Chapter 156: Live to Sienna Pt.156
“Oh, you really are disqualified as a husband.”
“I’ve come to see my wife like this, and I am disqualified? Don’t you have to praise me?”
“You should have stayed with Bluebell until this morning. She’d be upset if she finds that someone who went to bed with her is away when she wakes up in the morning.”
“Then shall I go back?”
“...”
Sienna didn’t easily answer his question. Frankly, she was so happy that Carl came back where she was. She was shamelessly happy that he seemed to have chosen herself, not Bluebell. Though she has vowed many times not to be greedy.
Carl smiled as if he knew her mind. Sienna felt like he was teasing her, so she poked her pouted lips and went to bed and plopped down.
Carl came up to Sienna’s side. Though it was a spacious bed, he sat close to Sienna. Both of them sat so silently for a long time.
She thought she would break this silence, still time if she opened her mouth. She thought it was not bad to sit shoulder to shoulder like this without saying anything.
“This is nice.”
She wasn’t the only one who was satisfied with this moment. At his words, Sienna burst into laughter. Carl followed her and laughed. The two burst into laughter as they watched each other laughing out loud.
“Carl...would you like a drink with me?”
“Okay. Shall we have the table ready?”
Sienna told Carl that it wasn’t necessary. Then she went down to the floor and put her hand under the bed. Although she pretended to be resolute at Bluebell’s wedding, she hid the alcohol under her bed because she thought it would be difficult to fall asleep without it.
She gave an excuse to Carl, who was looking at her in a strange way because she knew how strange she would look when she squatted down looking for a hidden bottle of alcohol.
“You see...I have something I have in store for me to drink when I can’t sleep. Oh! I touched it.”
Sienna pulled out the bottle. It was a label that Carl knew.
“Maronite wine.”
“You know, my brother Jamie actually got me as a gift. He doesn’t drink. He has to train every morning, but he doesn’t like it when he drinks. It’s funny because he looks like someone who can drink a whole bottle of alcohol on spot. I’m the one who benefited from that. This must be a delicious drink, right?”
“It’s notorious for its high percentage of alcohol rather than the taste. I heard it’s a drink that is made to give to the Dwarfs as gifts in the past. I didn’t know it remained until now.”
Sienna said with a surprised look at his explanation.
“I didn’t know it was that high. The bottle looks so normal...”
As Sienna seemed to be at odds over the bottle, Carl took the bottle and said,
“You bragged that you’re a good drinker, and you’re scared because it’s a strong drink?”
As Carl made fun of Sienna with a relaxed smile, she said, with her chin raised high.
“I am not scared. I’m stronger than any other dwarf.”
She was worried that I’d get drunk, but... Sienna responded so easily to Carl’s provocation.
“Do you have a stick or something?”
When Carl asked for a stick to push the cork, Sienna found the opener in the drawer and handed it over.
“I don’t want the drink to be mixed with cork powder like it happened before.”
“I can’t believe you have an opener in the drawer...”
When Carl opened his eyes thinly and looked at her like she was a drunkard, Sienna felt it was unfair, but instead of making excuses, she shouted loudly at him.
“So what? You don’t like your wife because she’s a drinker?”
The strong aroma of alcohol spread when Carl opened the cap with the opener he was handed over.
“It’s not that I don’t like you for being a drinker, but that I don’t like the fact that you drink alone. You can drink with me if you want to drink.”
He blushed and began to drink from the whole bottle as if he was embarrassed by what he said. Sienna reached out to him and said, “You’re not going to drink it all by yourself, are you?”
“Whoo... that’s very strong.”
Carl breathed out a deep breath and handed over the bottle. The strong aroma of alcohol was ingrained in his exhaled breath. The smell alone made Sienna feel drunk, but she took courage and put the bottle to her mouth. She only had a sip, but it felt like a fireball went through her throat down to her chest.
“Ha.”
Her whole body became feverish and dazed. Sienna shook her head fiercely and said, “It’s very strong.”
Carl nodded as if he agreed with her.
“But the taste is fine. By the way, drinking this whole bottle reminds me of that time. A lady from a noble family was wearing a skirt inside out and tied up on a tree.”
He burst into laughter as he found it really funny even now that he thinks of it. Sienna’s face, which reminded her of that time, became blushed.
“...was it so funny and weird?”
“Yes, it was weird. You’ve always been weird.”
Carl took the bottle from Sienna’s hand, took a sip, and continued his words in a calm voice.
“I thought it was weird when a woman I’ve never seen recognized me and called my name in front of a pickled mire store. I thought she was a strange woman even when she went out to cure me with her trembling hands, and she said, ‘I’ve never treated anyone before, so I can’t be sure of the effects of the medicine’.”
“Apparently, she was a strange woman.”
‘I gave you my whole heart at first sight. I wanted to be with you for the rest of my life. I used to think that...’
Sienna recalled the first time she saw him at the coming-of-age ceremony in the past. She smiled bitterly and drank a bottle from him. So the two shared a sip of the liquor bottle, taking back and forth.
“Ha...Carl, you’re weird too...you know...”
She didn’t think she had that many sips, but her tongue got dull and her words came out slow. On the other hand, Carl’s pronunciation remained unchanged.
“Did you?”
She said, half-closed her eyes in a languid spirit, leaning her head against Carl’s shoulder.
“It was weird. It was all... ...weird.”
“...”
When he was silent, Sienna patted him on the thigh and said, “Keep talking. I want to hear it.”
“The strangest thing was that she wanted a divorce from me. It’s weird to ask for a divorce without even getting married.”
“...that’s true. It was weird. But I had to.”
Carl turned his head and looked down at Sienna, asking back, “Why did you have to?” She shook her head, then made an X with her fingers on her lips and said, “That... I can’t...tell you...I will never ...tell ...you...”
“...”
Carl put on a look of frustration and held out the bottle to Sienna.
“Oh... ...I think I am drunk...”
Sienna said so, but she took the bottle of liquor and took a sip.
“Uh... ...weird. I didn’t think it was this strong before...this wine...”
As she grinned and spoke, Carl followed her and said with a smile.
“So you won’t tell me? Why did you ask for a divorce?”
Sienna squinted her eyes and glared at him. The body looked very drunk, swaying back and forth a little.
“Wow... Mr. ... That’s mean. You got me drunk...to make me... talk... I won’t fall for it. I can’t be the only one who shares secrets... that’s not fair.”
“Then I’ll tell you a secret, too.”
At Carl’s words, Sienna frowned and hesitated.
“I know everything about Carl... What if I told you I know your secret...already?”
“I’ll tell you a secret you don’t know.”
At his words, Sienna agonized for a long time and nodded with difficulty.
“Yes, indeed, a secret I don’t know! Tell me, what’s the secret?”
“You know the one thing I regret most?”
“Well, what do you regret most? But why is that a secret?”
“Because I never wanted to tell you.”
At his words, Sienna nodded.
“That’s a secret, then. Because it’s a secret when I don’t want to tell you something.”
“What I regret most is...having accepted your request for a divorce... that I gladly said yes to you asking for a divorce.”
“Why... why, you regret it?”
“I don’t think I can keep the promise...”
“What?”
Sienna looked up in surprise at Carl’s unexpected words. She thought maybe she misheard it.
“I don’t think I can keep that promise. At first, I thought it was a strange wish, but I said I would do it easily because I thought I could keep my promise. I didn’t think I’d have any regrets....but now, just the thought of you leaving me is terrifying so I can’t let you go.”
“...”
“I was married to Bluebell today, but I only looked at you during the whole ceremony. For me, marriage was just about political needs, never meant anything at all. But while looking at you today, I couldn’t make eye contact with you. I felt like I was making a big mistake. You know what’s funny?”
“...what was it?”