LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 232
TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 232
Drunkenness creates the courage to speak.
Sometimes, that courage became the key to spitting out the sediment lingering in one’s heart, and other times, it turned into a catastrophe that invited anger.
The words Hanna uttered contained two elements.
A key to the feelings she couldn’t share with others, and bullets of timing that could upset Yuria if she heard them.
Yuria, upon hearing Hanna’s words, bit her lips tightly and remained silent.
“I’m not that kind.”
‘…’
Yuria could fully understand the meaning behind Hanna’s words. Even if she were a clueless fool, she wasn’t that oblivious.
Yuria understood that it meant, ‘If your feelings are half-hearted, then disappear.’ Hanna’s narrative kindly explained that much.
Yuria had a lot she wanted to say.
She wanted to tell Hanna that her days of wavering with half-hearted feelings were over, but the drunken Hanna continued to pour out her true feelings to Yuria without pause.
“I’m not as kind as the Butler. Maybe it’s because I’m an ignorant woman, but if I think someone is a hindrance, I cut ties with them.”
“Like Senior Ruin.”
Hanna mumbled the last part softly and stared straight at Yuria’s face.
“I know my words are presumptuous. But I felt like I had to say this to you, so I did.”
“…”
“I liked the Butler first.”
Hanna, looking at the frozen Yuria, spoke directly. She said there was an order to things.
“I don’t know what the Butler means to you.”
“…”
“You feel similar to me but also different in some way. I know it’s a complicated relationship. That’s why I don’t understand what your feelings are.”
Hanna shrugged as she spoke about her situation. She admitted that even saying all this made her nothing more than a coward who couldn’t confess her love.
“The Butler is a fool.”
Yuria knew that too.
She knew just how much of a fool Ricardo was.
And Yuria could understand why Hanna brought up such doubts.
Until now, Yuria had only shown her negative side. She avoided the topic whenever Ricardo came up and changed the subject, and she didn’t deny that her behavior must have appeared negative to Hanna.
Hanna spoke to Yuria.
“It’s not like I don’t know about you and the Butler. I heard at the Academy what he said to you and what happened.”
But.
-Whoosh!
-Ricardo’s Side Dish Set 1, Seafood Pancake, complete.
“I can’t help but side with the Butler. If you still harbor bad feelings toward him, I can’t help but hate you.”
“Because I want to be a good person to the Butler, who has no one on his side in this world….”
“To me, he’s the most special person in the world, so even if it’s arrogant of me, I wanted to say this.”
Hanna knew that her words were aggressive toward Yuria. She understood that siding with Ricardo despite knowing their tangled relationship was hard for Yuria to accept.
Hanna, having barely managed to pull out the words buried inside her, let out a light sigh and emptied her liquor glass.
Yuria, who had been silently listening to Hanna, let out a heavy sigh and spoke.
“Why do you like Ricardo?”
At Yuria’s fundamental question, Hanna smiled faintly and answered.
“Me?”
“Because when I was so miserable I wanted to die, he was the one who lifted me up…? Maybe because he became the light in my life, which was about to wither like a dying flower, and my benefactor.”
Thinking back to those terribly difficult times, Hanna gripped her liquor glass tightly.
“Because he gave light to someone like me, who could have lived a shabby life, forgotten by everyone and remembered by no one.”
Hanna knew.
Even though she had only heard fragments of the story, she understood that Yuria’s hatred and dislike for Ricardo were justified. If she were in Yuria’s position, she wouldn’t have easily forgiven or liked him either.
But.
“He was the first person to tell me I was useful.”
Truly.
“The one who reached out to me, who had been neglected, and gifted me a miracle. I know my words are selfish, but….”
Hanna spoke, borrowing the courage of her drunkenness.
“I really like the Butler.”
Yuria clenched her fist, lowered her head, and spoke to Hanna in a trembling voice.
“Is that all?”
At Yuria’s question, Hanna answered with a bright smile.
“No.”
“…”
“I like the Butler because he’s handsome. Because he’s more caring and better-looking than any man in the world, I like him. Does that make me sound too shallow?”
Yuria lightly nodded.
Because she could understand Hanna’s simple yet certain reasons, Yuria could nod. After all, she had fallen for and liked the same Ricardo.
That’s why she could respond without fear to Hanna’s warning. Even if all misunderstandings were resolved, or even if they weren’t, Yuria, like Hanna, couldn’t give up on that man.
Even if misunderstood.
Even if the misunderstandings couldn’t be resolved.
Perhaps she had liked Ricardo all along, so Yuria spoke with conviction.
“You asked me what I think of Ricardo.”
Yuria spoke as she watched Ricardo bustling between tables, his hands full of plates.
-Oops! Ricardo’s Side Dish Set 2, Addictive Hot Dog.
-Hiiiik! The hot dog is longer than my arm!
-I put in some effort.
-Ooooooh!
“I’m just like you.”
Even though he was foolish and had hurt her, she still liked him.
Realizing that the wounds he caused were for her sake made her like him even more, and above all, because he was the most handsome man she had ever seen, Yuria couldn’t give up on these feelings.
“I like Ricardo too. So much that every other man in the world looks like a squid compared to him.”
“What….”
“What else? Just like you, I’m someone who’s fallen for Ricardo.”
Yuria chuckled softly as she looked at Ricardo, who was approaching with plates in hand.
“Does that make me sound too shallow?”
“Pfft…”
Ricardo, who had arrived at their table at some point, placed the side dishes down and expressed his concern with a smile, saying, “Why are you drinking so much?”
Yuria looked at Hanna and mouthed silently.
‘This is why I can’t help but like him.’
*
At that moment, Chartia, who couldn’t blend into the banquet and sat alone, was sipping her drink in a corner.
-Goom.
“You can’t eat that.”
-Gooom.
Though her companion was a bear, which was a flaw.
Sitting across from Gomtangi and enjoying her drink, Chartia grinned as she immersed herself in the moment.
Because she liked this kind of solitude.
It wasn’t because she lacked close friends. She simply preferred being alone, so she went to a place without people. It definitely wasn’t because Gomtangi was there. She absolutely didn’t think the smelly beast was cute.
“Lady Chartia. Here’s your side dish…”
“Eek!”
Ricardo, who had brought the side dish, looked at the princess sitting on the floor drinking and tilted his head with a question mark on his face.
“Why are you sitting on the floor? There are so many tables.”
“Ah… well.”
Sitting on the floor, Chartia glanced at Gomtangi, who was also sitting with her rear on the ground, and bit her lip. It was odd for the princess of the Empire to sit on the floor and show such an unrefined appearance.
‘I need to get up.’
‘I need to act dignified and graceful like a princess.’
-Gooom.
Unable to run away from the fluffy creature in front of her, Chartia hesitated for a long time before letting out a deep sigh and lifting her hands off the floor.
“I was just here.”
Ricardo smiled as he placed food in front of Gomtangi, who was sitting opposite of Chartia, and gave a small grin.
“Gomtangi is very cute, isn’t she?”
“…”
“Our Gomtangi likes it when you put your hand in her mouth. If you put it in too deep, she might eat it, though—she says it tastes like meat.”
-Gooooom!
Ricardo crouched in front of Gomtangi and extended his hand. Gomtangi, naturally sniffing Ricardo’s hand and licking it, began to gnaw on it while growling softly.
“Fascinating, right?”
“Yeah. Are you sure she won’t draw blood?”
“Gomtangi isn’t that stupid.”
Chartia, grinning slyly, buried her face between her knees and smiled.
“She’s adorable.”
Chartia enjoyed the peaceful moments of her life.
For the first time, she felt that she liked this place, where she could laugh without worry, more than the Imperial Palace, where she was ignored as a powerless and talentless princess.
*
On the day everyone left.
Watching the people board their carriages after the eventful tea party, the Young Lady wore a sullen expression.
“I didn’t get to have a pillow fight.”
“You can do it next time, can’t you?”
The Young Lady, disappointed that she couldn’t participate in the pillow fight because she was drunk, waved her hand wistfully. She had been practicing her swing even before the tea party but hadn’t gotten the chance to show it off.
“Goodbye.”
Amid the departing footsteps, leaving behind a sense of regret, we cheerfully concluded the tea party and bid farewell.
“Thank you for enjoying it.”
“It was fun. Please invite me again next time.”
“This kind of tea party is nice too.”
“Gomtangi…”
-Gom.
“…”
I looked at Chartia, whose eyes were brimming with tears, and asked.
“Are you crying?”
“Ah… no!”
“Come visit if you’re bored.”
With a gentle smile, I said to Chartia.
“I’ll host you for 10 gold per hour.”
And so, the Young Lady’s first tea party concluded successfully, with Gomtangi becoming her wallet’s butler.