Chapter 20.8

Side Story: Memories of the Boss – Perchetta’s Perspective (4)

For a start, we pretended to be drunk and kicked, pushed, and hugged Mia before pushing them to the homemade altar, but it felt like dealing with a rock. It didn’t seem to work at all. When we tried to exert more force out of frustration, his big hand would come flying at us with a bone-crushing impact. Just that alone sent us flying. What the hell is this? What’s going on? We, who were proud of our strength, were dumbfounded. But no matter how much we tried, it was always the same. We couldn’t help but think that we were completely powerless against him.

But we couldn’t give up. Let’s get them drunk and then beat them. So when the party started, we pretended to welcome Mia and poured him drinks. We poured beer, wine, and spirits one after another. This kind of crazy drinking is the best way to get drunk.

But even this had no effect whatsoever. It would have been more charming to pour the drinks into a well. Anyway, we just couldn’t get him drunk. Ral was known to be strong when it came to alcohol, but Mia’s tolerance was on a completely different level. We thought we were holding back (although we were actually swallowing half water while comparing drinks), but in the end, we ended up completely wasted.

By that time, even the women were completely intoxicated and were hugging Ral while crying. “Don’t go!” “It’s lonely without Ral!” Women have it easy, don’t they? They can express their feelings honestly and cry. We wanted to cry too. But men can’t cry without a reason. In the end, we had no choice but to desperately attack Mia.

“We can’t hand over the boss!”

No, seriously, that man was stronger than a bear. Even though I was drunk, I landed a full-force punch on Mia’s face. The impact was tremendous, to the point where I thought, “Damn, did I really do it this time!” But it didn’t have any effect at all. Mia looked troubled and brushed me aside with her left hand. I went flying and rolled, crashing into the wall of a building. I could understand what had been done to me, but I couldn’t understand why I was sent flying like this.

At that point, all I could do was laugh. And I thought to myself, if it’s a man who is so much stronger and incredible than me, then it can’t be helped if he takes Ral away. In my dazed vision, I shouted at Mia, who had a troubled expression. I probably would have been crying. I was frustrated, yet I felt relieved that I could entrust Ral to this strong man.

“Take care of Ral for me!”

And with that, my consciousness went dark.

The next day, I was still stretched out in the plaza when I heard a cry of “Ral is going away!” I jumped out of bed. My legs were unsteady from both the hangover and something else, but together with Ral’s henchmen, who were also stumbling and swaying, I hurried to the outskirts of the town. While waiting in the still dim light, Ral and Mia appeared side by side on horses. The two of them, wearing matching navy cloaks, looked like a married couple. Yeah, they looked good together.

Since we were still drunk, we all shouted farewell or rather incomprehensible cries that were a mix of lingering feelings and anger. I think Mia smiled in a troubled manner. Ral, with her usual smiling expression, looked at us for a while, but then swiftly raised her hand and spoke.

“Everyone! Take care!”

And then, the two of them rode their horses and disappeared into the morning mist. For now, that was the last image of Ral that I saw. Even now, I can’t forget his smile, his voice, and the sound of hooves.

Ral said, “I’ll come to visit again soon,” but it’s been many years since then, and she hasn’t come once. The imperial capital is far away, after all. It can’t be helped, but it’s lonely. I have to cultivate the land here for the rest of my life, so there’s no way I can go to the imperial capital. Maybe I’ll never see her again.

Do I want to see her again? Well, of course. After all, she was my first love. Oops, don’t tell my wife. Of course, I love my wife too. But you see, it’s different with Ral. How should I put it? She’s my admiration, a symbol of my childhood, and my first love. She took everything with her when she went to the imperial capital. That’s why I still have lingering feelings.

Huh? Am I worried? Nah, I’m not. Ral is much stronger than me, no matter what happens, she’ll be fine. She can face any difficulty head-on and push through. I actually feel sorry for the guys who became her underlings over there. She’s probably gathering a bunch of henchmen there too, right? Ral is a natural-born boss. It’s destiny for her underlings to get caught up in whatever mess she creates. If I were to give advice to her new underlings, it would be to be prepared to get caught up in things when Ral starts doing something and just close your eyes. Trying to stop her is futile. Whenever you try to stop her, the damage usually ends up even worse.

Besides, Ral has Mia, right? There’s no one as strong as he is. And you can see how much he loves Ral. I’m sure he’ll protect her at all times. A strong couple like that would not be defeated by any terrible incident or situation. He might be able to stop Ral from going out of control. No…

If I ever had the chance to return to the imperial capital and meet Ral, well, I guess it would be enough if she just told me that she’s doing well. If she can’t come back, then so be it. After all, this rural territory was probably too small for Ral. If she’s doing well in the capital, I’m sure we’ll hear about it here in the countryside soon enough.

I’ll be plowing my fields and looking forward to that day.

Want to read more chapters and support us? Please consider becoming a patron to read up to 24 chapters in advance!