I Want To Die One Day Before You - Chapter 231
“Baroness Infernaaa—”
“What the hell do you want, you brat?”
“Hey, stop calling me a brat. If you’re going to be affectionate, just call me ‘little one’ instead.”
“Fine then, you little brat. What do you want?”
“Since I can’t sleep, how about just one more bottle? Half for you, half for me?”
“Half a bottle?”
At Iruel’s words, Baroness Inferna narrowed her eyes. Feeling the weight of that sharp glare, Iruel shrank back with an awkward laugh. But the saddest thing was that, even then, he couldn’t let go of his lingering attachment to alcohol.
“Th-then how about just a quarter of a bottle…?”
“Butler.”
Ignoring Iruel, Baroness Inferna turned away.
“Yes, Madam.”
“Fetch two bottles from the cellar.”
“…Two bottles?”
Iruel’s voice wavered as he watched the butler scurry away.
“Why? You don’t want them?”
“No, I love it! I love you, Madam!”
“Shut up.”
“Aye aye!”
Iruel grinned mischievously at the Baroness, already thrilled at the thought of drinking.
Since coming to Inferna territory, Iruel had begun living a life he had never experienced before. He couldn’t quite put it into words, but something about life in the Baron’s household made him feel strangely… itchy.
It was itchy.
The muscles around his mouth kept twitching. His body felt restless, unable to sit still for even a moment. His feet constantly wanted to take him somewhere.
Everything was new to him.
The Inferna estate was a strange place. There were servants who actually worried about his well-being. A cute little kid pestered him to show magic tricks. And above all else, there was the ever-scolding but oddly kind-hearted Baroness who made sure he ate every morning.
“Iruel, do you really love alcohol that much, you worthless piece of trash?”
…Of course, the occasional verbal abuse came with the package.
Relatively speaking, though, it was still kindness.
It was a stark contrast to his time at the Eustice Viscounty. There, he constantly had to wonder who would beat him next, who would sneer at him, or who would force him into relationships he had no interest in. He no longer had to cling to such filthy worries.
Here, nothing happened.
Only an endless, uneventful calm.
And he liked it.
He wanted to be bound to this quiet dullness forever.
At last, the butler returned with two bottles of liquor. The moment the cork was removed, Iruel pressed the bottle straight to his lips.
“Ugh, this tastes absolutely vile.”
“And yet, you’re guzzling it down just fine.”
Baroness Inferna clicked her tongue as she poured herself a glass.
“Not exactly a time to be picky.”
Iruel shrugged.
“By the way, I heard the territory is facing a food shortage, yet you’re still making alcohol? Isn’t liquor usually made when there’s a surplus of crops?”
Iruel asked as he gulped down more of the drink. But instead of an answer, the Baroness shot back with a completely unexpected question.
“Do you know the monster Montesra?”
“Oh, that? Of course, I do.”
Iruel wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
Montesra was a round, cactus-like monster.
At first glance, it looked exactly like a regular cactus. But it was only cactus-like—a monster, through and through. Montesra could crawl across the ground on its own and even dig through the soil to hunt for food.
‘I used to raise them back when I lived in the Demon Territory…’
He recalled the Montesra that Witch Odr had brought him as a toy. The plump little thing would roll around adorably.
A fond smile crept onto his lips—until…
“This liquor is brewed from Montesra.”
“…Excuse me?”
Crash.
The image of the cute Montesra in Iruel’s mind shattered into pieces.
“Wait, Madam… I feel like I just heard something that might cause me severe psychological trauma. I must have misheard, right…?”
“What about it?”
“Y-You’re saying this is made from Montesra…? No way, that’s a joke, right? You wouldn’t do something so horrible… Even the Great Demon King wouldn’t do such a thing… H-ha…ha…ha…”
Iruel’s tongue twisted as he struggled to form coherent sentences.
Meanwhile, Baroness Inferna casually swirled her wine glass.
“Liquor brewed from Montesra. That is the specialty of our territory.”
“GAAAAAAAH!”
With a shriek, Iruel shot up from his seat. Overcome with horror, he looked as if he were about to explode.
“W-What did you just say?! What have you done to those tiny, adorable Montesra?!”
“Turned them into liquor.”
“H-how could you do something so monstrous?! Madam, you beast! You savage! You monster abuser!”
Despite Iruel’s anguished cries, Baroness Inferna didn’t so much as blink.
Instead, she observed Iruel as if he were the strange one.
“Iruel, it seems you’re not very familiar with the specialties of Inferna territory. Listen carefully. First, we capture a plump Montesra, slice open its belly, and remove the organs, drying them for a day. Then, we finely chop the remaining flesh and ferment it with yeast…”
BANG!
The overwhelming horror of it all sent Iruel toppling over, unconscious.
