"But what if the lord drinks to the point where she's out of her mind? What if the barbarians invade at a time like this?"
"They, they invaded? Sword! Now, I have to go out right now…!"
"No, no. I meant just in case… No, I was wrong. It's a joke so calm down."
Even though he grabbed her arms, Asha struggled so Carlyle ended up hugging her.
"Calm down. I said it's a joke"
Asha, who was flustered in his arms, gradually relaxed as Carlyle patted her on the back and said "easy".
Carlyle felt Asha's breath on his neck was hot.
"Ah, right! Thank you."
Asha, who until now was excited to go out and fight the enemies, suddenly greeted him.
It was difficult to follow the flow of consciousness of a drunk person, but Carlyle decided to endure it, thinking it was the punishment for coming out to the balcony.
"There's more than one thing to be grateful for, which one?"
"If it weren't for Your Highness…the harvest festival…wouldn't have been possible…"
Even in the midst of this, Asha did not stop laughing, giggling.
"Do you like the contract you made with me now?"
"Yes…Your Highness…saved Pervaz. For real…"
"You saved Pervaz. I just paid the price to buy you."
Carlyle tried to speak a little dryly, but Asha just kept giggling.
"I, I don't think I should be this expensive…."
"Well, think of it as an investment in future value."
He meant the value as a great shield to block the Empress.
But Asha shook her head, as if sorry.
"Even so….Your Highness…is losing money…"
"That's true. Actually, if I helped you this much, shouldn't you give me a kiss every time you see me? It's hard to be this blunt everyday."
Carlyle just meant this as a joke.
But at these words, Asha suddenly became serious and raises her head.
"Really…?"
Carlyle thought he said something wrong and hurt Asha's feelings. Because Asha's expression was very suspicious.
But it was a rule that you couldn't show weakness to your opponent, so he didn't avoid her gaze.
But then Asha put her arm on his shoulder, not as if to rest her chin.
'What? Are you going to slap me…?'
Carlyle clenched his jaw and tensed his cheek, not realizing it.
But the next moment, Asha brought her other hand to his cheek and pressed her lips against his with tremendous force.
"Ugh!"
The first thought that came to his mind was that he almost lost his front teeth.
Carlyle tried to figure out why Asha had attacked him like this, and then he remembered what he had just babbled about kissing.
'If I said you should kiss me twice I'd have seen blood.'
However, after a few seconds, the shock of the collision subsided and he came to his senses, Carlyle realized that Asha's lips were still on his.
He also realized that she was clinging to him with a desperation.
Perhaps she wanted to repay in some way.
'You're that bold, but you don't even know how to kiss….'
Carlyle supported Asha's neck with one hand and slowly traced her tense lips with his cold lips.
Perhaps because her whole body was limp from the alcohol, the strength gradually drained from Asha's lips. And soon, as he intended, a gap opened between their lips.
'Bitter…'
Asha's tongue tasted of bitter beer.
But it wasn't so bad. He was so engrossed in the bitter kiss that he didn't notice until Asha's arms slowly loosened.
"Ugh…."
Carlyle looked down at Asha, who had fallen asleep while kissing him, and barely caught his breath.
To be honest, he had never imagined that he would be so absorbed in a kiss with Asha, so he was a little embarrassed.
"Countess Pervaz…?"
He called out to her, just in case he woke her up, but the drunkard who had stolen the prince's lips(?) was unconscious.
Carlyle shook her a few more times and looked at her sleeping face with her lips slightly parted, and whispered even lower.
"Hey, Asha…."
Her name was like a breath of wind on his tongue.
Carlyle licked his lips, which still tasted of beer, and smiled.
"Am I a little drunk too…?"
He shook his head slightly to clear his mind and held Asha firmly as she was about to fall again.
"Don't worry about anything today and get some rest, drunkard wife."
He decided that he would support her today, whose shoulders had always been heavy.
***
"Ugh…!"
Asha woke up from her sleep, clutching her aching head as if it would shatter.
However, she couldn't immediately get up even after waking up. Her stomach felt like it was going to turn inside out.
She felt like she had slept soundly, but her body felt heavier than ever instead of feeling refreshed.
'I'm never… really, never drinking like that again!'
Asha vowed, swearing that she would be called a dog, not a noble, if she drank like that again. She opened her eyes with difficulty.
And the moment she faced the unfamiliar ceiling, her thoughts stopped.
"Uh…"
A dumbfounded sound came out of her mouth without her realizing it.
At that sound, someone approached her.
"You're awake. You don't look so good."
Even after seeing the person, Asha couldn't continue speaking. She couldn't understand this situation at all.
"Your… Highness?"
Why was Carlyle standing next to her bed and looking down at her?
"This… what…"
"You don't remember anything that happened yesterday?"
Why did the words 'yesterday's events' send chills down her spine?
"W-what… happened?"
"Tsk tsk. Well, what do you expect to happen when you drink everything without even counting the number of glasses?"
Asha's vision swam at Carlyle's light rebuke.
'Yesterday… what happened… yesterday?'
She forced her aching and groggy head to work and tried to remember yesterday's events.
However, she had no memory of anything after clinking glasses with Hector.
"W-what happened!"
Asha jumped up and grabbed Carlyle's arm.
But something felt strange.
She wasn't wearing her own clothes. She was wearing a sky-blue lace nightgown that noble ladies would wear.
Asha looked down at it and turned completely pale, gripping Carlyle's forearm tightly.
Carlyle could have teased her all he wanted, but he didn't. Asha would be embarrassed enough just by what he was about to tell her.
"Let's start with what happened yesterday. I went out to the balcony near my bedroom because I felt a stranger's presence, and I found you curled up and sleeping in a corner."
Asha's eyes widened at that.
"Th, the Harvest Festival! I had so much to prepare for...!"
"Don't worry, the Countess Pervaz's husband took good care of it."
"Was there enough food? What about alcohol? Did anyone fight or go missing...!"
"Easy...."
Carlyle patted Asha's excited shoulder.
Asha felt her strength drain from her back at the strange sound of 'easy' that Carlyle made.
"There was enough food and alcohol, and nothing unpleasant happened. There were a few missing children, but they were found and taken to a temporary shelter, and their parents were later found."
"Didn't the people complain that they couldn't even see the lord's nose?"
"Everyone was so drunk, who would have the mind to care about the lord?"
The strength finally drained from Asha's hand, which was gripping Carlyle's forearm.
"Haah...."
The first day of the Harvest Festival passed without any incidents.
It was a real relief.
Only then, after the sense of relief came, did Asha feel that Carlyle's expression, who was strangely looking down at her from in front of her, felt ominous.
"You... You have something to say to me, don't you...."
"I'm more curious about you. You are more worried about the Harvest Festival than being in my bed in a nightgown that you don't even know."
"Huh...?"
Asha came to her senses at those words and quickly looked around.
It was definitely not her room. Her room was not this big and luxurious.
"W... What happened?"
"I found you sleeping on the balcony near my room, so I brought you here."
"But why am I wearing these clothes...!"
"I'm about to talk about that."
Carlyle sat on the bed and said meaningfully.
Asha involuntarily backed away, but Carlyle approached her even more with a serious face.
"Countess Pervaz. I would like you to be more thorough in fulfilling the contract...."
"Yes? What do you mean?"
"What did I ask of you?"
"That's... to act as a wife on paper and then break up cleanly."
Carlyle nodded.
"That's right. And before we break up cleanly, I want you to do your job as a 'wife on paper' perfectly."
This time, Asha nodded.
The role of a wife on paper, who would not be shaken no matter what kind of fault the Empress found, and who would protect Carlyle's position as 'Countess Pervaz's husband'…
"It's fortunate that you remember, but looking at you lately, it seems like you're taking that clause quite lightly."
"Yes? I never did that…!"
"You say you never did, but to anyone's eyes, you don't look like my wife. This way, you're just asking for trouble. Don't you think so?"