1. Gallo and Neriel
The sunlight poured down hotly on the window.
Neriel opened her eyes, feeling the air in the room warming up.
“Ugh, my head..."
Neriel groaned, her lips cracking.
Her head was pounding, her throat was parched, and her lips were so dry they felt like they were about to crack.
It was easy to tell that the faint smell of alcohol in the air and the messy hair were all signs of a hangover.
When did you start drinking this much?
Last night, she was reminded of the many drinks she had downed in a row as she was swept up in Tom's promotion to Vice-Captain of the Imperial Guard.
"Neriel! As classmates who has support each other for ten years, we should show our loyalty! Let's have one more drink together, yes? Just one more drink?"
That one glass was the problem.
The sun outside the window was already in the middle of the sky.
'Today is the day when all the Empress guards gather, oh my God.'
In order not to lose face as Her Majesty's direct escort, she had to set off quickly.
Just as she was about to lift her heavy body while holding her temples, an unfamiliar warmth touched the back of Neriel's hand.
"Ugh..."
The bundle of quilts moved with a low-pitched moan.
Is it an assassin?
Neriel's instinct surged violently.
However, as she reflexively groped under the pillow, only the smooth sheet touched her hand.
And she realized.
'My... It's not my room."
A velvet canopy bed embroidered with gold threads, a thick wool carpet on the floor, and even silver glasses and wine bottles on the table next to the bed.
That the place where she happened now was not the imperial palace.
"Hmm..."
Very close to her, she heard the noise of a stranger again.
At the same time, an ominous aura flowed down Neriel's back. She slowly turned her head.
'Wait, what are those knife marks...'
Chocolate-colored back muscles, shiny in the sun, straw-colored hair. And a clear scar that stretched from the cheek to the bottom of the ear.
'Gallo...?'
"Aak...!"
Neriel unknowingly thrust her fist into her mouth and swallowed the screams that leaked out.
"Why..."
Gallo, the head of the Facade, the master's husband's closest friend, and god of war.
Why are you lying next to me now?
'What the hell, why, how?'
A question that could not be answered seemed to strike Neriel on the head with a cast Iron.
"Now I'm going. My friend, you haven't changed at all. Are you going back to the Imperial Palace? Please send my regards to Her Majesty Medea."
After the drinking party was over, on the way back to the Imperial palace, Gallo and Terence asked to accompany her, saying that they had something to report to the Emperor anyway.
Then, Terrence left first. He received an emergency summons call from the Magic Tower, or something.
"I'm sorry, Sir Neriel. Don't worry, just leave this guy on the street. You should hurry and go back to the palace and rest."
"Maari, hmm, that's too much, brother. What kind of burden am I? Where can you throw me away? I'm the only one receiving the protection of Sir Neriel right now, right? You wouldn't leave a weakling like me alone on the street at night, would you?"
"Stop talking nonsense and just spread what I said."
Gallo's cheerful face died. His shoulders were also slumped.
Normally, she would have been reluctant to be left alone with him, but she felt a little sorry for the grass being dead, so Neril shook her head.
'It's okay. Don't worry. I'll take Gallo to His Majesty's office."
When her voice and body were not disturbed, Terrence left with peace of mind.
But in fact, Neriel was quite drunk at that time.
"Sir Neriel!! Look, it looks fun!"
She is led by Gallo, who doesn't know where he will go, and even calmly overcomes the unexpected situation of falling into a side road in the middle.
In the end, on the night street of the festival with a night market under the moonlight, the two of them had another drink before they knew it.
Moderately secluded noise. The sound of cheerful music and the cool night breeze brushing against her cheeks. And even the delicate man in front of her.
A sip of sweet alcohol softened the distance between the two.
One cup like that, two glasses.
Little by little, you start to talk about things you don't usually talk about, and you learn things you didn't know...
Then a drunken Gallo came to her face.
"Sir Neriel, hiccups. Don't you like me?"
"Yes?"
"Sir Neriel is my heart... You know everything. I know that the answer is that you push me away every time and pretend not to see it..."
Gallo has tried countless times to get closer to Neriel, but has never succeeded.
She rejected all the gifts he carefully handed over.
Not to mention the flowers and jewels of common courtship, she pushed away the personal belongings that Gallo gave her as if she were taking off a crane altogether.
"If you don't like your favorite weapon, what can I give to Sir Neriel?"
If it weren't for being together as a group like now, or when she was drunk, she couldn't even dream of meeting him alone.
"Be honest with me. I won't be offended if you tell me you're uncomfortable and offended by a stranger whose origins you don't even know."
Neriel was a little embarrassed and made an excuse that she didn't like it. Then Gallo leaned on her shoulder and began to cry.
The big man, like a black bear, buried his face in her shoulder and grunted, and the eyes of those around her were focused on her.
The gaze was so stinging that Neriel eventually went outside to avoid the people who were stinging.
"Wow... Great.... I want to save the spear sword..."
"Hey... Sir... stop crying..."
"To the Alpensia dwarfs, I bent down so that my back was bent... You told me to take it without unpacking it..."
Only after she finally patted him on the back did he raise his head.
"Your eyes are red."
The cheek was also soaked with tears, and even the darkened beard marks were soaked with moisture.
That means the distance was close enough to notice it.
And then, at all times, she thought his face, illuminated by the dim moonlight, was quite charming.
Neriel, who woke up from a dream, bit her lip.
Her eyes continued to look down at her body. The reason the sun was so particularly hot was that...
"..."
Because she wasn't wearing pajamas either.
And only a little too late did she notice her clothes strewn across a corner of the soft-looking wool carpet.
The sight of her clothes, as well as the other person's, in a messy mess, spoke volumes about the intense moment last night.
"Damn."
A silent scream erupted.
She didn't drink so impulsively. If it weren't for alcohol, she wouldn't have done such a crazy thing that would never have happened even if she lived forever.
Will I just die?
It was time for Neriel to completely lose her usual composure.
"Uh... Sir Neriel, sleep a little longer..."
Gallo looked up at the rustling sound.
As he moved, the muscles under his spine twitched like a dragon belching.
"Wait. I'm doing this for another five minutes. Or hold me all day."
His tone of voice as he looked up at her, rubbing his sleepy eyes, was full of charm.
Neriel stroked him like a large dog, and Gallo's hand wrapped around her waist was astonishing and somehow unfamiliar.
"Why don't you go with me just a little longer, huh!"
Was it her instinct as a knight to hit the back of his neck with her hand without realizing it...
Bam.
The Facade chief's presence subsided in an instant.
"...What should I do?"
For now, she stunned Gallo with an instinct to stop this situation, but that didn't erase what happened yesterday.
No, on the contrary, when she met his face, the memory of yesterday came back more vividly.
Neriel hurriedly packed her clothes and left.
"Guest, did you have a good night? Prepared breakfast - guests?"
As she climbed down the stairs to the lobby, a luxuriously dressed manager tried to greet Neriel.
However, with her head down, she took out all the money in her pocket, gave it to the man, and hurried out.
"Wednesday, you have already paid for the accommodation..."
Leaving behind the manager's embarrassed shouts, she left like a gust of wind.
Neriel stopped and gasped for breath only when the building she had escaped from was out of sight.
She had a fever on the nape of her neck.
Neriel covered her face with her cold hands, but the warmth on her fingertips did not cool down.
"Hah."
Things got out of control.
Oh no. Swallowing the curse again, Neriel wiped her dry face.
Omg😭 i didn’t expect them
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