I have to admit; the liquor brought a bigger effect than I anticipated. I was only like a few glasses in, and several minutes later, I was already quite drunk. When was the last time I was like this? Been a long while. Everything seemed cloudy, perhaps I had forgotten what it was like to be really drunk. Various thoughts, lacking clarity, formed in my mind. I watched one of my guys slip and fall, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

  I laughed at the smallest things.

  This body was too vulnerable to the effects of alcohol.

  Weeell, it couldn’t be helped. I AM the Princess. The Purest in the kingdom. The most generous, the kindest, the most beautiful and gentle… I am the best!

  Oh goodness, good thing I didn’t blabber that out externally… That would have been weird.

  I’m already drunk, but that doesn’t mean it’s enough!

  “My bottle’s about to run out!” I said with an obvious slurring. “Prepare me another bottle, please!”

  Taneva looked at me with wide and flabbergasted eyes. “Woah, you soloed that bottle, and you want another? And it’s far from empty!”

  I pointed a finger at him. “S-Shut up, Taneva. Don’t, don’t question me. Just bring me a fresh bottle, anyone. Not the crappy ones!”

  No one was stopping me in my time of leisure. I was finally free from the burden of bad memories and emotions. And if more bottles of alcohol would bring me more of this pleasantness, then bring me more of it.

  I poured another fill to my glass and quickly chugged it in.

  “Aaaah!” I nodded with an ecstatic expression.

  Hartwin noticed me and approached me. “Someone’s enjoying the party. Are you gonna be alright though?”

  I frowned and directed a sharp gaze towards him. “Who do you think I am? You think I’m so mentally weak?”

  Hartwin laughed wryly. “First time drinkers should keep it in moderation.”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  Not like it was really my first time drinking. If we count my previous life of course. That fucked up life — not like I wished for a life like that. I was just there from the beginning. Like, maybe, I was disposed of by my parents or something. I never even knew them. Not like I cared. They didn’t give a shit about me, so why would I give a shit about them? Everything’s bullshit anyway — aaah, fuck, I’m rambling. Shit…

  Even my mind was running out of filters. And, honestly, it felt good.

  I drank another round.

  “Velar,” Hartwin called my knight. “The Princess is gonna kick the bucket at this rate.”

  Velar let out a sigh as he watched me. “I never took you for a heavy drinker. You were hesitant last time.”

  With a brief hic, I pointed a finger at them. “That was a d-different situation. This one… is a party!” I laughed like an airhead. “Yeah, nothing to worry about. Just let loose…” I mumbled to myself.

  Hartwin, Velar, and Taneva looked at each other. They seemed to be indirectly deliberating on how to respond to my actions. But come on, they didn’t have anything to worry about.

  “You know, it’s quite funny how some people die,” the moment I said that, my companions looked at me with both confused and surprised expressions. “Some just pee themselves…” That was quite true. “Especially if you slit their throat…” I let out a sigh. “A slow but sure death. Oh, and sometimes it feels so satisfying to kill some cocky motherfuckers.”

  “Hey now…” Hartwin murmured, surprised by my words. But I ignored him.

  “When I killed that eldest imperial prince…” I chuckled, recalling the memory. “What was his name again…? Ugh, whatever. Prick was confident as hell. How pleasant and satisfying it was to kill him. You should have seen his face…” I chuckled as I leaned on the table. “I miss that feeling… that warmth in my chest.”

  “Um, what do you mean by that?” Hartwin asked.

  I shook my hand. “Never mind, that’s not important.”

  “Huh.”

  “Good kills… really are good kills. The younger prince was okay, but quite a fool, that guy. But a good kill is a good kill. And those ninjas… that was the best. So fucking easy to kill them. I hate ninjas… we hate ninjas. If you ever see a ninja, please kill them!”

  “Why would we kill a ninja without a good reason?” Taneva asked as he took a sip of his wine.

  “That’s because they’re my enemies.”

  “How did that happen?”

  “Ugh, it’s complicated.” I took a sip of my liquor. “By the way, Hartwin, why aren’t you drinking lots?”

  “I drank plenty, Princess. But I still have to perform, remember?”

  “Oh yeah, you’re going to do that. Using the lute, huh?”

  “Some of the guys are going to use barrels as drums.”

  “That’s good…” I chuckled foolishly. “Make sure it lasts the entire night.”

  “I doubt you’d last till midnight.”

  “Don’t… underestimate me. I plan to enjoy this occasion.” I looked around. “By the way, Taneva, where’s the little girl?”

  “Seriously? You’re that drunk already? You forgot you let her wait in your cabin?”

  I looked up at the sky with an open mouth, recalling the memory in my clouded mind. “Oh yeah, I did.” I really forgot about that. Which reminded me why she couldn’t join the party.

  That’s not good. Everyone should have a good time! Especially a kid! Not always you could experience something like this. Children should be able to act as children! And I mean on this particular occasion of course, where we forget the bad stuff.

  With that in my mind, I stood up. I wobbled for a moment, leaning on the table.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “Hold on, where are you going?” Taneva placed a hand on my shoulder, stopping me from falling.

  Ugh, everything’s moving…. Hazy.

  I closed my eyes, trying to refocus my mind, taking in a slow, deep breath. Doing that, I felt a bit better.

  “Pulling out the kid out here.”

  I headed straight for my cabin with a more stable step. Having confidence in myself, I refused the help they offered to me. Come now, this was nothing. I was not that drunk…

  I managed to reach — ah, no, not that word — I reached my cabin. Upon entering, I closed the door and squinted my eyes, scanning the dark room. Yeah, I didn’t light this place up. Cursed Children were fine with the darkness, anyway.

  I approached one lamp and used magic to light it afire. Good thing I wasn’t too drunk to set the place on fire. The room now lit for a bit, I noticed Nira, who was covered completely, sitting down on a chair by the table.

  “You alright?” I asked as I approached her.

  “You’re… here?” Her face was covered in cloth.

  I chuckled and dropped to the chair on her opposite side. “Yeah. Quite boring here… It would have been fine for you to light up the lamps instead of lurking in the darkness.”

  “... I am fine with the dark…” Her eyes seemingly squinted as she stared at me. “Are you drunk, goddess?”

  “... That’s not important…”

  “Do you wish to rest? If so, I can leave—”

  I shook my head. “It’s too early to rest.” I leaned on the table, it was a bit difficult to remain upright to be honest. “I’m here for you.”

  “For me?”

  I smiled a little. “Have you ever been to a party?”

  She paused for a moment. “... Party? We don’t… party.”

  “Huh. I can imagine that. That sucks. A party is an event where you enjoy the moment with your friends, to forget the troubles. You live in the moment.” Of course there were parties that just sucked, but that’s basically the meaning of it… “Do you want to experience it?”

  “Um.” She lowered her head. “I can’t.”

  “I didn’t ask if you can or can’t experience it. I asked if you want to.”

  “... I don’t know. I don’t know if I will enjoy it like this.” She referred to her current state.

  “Of course. Again, if you are given the chance, would you like to have a normal happy moment and take part in this occasion?”

  She raised her gaze, looking up at me. “... I…”

  “Just yes or no.”

  “... Yes.”

  I nodded. “Good. Good. Out there is better than here. That is why…” I stood up, but had to immediately lean on the table to avoid falling over. I regained my footing and held out my hand, and conjured a sharp shard of ice. “For tonight, I shall grant you peace from your curse.”

  Her eyes widened in disbelief. “Goddess… But…”

  “Immerse yourself in this party. Talk to people, enjoy the food, have fun with a wide genuine smile on your face.” I made a cut on my palm, sharp pain radiated, but nothing I couldn’t handle. I held out my hand towards her, as crimson fluid slowly crawled on my palm. “Drink my blood.”

  I noticed her tense up, her eyes seemed to glare at the blood. It must indeed be pretty attractive to the Cursed Children. But she seemed to still resist herself.

  “A-Are y-you sure…?” she asked in a faltering voice. Resisting must have been agonizing.

  “Yes.”

  She lowered the cover of her face, unveiling the hideous monster hiding beneath. And she leaned forward, putting her mouth on my palm and began drinking my blood. A short moment later, she suddenly jerked backwards, accidentally kicking down her chair.

  She stumbled and started to groan as if in pain. As she kneeled on the floor, I could hear her heavy breaths. And then her body appeared to change, her figure started to become smaller. It was hard to tell what exactly was happening to her flesh underneath all that garment. A couple of seconds later, she became quiet, and she looked at her hands. They were normal human hands, small, like a true child.

  She quickly lowered the cloth covering her head. She touched her cheeks, they were normal. Indeed, she had turned back to her human form during the night.

  A smile slowly formed on the little girl’s face, followed by faint joyful chuckles. “It w-worked.” She turned towards me and prostrated herself before me. “Thank you, goddess!”

  “Don’t get too happy. It’s only temporary.” At least that was what Taneva said. “Anyway, stand up.”

  “Yes!” She sprang up excitedly with the widest grin I had ever seen she made.

  I led her outside, and her smile was still wide as ever, her eyes brightly glimmering. The moment she stepped outside, she was dumbfounded for a moment seeing the festive atmosphere. I led her to the table and urged her to grab whatever food she wanted to eat. While she did so, I sat back down on my chair and poured another drink on my glass.

  “That’s surprising,” Taneva said from beside me. “You gave her your blood. I thought you didn’t want to do that.”

  “It’s fine. Just this once.”

  “... Your intoxication is affecting your ability to think and decide, it would seem.”

  I frowned. “No, it’s not.”

  “Yeah right.”

  I drank a glass of liquor as Nira returned with a plate full of a variety of food. From the looks of it, she was not holding back. I urged her to sit down nearby me, and she started gnawing at her food. She seemed pretty excited and happy. Shayla then approached the little girl and placed a cup of water beside her plate.

  “Careful, kid. You’ll choke.”

  Nira flinched slightly and slowly looked up at Shayla. “T-Thank you.”

  And with that, the little girl continued eating after drinking a bit of water.

  “Good thing she came out,” Shayla said, indicating the little girl. “I’ve been wondering where she was.”

  “She’s just shy,” I answered. Good thing we were leaving tomorrow in our separate ways. No need to keep hiding what Nira truly was. Hiding the truth would have been a pain.

  It was then we noticed, at the bow of the ship, a small group began to gather. Among them was Hartwin with his lute.

  “Now that everyone is getting more into the mood, it’s time to level up the party!” Hartwin announced. “We did a little practice beforehand, but I’m sure we won’t mess up. Don’t forget to cheer and don’t be shy to dance to the tune!”

  Everyone cheered loudly that we may have disturbed the other ships and people around us. But, who gives a shit.

  The music started with a jolly tune. It sounded pretty good actually, and they rushed the practice for it? I gotta hand it to them. Of course, the most skillful was Hartwin, and he made no mistakes whatsoever with playing his lute, the way he plucked and strummed the strings was perfect. And when he started singing, you could really see how impressive of a bard he was. There was no sign of shaking in his voice and no missing a note.

  I heard one of the crew mention they knew this song, so I surmised it must be a song from Eventon. It had that dancing tune in it. And my guess was right, when they reached, which I guessed was the chorus of the song, some of the crew started dancing in front. The dance emphasized the feet and arms. Unlike what’s common back in my homeland, which was more romantic and usually with a partner, theirs was with a group dancing altogether, with an individuality in the dance. And they were having fun.

  It was catchy music.

  Once they finished one song, they followed up with another. Others urged others to dance. So of course, they had to join in.

  Taneva, who seemed to be fairly drunk already, began stepping forward. Taneva drank an entire bottle way faster than me by the way, and he didn’t even grab a cup, just straight out of the bottle. Fucking alcoholic immortal.

  “Come on, Estelia. Join the dance!” he said.

  I vigorously shook my head. “I don’t know how to dance.”

  “Oh come on, what a killjoy.” He turned to Nira. “Hey kid, join in on the dance. Just follow along, or just do random stuff.”

  “... Okay.”

  To my shock, Nira agreed.

  What the hell?

  “Good for you! Unlike some other here.”

  I frowned at Taneva’s words. And there they went, dancing. Taneva seemed to be familiar with their dance, and was teaching the little kid. I hated dancing, so I was just gonna stay here. I wasn’t drunk enough to dance shit.

  But then Shayla suddenly pulled up on me and grabbed my hand.

  “Come on, Princess! You’re missing out! Look, everyone’s dancing.”

  I pouted. Even Velar joined in. Ugh.

  “Don’t be shy, Princess!” another crewmember suddenly said.

  “We won’t make fun of you. Hahaha!” another said.

  You’re already doing it!

  I was feeling pressured. Indeed, I was the only one not doing anything. Come on, I’m an antisocial princess, I shouldn’t be doing something like this. Fuck, did this mean Nira was braver than me? Even that girl was willing to dance. Shayla started pulling me.

  I groaned, deliberating.

  Ah, fuck it.

  If I wasn’t drunk enough to do this, then I should get more drunk!

  “Hold up!” I said as I grabbed a bottle and chugged as much alcohol as I could. “Aah!” Fuck, my throat was burning.

  It was then I was pulled into the dance floor, it was a bit embarrassing trying to dance. But everything has been hazy at that moment. There were chuckling, laughing. But, admittedly, it was quite fun. Truly. And during that time, we opened up the wines from another continent. I got to drink plenty, and I was quite pleased.

  But, my memory pretty much blacked out sometime after that.

  When I woke up, a sharp pain radiated in my head. And when my eyes cleared, I saw a familiar ceiling, my cabin. Then I realized I was lying on the floor, by the foot of my bed. With a groan, I looked around.

  “Uuugh… What the fuck happened?”

  Yeah, things were pretty blurry recalling stuff. From the looks of it, I passed out just before reaching my bed.

  Shit.