Drunken Obedience
Fortunately, I didn't get drunk after the first glass.
'Sweet?'
The taste of the alcohol I was trying for the first time wasn't bitter—it was sweet.
"How does it taste?"
Shane asked as she set down her empty glass.
"Sweet."
"Really?"
Shane looked at me with curious eyes. She seemed surprised that a first-time drinker would call it sweet.
"Then shall we keep going?"
Shane smiled softly and shook the bottle.
"Sure."
I accepted the pour, thinking that alcohol was surprisingly pleasant.
"Cheers."
"Cheers."
Clink.
After that, more dishes arrived, and our drinking session continued in a calm, gentle atmosphere.
'Not bad at all.'
In fact, I felt rather good. Even though I'd only had two glasses, my body felt warm, as if heat was rising through me.
"Adel."
When I was sitting there in a slight daze, Shane called my name.
"......Yeah?"
My reaction was a little slow.
"You're not drunk, are you?"
She spoke as if the very idea seemed unlikely.
"Come on, there's no way I'd get drunk from this much."
If I got drunk after only two glasses, that would mean I was terrible with alcohol.
'......Maybe I'm surprisingly good at holding my liquor?'
With that thought in mind, I filled my third glass. It didn't take long for me to realize this was pure arrogance.
"Then that's a relief. Shall we keep drinking?"
Shane clearly wanted to drink more.
"Sure."
Clink.
And so I emptied the third glass.
"Shane, does drinking usually make people feel good?"
I felt good right now. I didn't know why. If I'd ever drunk before, I would have recognized the signs immediately, but I had no idea.
"Feel good? It does once you're drunk... Wait, are you drunk?"
"I'm not drunk."
For some strange reason, hearing her say I was drunk made me not want to admit it.
'I'm really not drunk.'
It was simply that my first drink was with a beautiful woman, so I felt good. That's what I told myself.
"......"
Seeing my reaction, Shane handed me the fourth glass with uneasy eyes. I took it and emptied it without thinking.
The change came right then.
'Huh...?'
Everything felt dizzy. My vision blurred, and it seemed like I couldn't control my own body.
'Something's...'
Wrong. I didn't feel like myself.
'......But it feels good.'
I couldn't fight the sensation and simply gave in to it.
Shane's encounter with Adel wasn't a coincidence.
'Where is he?'
Having watched his entire sparring session, she had been searching for him. The reason was to offer him a drink.
'There's nothing better than alcohol for getting closer to someone.'
Shane herself hadn't drunk all that much before. Those were the exact words her father, the head of the Crakt family, always repeated like a mantra.
Adel and Shane were already close. But she wanted to become even closer—to be with him every single day—so she was pulling out every trick she could think of.
'Ah, there he is.'
When she spotted Adel, Shane naturally walked up to him, called his name, and offered the drink. He nodded innocently, as if he felt no sense of unease at all.
'Hehe. How cute.'
Lately, Shane had been finding Adel cuter and cuter. When they reached the restaurant and she asked if he'd ever tried alcohol before, Adel shook his head. Her smile deepened at that.
'His first time?'
It felt perfect. Sharing the first drink of the person she liked—with him, no less. Could anything be better?
Because of that, Shane deliberately didn't tell him how to sober up from intoxication.
'I want to be his first in everything.'
She wanted to be the first to witness both his alcohol tolerance and his drunken behavior. And so, after one glass, two, three, four, the change appeared.
Adel's eyes had grown hazy.
'He's drunk.'
Four glasses. Half a bottle. That was Adel's limit.
'I like this side of him too.'
Shane preferred people who couldn't hold their liquor over those who could. The reason was simple—she liked drunk men.
'So cute.'
In Shane's heart, Adel's presence was growing larger by the day.
'......Then what about his drunken habit?'
She had confirmed his tolerance. But the most important part—his behavior while drunk—still remained.
"Adel."
"......?"
But before that, couldn't she indulge her own desires a little? Offering the drink had been for her own sake to begin with, so there was nothing stopping her now.
"Sit next to me."
Scrape.
Adel obeyed without a single complaint.
'......Huh?'
No matter how drunk and out of his mind he was, she expected him to at least ask why. His immediate obedience felt strange. It was almost like he was submitting to her words.
"Adel, can you give me your hand?"
Swoosh.
Adel raised his hand without a word. Looking at it, Shane asked, "Can I hold it?"
There was a hint of selfishness in the request, but what did it matter?
'He could still refuse.'
If her guess was right, he wouldn't turn her down.
"......"
Adel nodded.
Squeeze.
She interlaced their fingers and said, "Hug me."
"......"
"Hm? Hug me."
"......"
Adel stared at her for a moment, then drew his body closer.
Tight.
He wrapped her in his arms.
'Just as I thought.'
Her prediction had been correct. It seemed Adel's drunken habit was an inability to refuse requests.
"Hehe."
Shane let out a happy little nasal sound.
'This is bliss.'
Using his drunken state to tease him or fulfill her selfish desires—there could be no greater happiness. But apart from that, she decided she needed to make sure he never drank without her around.
'Who knows what sly little vixens might try to get him drunk and seduce him.'
Given Adel's looks and personality, it wouldn't be surprising at all if something like that happened.
'Shall we head out now?'
She could drink more, but Adel was clearly in no condition to continue.
"Adel. You can stop hugging me now. Let's get up."
At her words, he released her and stood. 'How cute.' The way he followed her commands like a well-trained puppy made her heart melt.
Whoosh!
As soon as he took a step, Adel's body swayed dangerously. Shane caught him before he could fall. She naturally slipped his arm over her shoulder, paid the bill, and left the restaurant with him.
"......"
"......"
They walked in silence for a while before she asked, "Adel, is it okay if I keep holding you like this?"
"......Yeah."
He clearly wasn't in his right mind, but she had gotten her answer.
"Hehe."
Smiling, Shane turned her head slightly.
'Where should we go?'
The time she'd seen before leaving the restaurant was seven o'clock. Telling him to head back to the dormitory would probably work, but she didn't want to do that.
'It's the weekend anyway.'
Since tomorrow was the weekend, there was no need to return to the dormitory.
'Not that it matters usually.'
Missing curfew wouldn't be a problem. They could simply stay at a nearby inn for the night. Money was all that mattered, and she had plenty of it.
"......"
Staring at a particular spot, Shane began walking.
"Ugh......"
My head hurt. It felt like someone was pounding on it nonstop. A terrible headache and the sharp smell of alcohol filled my senses. I knew this was a hangover.
"Where...... am I?"
I fought through the dizziness and pushed myself up into a sitting position. The bed felt soft. A scent that mixed alcohol with perfume hung in the air.
Curious, I opened my eyes.
"......Where is this?"
I saw the bed I'd been lying on and two doors.
'It looks like an inn, at least.'
But one question rose above everything else.
'Why am I here?'
I had definitely been drinking with Shane just moments ago. But that was all I could remember. In cruder terms, the film had snapped.
'What happened?'
There probably hadn't been anything strange. Shane was stronger than me, so there was no way she could have done anything weird.
I pushed down the nausea and dizziness to get a grasp on the situation and rose from the bed. Focusing my mind as much as I could, I heard a sound.
Splash.
'......Water?'
It was coming from behind one of the doors.
'Why all of a sudden?'
Just as I thought that, the sound stopped with a drip. There was a faint rustle, then the door opened.
"......"
A woman with red hair stepped out. She wore a red robe, as if she'd just finished showering.
"You're awake?"
Shane looked completely unfazed at the sight of me.
'I'm the one in danger here.'
Her figure and skin, which had been partially hidden by her academy uniform, were now clearly visible. I didn't know where to look. The moment the thought crossed my mind, I quickly turned my head away.
"Um...... So, Shane?"
"Yes?"
"What happened?"
I woke up with a headache, alone, while a woman came out of the shower. It was a little difficult to piece together the situation.
At my question, Shane gave a sad smile, as if asking whether I truly remembered nothing.
"We...... had a wonderful night together."
The moment I heard those words, my foggy mind snapped into focus.
"......Huh?"
"You don't remember...?"
I immediately turned back to look at her. She wore an expression like she was about to cry.
"Ah, um, that...... Shane."
When I couldn't say anything, she spread her arms.
"......Hmph. Hug me."
It was a small mumble, but I heard it clearly. In a situation where I had no idea what was going on and it seemed like I'd made some terrible mistake, I had no choice but to grant her request.
Squeeze.
The moment I hugged her, Shane pulled me tightly against her.
'......This is dangerous.'
I tried my best to keep a neutral expression.
"So...... what happened?"
Even though I tried to sound casual, the serious tone in my voice remained. When I asked directly, Shane's expression changed.
"Pfft."
"......?"
She suddenly burst out laughing.
"Adel, you got drunk and we came to the inn. You really don't remember?"
The sad expression had vanished, replaced by a bright smile. I realized the whole thing had been a joke.
"Sigh......"
Cold sweat ran down my back. If I'd had any memory of it, maybe it wouldn't have been so bad, but the complete blank made my heart pound even harder.
'......I need to be more careful.'
I had no idea how much I'd actually drunk. Still, I decided I should drink far less than that from now on.
"Um, can you let go for now?"
It really felt like things would get dangerous if we stayed like this any longer. At my words, Shane shook her head.
"No. You said it was okay for me to do this."
"When......?"
"When you were drunk."
What on earth had I done while intoxicated?
'......Since I can't remember any of it.'
I would have to hear it all from Shane's mouth. I stood up and moved to sit on the edge of the bed, since talking while standing felt awkward. Shane, who had been hugging me, sat right behind me. It was a back-hug position on the bed.
'......This feels like we're lovers.'
It wasn't unpleasant. In fact, it felt nice. But Shane and I weren't in any kind of relationship.
'Are we?'
I pushed the thought away, silently chanting a mantra of endurance, and asked her, "How much did I drink?"
Shane looked at me like I was adorable.
"Half a bottle."
"......Half a bottle?"
"Yes."
Shane whispered the words into my ear. The sudden warmth of her breath made me shiver.
"Puhu."
She seemed to find my reaction amusing.
"Did I really only drink half a bottle?"
"Yes. The glasses were pretty large, so you only had four. But you collapsed right around the time the two of us had finished one bottle together."
Shane had no reason to lie to me, so it must be true.
'That's pretty bad.'
Considering how everyone around me treated two bottles as the bare minimum, this was quite severe.
"......Is that bad?"
It was a question about my poor tolerance. I'd mostly been muttering to myself, but Shane answered anyway.
"No? I like it."
Her pure, giggling laugh tickled my ear.
'What exactly did I do?'
It seemed I'd done something while drunk. But I didn't want to know.
'It feels like I'd want to die if I found out.'
I had no desire to dig up my own dark history. If it wasn't a dark history, that would be a relief.
"Nothing special happened. Since I was the only one who saw it, you don't have to worry."
The combination of "nothing special" and "don't worry" somehow made me even more anxious. Shane was still smiling happily.
'I'm sleepy.'
The hangover hadn't fully worn off, so whether it was a remedy or not, I just wanted to sleep. That was when I closed my eyes.
'Ah?'
A fragment of yesterday's memory suddenly floated up.
"......"
I realized exactly what I had done.