Chapter: 04
“You look absolutely beautiful.”
One of the maids, who had been finishing up Yulia’s hair from behind, said with a smile.
Yulia gave a shy smile and once again looked at herself in the mirror.
She had even taken off the round glasses she’d been wearing ever since her eyesight worsened, and with the help of the maids, she had put on makeup too.
With three maids carefully brushing her messy hair and adorning it with pretty pins, even she had to admit that she looked quite presentable.
“Jerome, come over here and look at Yulia. Isn’t she beautiful?”
Catherine placed a hand on Jerome’s arm as he entered the room just in time.
When Yulia turned her head to look at him, he gazed down at her, his sky-blue eyes shining brightly.
“Yu… li… a… um… ts… ve… ry… beau… ti… ful…”
“Thank you, Jerome. You look very nice today too.”
Yulia replied with a bright smile.
“Now, now, stand together! Oh my… don’t you look like such a perfect couple?”
Catherine lined Yulia and Jerome up side by side and tilted her head from side to side, seeking agreement from the servants nearby.
“Right? Don’t you think so? You agree, don’t you? What do you think?”
“Yes, indeed.”
“You suit each other very well.”
The servants standing along the wall quietly nodded, smiling gently.
“You two look like a beautiful painting. It’s not just because he’s my beloved son and you’re my dear Yulia—truly! You match so well!”
“You are a beautiful pair.”
“It’s dazzling just to look at you.”
Overwhelmed by the continuous praise, Yulia quickly hooked her arm through Jerome’s and pulled him toward the door of the reception room.
“Thank you, everyone. L-let’s go, Jerome! We’ll be late at this rate. Lady Catherine, we’ll be off!”
“Wait a moment, Yulia!”
Catherine called out to her as she hurried out, then clicked her heels and walked over to an old cabinet in one corner of the room.
Opening a drawer and rummaging through it, Catherine soon found two small bottles and made a satisfied sound.
“Hmm… so it was here!”
She approached Yulia and handed her two small vials filled with a transparent liquid.
Inside the pale green glass bottles, the unknown liquid shimmered softly under the reception room lights.
“Yulia, this is something that clears your head. You don’t want to drink too much at the graduation banquet, right? If you take it before drinking mixed alcohol, it’ll help. Drink it with Jerome!”
“Lady Catherine…”
“Our Yulia already has quite the troublesome drinking habit, so we need to prepare things like this in advance!”
Catherine playfully tapped Yulia’s arm with a grin.
Yulia felt deeply grateful for such thoughtful care over even small things.
‘Did Duke Duncan bring this medicine from somewhere too?’
Duncan Duvert, the Duke, was someone so sensitive about his health that one might suspect him of being a hypochondriac.
Even if he merely sneezed once while walking, he would make a fuss and have boxes of tonics prepared for himself.
Whenever they had the chance, the couple would buy all kinds of medicines said to relieve fatigue, improve skin, loosen the tongue, and more from all over the empire, filling the infirmary of Duvert Castle with all sorts of new and mysterious remedies.
Yulia placed the small glass bottles into her handbag.
“You are taking the special tonic I gave you last time properly, right?”
“Of course! I take it twice a day, morning and evening, without fail.”
Satisfied with Yulia’s crisp answer, Lady Catherine smiled brightly.
“Then go and have fun today. Eat lots of delicious food, meet many wonderful people, and take a good look at the newly built rooms too!”
“Thank you, Lady Catherine! We’ll be back!”
“Uh… mo… ther… we… will… be… back…”
With Catherine seeing them off, Yulia left the room and got into the carriage with Jerome, heading for the Dunker Hotel.
“Yulia! Jerome!”
Lily, who had been looking around the lavishly decorated banquet hall of the Dunker Hotel, approached them with a bright smile.
Yulia gave a slight bow to the doorman who opened the main entrance, then walked straight toward Lily.
“Lily! You came early?”
“My preparations finished sooner than I thought! Huh? But Yulia, your appearance today is…”
Lily’s eyes widened as she looked at Yulia.
“Uh… is it awkward? Is it too much after all?”
“No! You look amazing! You should dress like this more often! You look like a completely different person!”
Lily exclaimed as she touched Yulia’s beautifully loosened brown hair.
Yulia awkwardly shifted and whispered quietly so only Lily could hear.
“It’s so uncomfortable. How do noble ladies walk around like this all the time? The corset squeezing my waist makes it so hard to breathe.”
Breathing wasn’t the only problem.
Her hands, trapped inside elegant white gloves reaching up to her forearms, felt constantly damp with sweat, and her feet in high heels ached as if her toes might break with every step.
Even the dress, cut low enough to reveal her slender neck and collarbones, kept bothering her.
“Just endure it for today. These days, people don’t dress this elaborately unless it’s a big event like a ball or banquet.”
“Still…”
“Come on, let’s go in! You haven’t tried the mixed drink I made yet, right? This big sister will show you lots of fun things today! But don’t completely lose yourself like last time!”
Yulia was swept into the center of the banquet hall as Lily grabbed her and dragged her along.
Pushing through the crowd, Lily headed straight toward the table where their friends were gathered.
As soon as they reached the table with familiar faces, Evan, who was already seated, filled their empty glasses with a red liquid.
“Since you’re late, let’s each take a sip first, ladies and gentlemen.”
Evan bowed slightly, placing his right arm across his chest like a butler, making Lily snort.
“You’re the one who came too early, Evan. You were always late at school, yet somehow you only show up early for things like this?”
“Lily, you don’t get it. These are exactly the occasions you should arrive early for.”
“Oh, please…”
Lily sat down and downed the drink Evan poured in one go.
True to her reputation as having the highest alcohol tolerance at the academy, she didn’t even blink after gulping down the strong drink on an empty stomach.
On the other hand, Yulia had a very low tolerance for alcohol.
She took a small vial out of her handbag.
“What’s that, Yulia?”
“Um… a hangover cure…?”
“Yeah, you’re definitely going to need that. Try not to overdrink today.”
“Yulia! By the way, what exactly is your drinking habit? It seems pretty famous.”
Daisy, who was sitting next to Evan, suddenly chimed in.
“Ah, Daisy, you’ve never seen Yulia drunk before?”
“No! I mean, she always studied—she wasn’t someone who enjoyed drinking much in the first place, right?”
“That’s true… except for one time. Lily’s twentieth birthday party.”
Evan lowered his voice as if sharing a great secret.
“What are you two doing, talking like that in front of the person herself…?”
Yulia shot Evan and Daisy a playful glare, then opened the vial and drank the clear liquid in one go.
“Daisy, you should see Yulia’s drinking habit for yourself. You’ll probably get the chance today.”
“No, I won’t. I’m really going to control myself today.”
“Yeah, sure you will.”
Already drained by her friends’ teasing, Yulia shook her head and handed the remaining bottle to Jerome beside her.
Their eyes met, and Jerome smiled softly as he drank it.
‘Jerome can handle his alcohol well, so no need to worry about him. I should worry about myself…!’
With a mix of anticipation and anxiety, Yulia lifted her trembling hand and picked up her glass.
The alcohol in this world felt different from the alcohol in the world before she possessed this body.
How should she put it… it made her feel more lightheaded? Almost like it contained some kind of stimulant?
She had heard that in the Tritan Empire, alcohol was generally brewed using vessels and tools made from magic stones.
Some people were said to have a constitution that didn’t mix well with magic, and perhaps she was one of them—Yulia was especially weak to alcohol compared to her friends.
She brought the glass to her nose and inhaled.
A sweet grape aroma mixed with a sharp alcoholic scent filled her senses.
“Is it like wine?”
Murmuring, Yulia tilted the glass and let the red liquid flow into her mouth.
It was refreshing yet slightly bitter, lingering on her tongue before sliding smoothly down her throat.
The aftertaste of the fruit wine spread through her nose, lifting her mood.
“It’s good…?”
“Oh? Your glass is empty already? Try this too!”
Seeing that Yulia had quickly finished her first glass, Lily filled it with a blue liquid.
“What’s this? The color is unusual.”
“It’s a mixed drink I just made! I haven’t met anyone who didn’t like it.”
Encouraged by the fruit wine, Yulia confidently downed the blue drink in one go.
“Ahh!”
“Why is she drinking alcohol like it’s hot soup?”
She could feel the heat of the alcohol traveling from her throat down to her stomach.
Ah, this sensation… it’s been so long! It’s thrilling!
Excited by the long-awaited taste of alcohol, Yulia began drinking glass after glass of various drinks.
From carbonated drinks similar in strength to beer, to fermented liquor, distilled spirits, whiskey, and even mixed drinks combining them all in proper ratios…!
“Wow, this is really good!”
The more glasses she emptied, the more her mood seemed to float higher into the sky.
“Yu… li… a… too… much…”
At that moment, Jerome, who was sitting beside her, grabbed her hand as she tried to bring another glass to her lips.
When she turned her head, she saw Jerome looking down at her with concern, his cheeks flushed red just like hers.
