Chapter 40: Melkvi

One sip of red wine, and the invincible General Leon was about to collapse.
Rosvitha tried not to show her disdain, but how could she hold it back?
She knew his alcohol tolerance was low, but for it to be this bad… was quite rare.
“Are you okay, you idiot…”
Leon lay on the table, his cheeks flushed red, gaze unfocused – clearly drunk.
Looking at his wine glass, there was still enough wine left to raise two goldfish.
“I told you I can’t drink… but you insisted…” Even nearly passed out, he still talked back to Rosvitha.
This was the anti-dragon will inscribed in the bones of a top dragon slayer.
“Huh, did I pry open your mouth and pour the wine in?” Rosvitha countered leisurely.
“You… you called me…”
“Called you what?”
Leon, red-faced, shifted his body and buried his head in the crook of his arm, mumbling, “Called me husband, that’s why I drank with you…”
Hearing this, Rosvitha raised her eyebrows in surprise, swirling the red wine in her glass, and said lazily, “Tsk, you actually admitted it. Looks like I’ve found the secret weapon that can soften that mouth of yours in this world.”
The stubborn man’s mouth was like ginseng – the longer it soaked in alcohol, the softer it got.
Leon kept his head buried, then raised a middle finger, “I will… hic— will never drink with you again, absolutely never!”
Rosvitha smiled faintly, “Then what if I call you husband one more time, will you drink?”
“…No!”
“You hesitated, Leon. Actually, you really want to hear me call you husband, don’t you?”
“Who… who wants to hear that?”
Leon sat up, his face completely red. In his eyes, Rosvitha had multiplied into five… six, seven, eight people, but he still insisted on arguing, “Just calling me husband once won’t make me listen to you, impossible!”
“Oh my, oh my, you’re so manly~ husband”
“…I really am going to throw up.”
“Hmph, idiot.”
Rosvitha glanced at him with a coy smile, then lifted her wine glass for another small sip.
Even a small amount of alcohol would have some numbing effect on the nerves.
It makes people say things they wouldn’t normally dare to say.
Of course, whether it was truly the alcohol’s effect or just using it as an excuse to speak from the heart, no one knew.
Rosvitha looked at Leon again, resting her chin on one hand, her eyes slightly open, silver pupils like crescents in the night sky, shining ambiguously.
“Did you tell grandmother today that we’re very much in love?”
“Ah.”
Leon leaned against his chair, eyes down at the balcony tiles, “Wasn’t that our agreement? To act loving in front of others.”
That was one reason, but not the whole story.
At the time, Leon didn’t know the old lady was Rosvitha’s grandmother, thinking she was just some nosy auntie who appeared out of nowhere.
As she kept questioning him, Leon felt somewhat offended, or rather, felt that his relationship with Rosvitha was being doubted.
That’s why he emphasized “I and my wife are very much in love” – and emphasized it twice.
That was the other reason.
As for whether “emphasizing love for his wife because others doubted their relationship” was truly Master Leon’s inner thoughts…
Well, that’s hard to say.
How could someone as clever as the queen not hear the hidden thoughts in this stubborn man’s words?
Moreover, he was drunk now, inevitably showing some tells.
“Well, there are no outsiders here now, just the two of us.”
Rosvitha gazed at Leon, “Would you still say such things?”
Leon replied straightforwardly, “Of course not, why would I say that when it’s just us?”
After he spoke, several seconds passed without a response from Rosvitha.
Leon blinked, feeling the atmosphere turn subtle, and turned to look.
Rosvitha was still supporting her beautiful chin with one hand, blinking her beautiful silver eyes while looking at him.
Only now there was more expectation in that gaze.
Women are natural listeners – even if sweet words are false, they’re willing to listen with their hearts.
And some sweet words aren’t necessarily false.
Leon and Rosvitha stared at each other, neither looking away.
After a long while, Leon’s heart seemed to be touched by something. Perhaps it was the alcohol taking effect, or perhaps his true inner thoughts were finally surfacing slightly under the excuse of alcohol.
He opened his mouth, and before any sound came out, he could already see the expectation in Rosvitha’s eyes growing stronger, even carrying some joy.
“I… I like…”
The last word should have been ‘you’.
But it was too unclear, like it was brushed past.
Although Rosvitha could understand these four words.
But this wasn’t what she wanted.
And Leon, emboldened by the alcohol, gathered his courage to finish speaking, then immediately gave up, lowering his head and no longer looking at Rosvitha.
He knew it – if he kept looking at her… he would see things he shouldn’t, and say things he shouldn’t.
It was just an ordinary evening, just one sip of wine…
How did he end up surrendering so confusedly?
He felt somewhat regretful.
Regretful that he had said something he considered very important in such an unprepared state;
Frustrated that he hadn’t said it clearly.
Yes, Leon knew.
When saying the last word, he chickened out, he didn’t dare say it properly.
It was like when a teacher calls on you to answer a question in class, but you were just daydreaming about how to make the girl you like smile during break time.
You panic, looking at the teacher, then at your crush sitting in the front row, and panic even more.
The teacher’s question wasn’t difficult, and you could have answered it perfectly, because that clever and lovely girl who shared mutual feelings with you had tutored you on such questions before.
It was a beautiful break time, ten minutes you could never forget in your life.
In those ten minutes, you smelled the fragrance of the girl’s hair, and also got the answer to that question.
You promised the girl you would never forget this question, that you could solve it whenever you encountered it again.
The girl didn’t say anything, just smiled at you sweetly.
But right now, that string of answers in your mouth was like a ruined symphony concert, becoming more unintelligible towards the end.
The wrong answer inevitably led to punishment from the teacher – standing in the corner.
And when the girl looked away, there was a hint of disappointment in her eyes.
How could he make it up to her?
There was no way to make it up now.
After class, how could he have the courage to tell her the joke he had prepared for two lessons?
Leon’s few words were simpler than any answer to any question.
Yet he still couldn’t get it right.
Slaying dragons, raising daughters, investigating clues, uncovering the conspiracies of those in power… none of these things he was good at could help him in this moment.
Now Leon’s only consolation was that by tomorrow, Rosvitha would probably forget about this.
Or pretend to forget.
Remember nothing.
It was all just drunken talk.
That unfinished “I like”… the last word wasn’t important, right…?
“Leon.”
When he came back to his senses, there was a familiar pleasant scent in front of him.
And weight on his thigh.
It was Rosvitha.
She sat on Leon’s leg, one arm around his neck, the other holding a wine glass.
She took a sip in front of Leon but didn’t finish it, instead bringing the glass to Leon’s lips.
The rim facing Leon was clear and transparent;
On the opposite side was Rosvitha’s faint lipstick mark.
He pressed his lips together, gently took Rosvitha’s hand, and slowly turned the wine glass halfway around.
Bringing the rim with the lipstick mark to himself.
Then he leaned forward and drank the remaining red wine in one go.
The wine’s aroma mingled with her lip fragrance, making his head spin.
Rosvitha put the glass aside, then wrapped both arms around Leon’s neck.
She leaned forward, gently nuzzling his skin with her delicate nose.
The man’s hot breath gently brushed against her face.
He was so nervous, his heart beating so fast.
Rosvitha played with Leon’s burning earlobe with her thumb, foreheads touching, and said softly,
“What you just said… I didn’t hear clearly. Now that we’re closer, say it again.”
The girl gave you another chance, you can still make her happy.
Leon raised his eyes to meet those warm soft lips,
“Melkvi, I like you.”
Cricket songs in the starry night, accompanied by red wine.
Who wouldn’t want to use drinking as an excuse to speak what’s in their heart?