The sound of liquor pouring into gla.s.s echoed in the room. The drink was cool on the tongue, and when it was swallowed it sweetened the breath and dispersed a hidden heat. One couldn't help but antic.i.p.ate the sound of the gla.s.s being filled again.

The two polished off a few more drinks, and Ian was pleased to have given Simon a good first experience.

“I knew you'd like it.”

Simon did not deny it. In fact, he had been looking carefully at the label for a while.

“It's truly my favorite drink.”

Their tastes had always aligned when the word "truly" was involved.

“Right.”

“Sometimes I feel guilty. I think…"

His gla.s.s was empty, and he stared at the drops that remained on the bottom.

“I think I may be a bad influence on you.”

“You are.”

Ian frowned at his reply, then refilled their empty gla.s.ses. After a few more rounds, Simon brought up a small complaint.

“We shouldn't do this with your first love right there.”

“Who told you that Louise Sweeney is my first love?”

“Am I wrong?”

“Well.”

Ian changed his gaze a little, but could not deny it. He promised not to tell lies.

“…It's true.”

He still had an excuse, though.

“I just want to fill your surroundings with joy.”

So he filled Simon's gla.s.s several times.

“We had a lot of fun.”

“We did.”

Memories of the three of them as children rekindled in his mind, full of suns.h.i.+ne and fresh gra.s.s.

“You don't have to feel guilty, Ian.”

“I've learned happiness from you, and I'm beginning to think that I'll be able to make it with my own hands.”

Simon felt the white line that he stood on. The starting point of his free will.

“Our memories will be the great driving force of my life.”

Their gla.s.ses clinked again. They had long lost count how many drinks they had.

“To life.”

He wasn't just a breathing sack of meat. Simon Hillard was real.

“Those are some good words to say on a birthday.”

Ian smiled as he brought his gla.s.s to his lips. The liquor that touched the tip of his tongue was too sweet for him to stop.

“Oh, if you don't get the top spot, don't be disappointed. I'll take care of it.”

“Take care of it? My studying abroad?”

“Well, I could probably support you for a year.”

"The negotiations are out of your hands. The former queen said it would two years."

” …Two years?”

“Yes.”

“How can I live without seeing my friend for two years?

“Don't worry. For the first year, all three of us will be alone anyway.”

They would all splinter into their different paths, while Louise would remain at the Academy.

“That's a shame.”

Ian rested his chin on his knee. He always cherished his time at the Academy, but if he knew they would all part in the end like this… 

Ian stopped thinking and smiled lightly. There was still a little time left. He lived to the fullest every day. But what made him sad was that he loved Simon, Louise, and the special environment here in the Academy.

“I'll spend the rest of my time with Simon Hillard.”

Simon frowned. He didn't have anyone else to spend time with, and now he had to hang around this creepy guy.

“I wonder what Simon will be like in two years.”

“I'll be unchanged.”

“You're going to change. You're scary now, and you'll be even scarier in the future.”

“I don't scare you.”

Except under certain circ.u.mstances, of course.

“Unless you upset Louise Sweeney.”

“Even after two years?”

Simon replied with a deadpan expression.

“Twenty years later.”

There was a serious glint in his eye.

“I suppose that Louise will always be the first one you were attached to. No matter what new feelings you experience, it may not fade.”

New feelings…Simon was skeptical about that. Maybe it was a side effect of loving one person for too long.

“Sorry. I'll try to fix that.”

Simon raised a gla.s.s full of wine.

“After two hundred years.”

“The time period has increased dramatically.”

Even so, Ian drank to a two hundred year promise with him.

The bottle was half-empty now. Ian peered at Simon's face to check his condition.

“Are you holding up alright?”

“I'm fine.”

Of course he was.

“If you really want to compete with me, you'd better think again. We have to respect the royal myth.”

“Maybe we should call in a court official to rewrite history.”

“Can't do that. Our descendants a hundred years later will know that we're breaking Academy rules. Besides.”

Ian turned to look at Louise, who was still sleeping in the same position.

“We're the only ones that know Louise can sleep in any position. We shouldn't tell anyone.”

Professor Hewitt was probably the exception, of course. Louise bravely held the record of falling asleep the most times in his cla.s.s.

“Yes.”

Simon's lips curved into a smile.

“Louise is like that.”

They drank and refilled each other's gla.s.ses several more times, and before long the bottle was empty.

“That's a shame.”

Ian shook the empty bottle. There was no more alcohol, and he wanted to eat something cold. Maybe a sherbet.

“We should stop drinking anyway. We have to wake up Louise and send her back to her dorm.”

“Yes, and apologize for lying.”

The two young men reached out their hands to shake her awake, but then both stopped.

“She's sleeping so soundly…”

“Well, she can sleep anywhere.”

They decided to wait a little longer. The two young men, who had neither liquor to drink nor cake to eat, settled themselves comfortably on either side of Louise. The carpet was pleasant—but perhaps it wasn't the carpet, but the three of them together.

“Simon.”

“Hmm?”

“Will Louise like alcohol?”

“Well…if she resembles Mr. Sweeney, she won't like it very much.”

“But if there's three of us, it'll be worth it.”

The two shared a laugh. If the three of them joined forces, they could probably empty the palace cellars.

“How about we raid the wine cellars on Louise's birthday two years from now?”

“Unless Louise says no.”

“Yes, if she says no.”

The both of them had talked for a long time. It was pleasant to imagine a future with all of them together.

“She really doesn't wake up.”

Ian leaned back against the wall and looked at the blonde hair that hung over the white pillow.

“Yeah.”

Simon carefully arranged Louise's slightly tangled locks. He had been planning to tie her hair on both sides today. Too bad. Should he save it for a birthday two years later? 

A sigh crossed the room. The sound of soft breathing went from one, to two, and soon to three.

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