The knights drew their swords and spoke sternly.
"We are knights of the Grand Duchy of Lyon. Show us your identification."
"...I don't have one."
Shen Tian couldn't produce something he didn't have, no matter how much they asked.
"Then you'll have to come with us quietly."
The knights reached for their sword hilts, ready to draw.
"...!"
Shen Tian's eyebrows shot up. Insolent bastards! Did they know who he was? He wouldn't let these low-life commoners lay a hand on him.
Having decided this, Shen Tian reached into his pocket for a needle, but Low blocked his elbow.
"Are you really going to make a big deal out of this?"
"Are you telling me to let them touch me?!"
"Just go along with it. Whether you go willingly or get dragged, you'll end up inside anyway."
"What?!"
What a jerk!
"Do you think being dragged along will send me to paradise? It's obvious I'll be going to prison! I'm sick of prison!"
In Wei of the Eastern Continent, he had been imprisoned for rebelling against the Emperor's tyranny. As a noble, he hadn't suffered harsh torture or humiliation—
'But they don't serve alcohol in prison!'
There was no way they would provide alcohol in prison!
But Low was just silently shaking his head. Was that what this jerk was after?
In the meantime, the fierce gazes of the knights were fixed on the two of them.
Shen Tian, who had his hand in his pocket, quickly pulled both hands out.
"Wait! I was really invited—!"
But the voice of an unidentified stranger without identification was completely ignored.
"Meow—"
The two were poked in the back with the knights' cold sword hilts and led down to the underground prison.
Clang—
Desperate, Shen Tian stuck his head between the bars of the cell.
"W-Wait a minute!"
"Stay quiet."
The guard looked down at him with his arms crossed.
"L-Listen here! I'll be quiet in prison!"
"Yeah. Just stay quiet like that."
"I'll be quiet, so just give me alcohol."
"...Alcohol?"
"Alcohol."
"Y-You mean, that drinking alcohol?"
"That alcohol."
"..."
"..."
Shen Tian met the guard's eyes, which were full of contempt. The look said he didn't know how someone could become an alcoholic at that age, but it was truly pathetic.
And Low silently nodded in agreement with the guard's gaze.
Damn it! In desperation, Shen Tian started coughing.
"Ugh, without alcohol... I'll die... A guest of the lord... you'll be severely punished..."
"..."
"...Cough."
The guard turned his body away.
"Hey! Can't you hear me? I'm not kidding! It's real!"
Shen Tian desperately shook the prison bars.
"I was really invited by the lord! Alcohol! Give me alcohol!"
***
It was two days later that Kinemia encountered the trembling alcoholic and the giant man holding a cat in the underground prison.
"This is the place, Miss."
"Alcohol... give me alcohol... Alcohoool...."
The giant man spoke to the guard with a face that showed he didn't care about the alcoholic at all.
"Please give me some cat food for Yaongyi. It's not good to keep feeding him human food."
"Alcohol... Alcohoool...."
In contrast to the healthy Low, Shen Tian was trembling, his face gaunt as if he were about to die.
"Alcohoool...."
Shocked, Kinemia covered her mouth with both hands.
'Those are alcohol withdrawal symptoms...!'
Shen Tian Xinghai's body was constitutionally healthy, but alcoholism was a mental problem. Even such a healthy body was not free from psychological issues.
"I gave him food and water regularly, but he became like that in just one day, you see."
Kinemia waved her hand at the troubled guard, indicating it was okay.
It wasn't the guard's fault; it was just that this man wasn't a creature that lived on food and water.
"He's not dying from a disease, so don't worry," Low said, stroking the cat. It wasn't a disease. To be precise, it was the process of getting better. He was thinking that he could stay in prison for a few more days like this when a clear voice was heard.
"We need to move him to a room for now."
When Low raised his head, the girl hidden behind the guard revealed herself.
'...! '
Low's gray eyes, sensing cuteness, fluttered.
Meanwhile, Kinemia entered the cell and slapped Shen Tian's face repeatedly, muttering.
"He can't come to his senses...."
"So that's the 'Miss'?"
Even the sight of her mercilessly slapping her master's face with her small, maple-leaf-like hands looked adorable.
'...Cute!'
"Nanny, call for a stretcher and some people. We'll have to carry him," she said with her cute, cat-like, small, and pretty lips.
'...Fairy!'
Low clutched his heart as if he had been shot down.
***
The alcohol addict, who had been ailing as if dying, miraculously revived as soon as alcohol touched his lips.
Shen Tian licked the divine alcohol that had moistened his lips and opened his eyes wide.
The very taste he had been searching for his whole life. With that taste lingering on his lips again, he couldn't stay lying down.
But when he suddenly sat up, he found himself on a bed in a luxurious room, and next to him, Low and a blonde girl were watching his actions.
"Are you feeling better?" Kinemia asked Shen Tian, who was still licking his lips repeatedly. His eyes were clear, but his tongue still seemed to have some issues.
"Hey there, young lady."
Young lady?!
"Judging by your unusual attire, you must be a member of the lord's family, but where is the lord? There's something I must ask."
Kinemia stared with hazy eyes at his tongue, which kept licking.
"Are you going to ask about the secret of the alcohol I sent?"
"Yes. That divine alcohol...!"
Shen Tian's eyes lit up. He had tasted a little earlier, but it was truly a taste that was no exaggeration to call divine.
The first taste that pleasantly heated his mouth, and then the soft weight that moistened it. The flavor was so rich that it felt like a forest was growing in his mouth, and the smooth passage down his throat ended with a sweet yet subtly tense aftertaste.
Even Geva, the god of alcohol, would acknowledge this. No, it might even be Geva's alcohol.
Shen Tian smacked his lips, then, suddenly feeling a sense of incongruity, he asked back.
"You sent it?"
Then Kinemia lifted the hem of her skirt, turned her left leg back, and bent her knee slightly.
"I express my gratitude for gracing my castle with your presence, Duke Shen Tian Xinghai. I am Grand Duchess Kinemia Lyon, the ruler of this castle."
Although the other party was an unauthorized person, Shen Tian Xinghai was originally a great noble of Wei. Kinemia greeted him with courtesy.
"Hmm...."
At that, Shen Tian looked at the girl with slightly softened eyes.
"Unlike those commoners, you seem to know something about etiquette."
Moreover, the Grand Duchess could pronounce his name 'Shen Tian Xinghai' clearly and accurately. Even Low, who had been with him all along, often mispronounced Shen as Sheng.
Kinemia smiled shyly at the brief compliment.
'She's incredibly cute.'
Although he wasn't used to foreign appearances from a different continent, the Grand Duchess's small, pert nose, beautifully drawn lips, and cat-like, large, sea-blue eyes were incredibly beautiful, enough to captivate even him.
"So, what does the young Grand Duchess want from me?"
Kinemia nodded slightly.
"Duke Shen Tian, you are the best alchemist in the Eastern Continent, aren't you?"
"Well, well. I suppose so."
Shen Tian suppressed his shoulders, which were involuntarily rising.
"Has my fame spread even to the Western Continent?"
"Of course."
"Ha! Talent will out, I guess!"
Kinemia smiled brightly as he couldn't hide his elated expression.
"Then the young Grand Duchess needs my alchemy."
"Yes, I want to borrow the alchemy of Duke Shen Tian, who is a true master in both the Eastern and Western Continents, to heal my people."
So, a true master.
Shen Tian's eyes widened, surprised that Kinemia knew Eastern Continent idioms quite well. In his fox-like narrowed eyes, his small pupils shone distinctly.
