A lot of people might ask what happened after the hunting competition ended. And honestly? Not that much to even narrate at this point.
Apparently, it has been a week since then, and Aefia has managed to fully recover from her injuries. However, Nada couldn't quite recognize her. She had become somewhat care-free... Like right now—
Bang!
"Aefia!" Her cousin shouted while kicking the door off its hinges. The guest room was very stale and pungent. She wasn't the only one here like Nada had expected. Countess Elanor stayed sprawled up on the opposite sofa, her head resting on her elbow on the hand rest.
In front of them, bottles of wine and alcohol rested. And... Aefia was leaning against the armrest of her side of the sofa, while mumbling incantations from another world. Her eyes were glazed over, at her fingertips was a precariously-hanging whisky bottle.
"What the heck—Elanor! What have you done to her?!" Nada shouted while stepping towards the woman with amber eyes—who immediately straightened up at the shoutings.
"She is underaged! What do you think you are doing?!"
Aefia too sat up on the other side, her burgundy knee-length pinafore straightened out as she rubbed her eyes. Her brain was too slowed to process anything properly, but her eyes fell on the intake bottle right in front of her.
"Come on! She has a lot of tolerance! She took twelve swigs and she is still alright. Check her out for yourself! A little celebration after winning the hunting competition should be a bounderiless." Elanor chanted while holding her bottle high. "Ask when for yourself!"
Helio, who happened to be staying for the few days that Aefia was recovering, stood near the sofa and folded his arms with an irritated face. "How is it going for you, Aefia?"
She looked confusedly at herself, her posture straight and trying to coax out the haziness in her mind. She held up her index and thumb finger, a very narrow gap separating them as she kept her gaze away at the bottles. "Just this much. I am clear."
He frowned in suspicion, then nodded at Nada's direction, who moved to grab Elanor's bottle away from her mouth. "You are lucky she could even respond. If she even so as slurs a single word, I will make sure the entire pantry is emptied before dinner time."
Her gaze shifted to Aefia—who was about to doze off. She was barely staying awake, but she had to fight the effects off to prove to Nada she was alright.
"Aefia... What is three times three?" She suddenly asked, noticing the lazily at her face.
"Uh... S-rix?" Aefia whispered. Then immediately slammed her palm against her mouth after realizing she slurred.
"Ha! See?! You destroyed my cousin and she is completely unhinged right now. Guess what she will do next! If you thought breaking a vase on a person's head... Then you are correct!" Nada blindly pointed at her place, shouting at Elanor's face until her voice almost cracked.
"Look at what you have done to her! Now she is—Where is she gone to now?!" Her voice raised as she stared at the empty place of the opposite sofa. "See what you have done?! Are you going to help me look for her right now?!"
"She escaped through the balcony." Helio pointed while walking towards the open terrace. He looked down over the railing, scanning the area to look for her.
"What is she doing?" Nada asked, concerned.
"I will go get her."
"No, don't leave my question unanswered like that!" She raged while watching him leap over the railing. She rolled her eyes and sighed.
Meanwhile, Aefia's brother came walking into the room. His eyes widening.
"Where is Aegis?" He asked when she saw Nada and Elanor arguing. "And what is all that?"
"Aefia is gone. Missing. I don't even know how to explain it... This woman got her drunk." She slapped her palm into her forehead, letting out a sigh while sitting at the edge of the sofa and leaning backwards in exhaustion. "That girl is going to break this house down next."
"Why? I saw her climbing a tree through the window while coming here. She seemed calm about it."
"Yes... And if she ever falls, she better fall on top of newton. She better break his back before the apple can ever reach the tip of his hair."
"That's... Nice to know." He laughed while walking towards his sister's bed. "But really Nada, leave her alone. She has suffered enough, and she won't get the chance to be rebellious in less then two more years. She deserves to enjoy her life for now before the reality of the world eats her up."
"What if she is causing trouble?" She asked with a more steady voice.
"Isn't that what we all do before the time runs out? Making trouble is the best part about all fo this. And she isn't doing anything crime-related. Even if she is drunk right now, at least she gets to say I had experienced it." He explained while pulling out a book from beneath the bed.
Nada narrowed her eyes at him. "What if she is under-aged? You can say you have experienced it when you are older. Not at this age... There is a limit to defending your sister." She spoke while leaning on her palm against the armrest.
He immediately broke into a cold sweat. "Yeah well... About that... I promise this is the last time she does it."
"The last time?"
"The last time."
"..."
"..."
"Detention. You are to go through every single law books to find out what ages are illegal for drinking." She said while throwing a dirty rag at him.
He squirmed while dusting his sleeves. "Stop that! And I hate law!"
"And so does your sister!" Nada threw her hands up into the air in frustration. "You both have been driving me crazy since she has introduced you to me!" She stomped out of the room, walking down the hallway towards any quiet place.
***
Rustle.
Helio scanned the entire garden. He clearly saw her skipping towards a tree—she can't just dissappear all so suddenly, can she?
He let out a sigh and turned around one-eighty degrees.
"Boo."
Helio stared with widened eyes at two red eyes looked back at him. Goosebumps spreading across his arms as he stared with his heart pounding.
"Are you seriously trying to role play a vampire now?" He asked while smoothing out his clothing. She was hanging down like a bat from a tree.
"What makes you think that?" She asked while crossing her arms in front of her.
"You have red eyes, you are hanging off a tree and you are incredibly drunk."
"That is too less a reasoning." She spoke while bending up to grab the branch with her fingers before hoisting herself onto it. She sat perched while taking another swig off her bottle.
"Stop that! You are destroying your liver!" He tried to reach out to her, unconscious of the height he had to climb up. "Honestly. Why are you so childish all of a sudden? I thought just an hour ago, you said you have to take responsibilities over your brother. And do you even think you are responsible yourself?"
"Do you think I need to be responsible?" She asked while putting the now empty glass bottle away into her inventory. She clicked her tongue while staring into the vast greenery. "Because I think I know someone taking care of me already."
"This isn't a joke Aefia. Get down." He narrowed his eyes at her.
"Why? I like it up here. If anything, it isn't as suffocating as it was at the hunting competition." She said with a very low voice. Her unfocused eyes seeing only a haze of the early autumn atmosphere, with the golden brown sun rays, the warm colours falling to the ground, the distant green grasses which were not even halfway covered yet.
"Then how about this—"
"You can't bribe me to get down you know? I may be drunk but I am not stupid yet." She mumbled while shifting her gaze back towards his face. A fragile smile lingered at her face that could break any moment, and yet, he found himself adoring the rare side of her she had just shown. Getting such a sweet smile that was besides mocking or just grinning, was something that made his mind swim in the ocean of happiness.
"But you are going to get hurt if you don't get down." He softly replied while extending his hands towards her place. "Don't worry. I will catch you if you suddenly slip." He offered while watching her blank expression for a long moment. Before long, she swung her legs over the branch and leaped down.
Her hands immediately clasped at his shoulders for stability as she gazed down at his face while his eyes scanned hers.
How can someone look so delicate as a flower? ...Until you hand them a knife to slaughter an enemy. Its like how roses had thorns that can draw blood.
"Did you lose weight? How are you so light?" He asked with a furrow of his brows.
"I haven't eaten properly for the last seven days, that must be why. I had an agonizing pain in the stomach that took away my appetite." She answered while staring at the ground. Her mind was too foggy to form a single thought.
"Why aren't you letting me down?" She asked after a long moment of silence.
"You are likely to run away if I do so."
"But I am not a kid. You can stop carrying me like one."
"Aren't your knees heavy? You are drunk first things first."
"I am fine with it."
"I bet you are."
She let out a huff, blowing a tiny spark of fire through the air above his head. Her eyes caught the spark just as it extinguished, and she stared down at her hands.
"I am a fire breathing dragon..." She mumbled to herself.
"You're a what?" He asked, completely confused.
She immediately pulled out a candle from her inventory, holding it slightly away from his face and blowing on it. "Look at that! I am a fire breathing dragon!" A small fire immediately lit up, her eyes glowing at the sudden finding.
"You are most definitely drunk. Alright, let's get going now." He muttered out loud while rubbing his eyes for a brief moment before taking one single step forward. The candle from Aefia's fingers immediately vanished as she looked down at him golden hair, tangling her fingers against it.
"You hair is... Soft." She whispered, freezing him immediately as he scrambled through his thoughts. For someone who was trying to stay calm in front of a person they like, it was particularly hard.
"You are drunk, Aefia." The name felt strange in his tongue for a few seconds. But right the next moment, she buried her face into it, wrapping her arms around his neck as she stayed entirely still.
"I know I would probably not say this again... But I am actually lucky to have met you." She whispered, dragging his attention back to her. "Maybe if it wasn't for your sudden interventions, I won't have made this far into life in this alien world. Most of the time, when I am brutally injured in between battles... I just happen to let go of hope and wish to bleed out instead. Because if I am to struggle with the same injuries for a couple more days, I might as well think about taking my life.
"I took opioids and toxins to keep myself from feeling the constant ache. And when I suffered the assault and injuries during the last day of the hunting competition, I really wished I had some painkillers with me. However, I had also made vows to myself that I will change. I have been in loop of the same thought for quite some time now, and if it weren't for me being drunk, I won't have asked it either.
"However, I would like your opinion about this... What am I supposed to do now? I have tried many things, and I am tired." She spoke while lifting her head slightly. Her hands moved to cup his jaw as she leaned in to rest her forehead against his. "Since you are the person I trust my life with, I would like to hear your answer."
He stayed silent at her words, his mind already spinning in circles which he couldn't escape. It was like three tiny happy Helio(s) who were running around and jumping up and down, although he didn't quite show it on his face.
"I think... You need some proper rest for that." He whispered back while looking up into her eyes, which were moving like crystals the colour of her spilt blood from the hunting competition. She did have slight fever from the day she had gotten the stab wound, and it was radiating into his own forehead.
"Well I do like vacations." She tapped her chin while lifting her forehead away from his.
Why did you do that?! He thought to himself while gritting his teeth. The tiny versions of himself immediately lay flat on the ground, sobbing into their tiny hands.
"You know what? How about before I settle things to stay with you, I would like to go to a far away place where there is all the things that you could get on Earth, near the village sides? I have been home-sick lately."
"Do you plan on going alone?"
"I can't navigate alone of course."
"I can't either."
"Then I can just use Puppet and Cindy." She smiled while threading her index finger into his hair, playing with it childishly as he stood still.
"Aefia, are you sure you are still drunk?" He asked, crossing his fingers just in case.
"What do you think? Do I seem like I am drunk?" She asked while burying half her face back into his hair.
"I think so... But you are not slurring as much..." He responded while looking towards the mansion in front of them. "You also said you won't have said a few things if you weren't drunk."
She let out an irritated sound, looking away into the distance. Then suddenly, she lifted his jaw into her hands, forcing him to stare into her face. Her thumb tracing his cheeks.
"How about this?" She asked while leaning near his face. Tilting her head to the side by a fraction to plant a kiss at his cheek.