Chapter 007: Soup for a Hangover!
I’ve dealt with enough drunken nuisances while working part-time to last a lifetime. The best thing to do is simply not get involved.
Roanne got up from her spot without a trace of lingering attachment and went back to her bed. Alexis, huddled on the floor with his head dropped between his legs, continued to mutter.
“I’m sorry……”
I don’t know what it’s about, but tomorrow, you’re the one who should be sorry to me. Roanne pulled the blanket over her head and tried to fall back asleep. These days, she was gradually expanding the size of her kitchen garden and trying out new seeds.
Since half of the seeds she sowed hadn’t germinated, she was planning to try different ones tomorrow. Besides, she had to make sauce tomorrow with the tomatoes she bought today.
‘Tomorrow will be a busy day, so let’s just get some sleep.’
And truly, Roanne fell asleep without caring whether Alexis was there or not.
* * *
Alexis regained his senses around the time the morning sun was shining brightly.
“Even if this is a warm kingdom, is it really okay to keep sleeping on the floor?”
Alexis, who had fallen asleep in his curled-up posture, suddenly snapped his head up at the sharp voice hitting his ears.
‘This place is…….’
Had I gotten drunk and come to the East Annex again before I knew it?
The familiar floor, the scenery of the room—Alexis could immediately tell where he was.
‘I did it again.’
Once or twice a year, whenever he lost self-control due to alcohol, he would invariably find his way to this room in the East Annex to sleep. However, this time something was different.
“I can’t forgive trespassing into someone else’s room so suddenly, but—”
As he raised his head and turned his eyes toward the sound, there was a woman tying her hair back. Roanne, with her golden-brown hair tied comfortably in a ponytail, was staring at Alexis coldly.
“Anyway, it doesn’t seem like you did it on purpose, so I won’t make a fuss.”
Alexis looked up at Roanne with a dazed face. Roanne clicked her tongue quietly. Seeing such a beauty with a blank face made him look even cuter.
‘To think I was this weak to looks.’
But with a man of such mysterious beauty, the likes of which couldn’t even be seen in a comic book, tossed right in front of her without any guard, it was only natural that he looked tempting. Roanne felt her heart softening.
“Since you probably didn’t sleep well last night, I’ll let it slide if you catch some shut-eye on the bed for a bit. Just go back once you’ve come to your senses.”
“…….”
“To your own room.”
Hmph, whether you go back to the main building or not.
To steady her heart that was wavering because of his beauty, Roanne quickly turned around and left the room. It was only when he heard the thud of the door closing that Alexis finally snapped out of it.
‘Right.’
He finally realized that this was the East Annex, and the place where his nominal wife had been cast out. He had heard that she was expelled from the Glister main building, but after that, he too had completely forgotten about it.
‘I see.’
He slowly pushed himself up and looked around the room.
‘What is this?’
It was then that he realized the interior of this room had changed significantly from before. He couldn’t put his finger on it exactly, but the atmosphere of the room was quite different from the past.
‘I don’t remember well, but…….’
Was this room… always like this?
Alexis stared blankly at a long, lizard-shaped cushion lying on the bed. It bore the traces of Roanne hugging it while she slept last night.
Then he turned his head toward the dazzling sunlight flowing through the curtains from outside the window. Roanne, wanting to wake up to the morning sun, had intentionally cleared away the heavy, gloomy curtains and decorated the window with light curtains featuring a bright daisy pattern.
‘It feels like I’ve come to a completely different room.’
A strange feeling washed over him. It wasn’t as if the position of the furniture or the bed had changed much. In this very spot, on this bed, his aunt Eureia had been dying. There was no specific illness. What was killing her was the despair she harbored.
“…….”
He turned his gaze back to the lizard doll rolling around on the bed with a sense of disbelief. At that time, Aunt Eureia’s age probably wasn’t much different from his current wife’s.
-Just go back once you’ve come to your senses, to your own room.
The strange woman who had snapped at him with a cold attitude. She was indeed his wife.
‘What was her name again. Ro…….’
No matter how much he searched his memory, he couldn’t even remember her name properly. All that remained was that she was the daughter of Viscount Heartwood.
Alexis slowly left the room, still feeling dazed.
‘Has the alcohol not completely worn off yet?’
His head throbbed. With a mind that felt unclear, Alexis left the room and went down to the first floor. As he was heading down the stairs, a cheerful voice echoed from the first floor.
“Just what time did you wake up, Leah!”
A burst of giggling followed.
Laughter? Alexis doubted his ears. Laughter in the East Annex?
“When did you wake up to make such delicious soup? For the meat to be this tender, it must have been simmered for a long time.”
“In exchange, I went to sleep earlier than you yesterday, Lady Roanne. Thanks to that, my eyes opened early and I was hungry.”
“So you made this delicious pork soup since morning? Tell me honestly. What did you put in here?”
“That’s my special recipe. I can’t tell you even if you are Lady Roanne.”
“Wow, how petty. I tell you everything!”
“I feel like I know all of your cooking even without you telling me, My Lady.”
The sound of chattering conversation. Alexis moved his steps toward the source of their voices. Near the kitchen, a small makeshift dining table was set up, and there Roanne and Leah were chatting while eating.
“A…Ah!”
Leah, who had been eating and conversing happily, was terrified upon seeing Alexis. Startled, Leah stood up from her seat, not knowing what to do.
“Oh, you didn’t rest more?”
Roanne was equally taken aback. She didn’t jump up like Leah, but she too stopped eating and looked back at Alexis.
“I……”
Alexis was also beyond flustered. He had come down here as if possessed by something, but he himself didn’t know exactly why. Eventually, seeing Alexis standing there with a grim face and his mouth tightly shut, Roanne stood up as if she had no choice.
“We happen to have an extra chair, so please sit. You seemed to have drunk a lot yesterday, so you can have some soup for your hangover.”
“I happen to have finished my meal, so……”
Leah hurriedly cleared her own bowl in a flurry. Roanne started to say something but then shut her mouth and took out another bowl from the kitchen cupboard. She then ladled some soup from the pot and pushed it toward Alexis.
A savory scent wafted from the soup. However, Alexis had never tried such an excessively simple dish.
“At least have some of the broth. Eating something will make your stomach feel better.”
Soup is the best for a hangover.
As Roanne continued to urge him, he finally picked up his spoon. About to scoop some soup, he paused for a moment and looked back at Roanne. Roanne was sitting across from him to finish her own meal after preparing his.
“Do you… eat your meals here?”
He asked bluntly, hiding his considerable surprise. Roanne nodded as if it were no big deal.
“There’s a separate dining room.”
No matter how much it was called the cavern of Glister, the annex was still strictly an annex of the Count’s estate. That meant it was a place equipped with all the necessary formalities. So why were they living with a small table placed right in the middle of the kitchen?
“Oh, don’t even get me started.”
Roanne waved her hand as if telling him not to even mention it.
“Why would we eat in that hollow, oversized dining room? There’s only two of us living here.”
“But that place is—”
“Besides, carrying the food from the kitchen all the way there is a chore, and cleaning it all up again is also a chore. Just cooking in the kitchen and eating at this table is the most comfortable and best. We’re only two living here anyway.”
At Roanne’s words, Alexis made an expression that suggested he understood even less.
“Isn’t that work not yours anyway?”
At that, Roanne’s eyes blinked.
“That’s true.”
She replied with an ordinary voice, as if she had realized something.
“It’s Leah’s work.”
“Then why—”
Why are you, a noble lady, not dining with dignity in that place but sitting side-by-side across from a maid here?
Alexis didn’t bother saying the rest and waited for Roanne’s next words.
“It’s a life in the annex with just the two of us; what good would it do me to make things hard for Leah?”
Roanne said.
“I told you we’re living just the two of us. This East Annex is too difficult to manage and clean for just two people. So, I’ve kept the doors closed and haven’t touched the places we don’t use. It’s easier to manage if we only clean our respective rooms, the kitchen, and the living room.”
A smile appeared on Roanne’s face as she said those words.
