"Damn. They are a pain in the ass," muttered Ethan while looking at the two women who lay on the carpeted floor, drunk.
He felt a little dizzy but he wasn’t drunk. Among the three of them, he could hold his alcohol better. Meanwhile, Julian sat on the carpet near the two women and was still holding a bottle of liquor while muttering things that Ethan couldn’t understand. It seemed like he was having fun talking to himself.
Ethan massaged his temples at the mess he was into.
"Pull your shit together, Julian, and help me bring these ladies to bed."
With his flaring cheeks, Julian chuckled and pointed at Ethan.
"Hey, did you just call my name? Do you know me?"
"Hey?" Ethan raised his brow.
"Come here, come, I will tell you a secret!" Julian grinned and hugged the bottle he was holding.
Ethan grunted. Why was he even talking to a drunk man anyway?
Vivian chose the strongest liquor Ethan had in his cellar and they consumed more than ten bottles, so he wasn’t surprised that the three got drunk even though they had high alcohol tolerance. He, on the other hand, didn’t drink as much as they did because he knew someone had to stay sober.
Ethan picked up Vivian first and put her on the bed. He then went back to Lauren. He was carrying her in his arms when he heard a knock.
"Sir Ethan, His Majesty, the King is here," the attendant said which made Ethan sigh.
He didn’t expect Alec would come all the way here. He looked down at Lauren and thought that Alec might misunderstand if he would see him carrying his wife, but before he could contemplate if it was better to put her back on the floor, the door burst open and the vampire’s piercing eyes darted to his woman in someone else’s arms.
"What are you doing?"
"She’s drunk," Ethan blurted out. He wasn’t easily swayed by anyone but Alec’s lethal eyes made him fear for his life. The man was looking at him as if he was ready to skin him alive.
Without letting one more second pass, Alec walked towards Ethan and took Lauren. His brows were pulled together when he smelled the liquor from her. He then looked around and his eyes turned darker when he saw another male in the room, Julian, who was talking to a bottle.
Ethan cleared his throat. "Greetings, Your Majesty. My apologies if the Queen stayed in my establishment in such an hour. We were celebrating the birthday of our friend, Vivian, and I didn’t know she would drink so much. I tried to stop her but she didn’t listen."
"And why were you holding her in your arms? Lauren is a married woman, if I may remind you, Mr. Sullivan. Don’t you know what improper means." The threat in Alec’s tone was evident despite how calm he sounded.
Ethan felt a little anxious.
"She fell asleep on the floor, Your Majesty. She is sensitive to cold so I thought of bringing her to bed where Vivian is," he answered and glanced at the other lady who was sleeping soundly in the bed across the room.
Although Lauren had told her that Ethan was just a friend who was like a brother to her, Alec was still pissed when he saw her in another man’s arms. And she wasn’t even conscious.
"You should have tried your best to stop her from drinking too much liquor. It’s rather inappropriate for a married woman to be on an unmarried man’s property late at night."
Before Ethan could say that Lauren never listened to him when it came to doing what she wanted, Alec spoke again.
"Thank you for taking care of my wife but I suggest next time you keep your hands to yourself, Mr. Sullivan."
He then left the room with a stern face.
Ethan blew a deep breath.
In the castle, Matthias saw Alec enter the hall while carrying the unconscious Lauren. He was about to go and ask his superior if something happened to the Queen but when he saw Alec’s dark face, he retreated.
Alec went straight to their room.
"I... I’m thirsty!" Lauren suddenly yelled after he put her down to bed.
"I’ll get you a glass-"
Lauren tugged his coat and pulled him until their faces were an inch far from each other. She slowly opened her drunken eyes.
Alec watched how her sapphire orbs glimmered against the candle lights and a soft sigh escaped his lips.
Her brows knitted. "Did you find the ring, Ethan?"
"Ethan?" Alec cursed under his breath at how she called him. Pissed, he tried to move away but Lauren gripped his coat tighter.
"I am asking you... did you find the ring?" She asked in a bedroom voice.
"What ring are you talking about? And my name is not Ethan," he said the word as if he was cussing. He was already annoyed when he saw Lauren in her so-called friend’s arms and now, she mistook him for that man? How dare she.
Lauren wrinkled her nose and closed her eyes, but she didn’t stop her drunk talk.
"The ring... you forgot about it? The one I gave you, you moron!"
Alec scoffed in annoyance. "You gave him a ring? For what?"
Lauren’s grip on his coat loosened. He pulled himself up and stared at the woman in bed with disbelief. She groaned and rolled on the other side as if she had fallen asleep, leaving his question unanswered.
"I am so pissed," he muttered before walking across the room to get the bottle of blood on his desk. He didn’t use glass and directly drank from the bottle, his eyes were flicking from gray to red.
Unbeknownst to Alec, Lauren was talking about the ring she gave to Ethan for the proposal he was planning for Vivian. Ethan asked her if she could choose the ring herself because she knew Vivian’s preference the best, but earlier, Ethan told her that he misplaced it which got her annoyed because she bought the diamond ring at a high price.