91 – 39. Unforgettable Gift (2)
Ian accepted Eri’s drunken words like this.
‘You know, there are people who sober up when they’re drunk, right? I guess Eri belongs to that category.’
Because he was sleepy. Wasn’t it her who suggested they sleep together, reaching out and laying him down next to her?
Even though Ian clearly accepted it, he couldn’t help but think, ‘Don’t cause a fuss and just lie down together.’
Tap! Tap!
“Hu! It tickles… Wait a moment… I’m waiting….”
‘…Wasn’t Jaja supposed to mean something else?’
He couldn’t help but be bewildered by her actions, riding up on Ian and starting to suck on his neck.
Eventually, as she let her untied hair fall and stuck closely, his body began to tremble.
It was the moment he realized that what Jaja said and what he had in mind were different.
Despite his awkward reaction to her proactive attitude, Eri just chuckled, unable to contain her amusement.
“hehehehe… Nervous?”
‘If only it were just nerves. I feel a threat to survival.’
Honestly, the current situation wasn’t bad.
After all, who is Eri, or rather, Erzébét?
The woman who will become the Empress leading the Empire. Isn’t she considered the most beautiful character at the Heroic Academy?
It’s natural that there’s no reason not to run towards such a woman.
But at least considering Ian’s position, he couldn’t just welcome her proactive appearance.
‘If Celia, who is waiting outside, delays for too long.’
It might happen that Celia, sensing something strange, seeks permission from the guards and comes up here.
What if she sees such a scene?
‘It would be a real disaster if it’s revealed that the unmarried princess is behaving like this.’
Of course, for now, she’s using the temporary identity of Eri Everhart.
Celia is not just an ordinary noble; she is the female successor of the prestigious Viscount Wignoran, even in the Empire.
On the bed, she was shocked to see herself and Eri rolling around. If she were to investigate further into this scene, Eri’s true identity might be exposed.
‘Especially if Eri makes a slip of the tongue while heavily intoxicated…’
This disgraceful situation would undoubtedly become apparent.
It had to be prevented, not only because Eri was precious to her, but also for the sake of a happy ending to be enjoyed after killing Satan and Lucifer. At least the royal position needed to be secure.
That was the reason.
“E-Eri. It seems like you’re quite drunk. It’s about time to go to sleep…”
The reason she tried to stop her, restraining her somehow, was Ian.
Ian, who calmly attempted to engage in conversation with the intoxicated Eri.
“Eri? But why do you keep using informal language? I’m 4 years older than you! Do you know that?”
“Isn’t that important right now? If someone sees us like this…”
“Well, what does it matter… What can you do to a princess like me… By the way, did you change your shoes? Is this a gift from Leia? Then I’ll give you a gift too!”
Eri continued to act boldly, showing no intention of hiding her true identity. With a half-asleep expression, Eri looked at the emblem of the Husted family embedded in the ankle part of Ian’s walker, then licked her lips.
“I already gave you a gift! Did you forget the Ruby Blush?”
“That was as Eri Everhart… This time, it’s as Princess Erzabeth Arcana… or something like that…”
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“What kind of excuse is that…”
The persuasion was a complete failure. No matter how intoxicated she was, there was no sign of her listening.
At that moment, Ian had no choice but to make a decision.
‘I really didn’t want to resort to such methods with the princess.’
He had to forcibly stop her, even if it meant using strength.
It was the moment when he was thinking so, trying to put strength into his arms.
Thud!
“What, what are you doing? Eri?”
“Well, I’m trying to give myself as a birthday present… Since you like me, is it special to give me? How about it? Do you like it?”
The moment she grabbed the shirt she was wearing and started unbuttoning it.
Ian hoped that the princess had a different intention… But it wasn’t what he had in mind.
Thud!
“Damn!”
Her shirt buttons quickly came undone, revealing her white bare skin.
Even in the dimly lit room, as her skin came into view, a certain future began to unfold in that moment.
[hahahahaha. Have you seen the nakedness of my younger sister even though I haven’t married yet? This is truly an amazing event. Look here, Ian, my intuition is telling me that punishing you is the right thing to do. So, gracefully accept your punishment.]
“No, it can’t be… It can’t go on like this!”
His future of being caught and imprisoned for the crime of indecency, exposed to Bedon for seeing the princess’s bare skin!
He had to stop it somehow. It couldn’t be left alone if she continued unbuttoning!
Such thoughts dominated his mind, and Ian strongly pulled the princess, who was straddling him.
Thud!
“Ugh… I knew it would be intense from the moment you tried to tie me up… But if it’s Ian, it’s okay. You can do more…”
‘What does she mean by doing more…’
While it might not be ideal, he somehow managed to prevent her from unbuttoning. Now, all that remained was to soothe her and make her fall asleep.
In a critical moment, Ian came up with a single solution.
“Sure. Let’s give her a sense of shame.”
If she had any self-respect as a princess, wouldn’t she be embarrassed to show herself in this state to someone?
Of course, she had no intention of showing this scene to anyone else. But telling a suitable lie to salvage the situation would be helpful.
“Eri. If we continue like this, Celia might come… How do you think the Duke’s daughter would feel seeing the princess squirming like this?”
“Hmm….”
Her movements, which had been incessant even after being embraced, momentarily ceased.
As expected. She must be thinking about what would happen if Celia saw her like this.
Enough. If I’ve done this much, she will also stop her actions and fall asleep.
Ian thought this and raised the corner of his mouth.
“Is that good? To show her… something.”
“What? What is that….”
“Should we ask Celia to watch us while we do this? It might be amusing…. hehehehe.”
“I messed up.”
The corner of his mouth, which had risen on her strange wall of resistance, immediately dropped.
To show her? Is she in her right mind? Ian couldn’t understand at all why she would want to show Celia these strange and random actions.
But Ian didn’t have the luxury of thinking about such things.
He had already spent a lot of time trying to stop Eri’s drunken behavior, and if he continued like this, Celia might actually come into the Moon Palace.
“How long are you going to sleep? You’re cute… Don’t worry…. Nuna will take care of it.”
Ian’s heart, feeling like it might go crazy, whether Erzabeth knew or not, gradually tightened his lips.
Persuasion or suppression was impossible… With such thoughts, Ian eventually closed his eyes.
“hehehehe… That’s right, just keep doing that…”
Erzabeth, seemingly satisfied, quickly pressed her lips as well.
“Ugh…. So, sleepy.”
Thunk!
“Hmm? Er, Eri? Are you suddenly falling asleep?”
The moment she had just extended her lips for a kiss, she unexpectedly fell into slumber.
With thoughts of something going wrong, Ian raised his head. He could see.
– Ian almost became prey to Eri!
‘Yes, Neltalion!’
– Ian! Don’t worry, Neltalion handled Eri, who couldn’t regain consciousness due to intoxication!
The figure of Neltalion, who had used divine power to make Eri faint!
Ian smiled widely at Neltalion’s cheerful appearance.
***
After calming Eri with Neltalion’s help, Ian immediately put on his outerwear and left the Blue Moon Pavilion.
The shirt he had been wearing was crumpled due to Eri struggling against him, but now there was no time to care about such things.
‘It’s already been 30 minutes since Celia asked me to come out.’
The night wind in the north was so fierce and chilly that it could tear through flesh.
Not a metaphor. If exposed for a long time, not only could frostbite occur, but the skin might also split, revealing blood.
“In Celia’s situation, she probably didn’t dress warmly because she thought I was just coming to take a quick look.”
Most of the travel was supposed to be done by carriage, and there might have been plans to have a brief conversation outside.
Thinking that way and waiting for 30 minutes, it would be against good manners to make her wait any longer.
Therefore, Ian dashed through the dim corridor of Cheongwol Hall towards the entrance.
Finally, he could see her.
“Ha… huff… it’s cold… ha…”
“Celia.”
“Oh! Ian, you came…”
Her trembling figure, melting her hands with breath, and Ian approached, grabbing her hands, which had turned red.
“It’s very cold. How long have you been waiting? If it’s too late, you can go back.”
“Oh, no. I didn’t wait long, and I thought today was important… hehehehe… I’m fine! Really… not cold…”
Ian sighed as he watched her struggling to move her frozen hands.
“Don’t say that. It’s cold outside; let’s go in and talk.”
“No… it’s okay for a moment. I want to talk here…”
“If that’s what you want…”
There’s no need to keep asking if she says she’s fine.
As Ian faced Celia, she, looking embarrassed, handed him a small box.
“I hope you accept this.”
“What’s this?”
“New, it’s a birthday present… even though it’s late. Today is Ian’s birthday, isn’t it?”
“A birthday present.”
Ian, who received the gift she prepared, gently stroked the surface of the box.
The cold sensation transmitted through his fingertips to his brain. So, this must be reality.
That’s why he was puzzled.
‘Celia giving me a present?’
He thought it was impossible to receive a gift from her, unless it was someone else.
While Reyna and Bianca had established a friendship to deal with Leviathan, Celia was different.
From the beginning, she had shown a distancing attitude toward Ariel, and Ian had not considered rebuilding the relationship that had been cut off.
‘So… I thought our relationship couldn’t continue.’
They were close in childhood, but as they grew up, they drifted apart. Now, there was no relationship between them.
He thought they would remain friends on the surface, and the only time they would talk would be about Volcano and Vigneron’s business, excluding anything else.
That’s why the gift she gave was even more surprising.
‘Was there some kind of turning point?’
Honestly, that would be something he couldn’t know. He couldn’t know what she had been through or how she viewed Ian Volkano.
However, giving a gift might mean she had somewhat loosened the restraint she had towards Ian’s existence.
‘If that’s the case…’
There was no reason not to accept.
Of course, considering Celia’s past actions, it was natural to feel angry and resentful.
But at least she was the main heroine of Heroic Academy.
If you think about it differently, it also means being one of the important figures.
‘Just like with Ariel… Maybe, you never know. It might somehow help me too.’
There’s no need to create unnecessary suspicions. With that thought, Ian decided to accept the gift she handed over.
“Thank you….”
“Go ahead, open it….”
“Is it really okay?”
“Yeah…. I’m curious if you’ll like what I prepared….”
“Well then…. Excuse me.”
Check it out. Ian slowly opened the box, observing her confidently spoken words. And there it was.
“This is….”
The identity of the tremendous gift inside the box.
As Ian looked at her, wondering why this was here, Celia smiled cautiously.
“Do you like it?”
“How on earth did you get this?”
“hehehehe…. It was a bit challenging…. But since it’s Ian’s gift….”
Ian’s eyes widened at the sight of the gift Celia prepared.
Nelthalion to the rescue!!!