Not a barbarian warrior.

Sunlight entering through the window gently settled on a woman’s face.

“Ugh…”

Letting out a groan mixed with pain, Lorena slowly opened her eyes.

She had been lying on a soft bed and barely managed to raise her upper body.

Terrible dizziness, headache, heartburn, nausea – such things tormented her indiscriminately.

“Ugh… Wa…ter…”

On the drawer next to the bed, very fortunately, there was a cup filled with water.

She didn’t know why the cup of water was placed there.

For now, the important thing was that the desire to drink that water was welling up.

Gulp. Gulp.

The sound of water going down her throat filled her ears.

Her head, which had been cloudy as if covered in fog, gradually became clearer.

“Phew… N-Now I feel a bit better…”

As she put the cup down on the drawer, suddenly a scene flashed in her mind.

How about Eugene…?
What?
The things I feel good about… Does Eugene feel the same way…?
I like it too.

Lorena grabbed her forehead.

Was this a dream or a memory of the past?

It was ambiguous.

Because she had been so drunk yesterday.

She couldn’t clearly remember what had happened last night.

Moreover, this scene coming to mind now seemed too dreamy to be real.

“This isn’t some romance novel…”

She muttered softly and chuckled.

It must be a dream.

It couldn’t have happened in reality. Concluding this, she lay back down on the bed.

The hangover hadn’t gone away yet. She needed to lie down a bit more to stabilize her mind and body.

Lorena closed her eyes, feeling the comfort of the bed like that.

And at that moment, another scene flashed before her eyes.

Heh… Really…?
Then it should be okay…
What should be okay?

The content continuing from the previous scene.

Lorena opened her eyes. Unlike before, her pupils were now large.

“Huh…?”

A word filled with doubt, surprise, bewilderment, and confusion lingered in the air.

Her breathing became faster and faster.

Cold sweat formed on her forehead and trickled down.

No way. No way.

The lost memories gradually surfaced from below the sea of unconsciousness.

She wanted to deny it, but she couldn’t.

The memories and emotions of that day came back vividly.

Lorena, who had raised her body again, was shocked and covered her mouth with a pillow.

“Mmph…!!”

A scream that couldn’t be fully muffled leaked out from the soft cotton, and she recalled her memories more and more clearly.

Herself leaning towards Eugene, getting closer and closer.

As their faces got closer like that, finally their lips touched.

They definitely touched. This was certain.

Because… the sensation of that moment, the emotion of that time, was clearly felt!

Boom!

Lightning striking with thunder in her heart hit Lorena’s head.

That wasn’t the end.

There were words she had uttered after stealing Eugene’s lips without asking for consent…

It wasn’t much…

Boom! Boom! Bang!

Lightning struck repeatedly, hitting Lorena’s head and heart.

“N-No… It can’t be… This isn’t real…”

But no matter how much she denied it, the sensation remaining in her mind was too vivid.

The warmth when their lips touched, the trembling, even the feeling of her heart pounding

“How could I say such a thing after doing that…!”

Lorena swept her face with trembling hands.

Her face had turned pale, and her pupils shook busily left and right.

She tried hard to deny it, but it was undeniably a memory of the past. It was something that had already happened.

It was indeed her who had arbitrarily stolen Eugene’s lips.

It was also her who had shamelessly said “It wasn’t much” after that.

Although she had been heavily drunk on wine and her head wasn’t working properly, it was her.

She couldn’t deny that all of this was Lorena.

“Ugh… Wh-What should I do now…”

Lorena buried her face in the pillow and rolled around wildly on the bed.

She had to somehow resolve this situation.

After agonizing to the point where her body temperature rose about 1 degree, she came up with the following answers:

One. Amnesia.

Um, I can’t remember what happened yesterday… Did something happen…?

Two. Making excuses.

Th-This is all because of the wine! Because I drank too much alcohol yesterday…

Three. 50-50 fault ratio.

It’s not just my fault! Eugene, you said you liked it too yesterday!

Four. Goodbye to this life.

Since it’s come to this, I’ll a-apologize with my life…! (Stab-)

Among these, Lorena’s choice was…

“Th-They’re all wrong…! It’s over now…”

Lorena cried out.

All the answers she had come up with were a mess.

She couldn’t choose any of them.

Going back in time a bit more, to the deep night when yesterday’s banquet was ending.

There was a man who had frozen while lending his shoulder to Lorena, who had arbitrarily gone off to dreamland.

The name of this pitiful man was Eugene.

Eugene imagined something. He imagined having a wedding ceremony with Lorena like this and spending the rest of his life with her.

Three children would be about right. It didn’t matter whether they were daughters or sons, but if possible, he’d like to have more daughters.

Like that, he would build a family in some peaceful city and live a comfortable life. Until when? Until his hair turned white and his lifespan ended.

Eugene, who had spent the last moment of his life in his imagination like that, suddenly came to his senses.

“No… It can’t be… What am I thinking…”

Eugene, who muttered in a small voice, slowly shook his head.

He was the one who had vowed that he wouldn’t live as Eugene in this world forever, that he would surely return to Earth someday.

For him, who had always been alone, having Lorena with him was truly fortunate and something to be grateful for.

However, living happily with her in this world until death? This was a future he hadn’t even thought of. It was a future that shouldn’t exist.

Of course, such thoughts were meaningless from the start.

Lorena was heavily drunk. Her actions, her words, couldn’t have been sincere. Probably…

…So this was just a small happening that occurred under the influence of alcohol.

It would be strange to take it seriously.

“…”

A bitter smile formed on Eugene’s face.

He quietly looked at the night sky while feeling the cool breeze, then slowly moved his body.

After carefully carrying the soundly sleeping Lorena on his back, he went into the mansion through the courtyard.

Passing the stairs and heading to the bedroom, he slowly laid Lorena down.

Then he placed a cup filled with water on the drawer next to the bed and quietly slipped out.

Entering the room next door, he changed into comfortable clothes and threw himself on the bed.

The night had long since deepened, and the alcohol he had drunk after a long time warmed his body.

As the soft sensation of the bed enveloped Eugene, he closed his eyes.

His consciousness is slowly sucked into sleep.

Before long, it sinks into that darkness where sunlight doesn’t reach.

It sinks.

It should sink.

It should be sinking, but…

For some reason, his consciousness bounces back from the darkness and floats up to the surface.

“Mmm…”

Eugene tossed and turned, trying to fall asleep again.

Time passed like that.

Although it felt like quite a long time had passed, he still couldn’t fall asleep.

Eugene sat up, ran his hand through his hair, and muttered:

“Damn it…”

The scene where his lips touched Lorena’s wouldn’t leave his mind.

Eugene’s fingertips unconsciously moved towards his lips.

It still seemed to remain.

The soft and warm sensation. And even the faint emotion that had bloomed at that moment.

“Sigh…”

Eugene let out a small sigh and lay back down on the bed.

He shook his head repeatedly and thought.

That it was just a happening to be taken lightly and forgotten.

That it was nothing more than a light prank played by her while drunk.

Look.

Didn’t Lorena say this so playfully after kissing him?

It wasn’t much…

She said it wasn’t much.

She said it wasn’t anything special.

She said it wasn’t rare, it wasn’t strange.

“…”

Then does that mean… kissing him isn’t rare for her?

That it’s not strange… but natural…?

“Bullshit… It’s all bullshit…”

Eugene muttered with his eyes closed. It was words he was saying to himself.

It’s words without any meaning. Surely it must be.

But why do those words keep lingering in his mind?

Why does Lorena’s broadly smiling face keep flickering before his eyes…

Even his heart, which had been calm, was now pounding and wouldn’t settle down.

Eugene felt as if he had been cursed.

The curse cast by the drunk Lorena prevented him from falling asleep.

The curse was so severe that no matter how much he struggled, it wouldn’t break.

In the end, the deep night passed like that.

Eugene had no choice but to greet the faintly brightening morning with open eyes.

Creak-

The tightly closed door opened just a little.

Lorena’s eyes, revealed in the gap, scan the outside.

No one is visible. No footsteps are heard either. Then…

She opened the door a bit more boldly.

Poking her face out through the door, she looked around.

The corridor outside was empty.

After confirming that no one was passing by, Lorena immediately moved.

She came out and was tiptoeing down the corridor, about to step onto the stairs leading down.

“…!”

Someone was coming up from below. A black-haired man. It was Eugene.

Lorena hurriedly pulled her foot back and retreated.

And she tripped on the edge of the stairs and fell backwards.

Thud-

Eugene, who was coming up from the bottom of the stairs, quickly approached her who had fallen.

“Lorena, are you okay?”

“Uh… Ah… Yes… I-I’m fine…”

Lorena turned her head, desperately avoiding Eugene’s gaze.

She didn’t even feel the pain that should have been rushing in.

She was only thinking about how to avoid this situation.

However, Eugene didn’t seem to have any intention of letting go of her once he had caught her.

“I was wondering when you’d wake up, but this is good timing. Let’s go down together. To eat breakfast.”

“Ah… I-I don’t feel well…”

“You don’t feel well? Then go lie down for a bit. I’ll bring you some warm tea.”

“N-No… I’m fine…”

Lorena wanted to get away from Eugene somehow, and Eugene was worried about her and tried to take care of her.

When she was at a loss, even breaking out in a cold sweat, Eugene put his hand on her forehead.

“Hmm… It doesn’t seem like you have a fever…”

“…”

At that moment, their eyes met.

A brief silence. Lorena felt her heart pounding and thought.

She had only tried to avoid him somehow, but Eugene was rather worried about her.

Only then did she remember Eugene’s personality that she had forgotten. He was always a caring person.

If it’s him, even if she doesn’t give up her life… he would forgive yesterday’s incident.

Then she should apologize. No, she had to do it right now.

Lorena squeezed out courage she didn’t have and opened her mouth.

“So… Sor…”

“…?”

“So… So… So…!”

When she actually tried to speak, she couldn’t continue the words.

Her lips kept moving, but she just couldn’t finish the sentence.

Lorena finally thought that her mouth must be broken for sure.

It’s ruined.

Now it’s really ruined.

As her face was getting redder and Eugene’s hand on her forehead was about to get hot, it was then.

A presence gradually becoming clearer was heard near the two.

It was one of the servants going around the mansion.

He approached the two and opened his mouth:

“Excuse me for interrupting your conversation. Master Dietrich is waiting for both of you.”