CHAPTER 49….
Should I call him the ultimate embodiment of money and power rolled into one nasty personality?
Adele had absolutely no intention of letting her future husband turn into that.
Which meant she first had to break his bad habit of using alcohol to intimidate people upon first meeting them.
“You’ve certainly had quite a bit.”
He seemed to have managed so far without trouble, but who knew how often a holy knight like him had downed liquor this strong.
She needed to prevent any mistakes before they happened—before he made a blunder he’d never hear the end of.
How?
“If you’re going to pour, fill it to the brim. I should get a proper taste of it too.”
Obviously, she’d drink it down herself.
First order of business: finish the liquor already here. Before her father could offer him more, Adele swirled her own glass.
“You’re not telling me you’re saving it all just for me, are you?”
“Stop.”
“…Captain.”
Wasn’t this man supposed to be taking things slow today?
Adele was startled by Killian’s swift motion as he pushed away the bottle the butler was holding—without so much as brushing her glass or her hand, neatly cutting off only the bottle.
“…When did you even notice that?”
“It’s stronger than you think. I’m not sure this is within your tolerance…”
“Cheers.”
Adele took a sip, deliberately.
Killian immediately frowned, but for Adele, savoring the spread of strong alcohol was a blissful privilege.
‘Your fiancée used to work in sales.’
She didn’t need to tell him about her past life, but back then she had boasted an impressive drinking capacity.
Others might pour drinks away or dilute them with water, but not her.
In college, she had pitifully sipped “ten-year wine” made by mixing one bottle of Baekseju with nine bottles of soju—so there was no way she’d waste even a drop of fine whiskey.
‘And this is top-shelf whiskey!’
Every drop melted on her tongue—rich and sweet. And since her father had personally brought it all the way from the capital, its quality was unquestionable.
Drunk on the flavor, Adele wasn’t content just to taste it.
“With liquor this good, we should be signing an exclusive contract, not just buying it.”
“Forget contracts—let’s just buy the land outright.”
“How many hectares?”
“Adele, when you buy an island, you count in numbers, not hectares.”
“Ah.”
Engraving her father’s stern lesson deep in her heart, Adele accepted another pour.
Killian’s frown on her was distracting, but if she didn’t drink it, he’d have to finish it all himself—and that wasn’t an option.
Her father was the sort of man who, once excited, never stopped until the end.
And as for Adele herself…
‘…So it’s finally waking up.’
Like the “poor-girl” cells that had revived under the grueling labor of monastery life, her “drinking rep” cells were coming back to life.
The more she drank, the smoother it went down—momentum building with each sip.
“This one tastes sweeter than the others. I think I even catch a hint of wine.”
“That’s right. It was finished separately in oak barrels. But if you let your guard down and keep drinking, it’ll hit you all at once.”
Why was he saying that now?
Just as she lifted the last glass—poured down to the last drop—Adele shot her father a look.
Too late. She had only herself to blame for lowering her guard.
“Mmm.”
Ridiculously, the moment she heard his words, a wave of intoxication she hadn’t noticed hit her all at once. She didn’t even realize her glass had vanished from her hand until later.
“…Didn’t I tell you to stop?”
“Ah, Captain.”
For a moment, her glass in Killian’s hand seemed to double.
She wasn’t drunk enough to admit to being drunk, but just seeing him holding a glass with her lip marks was dizzying.
“Ah… I’m fine, really. Just give it here.”
“Why.”
Expression unreadable, Killian slowly brought her glass to his lips.
It wasn’t deliberate, but his lips touched exactly where hers had been.
Watching the amber liquid slowly vanish, Adele swallowed as if she were the one drinking it.
“…”
What washed over her wasn’t just intoxication. Her mouth and throat burned, as if with thirst.
She belatedly thought of her father—but the count had already left.
‘Oh, when did he slip away?’
Adele couldn’t imagine her father just stomping out, so she tried quenching her thirst with cold water.
She considered offering some to Killian, but he didn’t seem drunk at all.
“Um, if you’d like…”
“My goodness! Is it true my sister’s here?”
A villainess isn’t called a villainess for nothing.
If she knew how to pick her moments perfectly, her name would be wasted on history. But finally, here she was.
Hearing Noella’s excited voice calling for her, Adele set her water cup down with resignation.
“You heard, didn’t you, Brother Zerox? My sister’s back! Of course she wouldn’t miss our engagement party!”
“Y-yes, Noella.”
With Zerox’s flustered voice following, Adele calmly rolled her wrist.
She had no intention of stirring trouble just because it had been a while since they met, but she wasn’t about to let that girl say whatever she pleased either.
“It’s been a while, Noella.”
“…Sister.”
The only problem was that she’d been drinking a little. She just had to keep her balance—because if she slipped even once in front of someone like Noella, the girl would dismiss everything she said as a drunken sister’s grumbling.
“When did you get here? I’ve been waiting forever.”
“…Is that so?”
Adele watched quietly as the two approached her.
Zerox raised a hand as if in greeting, but Adele’s gaze was fixed on Killian.
‘No… it couldn’t be, right?’
Given Zerox’s past, she couldn’t help but be curious—and wary—about Killian’s reaction to meeting Noella for the first time.
It wasn’t about trusting him or not; the fact was, Noella had an angelic face.
She was the living image of what people called “the nation’s first love.”
Whatever darkness was in her heart, a man meeting her for the first time wouldn’t know.
“Um, sister. It seems you brought a guest with you?”
After circling around the topic, Noella finally showed her interest in Killian.
Given the kind of person she was, she’d actually held back for quite a while.
When Killian finally raised his head at being mentioned, Adele forced down her unease and curved her lips into a smile.
“Yes. I brought him with me.”
“…I see. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Noella, Adele’s younger sister…”
“…”
Killian’s gaze slid past Noella and fixed on Zerox, standing beside her.
