"Another one, please!"
Kai said in a drunken tone, raising his empty glass high above his head.
"Alright, alright... just a moment."
Martha walked over to him, took the glass from his hand, and refilled it with milk from the pitcher she'd been carrying all along.
"I never thought there'd be someone who could get drunk from drinking milk..."
Martha muttered under her breath, staring at Kai as if he were some kind of rare creature.
And yet, no matter how unbelievable it seemed, the man in front of her was undeniably drunk. His cheeks were bright red, and his body rocked from side to side with alarming instability.
"It's not like I want to be this way... but what can I do...? This is just how I am..."
Kai replied with a pout, accepting the glass from Martha.
Without wasting a second, he raised it to his lips and emptied the entire glass in a single gulp.
"Huaaah! Another one, please!"
Having emptied the glass in an instant, Kai once again raised it high into the air, just as he had done moments earlier.
"Yeah, yeah... I get it."
With a helpless sigh, Martha refilled his glass once more.
"U-Um... Kai..."
Marie, who was not far from where Kai was, finally gathered the courage to speak up. She stood behind a wall with a bookshelf in front of it. She seemed slightly afraid of Kai, who clearly didn't look alright.
"Hmmm...? What is it...? Hic!"
Kai turned toward Marie, a small hiccup escaping him at the end.
"What's wrong? Are you okay?"
Marie asked hesitantly. Even now, she kept most of her body hidden behind the wall, only peeking her head out to look at him.
"Do I look okay to you!?"
Kai shot back. The response came out more aggressively than he probably intended, his frustration slipping into his voice.
"S-Sorry!"
Startled by Kai's sharp response, Marie immediately ducked back behind the wall, disappearing from sight once more.
*Whack!*
Before Kai could say another word, a frying pan suddenly appeared in Martha's hand out of nowhere and struck him squarely on the head. The unexpected blow sent him slumping onto the table on the spot.
"I don't know what happened to you, but that's no excuse to be rude to Her Highness!"
Martha said in a firm, intimidating tone, glaring down at Kai as though daring him to argue back.
"Sorry..."
Kai replied, rubbing the bump on his head.
Luckily, he had already drained the glass dry. Had there been any milk left, it would've ended up all over the table the moment Martha's frying pan struck him.
"I'm sorry, Your Highness! I promise this fool won't speak rudely to you again!"
Martha said to Marie, who was still hiding behind the wall. At the same time, she shot Kai a stern glare that practically warned him not to make the same mistake twice.
"It's fine... I don't mind. And Aunt Martha... please stop calling me 'Your Highness'!"
With the tension gone, Marie finally found the courage to peek out from behind the wall again.
She glanced at Kai sympathetically. She had no idea what had happened to him or why he had come here, but it had to be something serious. The man who always seemed full of energy had suddenly shown up looking utterly dejected, to the point that even those around him could feel it.
"U-Um... Kai... how are you feeling? Why do you look so depressed?"
Gathering her courage once more, Marie asked the question that had been on her mind.
"I'm sorry for speaking rudely to you earlier..."
Instead of answering her question, Kai lowered his head and apologized.
Looking completely dejected, he rested his forehead against the table.
"I told you, it's fine. So, could you tell me what happened?"
Kai slowly raised his head and turned his gaze toward Marie.
The expression on his face made him look like a man who had been fired from his job, come home to discover his lover was cheating on him, lost all of his savings to a scam, and then suffered every other misfortune imaginable.
"Do you think I'm an unreliable person?"
The question left his mouth in a sorrowful voice. With the corners of his lips turned downward and exhaustion written all over his face, he looked so pitiful that it was hard not to feel sorry for him.
Marie found herself struggling to answer.
The truth was, she didn't know Kai very well. They had only met once before, when he had barged into her house on his first day in the village as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Then today, he had done it again.
Because of that, the strongest impression Marie had of him wasn't that he was reliable or unreliable—it was that he seemed strangely fond of walking into her house whenever he pleased.
"I think... you're someone who's always full of energy."
Since there was no way Marie could tell him what she was actually thinking, she settled for mentioning one of his better qualities instead.
"Me? Full of energy?"
Kai repeated, sounding anything but energetic.
Marie nodded.
Although Kai looked completely drained at the moment, the Kai she remembered had always seemed full of energy—especially when they talked about books. Of course, that impression existed only in Marie's mind. Kai himself had never felt particularly excited during those conversations.
"Do you think I can help people if I'm full of energy?"
Marie didn't really understand what he meant by that question, but she nodded anyway. Whatever he was trying to say, agreeing felt like the safest response.
"That's right. If you want to help people, you need energy!"
Martha said, quickly backing up Marie's answer. In truth, she didn't really understand what Kai was trying to say either, but she felt it was her duty to support her master regardless.
Kai then turned his gaze toward the only other person in the room who couldn't be seen by anyone but him—the Fairy Goddess standing quietly in the corner.
Understanding what Kai wanted, the Fairy Goddess gave him a nod.
"Exactly! There's no point in sulking all by myself! What I need to do now is keep fighting until the very end!"
With his motivation finally restored, Kai declared in a loud voice as he planted one foot on top of the table and clenched a fist in front of his chest.
*Clap! Clap! Clap!*
Everyone who witnessed the scene broke into applause.
Although Martha looked slightly displeased at the sight of Kai's filthy foot on the table she always cleaned so carefully, she decided to let it slide for now and allow the cheerful atmosphere to continue.
"So, Kai... what happened to you? And why did you come here?"
Since Kai still hadn't answered her earlier question, Marie decided to ask again. She was genuinely curious about what had driven him into such a depressed state.
Kai scratched the back of his head, looking troubled.
His foot was still planted firmly on top of the table, much to Martha's growing annoyance. Unfortunately, Kai seemed completely oblivious to it.
The real reason Kai had come here was simple. If he went to Katie's place for a meal, there was a good chance he would run into Kurt, Claire, or Elly.
For the time being, he wanted to avoid them. Even though Kurt had nothing to do with what had happened that morning, Kai had no desire to show his weaker side in front of the man and give him something new to tease him about.
He could have told Marie and Martha what had happened earlier that day, but the more he thought about it, the more embarrassed he felt. In the end, he decided to keep it to himself.
At least for now.
"The reason I came here..."
After a brief moment of silence, Kai spoke in a mysterious tone.
"The reason you came here?"
Marie and Martha echoed his words, their curiosity immediately piqued. Before they realized it, both of them had leaned in closer, eager to hear what he was about to say.
"Because I..."
""Because you...?""
"Because I wanted free milk?"
Kai finally revealed his answer with a thumbs-up, sticking his tongue out to one side and pulling the most ridiculous face he could manage.
Everyone nearly stumbled forward when they heard Kai's ridiculous answer.