"What kind of food is this?!"
The others could all hear Lance's frustrated cries from his room, and this time, they didn't blame him because they felt the same way.
Plain rice, some vegetables, and barely enough meat to satisfy them with fermented rice wine.
While Lance was busy complaining and yelling at the poor innkeeper to have better food prepared for him, the three girls sharing a room looked at theirs with interest.
Luciana sniffed their wine jar and grimaced. "It smells strong," she said. "We should return it."
"We may never get the chance to taste something like this again," Susan whispered as she began to pour some for herself.
"Have you ever had rice wine before?" Susan asked Paulina, who shook her head. She had never had any type of wine before.
"Women are not supposed to drink things like this!" Luciana scolded her.
"And royals are not supposed to sleep in inns or be outside the palace by this time. Women are not supposed to dress like men either. We are not supposed to be eating things like this. But we are doing it all. You better make up your mind before my nosy brother comes to snatch this away!"
Luciana hesitated while Susan gave the two of them pointed looks, waiting for them to make up their minds.
Paulina hesitantly pushed her cup forward so that Susan could pour her some, and Susan beamed in excitement, seeing how she was influencing someone finally.
She poured some for Paulina, and as soon as she dropped the jar, she raised her cup and took a big gulp, grimacing when the sharp sour taste moved from her mouth down to her stomach.
"Go on," she urged Paulina, who was looking at her in horror before filling her cup again.
Paulina took a slow sip and winced before she tried it again.
Seeing how the other two were drinking without her, Luciana pushed her cup forward, earning smiles from the other two ladies. Susan immediately filled it to the brim.
It wasn't until loud laughter and chatter began to disturb the others that Williams immediately fled his room, realizing that the innkeeper must have fed them the same wine, thinking they were men.
He didn't bother to follow courtesy as he pushed their door open, and just as he had expected, the wine jar was empty and Paulina had passed out from one cup while the other two's faces were flushed from the drink.
"What did you do?!" Williams asked harshly as he went to grab their cups and jar from the ground in between them.
"I didn't do anything!" Susan said defensively in a slurred voice before burping.
"You drank! And you gave Paulina!" He said angrily as he went to where Paulina was passed out to feel her pulse.
"Drank? I... swear, I didn't! D-did... we drink?" Susan asked Luciana drunkenly.
Luciana, who was trying to keep her drooping eyes open, nodded before she remembered she was supposed to say no and shook her head instead, making Susan titter with laughter.
Susan's laughter stopped almost as soon as it started, and she looked behind Williams. "Where is Alvin?" She asked in a loud voice, and Williams glared at her.
"Keep quiet!" He said in a harsh whisper.
"Get me Alvin!!!" Susan insisted stubbornly, and Williams rushed over to where she was and placed a hand around her mouth to shut her up, knowing that she was going to make a fool of herself.
Susan let out a muffled cry of protest, while Luciana began to cry too, "That foolish man, Ivan!" Luciana cried, and Williams shut his eyes.
Why didn't he realize sooner that his sister was irresponsible and would not only drink the wine but give some to the ladies with him too?
"How could you? After all the love and care I gave you, you dared to betray me! Who do you think you are?" Luciana cried in a loud voice as she hit her chest.
"Keep shut!" Williams hissed at her and cried out when Susan bit his hand.
"ALVIN!" Susan called out in a loud voice as she staggered to her feet while Williams glared at her.
He was about to stand up when Luciana dragged him down and began to hit him wherever she could find. "You betrayed me! After all I did for you. I... was with you for 4 years. I stayed by your side! How could you treat me like this?" She stopped hitting the unfortunate Williams and began to sob. Her sob was so heartbreaking that Williams could not even get angry or push her away to go get his sister. Thankfully, Susan hadn't stepped out of the room and turned to watch Luciana, whose face was buried in her palms as she cried.
"It's so unfair!" Luciana cried. "Why... can't I stop worrying about you despite everything? I... I do not deserve this. This is so unfair! I do not deserve any of it."
Williams was not sure whether he was supposed to say anything or try to comfort her, but things got worse when Susan began to cry too as she watched Luciana.
"Do... not cry..." Susan said to Luciana while she also cried.
Williams stood up and tried to control his anger as he went to cover Paulina with a quilt before he went to stand in front of Susan.
"Now, give me a good reason why you are crying," he said through gritted teeth.
Susan just continued to cry loudly for no reason at all, making Williams feel like crying too from frustration.
"You are going to regret this in the morning if you don't get a hold of yourself!" Williams warned, but Susan was too drunk to pay heed to his words.
"Men are wicked! I will never get married!" She swore and turned around to open the door just in time as Alvin slid the door open.
"Why are you disturbing everyone?" Alvin asked as he took in her flushed face and drunken demeanour. He looked further inside the room and saw a passed-out Paulina and Luciana who had thankfully shut up now and was looking at them with teary eyes.
Williams sent an apologetic look to Alvin. He could hear Harvey approaching too. Just nice! Maybe they were trying to incur Harold's wrath before they both shut up.
At least he was glad that Lance had knocked off after two cups of wine. He didn't want to deal with that one either.
He held his sister back just as Harvey got closer and stood beside Alvin, watching them curiously.
"Please do not mind her. She is not usually like this. She has nev..."
"How dare you!" Susan asked angrily as she slapped Williams' hands away and charged towards Alvin, and they all looked at her in confusion, wondering what she was talking about.
"Let her be," Alvin said when Williams tried to hold Susan back once again. He wanted to see just what it was she wanted to do.
Once Williams let go of Susan, she launched herself at Alvin and stood on her tiptoes as she grabbed the collar of his shirt while she waved about drunkenly. "It was you, wasn't it? You told that fake shaman to say all that to me. Did you think I wouldn't know that you planned everything?" Susan asked, eyeing him suspiciously, and Alvin snorted while Williams facepalmed.
"You are drunk," Alvin said calmly.
"That was the reason you didn't give me your coin; you knew he was a fake!" Susan said accusingly, while Luciana, who was watching the show, giggled from her spot on the mat.
Alvin raised a brow at her as he watched helplessly, not sure what he was supposed to do or how he was supposed to handle this.
Thankfully, Harold approached. He looked grumpy and ran his hand through his hair. Every minute, he was regretting coming with this crowd that was causing him so much nuisance.
"GO TO BED!" He ordered Susan.
The men watched the scene in amusement as Susan, who had been acting like a wild cat, whimpered as she let go of Alvin's shirt immediately. It seemed like the alcohol did not stop her brain from understanding Harold's instructions.
"And you too!" Harold said to Luciana, and she lay down and shut her eyes at once, playing dead while Susan went to join her.
Harold stood there and looked at the rest of them. Alvin was the first to disappear without sparing anyone a glance. Harvey chuckled to himself as he turned and left Williams inside. Although Williams was annoyed, he still went to cover his sister and Luciana before he bowed curtly to Harold and also left the room.
First thing in the morning, he was going to make sure they all returned to the palace. They had caused so much distraction for him and Alicia tonight that could last him for a lifetime. He couldn't even say anything to Alicia or let her continue because of this eavesdropping crowd.
He wanted to groan from frustration.
R𝑒ad latest chapt𝒆rs at freew𝒆(b)novel.c(o)m Only