Although I didn’t enjoy drinking much, drinking was one of the basic skills of a noble. The alcohol I had been exposed to little by little since I was a child was familiar, and above all, I took after my father and had a strong tolerance. Thanks to this, I had never been drunk before.

“Liviana, your face looks just like your mother’s, but inside, you’re completely like your father. Yes. Next time, I’ll have to bring Callan. I received it as a gift last time, but I wonder how strong it is.”

“Instead of thinking about making my daughter drink strong alcohol, why don’t you care about your son? After only two drinks, he’s like that.”

“I’m making your daughter drink because she’s your daughter. You don’t change your face color even when you drink poison. My son didn’t take after me at all, and he fell already. If that boy drinks Callan, it will be the day to clean up the dung.”

Perhaps it was because of the long time since I last drank, I became sentimental.

I put down my glass, recalling the day when I first started drinking.

The day I first encountered alcohol, a small party was held in Creighton.

It wasn’t an official party, and there were only five people attending the party, but everyone was happy and talking all night. And…….

“Can I hold your hand until the alcohol wears off?”

I scoffed at the suddenly remembered naive face of a man.

I even thought of such things, I must have really become sentimental.

I finished the remaining alcohol and slowly got up from my seat.

Just in case, I had drugged only Bake’s glass, so it would be hard for him to wake up easily.

I moved the sleeping Bake to the bed.

Moving an adult man was a troublesome task, but I couldn’t call a servant, so I had to deal with it alone, grumbling.

“Huff…….”

After losing memory, we were using different bedrooms, but there was no problem lying together because the bed itself was large.

I began to untie Bake’s cravat and then stopped. Seeing his exposed neck through the open shirt, my heart pounded anew.

I could kill him like this, couldn’t I? The murderer who killed my little daughter.

I grabbed Bake’s neck with my trembling hand.

Even though one hand was too much, two hands were enough to wrap around it. The pulse I felt in my palm was vivid. If I apply force here, it will be his end forever.

But I shouldn’t do that.

I swallowed my welling anger and slowly let go of my hand.

A peaceful death was unacceptable. The murderer who killed my daughter had to face the most miserable death.

Wasn’t that why I started this?

I took a deep breath slowly and reached out to the fallen Bake again.

In the quiet room, only the sound of unbuttoning echoed for a while.

How much did I drink yesterday?

Bake held his throbbing head.

For some reason, the hangover was worse than usual. But his mind returned faster than usual.

The bed he was lying on was quite unfamiliar.

Just like the back of his wife, which he hadn’t seen for a long time.

Bake dry swallowed, staring blankly at Liviana, who was doing her hair at the vanity.

Liviana, too, seemed to have just woken up, as she wore a thin gown over her chemise.

Wait, did I wake up?

Only then did Bake belatedly look around.

There were empty bottles and glasses in the room. It was what he had been drinking with Liviana yesterday. Then, this place is……

“Did you just get up?”

Before Bake could finish his thought, Liviana, sensing his presence, turned around.

The face of my barefaced wife was very pretty.

Bake stared blankly at her for a moment, then inadvertently swallowed when he spotted the white skin visible through the slightly open gown.

The skin bathed in the sunlight coming through the open window looked even whiter than usual.

“Well, yesterday……”

“You seemed to have drunk too much.”

“Ah, that is…….”

Bake tried to continue stuttering, but quickly shut his mouth. At the end of his gaze, clothes that looked like his were rolling on the floor.

Bake held his pounding heart as he gathered himself up. Looking down at his rumpled state, he was a far cry from his neat appearance yesterday.

It was enough to raise suspicions that something had happened overnight.

But his counterpart was Riviana.

With a mixture of anticipation and worry, Bake looked at Riviana.

“…Did I make a mistake?”

His marital life was so colorless that the times he had shared a bed with the real Riviana could be counted on one hand.

Riviana was a typical noble. It wasn’t that they could refuse marital duties for succession, but they also never really desired them.

Her health was frail, and after giving birth to Meriel, her body was destroyed, making it impossible to even dream.

There was a reason why he could not give up his relationship with Margaret. If he carelessly went to a brothel and got caught, not only would his nickname of “poor lover” be discredited, but it was obvious how Riviana would look at him.

In such a situation, Margaret was an incomparable substitute.

There might be women who are much more beautiful than Margaret, or women who resemble Riviana, but there was no woman who could impersonate Riviana as well as Margaret.

But no matter how well she impersonated her, she was a substitute.

Because no woman could be as perfect as Riviana.

Bake could not forget the shock of when he first met her.

That’s why he could not forget, and that’s why he wanted her even more.

And it was the same now.

“We are married, so it wouldn’t be a mistake, would it?”

“…Eh?”

“It was a bit hard though.”

Although he didn’t want to assume, looking at the shy reaction of his wife, he could not help but fumble under the sheets to check.

He was covered well with the blanket, but even his underwear was gone.

“Did we, last night…”

“You don’t have to say it out loud.”

As Riviana’s cheeks turned as red as a fully bloomed rose and she averted her eyes, Bake’s Adam’s apple bobbed significantly.