Chapter 71 - In Alcohol Lies the Truth

“What are you saying all of a sudden…”

Leonard, who couldn’t even speak properly, lowered his arm and wiped his face roughly.

“Do you know what you just said?”

“Of course. Do you think I’m a fool?”

“No, there’s no way. If you knew, then you wouldn’t be able to stay this calm.”

Leonard’s seemed to be talking to himself, and his voice was buried by the words that were suddenly heard from the front.

“Huh? This is the last bottle.”

Diana jumped up from her seat while making a cocktail.

“I can’t leave it incomplete, so I’ll go get a new bottle! Just wait here a little longer!”

“Okay, see you!”

As I slightly waved my hand, Diana smiled broadly and nodded before leaving the room. As I heard the sound of the door closing, I turned my eyes back to the table again.

I’m going to try a different flavor later.

What should I drink? Should I try a red cocktail this time? No, the golden one over there looks delicious too…

“Lorena.”

“Yes?”

As I was thinking of what flavor to try this time, my hands that were wandering around were caught at once. I slowly turned my head at the warmth enveloping my hands. I could see Leonard staring at me with a slight frown.

“Stop drinking.”

“Why?”

“You’re drunk.”

“…No, I’m not.”

I answered with a broad smile as I burst into laughter without realizing it. Leonard sighed deeply at that.

I’m serious though. Why won’t he believe me? I’m just in a good mood that I feel like I’m flying.

“Just let me drink. I want to drink a little more today.”

“You can drink it another day. You’ve had enough today.”

“I can’t drink on another day. It has to be today.”

“Why must it be today? If someone saw, they might think that something happened today.”

“Huh? Something did happen today, didn’t you know?”

Leonard let go of my hands and stood up from his seat as my pronunciation began to twist a little.

“This won’t do. You’re really drunk right now. Let’s get you back to your room quickly.”

Just as Leonard was about to hold my shoulder to lift me up, I grabbed Leonard’s hand in a hurry.

Where do you think we’re going? Do you know what a historic day today is?

Today’s the day I solved a problem I had been pondering about for a few days.

His red eyes widened at my unexpected behavior, and he turned to me. As I looked into his eyes, I raised a finger with a wide smile on my face. Then, I wrote some letters with my fingers on Leonard’s open palm.

Le-…o.

I tried to write some letters on Leonard’s palm as I did before. But, was it because the letters were too big? I couldn’t write Leonard’s entire name on his palm. What do I do? I need to write two more letters at the end. This was a problem.

“…There’s only Leo.”

“…”

“Why is there only Leo?”

When I tilted my head and looked up, I made eye contact with Leonard shortly after. Leonard shuddered when he sensed my gaze and his face was blazing red. It was much redder than when I whispered in his ear earlier.

“Honestly, you’re doing it on purpose, aren’t you?”

“What do you mean?” I asked while frowning.

Then, Leonard sighed softly and pulled my hand in front of him. Leonard, who was on one knee in front of me, put his forehead on my hand. His forehead touching the palm of my hand was as hot as it looked.

“…Aren’t you acting like this because you know what will happen if you behave like this?”

“Are you perhaps mad that I wrote something on your palm?”

Leonard’s sigh deepened at my words. I could only see the top of Leonard’s head right now. But nevertheless, it was clear that he was quite frustrated.

“No, it’s the other way around.” Leonard said while clenching my hand tighter.

At that, it became harder for me to grasp Leonard’s thoughts any further.

…It seems like I’m really drunk.

Or was it because I was never able to form a decent relationship in my previous world?

Even so, I thought I had learned how to deal with people while dealing with all sorts of people in order to make money.

Of course, I never shared my feelings with a single one of them. Maybe that was why I lacked the skills in dealing with people. I quickly acknowledged that I was incapable of grasping Leonard’s inner thoughts.

As I was at a loss, I chose to ask the person in question directly. I had no choice since there was no way I could find out on my own.

“Leonard.”

“What is it? Are you trying to make my heart pound by saying something else?”

At his grumpy words, I opened my mouth gently while staring at Leonard’s soft black hair.

“If there’s anything you don’t like about me, tell me right away.”

“…What?”

At my words, Leonard lifted his forehead from my hand and looked up at me. I had no choice but to avert my gaze and looked somewhere else. It was because I couldn’t look straight at Leonard.

“You have to tell me so that I can fix it.”

“…”

“Of course, I’m a quick-witted person, so I’ll be able to notice it on my own. However, I might overlook it without realizing sometimes. It’s okay if you tell me in advance if you wish for me to act a certain way. Then, I’ll also adjust-…”

“Lorena.”

Leonard wrapped my hands in his and tried to make eye contact with me, as if he knew why I was averting my gaze.

“Did someone say something to you?”

No, no one said anything to me.

“It’s just my own thoughts.” 

“…”