Drunk Words or True Feelings?
Drunk talk? Or sincere? Chirp chirp! Birds chirped beyond the window. Dazzling sunlight seeped through the gaps in the curtains.
"Ughhh…."
Her head throbbed like it was splitting open. Seria groaned on the bed, unable to sit up right away. It felt just like she'd been drinking. As if she were suffering from a brutal hangover.
Did I… drink yesterday? Forcing down the pounding pain, Seria desperately tried to recall the previous day. But no matter how hard she thought, she hadn't touched a drop of alcohol. She didn't even enjoy drinking in the first place. And above all, after entering the ballroom, the only thing she'd done with Abel was dance.
Asking him for a dance. Holding hands. Stepping out to the center of the hall for a light waltz. She remembered smiling at Abel flailing a bit during the next song.
But strangely, everything after that was blurry. Foggy, like a mist had settled over it. Seria closed her eyes and focused again. Something was missing. She had to remember. What on earth had happened to leave her body like this and her memories so hazy…?
"Abel. My body feels so languid. I want to go lie down. Could you take me to my room…?"
…Huh? A sudden flash of memory made Seria let out a sigh.
"Want to come in?"
"It's fine if you do."
Wait. No way. It couldn't be. This had to be a dream she was mistaking for reality, right? Yeah. That was it. It had to be. It absolutely had to be. There was no way she'd said something so ridiculous in front of Abel….
"You said I'd become a twinkling star someday. So I wanted to be a star. One of the stars you see, the one that shines the brightest."
"Kyaaaaah!"
With a shrill scream, Seria kicked off the covers and bolted upright. She ruffled her hair wildly. Rubbed and pinched her cheeks, denying it furiously. But as yesterday's memories surfaced one by one, she collapsed in stunned despair.
"Wh-what is wrong with you?! Act like a man for once! You're all manly otherwise!"
"D-don't guys usually pounce in situations like this?! The young ladies said so. They said if luck brings a chance like this, it always ends up in bed!!"
Oh god. She must have lost her mind. Why on earth had she spouted such nonsense? What was Abel's face like? What expression did he make when she said all that…?
Uwaaaah! She couldn't remember! Clutching her face again, Seria cursed this horrific situation. The rambling was bad enough, but what came after was the real problem. Pounce? End up in bed? Uwaaaah! She must have gone insane. She wasn't in her right mind. To say something so absurd….
It was probably the Winter Duchesses' stories—Irshu and Tarshu—that had influenced her subconsciously. She'd never imagined she'd blurt out exactly what they'd said in her delirious state.
But… if she was going to mess up anyway, maybe messing up even more would have been better….
Knock knock!
"Eek!"
Seria yelped at the knock, like a child caught red-handed doing something naughty. Calming her racing heart, she opened the door to find a female staff member she'd seen at the academy infirmary. The woman greeted her and checked her condition.
"I heard you got hit with hallucinogen and made it back to your room. Just checking on you."
"Ah, yes… Huh? Hallucinogen?"
"How are you feeling? Still weird? Seeing things? Or…."
"Wait. Hold on. What exactly happened yesterday?"
The staff member examined her more closely and concluded there were no major issues. Then, to the patiently waiting Seria, she relayed the rough details.
"Officially, someone got drunk and misused their ability, causing this mess."
"Huh? But why use abilities at the ball…."
"Unofficially, someone pulled a nasty prank with hallucinogen. And Seria, your boyfriend handsomely took them down."
"…Wh-what are you talking about?!"
Seria shot up from her chair in shock, only to bash her knee. Whimpering in pain, she drew a puzzled look from the staffer. 'Isn't that it?'
"Weird. He came to me yesterday asking me to look after you. Carried you all the way to the dorm. You two aren't just ordinary friends, right?"
"Th-that's!!"
No. She had to say no. It wasn't true. They weren't like that. But Seria couldn't bring herself to deny it loudly. Because she realized her heart was fluttering at the word boyfriend.
Oh no. This is bad. She shouldn't feel this way. But hearing it like that… it felt good. The mistakes from yesterday, the words she'd blurted out unknowingly—they resurfaced one by one. Why had she said all that? If she could go back, she'd sew her mouth shut. But on the other hand, a sneaky thought crept in: maybe it was for the best.
Because of that slip-up yesterday. Maybe Abel had changed somehow because of it. It happened sometimes. A mistake that led to something good. If that's what happened this time, a little embarrassment wouldn't be so bad, right?
"Aigoo. Young love, young love."
I was like that once too, the staffer said with a chuckle.
Another incident had erupted at the academy. From the Empire's perspective, it was enough to make them jump out of their skin.
The Continental Academy wasn't some new build—it had been around long enough to count years in decades. In all that time, problems of this frequency and scale had never happened. At worst, students lost control of their abilities and caused accidents indoors.
They wondered if the Ability Supremacists had infiltrated again, but fortunately, no. Calling it 'fortunate' felt odd. But compared to the Supremacists, the stunt by the Crea Kingdom revivalists was childish from the Empire's view.
Even funnier: they hadn't planned anything big after spreading the hallucinogen. Just to expose the academy's 'dirty secrets' across the continent.
"Fucking lunatics."
A thick curse slipped from Principal Ludwig Rich's mouth. He'd lived reserved as academy head, but he worried his true temper might show at this rate. Still, he couldn't hold it in without swearing. This was insane.
"Hallucinogen at a ball to expose embarrassments? Were only Empire students there? Kids from other kingdoms too—how does that even make sense?! It's not just the Empire that'll rage from the humiliation!"
"…."
"Adjust the communication orbs to show only Empire students? What do they gain? Warn the Empire that revivalists still lurk? This'll just make them look more ridiculous! Does our Continental Academy seem that easy? Might as well attack outright! Spraying hallucinogen to film pervy scenes…!"
Abel had nothing to do but watch the principal vent. Even he thought the revivalists' plan was idiotic. These guys used to do armed struggles, terrorism, sabotage—now they opted for hallucinogen-fueled adult party footage to distribute?
Sure, it'd piss off the Empire and advertise their presence. But the losses outweighed the gains. Better to scrape together forces and harass the Empire's borders.
The problem is this world won't allow that kind of setup or flow.
No plausibility? Doesn't make sense? Then start with the perfect guy fawning over Seria. And the Continental Academy accepted all social standings with a simple 'Yeah, get lost' option. They could mobilize ability users for endless war. But the world ignored that and sent ability users to the academy anyway.
"Next month, some new faction'll hit the academy. Argh! Damn it all!"
Ah. Everything else was fine, but that worried him.
"Principal."
"What is it, Abel?"
"There's a saying: words can plant seeds. Maybe be careful?"
Monthly incidents and semesterly faction attacks were plausible enough. No need for the principal to add more foreshadowing.
"Sigh. You're right, Abel. I need to watch my mouth. Damn, I hate my past self who said no Supremacists meant no trouble—can't repeat that mistake."
"…."
If he said it was already repeated, would the principal get hurt? Abel quietly sipped his tea.
"At least no other damage. Hallucinogen victims recovered in a day without antidote, no physical issues."
"The gods helped."
"Thanks to you, Abel. You destroyed the rest before it filled up. If it had, it'd take days, not one—and stronger too."
He didn't want to imagine flailing students causing worse chaos.
"Anyway, for that, I want to reward you."
"The academy running smoothly is reward enough."
"That's my duty, not a reward. Tell me something that truly counts as one."
Nothing specific came to mind. Thinking briefly, Abel picked the most practical.
"Principal. Then exempt everyone—all students—from written exams this semester."
"…Hm?"
"Everyone's been through hell with all this. Exams on top would be the worst."
Ah, of course.
"Note: written exams only. Practical's mandatory."