[47.4] True Love's *Drunken* Kiss

I heard gurgling and turned to discover the source of the noise.

Marx's face was completely submerged in the fountain and bubbles were popping up beside him.

"Oh crap!!!" I rushed over to him in a panic, "Is he still alive?! Oi! ANSWER ME!"

Rebecca calmly pulled his now corpse from the water, "Relax. We just need to do CPR."

I blinked in confusion, "Do you… Know how?"

She nodded and brushed her hair back. She raised her hand…

Then suddenly brought it down on Marx's stomach.

He sat up as he sprayed, what I could only hope was sooju, everywhere.

"..."

My face twitched in disbelief.

I… I don't think that was CPR…

Marx turned to Rebbecca slowly and made a face, "Drowned… I drowned… Again…"

Rebecca met his gaze wearing her prudish expression, "Once a drowned rat, always a drowned rat."

He stared at her silently.

I looked between the two feeling an unknown tension building up.

Marx opened his mouth, "I-"

He promptly collapsed on the ground.

Rebbecca and I: "..."

I bent down and jabbed at his body with a stick, "Do you think he's dead now?"

She shook her head, "Unfortunately, he just blacked out."

"Ehhh… How much did he drink?"

"Probably the majority of that fountain."

"Gross."

"Yeah, I bet he will piss his pants in his sleep."

I looked up at her in shocked disgust.

She met my gaze, "What? That liquid has to go somewhere."

I clicked my tongue and stood up. I was feeling wobbly so I dug my toes into the ground to center myself. I sloppily pushed back my hair, "Should we leave him here then?"

"That seems mean."

"Oh? And calling him a drowned rat isn't?"

"He is a drowned rat."

"..."

"..."

I cleared my throat, "Then we can just drop him off at a carriage and have them deal with it."

"Alright."

We both grabbed a leg and dragged Marx away together.

I glanced back at the fountain as I pulled him, "Shouldn't you turn it back?"

Rebecca clicked her tongue, "Can't."

"Why not?"

"Don't know how."

"Oh…" I thought for a bit, "I'm sure it'll be fine."

Rebecca didn't look concerned, "The King will probably have it demolished anyways."

He would go that far?

Is it really that serious?

She suddenly changed the subject, "How do you know Marx?"

"He was my tutor when I was a child. But what about you? The two of you seemed really close earlier."

She looked at Marx with a soft smile, "He found me as a kid after my family was murdered. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't ever have gone to the Vanishing Island. I probably would have been hunted down and killed."

I slapped her back, dropping his leg in the process, "There's no need to worry. I got your back now. There's no way I'd let anyone hurt my drinking buddies or else my name isn't Reika Marlow!"

Rebecca laughed, "With the secrets shared between us today, I'd say we were friends!"

Hm…

Friends?

I thought about this for a moment before grinning ear to ear, "You know, I am actually not opposed to that!"

It's been a while since I've connected this much with another person.

It almost reminds me of home-

I shook off that feeling and waved down a coachman who was responsible for taking home guests. I motioned to Marx, "Are you able to drop my friend here off at his home?"

"Of course, I can be of service to you." The coachman faced me and politely asked, "May I ask where to bring him to?"

"..."

I slowly looked at Rebecca, "Say… Do you know where he lives?"

She shook her head, "No idea… Do you?"

I also shook my head, "I've only ever seen him sleep in the library."

"Eh. Whatever. He can sleep it off at my place."

The coachmen nodded, "And where does the Young Madame live?"

"I live- I live at… Um… Uh-" A dark expression covered her face, "I… I forgot."

I nearly fell over, "You forgot!?"

She looked at me sheepishly, "I just moved in, okay?! Anyone would forget!"

I thought hard for a secret then grinned, "I know a solution! You two can just stay with me!! Coachman! Bring us to the Academy!"

"With pleasure!" The Coachman helped us load Marx into the carriage and set off.

Rebecca produced more bottles of water and transformed them. As the carriage rolled to the Academy, we shared more drinks between the two of us.

I opened the window and felt the breeze rush across my face.

I let out a sigh, "Aaah~ It feels so good to drink again!"

Rebbecca hummed to herself happily, "Alcohol is just a distraction to help you avoid the source of your problem."

I sat back in the carriage and looked at her in regret, "Well d*mn. That's one way to ruin a mood."

She held out a bottle and sang, "Not my mood~"

"...You should really see a therapist." I hiccuped, "And I mean that as politely as possible."

"You know what I need?" She slapped her seat, "I need to play a drinking game. What do you say? Let's take a shot every time we hit a bump!"

I held out my drink, "Let's do it!!!"

After hitting far too many bumps, we finally arrived at our destination. When we climbed out of the carriage, empty bottles fell out with us.

I hiccuped as I stared outside in a daze, "We -hiccup- We are hereee~"

The Coachman helped us take out Marx and after he was paid handsomely, he tipped his hat and left us.

I pulled my key out of my purse and tried to place it in the lock. Each time I tried, the key would scrape across the surface, creating a scratch mark.

Soon, the wood and lock were covered in scratches.

Rebecca looked at me in boredom, "Do you need help?"

I shook my head quickly, "No! I got this! I just… Need to… Focus…"

I channeled all of my energy into my coordination and thrust the key forward.

…It missed.

Not only did it miss, but I put it forward with so much force, it actually bent.

Rebecca and I looked at the bent key silently, "..."

She was the first to break the silence, "You broke it."

My face twitched, "I… I didn't mean to."

Rebecca shook her head, "The keys here are so fragile."

"Ugh… Now what will we do-"

Rebecca suddenly grabbed a huge rock and threw it at the window.

A blue hue covered the windowpane to protect it and threw the rock back at her.

She dodged it with a blank face, "...That was unexpected."

My face twitched, "Our tower has a lot of defensive magic…"

She looked at me innocently, "Then how will we get in?"

I pulled out my wand, "It's okay! I have magic!"

We both waited as I stood in place, pointing the wand at the door.

"..."

I looked at her in confusion, "What was I doing again?"

"Breaking in."

"Oh! Yeah!" I waved the wand, "Open sesame!"

The door didn't budge.

Rebecca whistled, "I would die for some sesame chicken right now."

I felt a fire ignite from within me, "This is the toughest adversary I've ever had… I have no choice… I must… Break it down with force!"

I charged at the door screaming and hit my shoulder against it.

My face immediately shattered from the pain.

I fell to the ground holding my shoulder, "OW OW OW OW!"

Rebecca calmly bent down and picked up a key from under a potted plant, "Oh. There's a spare key."

She went to the door and effortlessly opened it.

I stared at her speechlessly, "..."

Isn't that…

The opposite of being safe?!

What's the point of even locking the door when you have a spare key in such an obvious place?!

I quickly scrambled to my feet and cleared my throat, "I knew that was there."

Rebecca and I both grabbed a foot belonging to Marx. I whispered to her, "We have to be quiet. It's past my curfew and my family is sleeping."

She nodded and whispered back, "Stealth mode. Got it."

We dragged Marx inside without realizing he was smacking into every piece of furniture.

*bang*

*bang*

*bang*

Rebecca looked around, "This looks good enough."

We both dropped his feet, ignoring the loud thump noise that resulted because of it.

I asked, "Should we put him on the couch?"

"Nah. He's slept in far worse places." Rebbecca brushed off her hands, "So where can I sleep?"

I pointed up the stairs, "My room is up there."

She looked up in disgust, "...I'm not climbing that."

"Then would you like me to-"

Rebecca plopped down on the couch in our main room and closed her eyes, "This is good."

I was amazed to see that she was already snoring. I mumbled, "That… Works too."

My drunken eyes turned up the stairs.

But I can't sleep just anywhere!

AND!

I need to cuddle!

Hehe!

The room was tilting unnaturally, but I could still walk.

I stumbled up the stairs smiling to myself.

Right now…

I want to see…

Him.

I pushed open the door, slamming it against the wall.

Zephyr jumped up in a panic, "Who is there?!"

I fell onto the floor beside the bed and reached up to roughly ruffle up his hair, "Just me~"

Zephyr hopped off the bed and looked at me in disgust, "Why do you smell like an alehouse?!"

I saw his raised fur and softened up. I held out my arms to him, "Kitty, kitty~ Let me love you!"

I pounced at him, trying to cover his furry body is kisses.

"What is wrong with you!?" Zephyr hissed at me and ran out of the room, "Get away!!!"

I felt like crying, "Aw… Kitty…"

Owl-like laughs came from behind me, "Hoot hoot! I've never seen a fox run so fast!"

My eyes turned to look at Caldwell who was a snowy owl perched over the bed.

Caldwell flinched under my gaze, "I-I will excuse myself."

He flew out of the room quickly and shut the door behind him.

Now alone in the room, I turned to look at Cyrus who was still sleeping peacefully in bed.

He still wasn't awake.

I stumbled over to Cyrus and fell down on the bed beside him.

I looked over at him as the world spun around me.

I muttered sloppily, "Still sleeping? How can I wake you up?"

I sat up abruptly, "Aha! *Burp* I just have to kiss you! That's how you wake up a Prince charming!!"

I pounced on him and slapped his face, giggling as I did so. His eyebrows pinched together as I grabbed his cheeks, "Hey handsome~"

My hands slipped to his collar and tore his shirt open.

I giggled, "Nice."

I leaned down and placed a firm kiss on his lips.

When I pulled away, my face dropped to see it didn't work.

I hummed, "Why didn't it work? Is it because I'm not a princess?"

I tapped my finger against his chest as I thought.

"Then should I play the role of the witch?"

I ran my finger along his curse mark, then abruptly pressed my hand down on it.

"Awaken foul beast! I command thee!"

Cyrus's eyes suddenly shot open.

His clear blue eyes held a dangerous aura behind them, but I didn't care. I tilted my head and smiled brightly, my eyes curved with my lips.

I giggled, "Good morning."

He suddenly embraced me, pulling me down to his body.

His skin seemingly torched mine as soon as they touched.

His hoarse voice tickled my ear, "Rei… Rei… My Rei…"

I felt something gurgling in my stomach and winced, "Wait! Wait!!! Cyrus, I'm going to-"

I couldn't hold it in anymore and leaned over to vomit.

He immediately snapped out of his strange state and pursed his lips in disgust, "...Good morning to you too."