosening her shoulder straps.

Then, she took off her long boots that reached up to her knees.

“......”

She sniffed it.

Checking the smell of her feet.

Fortunately, it seemed that all was good.

After undressing, Rachel, in her underwear, opened her wardrobe and looked at the clothes within.

...What should I wear?

Her entire life centered around the goal of ‘getting stronger’.

A harsh life that made Rachel break free from the confines of her gender.

Yet, even someone like her had at least one ‘dress’ suitable for a ‘party’.

She had prepared it in case of emergency, a dress she had never used before.

Since it’s a party...I supposed I should use it?

Naturally, she had never attended a party herself.

As a nobleman’s personal guard, Rachel would always stand outside the venues of such events.

‘Those young ladies would usually wear something like this...’

With some hesitation, she picked the dress.

It was a red-colored dress.

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The design was simple, quite different from the flamboyant clothes most noble ladies would use.

Rachel had bought such a dress in the market, wondering if one day she would ever use it. And now, that day has arrived.

If the bangs of hair that managed to escape her ponytail were the last vestiges of femininity she allowed herself, then this dress was an extension of that.

After all, as a born woman, Rachel had an inherent desire to wear a pretty dress at least once in her life.

......

Standing in front of a mirror, Rachel tried it on.

......Pretty.

But, wasn’t it too much?

Rachel thought so as she put the dress back in the closet.

It seemed like too much of a hassle.

Besides, the idea of flaunting her feminine side to her Lord was...conflicting.

If she ever met a suitable partner, a man stronger and with firmer beliefs than herself, she would wear this red dress then, she decided.

Rachel then took out her casual clothes and put them on instead.

However,

Since this was a party, and her first party at that, she decided to let her hair down.

With her hair always tied up in a ponytail, the ends naturally curled outward.

Rustle-.

Rustle-.

As she tousled her hair to add a little volume, Rachel headed towards the reception room.

The Female Knight still didn’t know why she had agreed to share a toast with her Lord, who would usually become a wild man when drunk, nor why she had decided to let her hair down.

Perhaps those actions were simply born of a teacher’s desire to watch if her student’s change was genuine.

**

“...Why are you staring at me like that?”

As soon as she entered the reception room, Rachel became puzzled by Elden’s intense staring at her hair.

“Ah, well, It’s just surprising to see you with your hair down.”

“Is it...strange?”

Should she have not let her hair down?

Perhaps she had made a mistake trying to stray from her usual style?

Just as Rachel was about to pull out the hair tie she had brought, Elden’s casual complementing words halted her.

“No. It suits you well.”

“Does it?”

Rachel nonchalantly answered his compliment, removing her hand from her pocket and sitting opposite Elden.

His words, remarking that her current hairstyle looked good didn’t particularly please her, but Rachel accepted the compliment nonetheless.

“Why do you always keep it in a ponytail anyway?”

“It’s to avoid any obstruction to my vision.”

“Ah, I see. Meticulous as always, I suppose.”

“Of course.”

After spending the past few days dining with Lady Ariel, Rachel felt a little more at ease sitting across Elden.

Regardless,

“What exactly is this celebration for?”

She was curious.

Ever since he returned from the Advisor’s office, her Lord had a satisfied smile on his face. One that didn’t vanish till now.

Although Rachel had an idea as to why, she wished to hear his reason for proposing a toast.

However, the answer she received rendered her estimations completely irrelevant.

“We are toasting my escape from an unjust life.”

“...Pardon?”

His answer was unexpected.

From what she knew, Elden Raphelion was someone completely unassociated with the word [unjust].

Unlike her, he was someone of high birth, who lived life as he pleased, seizing whatever he desired without manners or restraint, so that word seemed completely unrelated to him.

Power and Status.

Rachel was not born in a noble household, so she had to shed blood, sweat, and tears to overcome the [ Injustice ] of this world.

Escape from an unjust life.

What exactly did her Lord find so unjust?

Unable to understand his words, Rachel was about to ask him, but then Rendler, the head butler, entered the room with a stacked tray of drinks, forcing her to swallow her questions.

Then,

“That’s the stuff-! Come on! Let’s drink like it’s our last day alive, hahaha!”

Her Lord and the head butler clinked their glasses in celebration.

Cheers-!

Gulp, Gulp, Gulp-!

Thump-!

“Hyaaa-! This is it! The Ale tastes exceptional today!”

“Hahaha-! Indeed My Lord! This might be the best Ale I’ve ever had!”

“......”

Both Elden and Rendler burst into a hearty laughter, fully immersed in the joyful celebration.

Rachel watched them for a moment before awkwardly taking a sip of her own ale.

Immediately after, her eyes widened.

......Was it always this good?

The duties of a personal bodyguard ended after ensuring their charge was safe and asleep.

After this, Rachel would usually hand over the night watch to another guard before retiring to her room.

Her job could be quite grueling at times, and lonely. But the money, something most commoners would dream to have, made it endurable.

That is why for Rachel, drinking was merely a lonely ritual she did before sleeping.

And even that had to be enjoyed briefly for the sake of her work on the following day.

She could hardly remember the last time she toasted something.

As someone devoted to her survival above all else, Rachel had never been intoxicated before.

For intoxication was a death sentence to a warrior.

“How about it, Rachel?”

Staring blankly at her empty mug, Rachel lifted her head when she heard Elden’s question.

He was asking her about the taste.

In this case, there was only one response to give.

“It’s delicious.”

“Hahahaha! Exactly! Did you know? Alcohol always tastes better when shared. So let’s drink till our noses bend~!”

“Hohoho-! To think this is our first toast, Knight Rachel! Isn’t it an honor?!”

Such a heated atmosphere.

It was somewhat unfamiliar to Rachel, yet, it also felt strangely comforting.

For Rachel, who had stepped into the world of men and fought lonely battles as a woman, whose father’s death had sharply honed her solitude—this noisy night felt both novel and warmly comforting.

That must be why,

Now freed from the burden of her duties, Rachel surpassed her tolerance limit.

Hic-!

Blushing from the Alcohol, her hiccup was the first bout of drunkenness that came out of her since vowing to become a noble’s bodyguard.

Of course,

“My Lord...Whats yrr dream?”

“Imma go aste everrry monster dish out there!”

“I’m unemployed now?”

“Kukuku.....You could be thee Head of the Raphelion family~”

“Hahahaha! Then, go bring this master a cup of...Waterr....”

Rachel’s natural tolerance allowed her to stay a little bit more sober than Elden and Rendler who were completely drunk.

A moment later,

Crash-!

Elden, who had been bouncing on the sofa like a kid fell to the floor, and Rendler, who was also bouncing, blacked out on the sofa, sprawling over like a semi-dried squid.

“......”

Hic-.

**

Pfffff-.

Rachel laughed.

The sight of both Elden and Rendler sprawled in such a comedic fashion brought forth a hearty laugh.

It was perhaps the first genuine laugh she’d had in years, but the Female Knight was too intoxicated to realize it.

Firstly,

She staggered to her feet approaching Elden.

Rachel was his bodyguard.

Though she had been momentarily relieved from her duties, she still felt the need to check on him.

Wobble, Wobble-.

Rachel shook his body.

Fortunately, it seemed her Lord wasn’t too far gone, as he muttered some words with a faint smile.

“Sppppingn....spinning...this...damned world...always...sppning...hehehe...”

“...Are you alright?”

“....Didn’t fall...Just laying down a bit...Because....Drunk...sleep...”

“If you sleep here you might catch a cold. Please, get up.”

“Hmmm...Night~”

Sigh...

Well, if her Lord insisted on sleeping on the floor, then she wouldn’t need to assist him to the bed.

As Rachel started to rise, something occurred to her.

She had been so curious about the true meaning of his words, what he meant by saying [ escape from an unjust life ].

The question she had swallowed now lingered on her lips because she thought she could finally unearth its true meaning.

“My Lord?”

“Blegh”

“Escape from an unjust life ...What did you mean by that?”

“......”

His smile vanished.

The intoxicated happiness disappeared.

Elden’s expression, once filled with joy, was now utterly melancholic.

Then,

“Because...It’s not fair.”

The true meaning behind his words began to unfold.

“What do you mean...”

“Debts I didn’t make...Having to live miserably....just to pay them off...not fair...”

His voice quivered, and he was nearly sobbing.

The deep remorse that filled his tone conveyed his truth.

Had Elden Raphelion lived a miserable life to repay the declining family’s debts?

But that didn’t make sense.

Ever since her employment as his personal bodyguard, the family had been declining but it never seemed miserably so.

What kind of weight does this reckless man carry?

Rachel was becoming gradually curious about him.

“Debt... did you say?”

Was he getting emotional?

He covered his eyes with an arm.

His tightly closed lips quivered slightly as if he were swallowing his sobs.

And then he said,

“Truly... wanted to die... it was that hard...”

As he revealed how excruciating his struggles had been, Rachel recalled the days she had gritted her teeth through adversity, drinking the blood that burst from her bitten lips.

Those days had been excruciatingly hard as well.

With nowhere to vent, and nowhere to rely on, she endured all those trials alone.

Of course, the story Elden spoke of wasn’t what Rachel had anticipated but the miserable life of Lee Jun-woo from the past life, who had to live miserably to pay off the gambling debts his father had accrued.

Jun-Woo’s life had been mired in tragedy as his opportunities in life had been stolen because he couldn’t pay back his father’s debts.

As the debts piled on, Jun-woo’s life became hell, being on the receiving end of so many slaps or other types of humiliations that he became used to the taste of his own blood-soaked lips.

“......”

Unknowingly, Rachel’s face softened as she looked at him.

While it’s true that everyone carried their own burden, she never knew that Elden, that wastrel, hid such pain from the prying eyes.

She never guessed that he, like herself, had fought against this world’s unfairness, bearing numerous scars similar to her own.

Without realizing it, her hand touched his cheek.

It must be due to her drunkness.

It must be because it was late at night and she was tired.

Surely, the intoxication she felt for the first time must have blurred her senses, and the late hours corroded her reason.

Because the man before her appeared so pitiful.

Because the man before her seemed so admirable.

Even though he had drunk enough to lose his senses, he didn’t revert back to his old habits, and that was certainly something worthy of praise in Rachel’s eyes.

Perhaps his meeting with the Advisor had been his attempt to alleviate some of this ‘debt’?

She must be drunker than she believed since Rachel started to stroke the scar he gained while ‘escaping’.

And the fact that stroking his scars brought her some manner of comfort must also be due to her drunken state.

Since Rachel had been the one who applied ointment to his wounds, she asked.

“Does...It still hurt?”

A simple question inquiring about his wounds.

But it was also something she asked herself.

And the moment her question was transmitted, the fact that his melancholic face brightened up again was indeed fortunate.

“No.”

Rachel smiled brightly and then she stood up, looking down at Elden who started snoring as she left the room.

The next day,

When Elden woke up, the blanket that covered him was Rachel’s.

“Ugh-. I guess alcohol is really dangerous.”

With a shiver, Elden woke up from his long sleep.

Although the following hangover made his morning difficult, for some reason, he felt refreshed.

As if a burden had been lifted from his shoulders.