Chapter 677 – Alcohol and Treason

000

The sound of dishes clashing against each other.

The sound of laughter resounding in the heated atmosphere of people who have started drinking, and the sound of talking using the power of alcohol to tell stories that they would not normally say.

Noise disturbs people’s minds and breaks their concentration, but the sounds that represent such ‘daily life’ are said to warmly surround people’s hearts so that they can feel at ease.

A place where people can eat safely means they can at least put their minds at ease.

But in the meantime, there was one young man – no, a boy – who was listening without looking at the food in front of him with his face slightly frowning.

The ‘main dish’, which can be said to be the main dish in front of him, had barely shrunk.

About ten minutes had passed since it was served, and the food was losing its original warmth, but Cleon, who was not particularly concerned, was concentrating on the conversation between Selena and Enlai heard through the ear cuff he received from Diora.

＇At first, it seemed like we were having a rather serious conversation, but after the food was served, it was really just everyday talk… Maybe there should be a little alcohol like Diora said? ＇

Cleon, who couldn’t let his guard down because he didn’t know when and where stories about them would come out, couldn’t enjoy his meal properly.

However.

＂Sea cucumber steak is delicious~! I don’t eat seafood often even in the kingdom, but this one has a sweet sauce, so it’s just my taste~☆ Oh, the abalone served with it is also the best…!”

＂…＂

In front of Cleon, Diora is emptying the food that comes out one by one as if she has no worries.

It’s not wrong to eat delicious food and say it’s delicious, but what worries me more than the food is—

“Ah, I drank it all. Sorry, clerk~! Here, another bottle of the same thing!”

＂Oh yes, yes!＂

The clerk also makes a panicked voice and approaches the table and takes the bottle of alcohol placed in front of Diora.

It may be that the bottles were small, but her face, which had already emptied at least three 1-liter bottles, was quite red, even compared to her hair.

“Diora… Is it okay for you to drink like that?”

Aside from the absurdity, when Cleon, who is starting to get worried, asks a question, Diora sips the remaining liquor in her glass and answers with a long, drawn-out ‘Hmm~?’.

“Aha☆ Ganchana, I’m a strong drinker~☆ Ah, Cleon, if you don’t eat that, can I eat it?”

If you extend your hand while saying that, you will be bringing towards yourself the plate that belonged to Cleon, although it has the same composition as the plate you emptied earlier, saying it was delicious.

She didn’t even listen to her answer, but it didn’t matter to her anyway since Cleon was keeping her stomach empty instead of filling her with food in case he moved.

On the other hand, she didn’t have to worry about the stomach containing the food shaking.

“Yeah… I don’t care since you’ll be paying for it anyway.”

And she didn’t particularly come to enjoy the food, which may be the reason… Above all-

＂Uhuhu~☆＂

With her relaxed face, she skillfully uses chopsticks to cut off a piece of her and brings it to her mouth, enjoying the taste of her food with an open face, as if she were enjoying all the happiness on earth.

Come to think of it, she was served quite a lot of food even before the main course, but she ate most of it as a side dish for her drink.

＂I tend to eat quite a bit.＂

When Cleon expresses such sentiments without realizing it, Diora, who was holding food in her mouth with a happy expression on her face, freezes and drops the chopsticks from her hands.

Fortunately, it fell on the table, but Diora talks to Cleon.

“Is that so? Well, I think it’s average.”

Cleon is puzzled by her somewhat trembling voice, but since her answer is different from her own common sense, she answers honestly.

＂No… Normally, I can’t empty four bottles of alcohol and how many plates for two people in one go.’

＂Well, is that so…?＂

Then she picked up the chopsticks she had dropped and placed them neatly next to her plate.

Cleon silenced her for a moment and then sighed as she suddenly stopped eating and seemed to have lost her usual composure.

“It’s not really okay, right? Eating a lot is not a bad thing.”

“Yeah, really? But eating a lot more than ordinary people like me… Doesn’t it look a little unsightly?”

Diora looks down at the dishes and plates with a gloomy expression.

Her blushing face seemed as if she had alcohol in her body, and compared to how she had been at her own pace ever since I met her yesterday, her reaction was the most calm and unexpected.

Judging by her reaction, did she hear something similar before?

“That’s right. Depending on the viewer, some people may think that way.”

When Cleon says that, Diora mutters ‘As expected…’.

At that time, the waiter left the liquor that Diora had ordered earlier on the table, but Diora simply said ‘Thank you…’ And did not even look at the bottle.

“But I don’t really feel anything. People who complain or curse when they see people eating deliciously are people who lack respect for people. Oh, of course, except for eating too much.”

When she puts her thoughts into words and tells Diora, she opens her eyes wide and looks at Cleon, as if she is a little surprised.

When her eyes meet, Cleon smiles slightly and raises his finger to point to the plate in front of her.

“That. I heard it’s delicious? Then, don’t leave anything behind and eat it. From the perspective of cooking, there is nothing I can be more thankful for than that. At least, compared to people who don’t eat it.”

“… Huh! Thank you, Cleon.”

Somehow, the last answer felt much more honest, perhaps because it didn’t have the usual condescending tone.

Cleon looks at her for a moment, then closes his eyes again and focuses on Selena and En Lai.

Although she missed a little conversation with Diora because she was talking about her, she didn’t seem to have started talking about anything important yet.

‘However, now they are starting to get drunk… We will have to be careful so that Diora doesn’t get drunk and lose control of Drake…’

[This peach liquor is so delicious~ Even if you don’t have anything to cook, you’ll drink a few glasses of it! When I return to the kingdom later, I will have to buy it for her mother~!]

[Haha, I’m glad you liked it. If it’s this alcohol, I can get it for you, so I’ll tell you later.]

[I am grateful! However, is it okay to just receive this much? Something in return on my part…]

[No, no, it’s okay. Miss Selena will do very important work for the relationship between our two countries. The task of catching traitors to the kingdom who are hiding in this country…]

While listening to the story that had been going on, Cleon finally opens his eyes to the words Enlai said.

＂Diora.＂

＂Mumble… Gulp. Huh? Ah, yes. I’m listening☆＂

Although she told me to enjoy cooking, she never told me to forget about work…

It seemed like she was listening to what he was saying, so she was going to hold back for the time being.

＂Because something might happen to move.＂

After making that request, she did not relax her body, intending to move if she had the chance.

001

En Lai spoke while taking a sip from her glass, as if the pleasant daily conversation was over. As Selena responded, she took a sip of the peach liquor she had praised, and after enjoying the scent, she

“Of course you know. Adventurer Cleon and his party, and the imprisoned princess he supposedly kidnapped… Amelia Chaldearis. I have obtained information that two people may be hiding in this eastern country.”

“Wow, the kingdom’s information power is amazing.”

Enlai sighs but smiles.

“That’s what happens! Because the eyes and ears of the kingdom are spread throughout the continent! Oh, hohoho!”

When the kingdom praises her, Selena immediately bursts into laughter and looks proud.

Looking at Selena, Enlai answered meaningfully.

“But you still don’t know where he is hiding. “You don’t know what you’re doing right now, do you?”

“Oh. Then, Lord Enlai, does he know the whereabouts of Cleon and his party?”

When Selena asks that question, Enlai gives an unpleasant smile.

“Of course. Although I am not as good as the people in the kingdom, I have quite a lot of eyes and ears in this eastern country.”

＂It’s great~＂

It seemed like a virtuous cycle of people praising each other, but Selena’s eyes were somehow not smiling.

This may be because Enlai has already received some explanation of what kind of person a human is from Cleon.

Of course, not only that –

Her father, the Duke of Regent, the man who had supported this country along with Sir Percy, had told her to be careful about Enlai.

He is a person who represents the kingdom’s opinion in the Eastern countries, and has known the Regent for a long time, but he feels an ugly instinct that cannot be hidden.

Nevertheless, he is leaving it alone for now because he is doing something beneficial for the kingdom.

When Selena first heard such a story, she said, ‘Okay, buy it!’ But she didn’t think much of it.

She also heard about some of his evil deeds from Cleon and was wary of him while speaking directly to him.

Although we must not forget, Selena Regent is also a noblewoman, and her writing style when dealing with people is as well-

Later, in preparation for her political career, she learned various political skills directly from her father.

One of them is to hide her true feelings.

Her father was a master of the poker face, and his specialty was never letting his opponents know his true thoughts.

Selena herself found it very difficult to keep a straight face, so she received advice from her father to ‘smile a lot.’

It was a comprehensive form of laughter that included not only a smile, but also a ‘snort’ or a ‘high-pitched laugh.’

Smiling and laughing can sometimes give a positive impression to others, but those like Selena who are still prejudiced against young people-

When her old and crooked politicians and nobles see her, they see her as someone of a low standard and are caught off guard.

I guess they just see me as a bitch who laughs without thinking.

Then, they almost certainly loosen the mask around her heart.

Against a brat like this, she probably doesn’t think she needs to do her best.

And as Regent expected, Selena did not miss the fact that Enlai’s attitude toward Selena was also leaking out.

＂For us, we want to resolve the situation before the festival begins and the whole of Asteris becomes crowded with people. So, Selena, I would like you to punish Cleon and his gang as soon as possible.”

＂If there are more people, there is a possibility that others will get involved~!＂

When Selena responded lightly, En Lai nodded and continued talking.

“But… There is one condition on telling you this information.”

“Condition? What is it? “

When an unexpected word comes out of him, Selena tilts her head.

If you listen to his story so far, he has maintained a conservative yet passionate stance as a supporter of the kingdom.

In that case, it is a bit strange to place a ‘condition’ on talking about where Cleon and Amelia, who are dangerous elements in the kingdom, are hiding.

However, Enlai must have had his own calculations.

The calculation is that if you ask for this information in return, the kingdom will agree as long as the request is not too excessive.

That was his judgment in a situation where the kingdom was doing its best to capture the two.

“To prevent something like this from happening in the future, cooperation between the two countries will become more important. Moreover, as long as there is suspicion that the one who brought those two in this time was ‘Miyeom Duke’, the faith of the royal family of the Eastern countries has fallen to the ground.”

In fact, in a country that was an ally, it was unprecedented for the king to hide a criminal from another country.

Duke Miyeom’s choice could cause the alliance between the two countries to collapse, and if Prince Miyeom declares that he will not hand over Cleon and Amelia, war could even break out.

Of course, for Duke Miyeom, a kingdom that was targeting the lives of Cleon and Amelia, the wrongful victims, would have been an untrustworthy target.

This is the story as seen by those who do not know the behind-the-scenes circumstances.

“So, we need to build that trust again. However, we do not make a shameless request to maintain the same alliance as before.”

“So, you’re saying you’re breaking up the alliance and returning the relationship between the two countries to a blank slate?”

When Selena asked that question, En Lai shook her head and answered.

“No. No. That’s definitely not the case.”

Even after saying that, he didn’t wipe the smile off his face.

He must be like that, too. This is the ideal future for the country of the East that he had been thinking about for a long time, even before he took his current position.

When he was young, he also experienced the great war against the empire, and he felt that all values ​​were collapsing in the face of overwhelming force.

The day will never come when the Eastern nation can win against the kingdom that collapsed that powerful empire, and against Adam, who rules that kingdom from behind.

A delusion born of paranoid fear that the moment the situation in the kingdom changes and peace collapses, the eastern countries will be trampled miserably.

“There are limits to how a weak country can survive by relying on a strong country. No matter how good your neighbors are, they are ultimately strangers. It takes a very long time to recover from a rift over something trivial.”

“Then, what kind of picture is Prince Enlai drawing for the future of the two countries? He knows that the alliance cannot be maintained because of the U.S. Flame Duke’s affair, but he wants to restore relations with the kingdom?”

Enlai nods to Selena’s question.

There is only one way to avoid ‘that future’ he has prepared.

“The future I hope for is…”

And En Lai smiles as he tells others about the ideal he has dreamed of for the first time.

“The current king, Duke Miyeom, will be dethroned, the kingdom will merge with the Eastern Kingdom, and the two countries will become ‘one country.'”