Chapter 169
Chapter 169
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 169
>Chapter Title: Does Alcohol Taste Bitter to You?
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The symphony of the orchestra flowed softly through the banquet hall.
“Ahem, excuse me. I’m the second son of the Jerimin Baron family…”
“Have you seen the entries for this year’s Laura Competition? So many new painters submitted works.”
“Did you hear? Just the other day, Lortel’s one stroke…”
Young people wandered the hall in search of connections, nobles blossomed conversations about culture, art, and society at large—and only one person stood apart.
Aster alone took in the scene in solitude.
He had moved to the railing on the second floor, gazing down at the first floor with half-dead eyes, his insides churning bitterly.
*Why?*
It was too beautiful a sight, stirring doubt in him.
*This isn’t the nobility I know.*
What were nobles, anyway?
Cruel and vicious creatures brimming with malice. Beings who looked down on the lowly and idolized the highborn—quintessential predators of the weak.
Yet what was this peaceful landscape, these refined conversations?
It was around then that Aster sensed someone approaching.
“Aster, why are you by yourself?”
“…It’s you, Chenbi.”
Aster turned with a spark of delight, only for it to fizzle out as his shoulders slumped.
Chenbi had apparently just arrived; down on the first floor, his family was being guided by Ransi.
Aster watched the scene for a moment before glancing at Chenbi.
“Chenbi, does alcohol taste bitter to you?”
“You’re my student.”
“Oh, right.”
Come to think of it, he was still a student now.
Of course, students weren’t forbidden from drinking entirely, but Chenbi was as distant from vice as Aster himself.
Meanwhile, Chenbi tilted his head at Aster’s oddly deflated demeanor.
The guy had always been a bit off, but now he seemed even more peculiar.
Just a few hours ago, he hadn’t been… well, normal, exactly.
*Now that I think about it, he was already acting strange earlier, but it’s worse now.*
He’d brushed it off as usual eccentricity before, but something seemed genuinely wrong.
“Aster, got something weighing on you?”
It was right then that Aster, staring down at the first floor with gloomy eyes, turned to Chenbi with a sigh.
“Chenbi, do you believe in fate?”
“Fate? Why bring up fate out of nowhere?”
Chenbi narrowed his eyes at the sudden talk of destiny.
*Puberty hitting him?*
A chill ran down his spine.
He already had this vaguely unhinged vibe—what if it got worse? He couldn’t even imagine.
If that happened, he’d have to steer clear for a while.
He was steeling himself when Aster’s words rang in his ear.
“Suppose there’s a fate you can’t refuse.”
For now, Chenbi took a step sideways to create distance. As Aster’s puzzled gaze followed, Chenbi changed the subject.
“So? Keep going.”
“You want to avoid it. You try everything, but you just can’t escape it.”
“Yeah.”
“Then what do we do?”
“Hmm.”
Unable to grasp what he was getting at, Chenbi took another step sideways.
But he didn’t fully retreat.
He kept his body still, twisting only his neck to stare intently—a rather eerie sight, but his eyes held genuine seriousness.
So Chenbi pondered Aster’s words for a moment.
A fairly long silence passed.
Before long, the two stood side by side gazing down at the railing—and it was Chenbi who broke the quiet first.
“I don’t know what it’s about, but I’d be pretty torn up over it.”
“Right?”
“But I don’t think I’d just give up.”
“Give up? Even if you can’t avoid it?”
“Yeah. You don’t know the outcome until it actually hits. So you’ve got to do everything you can, right? Take that guy down there, for example.”
“Guy?”
Was he talking about some playboy type?
But the person Chenbi pointed to wasn’t that—it was a slick-looking young noble.
And why that guy?
“See?”
Chenbi nodded toward the noble and fell silent. Aster quietly observed the young man as well.
Was he looking for something?
The noble stood blankly in a corner of the hall, scanning the crowd.
After a while…
“What am I supposed to be…”
“Shh, he’s moving now.”
At Chenbi’s urgent whisper, Aster shifted his gaze back.
Sure enough, the young noble who’d been standing stock-still in the banquet hall began to walk.
He stopped at a table of young ladies, cleared his throat with an “ahem,” straightened his back, puffed out his chest, and spoke.
“E-excuse me. I’m Cyrus, second son of the Jerimin Baron family. If you have a moment…”
A bold approach, mustering some courage.
But the ladies’ response was icy. No—cruel.
“Hohoho! So, back then… Oh! What? Who did you say you were?”
“I’m Cyrus, second son of the Jerimin Baron family…”
“Yes, so?”
“If you have a moment…”
“Oh, uh-huh. Oh, yes. But what to do? We’re in the middle of a serious talk right now, so we probably don’t have time.”
It was an obvious lie.
They’d been laughing and chatting happily just moments ago.
If it really had been serious, it’d be one of two things: emotional hysterics with whiplash, or psychopaths lacking empathy.
Of course, the ladies were neither.
They’d simply rejected him politely.
But Cyrus of the Jerimin family didn’t back down.
“May I join? I’ve got my own worries too, even if I don’t look it…”
“No, we’re fine.”
“…Ah, yes.”
In the end, shoulders slumped, Cyrus trudged back to his original spot.
It was then that Chenbi’s voice came.
“That’s the third table I’ve seen him try.”
“…He’s insane. This isn’t some neighborhood social club. Hell, he’d get booted from one of those too…”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a deputy butler from the Blandoga family appeared from somewhere.
The deputy bowed politely to Cyrus and whispered something in his ear.
Moments later, Cyrus left the banquet hall, shoulders still drooped.
“He got got?”
“Yeah… he got got.”
He probably wasn’t actually kicked out. More like they’d politely suggested he step out for some air.
Anyway.
“But why that guy?”
Aster looked at Chenbi in confusion.
Yet for some reason…
Chenbi avoided eye contact, staring at the upper left sky at a 45-degree angle.
“I just… wanted to talk about how beautiful it is not to give up.”
“What? What’d you say?”
Aster tilted his head at Chenbi’s flat, monotone words. Chenbi’s focus returned right after.
“Ahem. That guy’s fate was rejection. Maybe he even knew it.”
“…So you decided his fate?”
“But he didn’t give up. Isn’t that the key? With effort like that, maybe you can overcome fate? That’s what I meant.”
“…He got kicked out, though?”
“That’s why I didn’t want to say it.”
“Heh.”
Aster burst out laughing at Chenbi’s awkward expression.
*Well, yeah.*
Things return to their proper place? What was that about the wyvern’s curse?
Honestly, it was all nonsense.
Where in the world was a wyvern ghost?
Even if there was one, wouldn’t it be with its father by now, not an egg?
At this point, he had to admit it.
*There’s no wyvern curse.*
It was all just self-consolation to explain his bizarrely harsh life.
With that thought, Aster shot to his feet like he’d had a seizure.
“Not bad.”
Chenbi took another step away and asked,
“…What isn’t?”
“The idea that it’s not over until it’s over. Not bad at all.”
“Oh… yeah? Sure?”
The end result had been rejection turning into ejection—what was good about it?
Chenbi wanted to ask sincerely but suppressed his curiosity.
*Yeah, whatever. As long as he’s perked up.*
As Chenbi’s eyes glazed over, Aster’s voice rang out right then.
“Chenbi, wanna shove me?”
“Huh?”
It was a reflexive response.
He didn’t know what, but his instincts screamed no.
But Aster ignored Chenbi’s reaction… no, he smiled as if enjoying it.
“Alright then. Have fun at the banquet.”
With that, Aster walked off.
*Yeah, it’s not over till it’s over.*
The path to Amera was wrong.
Not righteousness, but evil.
*Only the path I walk is justice.*
That was his mindset.
In the end, until the banquet’s star, Damian, arrived…
Aster couldn’t even brush past a single person’s sleeve.
Finally settling at a suitable table, Aster clutched the tablecloth.
“…Fuck.”
Even at this moment, not one person approached.
No, even if someone came now, there was no helping it. He couldn’t ruin someone else’s birthday just to fight…
A voice rang out then.
“Ransi, you heard?”
“Yes, I heard, Young Master Damian.”
Aster watched Damian, his eyelids twitching faintly.
Unlike usual, his hair was neatly combed back, platinum locks perfectly suiting his pristine white banquet attire.
“Nothing to say to your friend?”
“Aster’s fine.”
“Why?”
“A few curses won’t change anything.”
Aster watched their exchange quietly before cautiously speaking up.
“Damian, wanna shove me…”
“Nope. Whatever it is, no.”
At Damian’s firm refusal, Aster sighed deeply.
“Friend, what’re you doing alone? Go hang with Chenbi. You know he draws really well? Ask him to sketch you.”
Now there was truly… no choice.
Just enjoy the banquet.
* * *
The next day after the banquet ended.
Aster holed up in his room, refusing food and drink.
On the table sat an unfamiliar drawing.
*…Wyvern.*
Yes, a wyvern.
One he’d asked Chenbi’s younger brother, Chensla, to draw for him.
Strictly speaking, though, it wasn’t a real wyvern.
What was sketched on the parchment was a round egg.
Aster lovingly folded the parchment with the egg four times, tucked it into his bosom, and found peace of mind.
*The wyvern I imagine is inside here.*
It just hadn’t hatched yet.
Anyway, playtime was over.
“Ughhh…”
Aster stretched languidly and took in the view outside the window.
“How long have you been doing the breathing technique?”
Truth be told, Aster hadn’t holed up because of the failed wyvern.
It was to introspect his internals via Crimson Flame breathing.
And why the sudden introspection? It was due to the message magic from Henji he’d brushed past at yesterday’s banquet.
- Tomorrow, I’ll contact you. Be there on time.
He hadn’t had a chance to ask why amid the chaos.
But he had a guess.
*No way the Divine Heavenly Origin Art is ready already. Probably handing over books on core division.*
That’s why he’d introspected.
Core division.
He couldn’t just follow a book blindly, but preparation for contingencies was wise.
In other words, maintenance ahead of the Amera path—killing two birds with one stone.
Speaking of which.
“It’s about time.”
Right as he thought that.
Aster spotted Dinner No. 1 standing outside the window.
Tap tap.
Dinner No. 1 knocked on the window with displeased eyes.
Without hesitation, Aster exited the room through the window.
*You watching, wyvern?*
If you are, look somewhere else.
The sky was overcast.