Moments of silence passed as Charlotte downed a glass of red wine, Kaiser sitting beside her.
"Ah."
After finishing her glass, Charlotte placed it on the bar counter in Kaiser's apartment, ready to refill and drink it all at once.
Kaiser looked at her with arrogance, then clapped his hands and said with a cruel smile:
"Refreshing, but I promise you if you get drunk, I won't hesitate to take you to bed and play with you."
"You won't."
Charlotte replied calmly, but her voice was full of challenge as she boldly poured more wine.
"You wouldn't play with a woman who's in a relationship with a man you hate… not on your bed. Besides, you're taken now."
"You're right."
Kaiser shrugged, as if convinced of his noble spirit for not stealing women in relationships.
"But I wouldn't mind exchanging kisses with you."
"Well, that's you. But you wouldn't do that with someone as annoying and pathetic as me."
Charlotte raised the glass to her lips and drank it in one go. Her tolerance was average, yet she felt heat rising in her cheeks and bitterness burning in her throat.
Perhaps her guilt and suffering had worn down her once reliable endurance.
"By the way, how do you feel now?"
"...I'm fine."
Charlotte answered, her vision now blurry—not from tears that had long dried up, but because she was finally drunk.
She placed the empty glass carefully so it wouldn't fall from the table, then sat down on the chair beside Kaiser. Her long hair swayed with the motion of her head.
Once she settled and rested her chin on her palm, she tried to pour another glass of wine, but Kaiser snatched the glass and the bottle from her, pouring for himself instead.
"You're already drunk. It's my turn."
Kaiser raised the glass to his lips and sipped the wine, but his eyes didn't follow the red liquid—they stayed on Charlotte, who stared at the table half-aware, her head swaying slowly, as if she were resisting the pull of unconsciousness.
Charlotte pursed her lips in displeasure at having the glass taken away but didn't argue.
"Kaiser…"
She whispered softly, slurred, far from their usual verbal sparring.
"If someone hurts me… and keeps scaring me… what do you think I might've done to deserve that?"
Charlotte was slowly sinking into a foggy, heavy world, her eyelids dragged downward, pulling her toward complete shutdown… a gradual detachment from reality.
"Are you talking about that bastard?"
Kaiser asked, sharpness creeping into his voice.
"No… just a hypothetical."
Charlotte shook her head, denying that she meant Leonid. Her voice came out exhausted, as if she were dragging the words from deep within her drunken haze.
"Someone appeared out of nowhere... I don't know him, and he doesn't know me. But he acts like he knows me completely. As if I've committed an unforgivable sin against him. And I don't understand… I truly don't understand what I did to deserve all of this."
Kaiser stopped sipping his wine and stared at her for a moment before saying with his usual coldness:
"I see him as a real person. Just tell me who he is, and I'll teach him a lesson he won't forget."
"I find it hard to say."
"The real difficulty is that someone actually dares to bother you. That's what's hard to believe."
"Don't talk like that, as if I'm a bad person."
"You're not bad. But you're… too patient. More than you should be."
Charlotte sighed, then whispered softly:
"I don't think I'm a patient person anymore..."
Her dark eyes shimmered with tears despite her drunken haze, lost between exhaustion and the longing for peace. She gazed into the distance, everything around her seeming to blur even more.
"So tell me, what should I do if someone like that comes and ruins my life?"
she asked hoarsely, trying to mask the vulnerability in her words.
Kaiser raised his eyebrow slightly, contemplating the truth of Charlotte's claims, then replied with cold indifference, ignoring the tension of the moment.
"All you have to do is treat him the same way,"
he said nonchalantly, waving his hand as if the matter didn't deserve further discussion.
"Nothing more, nothing less."
Charlotte closed her eyes for a moment, listening to those words, while her mind resisted going down that path. She thought of retaliation, just as Kaiser suggested, but something deep inside her sensed the danger of that idea.
She sighed and shook her head slightly before saying,
"Forget it... Can you carry me to my apartment?"
"Absolutely not."
He replied coldly, turning his head lazily in irritation.
"I don't have the energy for that, so don't push it."
"But Kaiiiiser~!"
Charlotte pouted her full lips childishly, then leaned toward him, her body swaying, hugging his right arm while he sipped wine with his left.
"Please..."
"I said no."
"Why not?!"
Kaiser swallowed the last drop of wine in one go, then said without bothering to look at her:
"Because I don't want to. That's all there is to it."
"Hmph! So cruel! That's terrible!"
Charlotte shouted in frustration.
"Such kindness from you, my sweet~"
Kaiser replied sarcastically, his indifferent tone unchanged.
Charlotte furrowed her brows and looked at him with disgust, muttering.
"You're disgusting."
"And so are you."
He replied with a smile, eyes closed, swaying left and right while Charlotte shook his arm, trying to get his attention.
"You should stop this, I'm about to throw up from all this movement..."
He grumbled, but Charlotte didn't stop, continuing to tug and push him, unaware of how close she was to him.
"Come on, Kaiser... Don't be mean. Please take me to my apartment."
Charlotte begged in a soft voice, unable to move her body.
"You have feet, go by yourself... besides, you..."
Kaiser suddenly stopped, straightened his back, then slowly turned to look at her.
She was close. Very close. The air between them was charged, as if the distance had completely vanished.
He stared at her defiant features, her angry eyes, then whispered in a low tone:
"Not like you're completely drunk."
"You're wrong."
Charlotte responded with annoyance before grabbing the wine bottle and drinking the rest of it in one go.
Kaiser watched her in silence for a moment, as if something inside him was slowly cracking. His smile gradually faded, turning into something darker.
In a bold move, Charlotte tossed the empty bottle aside; luckily, it fell on the couch, but unfortunately, it stained it with small patches of red wine.
"I'm drunk now."
She said it in a hoarse voice, swaying. Then she raised her trembling hands to cradle Kaiser's face between her palms again. But this time, her touch was warmer… and more seductive for someone.
"I see that."
Kaiser responded in a low tone, suppressing a half-triumphant smile, as pleasure crept deeper within him.
"Then take me... but... I want ice."
"Mm, you'll get what you want."
Kaiser moved slowly toward her, deliberately, while she continued rambling with scattered words, not fully aware of what she was saying.
Suddenly, he stole a kiss from her. No permission, no hesitation.
His lips pressed against hers as if claiming something that belonged to him.
In response, Charlotte stiffened in place... not knowing what was happening, but her hands stayed cradling his face.
It felt as if something invisible surrounded her, binding her to sink into a false kiss, a kiss that wasn't hers.
He cupped the back of her neck with his hand, pressing his lips against hers with a hint of persistent demand, while a thick silence enveloped them, resembling the invisible presence of desire and immersion.
A smug smile appeared on Kaiser's lips, still lingering above Charlotte's, before he slowly pulled away.
He gazed at her misty eyes and the glowing skin of her cheeks, then whispered softly, more to himself than to her:
"Intoxicating... just as I expected."
He chuckled lightly and stood up without rushing.
He headed to the fridge, took out a bottle of water, drank half of it first, then returned to Charlotte and whispered to her.
"For the honor of our first kiss… and the beginning of the countdown."
Without blinking, he gently pushed the bottle to her lips, coaxing her gently to drink the rest, careful not to hurt her.
"Good girl… slowly. Well done."
He whispered tenderly, his fingers grazing her chin as he removed the empty bottle.
"Mm…"
Charlotte's head swayed, searching for a surface to rest her head on, but Kaiser's fingers held it in place.
"Take it easy."
He reached into his back pocket, pulled out a folded handkerchief, unfolded it quietly, and began to gently wipe her mouth... patting her lips as if she were something fragile in his hands, something that must remain clean, obedient, his alone.
"That's it, we're done~."
He smiled and set the handkerchief aside before lifting Charlotte off the chair, securing her against his chest.
As soon as she rested her head on his shoulder, her eyelids fluttered shut, and she drifted into a deep sleep… a sleep tainted by heavy intoxication.
The sunset crept through the windows, casting shades of orange and gold on the living room walls. Kaiser carefully carried her toward his bedroom, placed her on the mattress, then lay beside her, gently caressing her cheek as she rested her head on his arm.