The Gamer's POV

Chapter 360: Five Thousand Gold and a Free Unwanted Kiss

Cedric scratched his hair, complaining under his breath about the absolute ruin of his peaceful evening. After a few seconds, though, he hesitantly gave the signal to Karasu, the raven perched on the gate.

In front of the gate, Luke turned to the raven, and when he saw it nod in confirmation, he went ahead to open the heavy iron locks.

Then he dropped into a deep bow for Cedric’s supposed brother. Though truth be told, he still had doubts because while one was handsome and elegant, this other one was, uh... well, manageable on the eyes.

"See, told you." Dion smirked as he strutted into the courtyard as if he owned the place.

When he walked past the fountain, he took a deep swig of his alcohol while admiring the grand architecture. There was a statue of a completely nude water nymph carved out of pristine white marble right in the center of the pool.

Seeing that, Dion halted and smiled.

Then he looked back up to the roof, nodding with a look of pure, mock approval, as if saying, "I see you have excellent taste in architecture too."

He continued walking on, until he got to the door where he could see Arthur now waiting for him. The butler gave a bow to the young noble and gestured indoors before leading him into the grand foyer, completely unphased by the visitor’s disheveled state.

Dion, who was dressed in an expensive, crumpled gray robe and matching trousers, managed to look like a noble and at the same time, like a high-end vagabond who had spent the last week sleeping in taverns.

Shortly after he was led to the Drawing Room, Cedric finally walked into the room looking drained. The moment Dion spotted him, he brightened and shouted, "Cedric!"

He began hurriedly walking over, closing the distance between them in an instant. "What the hell happened?"

Before Cedric could even react, Dion pulled him into a tight embrace. "Oh boy, am I glad to see that you’re doing okay."

Then he grabbed Cedric’s face with both hands and planted a loud, exaggerated kiss right on his cheek.

Muuaaah!!!

Cedric panicked.

"...Get off me, you drunkard!" He shoved hard at Dion’s chest, trying desperately to salvage whatever shred of dignity he had left in front of his staff.

Dion grinned as he finally stumbled back a few steps, then his smile softened slightly as he sighed. "Seriously though, what the fuck happened? You didn’t come out of the bridge. I really thought you died or something, man."

Cedric exhaled wearily.

As he turned to walk to a chair, he shook his head slowly. "Long, painful story, friend."

"Ah..." Dion had quickly closed the distance again, leaning in with a curious squint. "Want to talk about it?"

"Nope." Cedric replied flatly. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he halted and turned around. "Wait... how the ’byss do you know where I live?"

"Huh?" Dion blinked, momentarily confused before his eyes lit up. "Oh!" He smiled and proudly pointed to the raven. "Miko! I asked him if he knew where you were and he said yes! So I asked him to lead the way."

"Mm..." Cedric nodded slowly in understanding. "So that’s the traitor, huh." He then suddenly lunged forward with hands outstretched to catch the damn bird and strangle it. freēwēbnovel.com

"Help! Help!" It cawed as it scrambled wildly into the air, feathers flying everywhere as it narrowly dodged his grasp.

’These damn birds!’ Cedric exhaled, scratched his hair and turned away to go sit.

The bird flew behind Dion, peeping out from behind his shoulder and shivering in mock terror.

Dion, who had been laughing at his failed attempt, also followed Cedric over, "I haven’t seen you since that day, yet the first time I do hear from you, you send me a pass to the Imperial Castle for the Carnal festival tomorrow."

He crossed his arms defensively. "Thanks for the pass but... do I look high end pervy to you. Huh? Do I?"

Cedric blinked, looking him up and down with an entirely unamused expression.

"Yes." He finally said matter of fact. "Yes you do, Dion. You look about as pervy as it is possible for a human being to look pervy."

Dion gasped, then clutched his heart, as if in pain.

Then he smiled, shrugged and leaned back into the chair. "Thanks for the compliment, bro."

"It’s not a compliment!"

At that moment, Lila walked into the room with a steaming tray of Faskire Dark Brew. After setting the cup down beside Cedric, she turned to Dion and offered a polite bow. "Would you also like a beverage, young master?"

Dion smiled and raised his nearly empty bottle of cheap ale. "Alcohol. Give me the most expensive stuff you’ve got hidden away in this fancy place."

The maid froze and slowly turned to look at Cedric for guidance because all of the alcohol in the house had been personally curated by Aika herself, with the most expensive being the legendary Giglio Valle d’Oro Riserva, which cost over five thousand gold a bottle.

Cedric exhaled and nodded hesitantly, giving Lila the go-ahead.

Lila then offered a swift, graceful curtsy and retreated to the cellars to fetch the wine.

"You are coming, right?" Dion asked, adjusting his posture.

"...?" Cedric arched a brow.

"The Carnal Festival in the castle," Dion clarified, swirling the last drops of his cheap drink. "Going there alone doesn’t feel right."

Cedric leaned back on the chair, looking at the chandelier, and breathed softly. "I won’t be going."

"Huh?!" Dion leaned forward, slamming the table with both hands in disbelief. "Why?"

"Just not interested."

"What do you mean not interested? Since when did someone like you turn down that sort of massive party?"

’Huh? Someone like me? Do you even know me? Get a load of this guy.’

Cedric looked him up and down before muttering flatly, "Leon’s going to be there."

Dion scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Nah. I want to go with another degenerate."

Cedric leaned forward and pointed at himself in sheer, offended disbelief. "Did you just call me a degenerate?"

"Mm-hm."

Cedric flapped his lips as he looked for the curse, and when he couldn’t find one foul enough, he simply sighed and leaned back, then returned his gaze to the ceiling.

As they kept engaging in banter, Lila walked in with the very expensive bottle, which looked like a masterpiece of hand-blown Vianese glass wrapped in delicate silver filigree.

When Dion saw it, he couldn’t believe his eyes.

"Is that...?" He turned to Cedric, his mouth agape. "Wait... isn’t that the Giglio Valle d’Oro Riserva that can only be won at the biannual auctions in Fioranza?"

"Oh... so you do know your luxury wines..." Cedric smirked dryly.

"Of course I do!"

Well, it would be a surprise if he didn’t.

"I’ve always dreamt of drinking one." Dion looked at Lila, or rather the bottle, with wide, starstruck eyes before directing his question to Cedric. "Can I really have it?"

Lila smiled politely as she took out a pristine crystal goblet. "Yes, young master."

Dion snatched the bottle and turned to Cedric, his face glowing with pure, unadulterated adoration. "By the Gods... Ino, I think I’ve fallen in love with Cedric."

Cedric paled as the coldest shiver ran down his spine, causing him to shift back against his chair.

Dion didn’t even waste a single second, completely bypassing the goblet to drink straight from the bottle.

After a moment of watching him in silence, Cedric could tell that Dion for the most part did not just come here to crash a party and cause a scene. He looked like he had a few things heavy on his mind, and probably just needed a distraction... or maybe a friend.

So Cedric took the initiative to ask, "Are you alright?"

Dion blinked, caught off guard for a fraction of a second before his easygoing mask slid right back into place. "Huh? Yeah, sure." He smiled, "You worried about me, brother?"

Before he could even finish, Cedric cut him off flatly. "Why would I be worried about you? Now, are you going to tell me why you traveled all the way to my home?" He raised a warning finger. "And don’t start with you missed me."

Dion pouted dramatically. "But I did miss seeing your terribly handsome face." ƒrēewebnovel.com

Cedric scowled.

After a few seconds, though, Dion’s smile dimmed slightly. He set the priceless bottle down on the table with a rare, quiet gravity.

"By the way, is it alright if I crash here till when we eventually leave for the Bastion?"