[Episode 106] - Promise, Promise, Promise (2)
Small bands playing in the center of the tavern and lively guests laughing and chatting boisterously. Since I usually only had quiet meals in the royal capital where the only sound was cutlery clinking, a vibrant meal filled with human voices like this was truly something I hadn't experienced in a long time.
'It reminds me of that crowded bar I went to right after coming of age. Was it a pub?'
Perhaps because it was the festival period, the crowd gathered at the tavern was a colorful mix.
Families who had come to enjoy the festival like me and Titania, lovers sitting close together whispering sweet nothings, people who had gathered after work for a drink with friends, and drunkards already completely wasted, laughing and shouting loudly. All of them were gathered in one place, blooming with smiles.
Though I had only stepped into this tavern because my legs hurt and I wanted somewhere reasonable to rest, it didn't look half bad. Rather, I liked the atmosphere of the tavern so much that I felt I had chosen well. It might not look good for Titania's upbringing, but well, if this is experience, then it's experience.
As I was spacing out people-watching, blankly observing the bands' performance and the people dancing along to it, the server brought out the food I had ordered earlier. Unlike the excellent food made by the royal capital's chefs, these were simple, comforting dishes.
Perhaps Titania liked the simple food she was tasting for the first time in her life; when she bit into the large cut of meat the server brought out, her eyes went wide. Perhaps it was even more so because this was a flavor she couldn't experience in the royal capital.
I chuckled as I sipped the beer the server had brought, watching Titania's round-eyed expression. Then, Titania tilted her head, once again showing curiosity about alcohol.
"How does the alcohol Mother is drinking taste?"
"You don't drink alcohol for the taste."
"Huh?"
"You drink it for the atmosphere. Well, the taste is important too."
Titania practically had question marks floating above her head, unable to understand my words. Right, what would a child know? I glanced at Titania, let out a deep sigh, and held out the beer glass I was drinking to her.
"Would you like a sip?"
"Really?!"
"Yes, just one sip."
The reason I held out the glass to Titania despite telling her not to drink was because I had grown worried she might try alcohol on her own out of curiosity.
What if she entered the academy in this state of overflowing curiosity? What if she made bad friends there and learned to drink from them? What if the princess of the kingdom became a delinquent student?
A delinquent Titania was born in my mind. They said the academy was a place where nobles gathered, but such places usually had more rot inside. Titania, twisted by alcohol and cigarettes...
It wasn't that I didn't trust Titania, but I knew how strong a teenager's curiosity about alcohol could be. It would be better for me to teach her before that happened. They say alcohol is something you learn from adults, after all.
The moment I gave permission, Titania broke into a bright smile and snatched the beer glass from my hand. I rested my chin on the table and watched intently as Titania brought the alcohol to her lips.
"Just one sip. I'll scold you if you have more."
"I know. Hehe."
Rather than drinking the beer in her hand, Titania first brought it to her nose and started sniffing. After sniffling at the beer glass a few times, Titania's nose bridge scrunched up.
Not just her nose bridge, but her forehead too wrinkled deeply, her expression scrunching up like a puppy that had smelled something strange. In the end, without even touching the beer to her lips, Titania handed the glass back to me.
I burst out laughing at the sight, chuckling as I looked at Titania.
"What? You wanted to drink it so badly. Are you really not going to?"
"...I'll just drink it with Mother after I graduate from the academy."
"Good thinking."
As I sipped my beer, Titania looked at me as if I were truly strange. Perhaps because she disliked the pungent, characteristic smell of beer, Titania gulped down the sweet fruit juice next to her and smacked her lips.
"Next time..."
Titania, who had been sipping her drink, raised her head to look at me. I wasn't sure if I should say this to Titania, but I wanted to tell her anyway.
Because I didn't want to crush Titania's expectations today of all days.
"I'll pick a drink that smells nice and tastes sweet, so you can drink it comfortably."
*
By the time Vivian's face had turned bright red and the empty glasses beside her had multiplied to fill half the table, Titania rested her chin in her hand for a moment, gazing at the musicians playing in the center of the tavern.
Every time the sheet music propped up before the musicians fluttered and turned, the energy of the guests gathered before the stage grew even higher. For Titania, who hadn't drunk any alcohol, the atmosphere was slightly overwhelming.
Many people were dancing along to the musicians' cheerful tune. No, most of the guests excluding her mother and herself had gathered together, enjoying the dance to the music.
Lovers holding hands and dancing to display their affection, even friends who came together dancing cheerfully to the music. The dancing here was not the etiquette-focused dancing of a ball, but dancing where everyone enjoyed the atmosphere together.
Titania glanced sideways at her mother, whose face was burning bright red from the alcohol. She wanted to dance like that with her mother too, but she lacked a bit of courage and was busy merely watching.
Just as she was nibbling at her food, worrying about how to broach the subject.
"Are you enjoying the festival?"
A server? No, a stout middle-aged woman who appeared to be the tavern owner approached and offered a complimentary snack that hadn't been ordered. As Titania looked at the snack placed before her, unsure what to do, the tavern owner huffed and continued.
"One of the guests dancing over there told me to serve honey wine to everyone gathered here. Since I was already paid, there was nothing I could do, but..."
The tavern owner turned her head to look at Vivian. Whether because she was drunk, Vivian met the tavern owner's eyes with half-closed ones, merely blinking. At the sight of someone half-plastered, the tavern owner let out a deep sigh.
"It seemed like this person shouldn't get any more drunk, so I exchanged two honey wines for appetizers of similar price on my own. The person over there already paid, so don't worry about the money."
"Ah, th-thank you."
As Titania bowed her head in thanks, the tavern owner waved her hand as if to say 'don't mention it.' Titania stole glances, wondering when the owner would leave, but the tavern owner alternated looking between Titania and Vivian, then tilted her head and asked.
"Are you sisters? Is this one the older sister?"
"Ah, n-no. This is my mother."
"Mother and daughter?"
The tavern owner looked Vivian and Titania up and down again, then hummed in thought. Titania could guess what that expression and question meant, and she slightly furrowed her brows.
The tavern owner was clearly thinking that they didn't look alike for a mother and daughter, or that the age gap didn't seem very large. It was only natural, given that she was an adopted daughter not related by blood to her mother, but...
"Yes, she is my mother."
That gaze felt as if it were saying she wasn't her mother's daughter, which upset her. Even if they weren't related by blood, she was her mother's daughter. She hated the tavern owner's gaze that seemed to deny that.
The tavern owner stroked her chin and changed the subject.
"I see. Anyway, aren't you going to dance? It's a bit odd for me, who is still working, to say this, but it's a festival—are you just going to sit and watch?"
"Huh?"
"You wanted to dance but couldn't because you were watching your mother's mood, right? I asked because your gaze was fixed on the stage. Why would you watch your mother's mood when dancing? The mother shouldn't just sit still drinking when her child is watching her mood like that."
Titania flinched, her shoulders trembling at the tavern owner's sharp words. Her mother heard the owner's words, rubbed her chin in brief contemplation, then downed cold water instead of alcohol and looked at her.
Whether due to drunkenness, she felt a strange heat in her mother's green eyes looking at her. Her half-lidded pupils were like a moon floating on a lake. Then, the corners of her eyes curved sweetly and melted as she broke into a smile and answered the tavern owner.
"I was too drunk to notice."
Vivian sprang up from her seat and held out her hand. Titania was flustered at the sudden turn of events, but soon gently placed her hand on Vivian's outstretched one. Whether because of the alcohol, her mother's body temperature seemed hotter than usual.
As their joined hands squeezed tight, Titania's body was pulled up automatically. Her mother said nothing. She simply grabbed her hand and dove right into the crowd of dancing people.
As they wedged themselves between the dancers, the crowd parted for them as if by agreement. Titania couldn't believe that she was dancing with her mother just as she had wished.
The dance consisted of holding hands and spinning round and round, or letting their bodies move freely to the cheerful tune. There were none of the rules or etiquette of a ball. They simply danced as their bodies moved to the music played by the bands.
Since this was her first time, Titania was flustered, not knowing how to dance, when her mother grabbed both hands and slowly started spinning round and round. Every time they spun near the stage holding hands, the candles flickering at the edge of her vision created a dreamlike atmosphere.
Truly, it was like a dream. Such a happy dream.
She was so happy that she wouldn't have believed it if it weren't a dream.
Her mother smiling happily with a thoroughly flushed face.
Her mother smiling with a girlish face that knew no worries.
Her mother completely drunk, continuously tripping over her steps.
Yet still smiling only at her.
These first-time sights of her mother were lovely.
She wished this surreal situation would last forever. But where there is a beginning, there must be an end. As the song nearly finished, the dancers gradually withdrew and returned to their seats.
Just a little longer, just a little longer.
At least until the song ends.
The hand that had been held by her mother was now being held by her instead. Like a child throwing a tantrum because she didn't want to let go, she never released her mother's hand throughout the dance. And so, just before the dance ended.
"Oops."
Was it because the stage was narrow?
Or because everyone but her was drunk?
Just before the dance ended, Titania bumped backs with a man dancing behind her. Colliding with a man larger and heavier than herself, Titania's body was abruptly thrown forward.
Yes, forward.
Both hands were holding her mother's, so she couldn't use them.
No, the distance was too close for her to even use her hands.
It happened in a flash, so she couldn't stop it.
So this... was truly an accident.
It wasn't intentional. It was merely a coincidence.
Coincidentally, she was close to her mother.
Coincidentally, she was similar in height to her mother.
So...
As her body lurched forward, her face colliding with her mother's was an inevitable result.
...To be precise, it wasn't their faces but their lips.
Their lips collided with a thud rather than a peck, and before she could even register the sensation, pain arrived first. Realizing what had happened in that instant, Titania unconsciously covered her lips and looked at Vivian.
'Huh? Just now, my lips with Mother...'
The moment Titania realized she had touched lips with her mother, the first feeling that arose was embarrassment. Even if it was an accident, lips with Mother...!
However, the embarrassment quickly subsided, leaving only regret as the second feeling. She had wanted to feel her mother's lips a little longer, but all that remained was a tingling sensation.
'What did it feel like for Mother...?'
Titania smacked her lips and looked at Vivian. What would her mother be thinking after touching lips with her? Would she be embarrassed like herself? Or would she, being Mother, not think anything of it?
The moment she raised her head to look at Vivian, Titania couldn't help but be slightly flustered. Because her mother was looking at her with the corners of her mouth twitching, as if she were truly adorable.
As Titania looked at Vivian with bewildered eyes, Vivian cupped Titania's face with both hands and pressed her lips against her cheek with a loud smooch.
"?!?!"
"If you wanted to kiss Mommy so badly, you should have said so. See, how pretty you are when you act this cute?"
"Ah, no! Th-that's not it...!"
She tried to excuse it as an accident, but before she could get a word in, a barrage of kisses began.
Her cheeks and even her forehead. There wasn't a spot on her face untouched by her mother's lips. If she was happy, she was truly happy, but the gazes of those around them watching mother and daughter made her feel so embarrassed she could die.
The guests watched the mother-daughter display of affection with warm smiles. The tavern owner was telling the customers that it was rare to see such a close mother-daughter relationship these days.
It was nice... it was really nice...
'But it's a little different from what I wanted...'