The tavern was packed and bustling with life. Men with large cups in their hands and women trying to seduce such men. It was a lively and exciting atmosphere within the rural baron's territory. It all ended quickly. Without warning, everyone went quiet as if it had been a prior arrangement.

Coming from the swung-open door of the once lively pub, a man of youth who stood with an unrefined demeanor came waltzing in. His dirty-blond hair shined with noble excellency despite its unkempt appearance. The young man walked over to the barkeep, sat down, and quickly ordered himself a drink by doing nothing more than putting money on the table.

This young man was Ayden Clayer, the first son of Baron Clayer and a known alcoholic. He was known throughout the territory as a horrible drunk who should be avoided if at all possible. As Ayden sat there in silence, drinking his hard liquor at a terrifying speed, the bar-goers began to think they could finally get back to their conversations and parties.

As if in their response to their feeling of ease, the young son of a baron burst into laughter as he slammed his empty glass on the countertop. His laughter continued as it shifted toward the sound of anguish.

"God damnit! Another!"

He slammed more money on the counter. The barkeep responded by sliding a drink over to Ayden Clayer without even so much as a glace. The distraught Ayden took a quick swig of the liquor before continuing.

"What makes them think that I'm so useless that I'm not even qualified to participate in the succession? That-!"

Ayden quickly took another sip of his drink to calm his nerves. His face had become long blushed from the alcohol. A sigh escaped his lips as he raised his hand to cover his eyes.

"Am I really that incompetent that I can't even compete with those other two bastards at all? How much damn favoritism has father and that bitch given to those two?"

Ayden's mother had long since perished due to an incurable illness. Afterward, Ayden's father, Baron Clayer, quickly got remarried to the current baroness. They ended up having two children, both boys.

"What makes them so great anyhow? They aren't even old enough to drink yet! How can you be considered a noble successor without even having the ability to drink?"

Once more, Ayden took a swig and slammed it down. The cup nearly broke into pieces with the force at which he applied. Those around him whispered to each other whilst watching him from the corner of their eyes. Ayden may have ignored them, but it didn't mean he liked it. Another few coins landed on the table.

"Barkeep. Whisky."

With just two words, the man behind the counter poured the whisky into a glass cup with excellence. The prepared drink slid across the bar once more to reach Ayden's hand. As if a natural reaction, Ayden gripped the glass like a baby does to a parent's finger and drank the whiskey all in one go.

He suddenly jolted to his feet in silence. Everyone continued to watch in silence, still watching with judgmental gazes. He began to walk toward one of the men who looked at him in such a way. Ayden wasn't the type to become violent when drunk, but he had had enough for one night.

He approached the man in a not-unusual fashion for a drunk. Just as he began to lift the glass in his hand, a voice could be heard from behind him. It was the voice of a woman.

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"Whatever he's having. Must be pretty good for him to act without any care."

The woman's thumb came to point toward Ayden. The barkeep nodded at the woman before preparing the glass with even more bravado than before. The now embarrassed Ayden swiftly walked back to the table and sat down as if he had never done anything. He ordered another drink and drank only half the glass as he looked to the woman.

"Name."

The woman looked at Ayden in shock at his directness before laughing to herself in a reserved manner.

"Rose, Catherine, Angela. Take your pick. They're all names I've gone by before. I don't really care what you call me."

The woman took a sip of her drink. Ayden followed shortly after. Putting down his drink, Ayden looked at his feet and sighed.

This was his life.

"Something wrong?"

The woman questioned Ayden as she still looked forward.

"Nothing anyone other than me needs to worry about."

"That so?"

The question contradicted her almost uninterested appearance. The drunk Ayden finished his drink in a rushed manner before slamming more money on the table.

"A room."

The barkeep grabbed a key off the nearby wall and threw it toward Ayden. Grabbing the keys, Ayden stumbled his way up the stairs toward the room designated to the key.

The door was sloppily opened by the intoxicated Ayden as he walked his way to the bed. Sitting down, he stared at the door in silence as his eyes slowly came to a close. When he just started to lose consciousness, a knocking could be heard beyond the door.

Ayden quickly shook himself awake and walked to open the door. On the other side stood the woman from before, her face now much more blushed. The both of them stared at each other for nearly thirty seconds before she started laughing to herself. Tear droplets came from the corners of her eyes. They were quickly wiped away by her arm. The corners of her mouth raised themselves upward.

"You looked like you needed comforting."

Ayden stood there, looking into space, as he became confused by her words. The woman continued to smile at him.

"Even if you don't need it, I think I do."

The woman walked into the room and slowly closed the door without a sound. Her hand seemed to be pulled to Ayden's face as it came to caress his pale face. Her fingers suddenly tightened up as she brought his face downward.

Her face filled his vision as their lips became connected. An irritating heat filled their beings as they slowly came to undress each other. They began to embrace each other's warmth as they fell onto the bed.

The heat finally reached its max. Ayden's eyes opened to look at the woman before him, but something went against his expectations. The woman's back had been taken up by large, bat-like wings. At her behind was a long tail that came to a point at the end. Coming from her now-red hair was pointy, black horns that could pierce anyone's heart.

Her comforting smile was now gone and had been replaced by a sadistic smirk. Ayden wished to scream, but the woman quickly went in for another kiss. She backed away for a moment.

"You're mine now."

She went back in for one more kiss, her tail getting more and more excited.

...

It took an entire day for someone to finally notice that the son of Baron Clayer hadn't left his room. The tavern owner had begun to wonder what the young Ayden Clayer had been doing alone for the past few hours.

He knocked on the door, but no response came from beyond the door. A sudden sound of light footsteps could be heard, but it didn't seem to be interested in the door. The tavern owner knocked again, but this time, the door opened.

Beyond the door were two things of note: an open window that seemed to still be opening when the tavern owner walked in and the dried-up corpse of Ayden Clayer lying on the bed.