“Uhahaha. It’s delicious!”

Groovy, with a completely flushed face, was in the midst of eagerly receiving and drinking the alcohol that nobles offered him.

He had heard people in prison talking about alcohol when he was confined there.

When people lose their freedom, they often long for many things and lament their fate, but whether man or woman, what they shouted for the most was this alcohol.

However, Groovy never empathized with it.

What’s the deal with alcohol?

What does it taste like?

So, what’s so good about drinking it!

“It’s insanely delicious!”

It felt mysterious and exhilarating, as if flying around the world.

His eyeballs spun round, and he felt breathless, as if he had sprinted at full speed.

Until now, Groovy had never fully realized that he was outside the world.

The events of going to the north conspicuously as the captain of the guards were not events that could be accepted as ordinary.

And, above all, the reason why Groovy himself couldn’t enjoy freedom was the thought that he might return to prison.

But now the situation had completely changed.

Vercheria had given him complete freedom.

“Qua!”

No matter how much he thought about it, there was no more refreshing saying than this.

Every time he thought that he didn’t have to go back to prison, his chest swelled, and he felt overwhelmed by his emotions.

Groovy, while laughing heartily, wiped away the tears that had come out without anyone noticing.

“Oh my. Groovy. You’re really good at drinking.”

“Look at this skin. How can it be so fair like a girl?”

Young ladies who couldn’t usually attend imperial parties due to their low status gathered around Groovy, exclaiming.

The party they belonged to was not as large, and there was no smiling youth as elegant and beautiful as Groovy.

Well, he hadn’t seen the appearance of being blonde in the first place.

“Now, Groovy, drink more.”

The woman sitting next to him poured the wine she was holding into Groovy’s cup.

Contact between unmarried men and women in Ferriat was prohibited, but in places unknown to anyone, debaucheries were rampant.

The emperor, who had to protect the conservative empire, was not interested in such matters.

If only the two kept their mouths shut, they could enjoy their private lives without anyone knowing.

“Wahaha. This is exciting.”

The moment Groovy, bouncing his buttocks, brought the cup to his lips.

A large hand blocked the entrance of his cup.

Drunk Groovy, unaware of the action, touched his lips to the back of the stranger’s hand.

“Eteut!”

As if annoyed, he spat out saliva and looked up, only to find a man looking down at him.

With long hair tied back to his waist and dressed in knightly attire, he was a man.
The brown eyes, completely drained of color and appearing transparent, were incredibly memorable, but the facial features were delicately balanced on the border between handsomeness and ordinariness.

At first glance, it seemed handsome, but looking closely, it was a somewhat awkward and pitiful face.

“Stop drinking, brother.”

Groovy asked, furrowing his brows.

“Who are you? Do you happen to know me?”

The unfamiliar man replied, scrunching his eyebrows just like Groovy.

“I don’t know.”

“…Then, who are you?”

“Ha.”

The man, about the size of a door in a typical room, snatched the cup Groovy was holding, placed it on the table, and even occupied the adjacent seat.

He swept back the hair flowing down over his small face compared to his build and said, “My name is Giancarlo Costerville. Just remember me as a handsome man among the top ten in the capital.”

“…?”

Groovy briefly looked back on the time he thought he had met all sorts of strange people in prison.

Perhaps there were more strange people outside the prison.

“I’m just saying because I feel sorry for you. As a piece of advice, never forget to be cautious around women anywhere in the capital from now on.”

Costerville said, leaning close to Groovy.

“Especially for handsome men like you and me, it’s a very dangerous place.”

Groovy’s face, captured by Costerville’s golden eyes as he raised his eyebrows, was tinged with awkwardness.

When Vercheria extended her palm, a silver butterfly flew onto her hand and gently perched.

It was a beautiful creature, too beautiful to have taken someone’s life and wounded their soul.

Vercheria emerged from under the bed with the butterfly flapping its wings and spread her palm in front of Lachlan and herself.

“This is the parallel butterfly.”

“It’s fascinating to see it for real.”

“As it moves its wings, can it fly on its own?”

When Lachlan reached out his hand, the parallel butterfly flapped its wings a few times and perched on his palm again.

“I know it can move very slightly depending on the will of the person nearby. It doesn’t act or move on its own.”

“I see.”

The reason why she predicted that Lachlan would easily find the parallel butterfly when he entered the empress’s room was because of this.

Vercheria’s gaze at the butterfly fluttering its wings was complex.