𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝟐: 𝐃𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐚-𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐞

She must have always liked alcohol. Dorothea-sama was initially hesitant, but she drank the wine. We watched her closely.

“It’s delicious… I don’t think I’ve ever had such a delicious wine.”

Saying so, Dorothea-sama drained the wine in her glass.

“I’m glad to hear that. Now, shall we move to the tea room and continue our chat while enjoying more? Cain-sama, would you join us?”

“Yes, please allow me to.”

To put it simply, Cain’s hypnosis worked. Mrs. Dorothea was in a good mood, laughing and chatting happily while drinking wine. If I hadn’t heard the story beforehand, I wouldn’t have thought she was the sharp-tongued person who cornered her son’s fiancée.

At one point, he held Cain’s hands, holding back tears, and bowed his head repeatedly, saying,

“Thank you. Thank you.”

The son, seeing his mother’s state, also bowed his head with a troubled look. It’s true that she doesn’t remember when she’s drunk.

He spoke to his mother, holding her shoulder.

“Mom, I’m glad you enjoyed the drink. It’s all thanks to everyone.”

“Yes, yes, that’s right. It was somehow fun. I wonder if it’s okay to drink alcohol now.”

“Yes, as long as you’re taking Ellen-sama’s medicine, you can enjoy drinking.”

Cain answered with a smile. The lady enjoyed the wine calmly until the end. She didn’t get drunk. He kept repeating “I’m glad” with a relieved laugh.

Eventually, he and Mrs. Dorothea left. As he was leaving, he looked truly happy. May happiness be with that parent and child.

“Hey, Cain. I wonder if it was necessary to make my medicine a condition. If the hypnosis is working, wouldn’t it be okay not to take the stomach medicine?”

“No, the stomach medicine is necessary. Mrs. Dorothea’s emotional wounds are still in her heart. You can’t erase memories. Hypnosis is just like painting over it.”

“Paint?”

“Just like paint, hypnosis will peel off over time. It’s better for my hypnosis to activate each time you take your medicine, like repainting.”

“I see, so that’s how it is. You’re amazing, Cain. How did you learn hypnosis?”

“The mother who gave birth to me, she sent me a gift by ship once. She sent me a mountain of books. All of them were in Galavares language. From children’s books to difficult books for adults. She might have sent them on a whim. But one time, a relative who came to our house while my father was away burned them in the garden. They said Galavares books were unnecessary. It was like a big bonfire. The only book that survived the fire was a book on hypnosis. There were also many books on mathematics, literature, and medicine.”

“That’s… I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s okay. I hated the mother who abandoned me since I was little, but I couldn’t throw away that book. I learned Galavares language and read it over and over again. I read it until I memorized it completely. It was the first and last gift from my mother. And I sought the teachings of experts and learned the practice.”

“I see.”

“I’m going to become the king of Galavares. It’s definitely a puppet regime, and I might be targeted again, but I finally have a place where I belong. I’ll do my best to be useful to both countries.”

“Cain, I’ll make and give you all kinds of antidotes I can make. I’ll send new ones when they get old. So please live a long life and become a good king.”

“Yes, that’s the plan. Although, I hope I won’t need the antidote.”

Cain, smiling, said, “Come visit Galavares when things settle down,” and left my house holding a bundle of various antidotes. My mother was quiet.

“I pray that those antidotes will be wasted.”

“Yes, Okaa-sama. I think so too.”

While having a heartfelt conversation, my mother and I refilled our wine.

“We don’t get drunk, so it’s a waste to drink such expensive wine.”

“That’s true. But it’s delicious when you drink it.”

“I wonder if Stephan drinks wine.”

“I think he does.”

“Why don’t you have some good wine delivered and drink it together?”

・・・

『”𝐀𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬.𝐜𝐨𝐦” – 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐜𝐚p𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 “𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬” 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 “𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬”.』

・・・

“So, why is Ellen-sama recommending wine to me? And such a high-class one at that.”

“I just thought I’ve never seen Stephan drunk.”

“What do you intend to do by getting me drunk?”

“What to do… I wonder what will happen.”

“Nothing will happen. I might just get a little giddy. I’m not as good as Ellen-sama, but I can hold my liquor.”

“Oh, is that so? I’m both relieved and disappointed.”

I wanted to see the always serious Stephan acting giddy. We were having a late-night banquet in the dining room, just the two of us. I kept pouring wine for Stephan.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had wine.”

“You’ve been at war for a long time and you were injured.”

We finished two bottles of wine (mostly Stephan), and when we opened the third, Stephan started to chuckle. I was excited, thinking he was getting drunk.

“Oh? I thought I heard voices. Is it you two? Can I join in?”

My father came in cheerfully. Stephan immediately straightened up.

Oh no. The atmosphere was good and Stephan was just starting to get drunk!

“Otou-sama is really easy-going.”

“What’s that? Is that a compliment or an insult?”

“I don’t know.”

Stephan was troubled by the light parent-child quarrel. I felt sorry for him.

“I’m sorry, Stephan, let’s go to that bar just the two of us next time.”

“Yes, by all means.”

“Ellen, aren’t you going to invite me?”

“…”

I think my father is really insensitive after all.

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