Beguiling the Enemy’s Patriarch - Chapter 167

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Side Story Part 1, Episode 5
“Brandy?”
“Yes!”
I beamed and gently removed Auredhian’s arm from around my waist, then spun around to face him. With a flourish, I revealed what I’d been cradling against my chest the entire time.
“Let’s have a drink together!”
What I’d been holding was a bottle of brandy—a gift I’d coaxed out of Marienne for Auredhian.
“Absolutely not.”
Auredhian’s voice rose immediately. He spoke with unmistakable firmness.
“No. You’re already frail enough without alcohol.”
“I came prepared for that. The Royal Physician’s permission.”
I quickly produced a handwritten note I’d obtained directly from the Royal Physician, stating that a modest amount of alcohol was acceptable as long as I didn’t overindulge. I smiled sweetly and stepped closer to him.
“Just one glass. Please?”
“You don’t even like drinking.”
“Still, I find myself wanting it sometimes.”
The truth was, I didn’t actually want to drink at all. I’d never had a strong constitution for alcohol and genuinely didn’t enjoy it—Auredhian’s assessment was accurate. So I had no intention of drinking tonight. Instead, I planned to get my husband drunk. Thoroughly.
“Come on, have a drink with me. You’ve never done it before, have you?”
My persistence finally got him to sit on the sofa, though his expression remained reluctant.
“This won’t end well.”
“It’ll be fine, really.”
Since I had no intention of drinking much anyway, I spoke with exaggerated cheerfulness. Auredhian didn’t particularly enjoy alcohol, but he didn’t avoid it either. We’d never drunk together before, so I wasn’t entirely certain, but I’d heard he held his liquor quite well. Just how much would I need to give him before his true thoughts spilled out? I poured the brandy into a glass with calculated innocence.
“What’s troubling you, Yeni?”
“Do people only drink when they’re worried? Sometimes I can’t sleep, and sometimes I want to have a deeper conversation…”
Auredhian’s eyes narrowed. He lazily rotated the glass in his hand as he murmured.
“You could have a deeper conversation without drinking.”
“Not that kind of conversation!”
“Then what kind?”
Heat rushed to my face unbidden. I never seemed to develop immunity to the way he could say such things so casually, catching me completely off guard. Who would ever believe this man was once known as an iron wall? I laughed softly and reached for my own glass.
“A perfectly wholesome conversation. The kind you have with your mouth.”
“With your mouth?”
“…”
I should stop talking. My face was undoubtedly crimson now, so I quickly brought the glass to my lips.
“No, this won’t do.”
“What?”
Just before I could drink, he snatched the glass away.
“Hey…”
Before I could protest, Auredhian brought the glass to his own lips. The amber brandy that had filled it halfway vanished in an instant. A slight smile played at the corners of his mouth.
…Nice.
“I said we’d drink together!”
Everything was going according to plan. I suppressed my scheming thoughts and forced myself to pout.
“How much longer is this overprotectiveness going to last?”
“I suppose. For life?”
The empty glass returned to me once more. Naturally, Auredhian seemed barely affected by a single drink.
But this is just the beginning. I quickly turned my head, hiding my creeping smile beneath my hair. Today, I’d get him thoroughly drunk and extract every secret…!
Yet Auredhian Belgot proved a far more formidable opponent than I’d anticipated.
“…Are you alright?”
“What do you mean?”
He emptied his own glass as quickly as I refilled it, and in the process, he kept whisking away my drink as well. I examined my husband’s composed face with an irritated expression, feature by feature.
“Are you truly alright? You’re not feeling dizzy or nauseous?”
“No.”
This wasn’t right. Roxanne had definitely said it was strong spirits…. Either Auredhian had an unexpectedly high tolerance, or this liquor wasn’t quite as potent as advertised.
While he drained the last sip from his glass, I secretly brought mine to my lips. A sharp aroma wafted up. I tilted the glass at a bold angle.
Gulp.
“Hmm?”
The initial taste wasn’t unpleasant. There seemed to be a hint of sweetness to it. It must be quality spirits. With that thought, I swallowed two more generous gulps down my throat.
“Mm? Ah….”
“Yeni?”
“Ugh…!”
And I spectacularly failed to maintain my composure.
“Hack…. Cough.”
“You drank it?”
My expression twisted grotesquely. I couldn’t even respond, frozen in place. My esophagus and stomach blazed with fire. Then, the overwhelming intensity I hadn’t felt in that first sip suddenly exploded across my palate.
…Bitter!
Without question, it was more bitter than any medicine I’d ever consumed. Not only bitter—it was scorching. To such a degree that if I opened my mouth, I could probably breathe fire like a dragon! I flailed and clung to him.
“Ugh…. How on earth am I supposed to….”
How can he drink this like water! Is he a monster?
“I knew this would happen.”
Auredhian clicked his tongue briefly and quickly placed something in my mouth. Something cold and frozen touched my tongue.
A pitted cherry. I bit into the flesh with my teeth, and sweet juice burst across my palate. After chewing cherries in silence for a while, I heard a low chuckle from above my head.
“Perhaps it’s best you avoid drinking altogether, hmm?”
A firm arm wrapped around my waist. Before I could register what was happening, I was lifted and suddenly found myself seated on his lap.
“Still bitter?”
“Mm-hmm….”
“Would you like another?”
I nodded. Another cold cherry immediately popped into my mouth. After chewing and swallowing about five cherries, the numbing bitterness finally began to fade. Instead, my throat grew sore and my head began to ache. I thought hazily.
‘Have I always been this weak with alcohol…?’
When was the last time I drank…?
“At least five years ago….”
“What?”
I shook my head. Even people with strong constitutions weaken after five years of abstinence, so naturally I would too. But I had a goal, and I couldn’t admit defeat here! With that resolve burning bright, I lifted my head determinedly. And in that instant, my lips were captured.
“…!”
Even the small gasp of surprise was swallowed between his lips. Auredhian kissed me without warning, tilting his head to deepen the kiss further.
The bitter-sharp aroma of brandy mingled dizzily with the sweet fragrance of cherry juice. Half a glass shouldn’t have been enough to intoxicate me, yet my head spun. The heat that had begun to subside in my face flared up again in an instant. The nape of my neck and the side of my throat, where he held me loosely, burned as if seared by flame.
“Ah… wait a moment…”
I couldn’t keep pace with his movements and soon found myself breathless. When I gripped his shoulders and pulled my body back slightly, he followed with relentless persistence.
“You taste like cherries.”
“I… hah. I ate five of them, so of course… mmph.”
After sunset, my husband becomes even more concentrated, more intense than during the day. And at night, when alcohol flows through him, my husband becomes… considerably more dangerous. I managed to tear my gaze from those deep crimson eyes and slipped back down onto the sofa with a soft thud.
“Not tonight.”
“…”
“You said you had something to do tonight, didn’t you?”
Those eyes that had been following my movements slowly narrowed slightly. Even after two years of meeting that intense gaze every single day, I still found it difficult to grow accustomed to it.
“Ah, right. A conversation.”
Auredhian laughed, draping one arm across the back of the sofa at an angle.
“Yes. Then let’s do it quickly—have our conversation.”
He extended his other hand toward me, the one not resting on the sofa back, shaking it slightly up and down as if urging me to take it. I regarded him with suspicious eyes and held my ground.
“…No kissing.”
“Understood.”
“Answer my questions seriously.”
“There’s no room for negotiation. Come on, take my hand, Yeni.”
He looks like a predator waiting for prey to walk into its grasp of its own volition. Surely I’m imagining things…

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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