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WE finished eating and bathing, which meant all that was left to do was sleep. But when we got back to our room, a bottle of alcohol and empty glasses were set out by our futon.
“What’s this, Prince Adelberd?” I asked.
“It’s rum my servants prepared for me. I hear it’s made from sugarcane, and it’s a popular drink among sailors. Have you tried alcohol before, Siraiya?”
Prince Adelberd and I were both nineteen, and the legal age of adulthood in Elzeria was eighteen. That meant we were allowed to drink—so long as we were out of school, since the academy’s rules banned all consumption of alcohol. But I was never that interested in liquor, so I still had yet to try it for myself.
“No, never. Do you drink?”
I’d heard that some people liked to drink before bed, but to my surprise, Prince Adelberd shook his head.
“No, I have yet to drink either. But now that I’m an adult, I’m sure I’ll be served alcohol from time to time when I attend formal events as the crown prince. I’m in need of a liquor education, and since I’m officially here for ‘medical treatment,’ now is a good time to try drinking out of the public eye.”
As he spoke, he poured a bit of the rum into two glasses and handed one to me.
“Have a drink with me, unless you have some reason to abstain. We wouldn’t want our fiancées to see us drinking for the first time, would we? Imagine if we embarrassed ourselves in front of them.”
“Good point.” I took the glass from Prince Adelberd. I wasn’t a big fan of sweets, but would liquor made from sugarcane taste very sweet at all?
The two of us clinked glasses, as was customary, before testing a bit of the rum with our tongues first. It turned out Rum wasn’t sweet at all, though it left a strong, unique aroma in my mouth.
I bet it would go well with some madeleines. I’ll have to try it some other time.
“What, it’s not sweet? It smells so good, but it doesn’t taste how I expected.”
His Royal Highness sounded disappointed. I wondered if he liked sweet foods and drinks a lot more than I did.
“I think this would taste good if you mixed some grated fruit in with the rum,” I suggested.
“Good idea. I’ll try that next time I get the opportunity.”
Prince Rutherford was just watching us drink from nearby, though he looked intrigued.
“Can I smell it, too…?”
He peered over at us, so Prince Adelberd passed him his glass. “But don’t drink it. You’re a prince, so you can’t break the law,” he warned. His Royal Highness actually sounded like a good brother in that brief moment.
“You’re right. It smells really nice. I’d like to try it too someday.”
“Once you graduate, you can have your first drink with me.”
“Thank you, Big Brother!”
The young prince looked like he was about to burst into tears. He was so moved by his brother’s caring gesture.
In all honesty, I was delighted to see the two political opponents get along. It was hard for me not to empathize with Prince Rutherford, who’d been treated so cruelly in his life of solitude at the castle.
Not that I had any intention of letting him have Cynthia because of it.
“I’d like to keep going until I experience what ‘drunkenness’ feels like. But I’m sure that would be boring for you, Rutherford, so let’s play a game while we drink. We’ll know we’re drunk once it becomes too hard to use our brains during the game, and that way, we’ll know when to stop drinking.” Prince Adelberd made that suggestion as Prince Rutherford returned his glass to him.
But we didn’t have anything like chess or playing cards in our room. “What sort of game would that be?” I asked. Prince Adelberd then polished off the last of his rum, so I followed suit.
“I know games from many different countries, as it helps in diplomatic matters. There’s this one in particular. ‘Never Have I Ever.’”
“You mean you’ve never played it before?” I asked.
“No, the game is about declaring things you’ve never experienced before. Once someone lists something they haven’t done, you have to drink if you have done it. For example, if Rutherford said, ‘Never have I ever drunk alcohol,’ the two of us would have to drink, since that’s something we’ve now done.”
“So the point is to come up with things you haven’t done, but that the other players probably have?” I asked.
“Correct. But Rutherford can’t drink, so he can just tally up points instead. You’ll have a penalty once you hit five points. How about you climb one of the big trees in the forest behind the inn, little brother?”
“Why is my punishment so much worse than yours?!”
“You can back out if you’re scared. You’ve always been cowardly, so maybe it wouldn’t be fair to you.”
“Hey! …I’m not a coward… I’ll do it!”
Based on this interaction, it was easy to tell how Prince Adelberd typically treated his younger brother.
“All right, then let us begin. I’ll go first, followed by Siraiya, then Rutherford. Never have I ever won a dressage competition.”
That’s his first attack? I took a sip from my glass, understanding his angle.
“Okay, then I’m next. Never have I ever sprouted a pair of animal ears.”
“Heh… Well done.”
Prince Adelberd chuckled, filled his glass with a small amount of rum, then downed it. Prince Rutherford’s turn was next.
“Never have I ever been engaged.”
Prince Adelberd and I poured our next drinks and polished them off.
As we continued, Prince Rutherford kept bringing up experiences with women during each of his turns. First, he said he’d never prepared a dress to give to a woman, then he told us he’d never sent a card to a woman… I could tell that he was just like me—he couldn’t get Cynthia out of his mind.
I was far from calm about the situation, so I continued targeting Prince Rutherford with each of my turns. “Never have I ever been to Sanctoria.” “Never have I ever played with my older brother.” “Never have I ever grown my hair down to my hips.”
Those five points stacked up in no time at all. Prince Rutherford grew angrier and angrier, though despite the glares he shot me, he didn’t complain, since he knew I was only playing the game as intended.
We agreed that he would climb the tree tomorrow, as it was too dangerous to attempt at night. Not wanting him to end up with even more of the same punishment, we decided that Prince Rutherford would drop out of the game for now, but he could rejoin if he proposed a second punishment for himself.
Prince Adelberd had been targeting me with his turns even before Prince Rutherford dropped out. “Never have I ever received the top grades at school.” “Never have I ever been addressed by my first name by my fiancée’s parents.” “Never have I ever proposed to my fiancée.” It was just one after another…
“You didn’t propose when you got engaged?” I couldn’t help but ask once I finished my next drink. Aren’t you supposed to ask someone to marry you when you get engaged?
“Well, you and Lady Cynthia got engaged after a mutual, genuine romance. I’m sure it sounds strange to you, but most noble marriages are arranged by their parents. The royal family and the Gridimores came together to arrange my engagement to Estellise as a political maneuver. One day, we were told that we were engaged and to behave accordingly. That was the end of the discussion.”
“…I see. But you and Lady Gridimore have feelings for each other, too, right?”
“The political aspect of an engagement means you have to put even more effort into maintaining a good relationship. Both Estellise and I are dedicated to that end, so there’s never been any barrier between us that prevented us from falling in love.”
“I see… I’ve never had to think about a political marriage before.”
As I watched Prince Adelberd take another drink, I felt relieved that Eddie had been as foolish as he was. If he were as mature as Prince Adelberd and Lady Gridimore, Cynthia probably would have never had eyes for another man. She would have loved him for the rest of her life.
That would mean losing my only chance at happiness. I was the luckiest man in the world to have Cynthia stumble across me by chance on that fateful day.
Heat crept into my cheeks from thinking about how I’d somehow managed to get engaged to Cynthia. It was impossible to imagine a greater blessing in all the world.