Annan's drunken haze vanished in an instant. His dark eyes, clear again, fixed sharply on the woman before him—
"Olin?" Annan's tense body relaxed.
"Why have you stopped calling me Sister?" Olin set down her glass and frowned at his loss of composure. "Have you never had a drink?"
"No."
Annan was still staring blankly at Olin.
She wore a pale silk dress fitted at the waist. Her long legs, usually hidden behind greaves, supported a well-proportioned figure. The healthy curves of her muscles set her apart from noble ladies who couldn't even move a chair.
She looked just like the oil painting of Old Ancestor in her youth at the Manor...
"You're actually Old Ancestor turned young again, aren't you? There's no way that tomboy could look this much like a woman." Annan reached out to touch Olin.
Olin slapped his hand away. Ignoring his rude words, she glanced discreetly around and relaxed when she saw that troublesome niece of Sienna's hadn't witnessed it... Who could get angry at a pretty boy when he was drunk?
"Do you remember what I told you?"
Olin thought for a moment, then helped Annan up as though supporting a patient with a bad leg. "Let's get you onto the terrace to clear your head."
"I remember..." Even with his thoughts slowed, Annan recalled it vividly. "Four hundred thousand Gold Coins for the Arcane Core."
"Not that."
They reached the terrace. Olin didn't notice Alice following them.
"You get twenty percent off anything you buy from the imperial procurement department."
"Not that either..." Olin sighed and deposited him by the railing. "I said, don't let money corrupt your will."
"I'm perfectly sober!"
Ordinarily, Annan wouldn't dare raise his voice to Olin. Tonight was an exception.
"Whose Purse is that over there?"
"Mine! That's