NOVPUBArin and Riya both stood, staring at the villagers who were dancing round the bonfire.
They had wide smiles on their faces as they enjoyed themselves.
Arin squinted his eyes as he noticed a girl approaching them. She held a wooden tray that had two bowls of food on it.
The girl smiled as she reached them and stretched out the tray.
"Here. I brought food for both of you. Thank you for helping us defeat the Beasts," she said, her smile widened.
Both Arin and Riya smiled back.
"You're welcome," Arin said. "And thank you for the food, but I'm not hungry."
The girl nodded and faced Riya.
"Yes, you're welcome," Riya said.
She looked at the food and added, "I'll take it..."
Riya took one of the bowls of food from the tray.
"Thank you once again," the girl said with a smile before she turned and left.
Riya began eating while Arin just folded his arms.
Though, from the corner of his eyes, he could see someone approaching them.
"A drunk man..." Arin muttered to himself.
The man who was approaching them was staggering, and he had two cups in his hands. 𝑛𝘰𝑣𝑝𝑢𝑏.𝘤𝑜𝘮
After a few seconds, he finally reached Arin and Riya.
"Hahaha! I came all the way from the bonfire just to meet the both of you! It was really a treacherous journey!" The man exclaimed.
'Yup, he's definitely drunk,' Arin thought.
Riya stared at Arin for a second before looking at the elderly man.
"Good sir. Why did you come all the way here?" Riya asked.
She sounded respectful, but to Arin, it just felt like she wanted to have a good laugh.
The man burped, sending the scent of alcohol towards Riya and Arin's noses.
"Ah! I've forgotten why I came all the way here, but I know I was sent on a mission..." The man said.
"... Right? Yeah, a mission..." The man mumbled to himself.
Suddenly, he looked at Arin and Riya again before speaking:
"Anyway! Take these!"
He shoved the cups into Arin and Riya's hands and began staggering away back to the bonfire.
"I must return to my land to pay my respects to my grandfather," the elderly man mumbled as he staggered.
Riya kept chuckling as she watched the man leave.
"Why didn't you say anything?" She asked without looking at Arin.
"What did you expect me to say?" Arin replied with a question.
Riya remained silent as she continued eating. Meanwhile, Arin was busy observing the cup.
A transparent liquid was inside the cup, and Arin would've thought it was water if not for the scent coming from it.
"Alcohol... A strong one at that," Arin muttered.
From the scent, he could tell that it was no ordinary alcohol.
He kept staring at the liquid.
'Should I take it?... It won't hurt, right?'
Arin felt like he would be able to taste it unlike food. Since he became a Vampire, food tasted and even scented bland, but this alcohol had an appealing scent.
'Fuck it!'
Arin instantly raised the cup and took a sip from the alcohol.
As soon as the liquid entered his mouth, his eyes widened slightly.
'I can taste it... And it's harsh...'
A smile formed on Arin's face. 'I guess I also have something to enjoy from this feast apart from this melody...'
Arin quickly began taking more sips from the alcohol, his smile widening with every sip.
'I can't get drunk, right?... I don't think I can.'
"You should take it easy," Riya said.
Arin looked at her. For a moment, he had forgotten that she was even here.
She had already finished eating and was already taking sips from her own alcohol.
"You might get drunk," she added.
"I don't think so," Arin said.
Riya scoffed as she took another sip.
"You were surprised when you saw that Leon was drunk, right?"
Arin furrowed his brows. "Yeah... But I don't think that'll be the case for me."
There was silence between them for a few seconds before Riya spoke.
"Tessa really cares for you."
Arin raised a brow. "What makes you say that?"
Riya smiled. "You needed to see her expression when you were unconscious in the forest and even when we carried you back to your room. She was more than worried."
"Is that so?" Arin muttered.
"The way she was acting, and glued to you, it was almost as if you guys were a couple or something," Riya laughed.
Arin sipped again.
"Well, she told me that she was in love with me."
For the next five seconds, there was silence, but then...
"Ohhh..." Riya said, nodding her head. "No wonder she was acting like that."
'What the hell am I even thinking?' Arin thought.
Ever since Tessa told him about her feelings on that rooftop, he had been confused.
He didn't know what to think and feel about it.
Yes, Tessa was beautiful and determined to get stronger, and he admired her for that. But...
'It's not to the point where I feel any romantic emotion towards her...'
Arin furrowed his brows. 'Feelings can be deceiving, I know that for a fact. But now, I can't lie to myself. I didn't want to say anything because I didn't want to crush Tessa's feelings, but honestly, I don't think I'm in love with her...'
"Hey."
Arin instantly snapped out of his thoughts as he heard Riya's voice.
"Seems you got lost for a second," Riya said.
"Yeah, I was just thinking about something, that's all," Arin said.
"Alright, I'll be going now," Riya said. "I want to spend some time with Roxanne."
Arin nodded. "Sure."
Riya nodded before walking away towards where Roxanne and Seraphine were dancing quite a distance away from the bonfire.
Arin sighed as he stared at the sky. "The moon is always beautiful, that's for sure..."
Once again, he could hear footsteps approaching him, but this time, he knew who it was. After all...
It was a member of his Family.
"Hey, Arin," Tessa said as soon as she reached.
She stood beside him with a smile on her face.
"Let me guess, you found me with the connection, right?" Arin asked.
He was standing quite a distance away from the bonfire, and the villagers were all scattered and dancing around, so he knew that Tessa would only be able to find him with their connection.
"Yes," Tessa replied. "I just instantly knew what direction you were, but not the exact spot."
Arin nodded. It was also the same for him, so he wasn't surprised.
"So you also found out, huh?" Tessa asked, her gaze lingering on the cup of alcohol in Arin's hand. "It seems we Vampires can actually taste and enjoy alcohol."
"Yup. I just found out about that. It's certainly a good thing," Arin said, folding his arms.
Tessa giggled. "Though, I made sure to take little, because I'm scared of getting drunk. I mean, look at Leon."
Arin turned his head towards Leon's direction.
He instantly raised his brows. "What the hell is he doing?"
Leon, in his drunk state, was preparing to put his entire right arm into the bonfire.
Most of the children and villagers were cheering for him... More like cheering him into losing his right arm.
Meanwhile, Fang and Ethan were yelling at him and dragging him away from the bonfire, trying to stop him.
Arin couldn't help but stare at his cup of alcohol that he had almost finished.
'I won't get drunk, right...?'
It was already midnight, and the feast wasn't even showing any sign of ending.
Fang eventually found Arin and dragged him towards the bonfire.
Immediately the villagers set their eyes on him, they began cheering and even forced him to dance.
Eventually, he showcased some of his dancing steps from Earth he felt were cool.
But well, the villagers ended up laughing at him. After all, his dancing steps were unfamiliar and funny to them.
Some even called him a comedian...
Arin couldn't help but frown and grumble, but he also couldn't deny the fact that he enjoyed it a bit.
I mean, he hadn't even danced once since he came to this world.
As for the dance in the Academy's ceremony, he didn't consider it a 'dance'.
'We were literally just moving our bodies to the left and right...'
Fang also got drunk, and now, Leon wasn't the only one who was about to put his entire right arm into the bonfire.
Fang, who was formerly stopping him, had now joined him.
Arin ended up drinking even more cups of alcohol, and now...
'I can't get drunk, right...?'
Wrong!
Arin was drunk!
And now, he wasn't even aware of what he was doing anymore.
He drank more cups of alcohol, and even when Tessa tried to stop him, he couldn't even hear what she was saying.
Heck, he almost pushed her when she dragged the cup of alcohol from his hand.
Seraphine returned to his head and also tried to stop him, but it was to no avail.
Ethan, Riya, Roxanne, and Tessa stood, looking at all the drunk villagers around them.
"What the hell...?" Ethan muttered.
It was one hell of a feast.
