Chapter 16: Monster Subjugation (IX).
"I do not care, men or women, they're the same to me. I would love anyone as long as they can stay by my side."
Those words... were genuine as can be.
For her past life... no one was able to stay for as long as they could.
The woman from another world looked up at the beautiful stars, wondering if one of them was earth. She laughed feeling how awful this whole situation is, her past life- everything there was something to look forward to. "T-That's... hurgh... just how I am."
Now she... has to continue the story in hopes of getting home.
Sebastian understood what she was trying to say- he has watched many nobles fall for that exact same reason.
To stay by someone's side, in sickness and in health.
Rich or poor.
"And you're drunk." He carried the young lady, her arm draped by his shoulder and thought how nice it is that she's thinking for her own now too. At their age, it's nice to see that young people know what they want. "Let's go back to our inn, you have a whole life ahead of you to find such a person."
"Hurk-!"
Olivia wanted to puke and so she did in one of the houses along the way.
"Blegh..." (Sebastian) waited for an hour before getting back on track again. He should've
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Town of Alamana: Porai's Inn
===
As they arrived back at the inn, the innkeeper was waiting to close and just in time the two got there before she could close her doors. She noticed that Olivia was barely conscious and flushed red, looking drunk. It seems that they've had their fun out in the tavern.
"O-Oh dear is she drunk?" The innkeeper asks Sebastian and he chuckles slightly with a nod.
"Yep, not the first time I've seen her drunk not to worry. I might've taken a few swigs myself but I'll just get this little lass to her room and leave." He waved the innkeeper a quick goodbye before heading to Olivia's room where the girl that they've saved was sleeping.
"O-Okay! Take care!" The innkeeper waved slowly as she locked the door of her inn to rest for the night.
Olivia could hear their brief conversation and frowned because she realised she was being carried, she didn't like to be taken care of- after all she's a full fledged adult!
"..."
At least on the inside.
"Ungh... I can stand on my own, Sebastian."
She's an irresponsible drunk adult.
"You brat, you drank too much and even puked on the side of a house." He was honestly getting flashbacks from his time when taking care of her father, back then the young Lord Owyn often became drunk like this.
'I say we duel somebody tonight!' The young Lord would tell and started pestering his elder brother to fight with him despite being drunk. 'Brother! I found a lovely bar with wonderful women! Why not go and visit with me?!'
'Lord Owyn no!'
Olivia stumbled with every other step, her boots scuffing against the wooden floor of the inn's hallway. Her cheeks were still hot, laughter spilling out of her lips in uneven bursts as Sebastian half-carried, half-dragged her along by the arm.
"Keep your feet under you," he muttered, adjusting his grip before she could topple over entirely.
"I am keeping my feet under me!" She slurred proudly, promptly tripping over absolutely nothing. She leaned heavily into him, giggling like a child caught sneaking sweets. "See? Perfectly steady."
"You're drunk, milady. Please don't make this harder for me." You think she would've learned her lesson after the time she slept with the heroine being drunk and making the worst life choices known in mankind.
"You lie... I am an awesome businesswoman who has never puked in my life, I have trained... so much in order to be respected by my other peers in the company. I am the best at drinking alcohol! But this cursed... physical body hurgh... is weak! No tolerance at all!" She glared at her own reflection in one of the mirrors that was on the wall and pointed a finger at herself. "The best this bitch could do is two bottles of wine-! Back in my day I could do three and a half!"
"I don't understand what the hell you're saying." Sebastian's sigh was deep enough to shake the rafters. "You're hopeless. After last time, you'd think-"
She groaned into her sleeve, the memory cutting through the ale's haze like a blade. "That night... ugh... Did I ever tell her that she was delectable wine?! Hah! What an allegation! How dare she accuse me of that-?! Hahaha!"
Her laugh turned into a muffled whine.
Truly, it was the worst life choice recorded in the annals of mankind. And yet here she was again, drunk off her feet on nothing more than tavern ale, clearly having learned absolutely nothing.
Sebastian exhaled through his nose, shoulders slumping the moment he got her to her door. "Thank god we're at your door. Off you go." He gave her one last nudge forward, hand slipping from her arm.
Olivia wobbled a little before catching herself on the doorframe, turning to him with a lazy grin. "Thanks, pal. You know..." she pointed a finger at his chest, nearly missing, "...once I get out of my own red flag, I'll make sure to remember you."
Sebastian said nothing more and closed the door on her feeling tired.
Sebastian pinched the bridge of his nose, muttering under his breath, "She's really worrying to be with when drunk."
Olivia who was still near the door heard his mutters and her laugh came out too loud for the quiet hallway.
"Worrying? Moi? I'm a delight!" She nearly toppled backward.
He shook his head, voice low and firm, deciding to get out of there fearing the noblewoman's sharp hearing. "A handful. That's what you are."
...
"Hngh..."
A wave of dizziness hit Olivia as she pushed the door closed behind her. The corridor swayed for a moment; the tavern ale still sang at the edges of her mind, a sour warmth that made her fingers tremble.
Mariana was there in her new clothes, curled beneath the thin blanket, breathing even and slow.
"..." The heroine's face looked impossibly calm in sleep. The line of her jaw softened, lashes resting like the wings of a colorful butterfly she would often chase as a child, the faint rise and fall of her shoulders- the villainess observed it all.
For a foolish, intoxicated second Olivia had expected fireworks or bluster, but instead there was only peace.
"Mariana..." She called the name in a small, guilty whisper.
She had been a mess on the way back- laughing too loud, stumbling, nearly dragging Sebastian into her second round of puking session. But the sight of Mariana, so harmless and alive, knotted something painful and fierce inside Olivia.
"Oh... Mariana." The bravado leaked away; only a raw, stupid fear remained. Kneeling beside the bed, she steadied herself on the mattress with both hands and leaned forward until her forehead nearly touched the heroine's shoulder.
"You make me worry too much," (Olivia) murmured, voice rough with wear and the alcohol still clinging to it. "Don't you know... everything will be in vain if you die?"
The noblewoman named Olivia Alarie was worried.
"Please let me go back to my own world... My parents must be worried about me. They're old- and it breaks my heart to see their once dark hair turning grey. Their once youthful faces... turning wrinkled. If I had known that playing that game would lead me to this... then I wouldn't have played it." (Olivia) felt small, smaller than she had in months.
She had been reckless, careless; she'd slept when she shouldn't have, had done things she would never admit while sober.
And that thought- Mariana gone because of her- was a nightmare.
"I can't go home... if you die." (Olivia) continued, each sentence a confession. "I'll be nothing if you die- this world won't go beyond the story if you're gone. I've changed a part of the plot and I fear... I won't be able to return to my own world if I mess with yours."
She pressed her hand flat against the blanket, as if anchoring herself to the present, to the fact that Mariana's chest was still rising beneath it.
"..."
The scenery was beautiful. Too beautiful for someone like her to disturb.
Mariana lay there like a fairy-tale vision, the kind of girl destined to be kissed awake by a prince, not watched over by villainess drunk on regret.
But Olivia could not look away.
The thought gnawed at her- this peace was fragile.
Unfortunate nights and days like this one could come again.
Fate was cruel, and the story she knew promised danger ahead.
If disaster struck, only she could stand in the way.
Only she could guard Mariana.
She trusted no one else.
"Only I can keep you safe."
"...?!" Her fingers curled tight against the blanket. A bitter smile tugged at her lips hearing such an intriguing thing she just muttered.
'Only I can keep her safe?'
What an irony.
"Why in the hell... did I say that?" The role carved out for her in this tale was no guardian, but the opposite.
The ones meant for that role are the love interests not her.
Someday, she would be forced to raise her hand against the heroine, to wear the mask of betrayal and cruelty. Her role as the villainess, one day she'll be the one who'll attempt harm for the heroine.
Did she think just because she saved her from a bunch of goblins now means she can save her moving forward?
If not for the role she was given, then...
"..."
But here, in the quiet of this room, with only moonlight as witness, Olivia Charlotte Alarie abandoned that mask. For tonight, she was only Olivia, the flawed, frightened woman who adored the heroine in the story she played in her younger years.
"Hah... goodnight, I'll... be with you... till you wake up. As promised... you're safe now."
She stayed there on her knees, chin resting on folded arms, watching the heroine sleep as the night deepened. The headache throbbed, but the fear receded enough to be replaced by a steady, protective warmth. Drunk or not, she meant every syllable- meant to guard this heroine whose existence had somehow become the hinge on which her world turned.
Outside the thin wall, the inn creaked and the town slept. Olivia didn't even realize her hand had moved until her fingers brushed the warmth of Mariana's. Instinctively, she held on like glue.
The heroine's hand was soft, unguarded- trusting even in sleep.
Olivia let her thumb rest gently against it, a fragile promise she could never speak aloud.
Her eyelids grew heavy, the ache in her head fading as exhaustion took over. With her last conscious thought, she prayed- futilely- that fate might bend just once.
That this hand she held will be safe from harm.
Harm that will be made by the villainess.
And then, with her grip still around Mariana's, Olivia finally surrendered to sleep.
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