The Crown's Entrapment

At Darius's table, he didn't know how their conversation ended up this way.

"But my Jayra's the most beautiful of them all."

He didn't expect that the alcohol they were drinking would be that strong, but he could only guess that he had underestimated how old and exquisite the Everett's wine collection would be to them. He was sure that they as a group had already drunk a small country's worth of vintage wine, and yet the bottles just kept on coming.

He supposed that he'd have to pay Gideon for the economic damage that he, Bartos, Gilas, Osman, and Calypso had done to their wine cellar.

"I'm beginning to think that asking Gideon for a crate of our own wine was a bad idea," Darius sighed to himself even as he took a swig from his own bottle.

"He said yes though, so it's his fault," Calypso slurred out, a wide grin on his face as he took a sip from his bottle. "He didn't think that we'd be drinking nonstop."

"That's still irresponsible of us," Osman remarked, someone that Darius was only thankful for not being as drunk as the rest of them. "And we should really not be talking about the women like this."

"Why not? What I said is true," Bartos seriously stated, his drunken state making him sway ever so slightly on his seat. "My Jayra's even more beautiful than the Queen."

"I wouldn't go that far," Darius scoffed, having taken offense to Bartos's statement. "I remember hearing Lady Jayra herself admitting that she doesn't even compare to Xen."

Darius kept a level face as he faced Bartos. He actually didn't remember Jayra saying such a thing, but he was sure that it was true regardless. Xen was the beauty among all beauties, and nothing would ever change that in his mind.

"Huh? I can't believe you're all dismissing Aurelia like this," Calypso drunkenly chimed in. "Have you seen my mate? She's so cool… Always calm and collected.."

"And clearly cannot stand you," Gilas scoffed, his cheeks hinting at his relative state of drunkenness. "At least I'm making progress with Clara. And she's just as much a beauty as any of them."

"Some beauty she is if Cousin Darius didn't accept her feelings," Calypso scoffed.

The atmosphere quickly fell cold due to that statement, and Darius could only stand his ground as Gilas's glare almost rivaled his own. Granted, it was clearly unfocused and lacking the usual malice, but it was still a bit concerning to see.

"Gilas, I admit that Clara is beautiful, but I can truly only see her as a sister," Darius calmly explained, hoping that his words would calm down a drunk Gilas. "And as with the Mate Pull, Xen is simply the one destined for me in the same way that Clara is clearly destined for you."

"I… I guess so…" Gilas mumbled before taking another drink. "But I can still see her admiring you…"

Darius was more than ready to defend himself from Gilas's accusations, but thankfully, the man seemed to be content with what he just said to him before dropping dead onto the table. It would seem that Gilas was the first to fall in their endeavor to get themselves drunk in celebration, even if the man of the hour was off celebrating with his new mate.

"Really, Gilas? You're that much of a lightweight?" Calypso cackled. "Even Osman is drinking you under the table."

Of course, Gilas didn't respond, his head too glued to the table for him to even rise to the challenge. So instead of needling the man further, Calypso turned his attention to Bartos. "What about you, Bartos? Think you can keep up?"

"I'll… My wife's the best… I'll never leave her even if it's… the last thing I do…"

Darius winced as yet another casualty of drinking dropped dead onto the table. The two drunk men were out cold, possibly for the rest of the night as they snored their drunkenness away.

"Your Majesty?" Osman turned to him, a combined look of amusement and concern adorning his face.

"We can only endure, Osman," Darius sighed as he finished off yet another bottle. "My cousin can be a bit of a proud drunk."

True enough, the only reason they even got to this point in the first place was that Calypso kept forcing them all to drink straight from the bottle. Of course, Darius could hold his own alcohol enough to remain lucid throughout the conversation, but Bartos and Gilas were clearly out of it. Osman as well was clearly starting to get affected, and it was only a matter of time before Darius's own tolerance began failing him.

"Hah! Of course, I'm proud," Calypso bragged with a solid swig from his bottle. "I've done a lot of things, but the most I'm proud of right now is that I got Aurelia to accept me."

"Right," Darius nodded, humoring his drunk cousin. "But I do think that you should clean up your act if you want her to truly like you."

"She already likes me," Calypso insisted with a wave of his hand. "At least she's already accepted to be marked by me, unlike Osman."

Osman opened his mouth to defend himself, but one look at Darius was quick to make him keep quiet. They really didn't want to take another drink just to prove Calypso wrong. It was best that they simply outlasted him until he dropped like the rest of them.

"Lady Bella has her reasons, but their relationship is progressing just fine," Darius defended his admiral. He then let off a smirk as he added, "Besides, my Queen is still the best."

"Why… My Aurelia isn't…"

Calypso clearly didn't like that statement one bit. But just as he was about to supposedly defend his mate's honor, he slumped onto his chair and went slack, his bottle slipping from his hand as he finally succumbed to the alcohol.

"I'm glad that's over," Darius sighed as he quickly sealed his open bottle of wine.

"A-Agreed," Osman panted. "I don't think I can take another drink…"

"That's fine," Darius shook his head. "Still, I can't believe this even happened."

He could only sigh in both amusement and disappointment as he let his gaze roam across the table one last time. Three casualties with him and Osman being the only survivors. Truly, alcohol can bring out the best and worst in anyone.

Seriously, how else would a discussion about border control devolve into whose woman was the most beautiful?