I couldn’t help but smile as I walked away.

Getting kicked around in a locked room was certainly not a fun process. However, as much as I didn’t enjoy that part of the process, I appreciated the excuse to leave early.

Especially since I wasn’t the one responsible for explaining.

No, explaining to the princess how badly she had fucked up was not-Delia’s task.

And, as an added benefit, by taking time off from their project, I found myself a beautiful challenge. One that I hadn’t been dealing with for a while.

Finding a way to kill my free time.

I had to admit, going back to my room to laze around was tempting, especially since I had been dealing with a lot of things the last few days, and earned a bit of relaxation.

Yet, that was nothing more than a fleeting fancy. With everything going on, I didn’t have the luxury of resting, nor did I have the luxury of neglecting an opportunity to finally power up.

Soon, I was climbing down the familiar stairs of the Hall of Craft, easily staying out of their sight, ready to have a discussion with Oeyne. There were a few reasons for that decision. Progressing Oeyne’s companion process would give me a decent chunk of experience, while she also had several interesting tricks to make me relax.

And, last but not least, she had a really comfortable bed, which could be used for a quick rest after I had completed my more important objectives.

Since I didn’t waste my travel time, I cast a few healing spells to remove the marks not-Delia had left on my face while also refreshing my life force.

[-392 Mana]

[+1637 HP]

Yet, when I arrived at her workshop, I realized that I had forgotten to add a small detail. Oeyne was still sleeping — not without the assistance of a few too many drinks if the sharp smell of alcohol that filled her workshop was any indicator.

Well, no surprises there considering how we first met, I thought even as I looked at the caramel-skinned beauty in her bed, her skimpy nightie climbing high enough to give a proper glimpse of her body.

Someone had a fun night, I thought in amusement. Whenever I visited her, I faced one of the two equally likely possibilities, that she was working as a workaholic, or collapsed after a night of overindulgence as an alcoholic.

The only question was whether gambling was a part of her little game this time or not.

Since she was sleeping, I decided to take that as a sign and joined her — after removing my clothes and casting two spells, one to remove the thick smell of alcohol, the other to remove her hungover.

A little service to make sure she woke up happily wouldn’t be remiss, I thought even as I slipped next to her, letting my hands slip under her nightie, enjoying the warmth of her skin even as I spooned her.

If her sleeping shuffle was any indicator, I wasn’t the only one that found that comforting.

I set the sleep take me, not that I needed the rest, the combination of my Stats and my Biomancy tricks enough to keep me upright for much longer, but a touch of decadence wouldn’t be remiss…

It was her shuffling that woke me up. “W-what?” she mumbled, starting with a flare of panic, but it was short-lived, replaced by a more pleasant tone for the second half of her whisper. I kept my eyes closed, not revealing the fact that I had already woken up, wanting to extend my decadence, hoping that she would return to my arms without prompting.

Her warmth was simply too comfortable.

Oeyne clearly had other ideas, though, carefully extracting herself from my hug, and disappearing into her bathroom. Pity, I thought as I shuffled in her bed, trying to find a more comfortable position to continue my nap, ignoring my earlier decision to focus on powering up.

As much as I wanted to tease her while powering up, the warm whispers of my sleep were too comfortable to be denied.

Yet, before I could return back to my sleep, Oeyne returned to her bedroom, her looks refreshed. She was still wearing a nightie, but this time a white and lacy one, the kind that was far too fancy to be used to sleep ordinarily.

She climbed to the bed once more. I expected her to slide back into my arms, grabbing the opportunity to nap a bit more after the exhausting and alcohol-filled evening that she had — and more than likely, shocking amounts of gambling.

She didn’t follow my guess, instead choosing to linger on the other side of the bed, her gaze dancing on my naked body, her eyes clear of any persistent annoyance of hungover, or a sleepless night.

Maybe I had underestimated the impact of my healing spell on clearing hangover, especially combined with the impact of her high Endurance, I decided as I looked at her eyes, shining with a surprising clarity considering she was as far away as possible from being a morning person.

Or maybe, she was simply too enthusiastic about keeping me happy after our last time had resulted in her gaining a nifty little enchantment.

Curious about what she would do, I didn’t give any indication that I wasn’t sleeping, even when she put her hands on my thigh and pushed me slightly, making me lay on my back. And with me in that position, she had no problems reaching her ultimate target considering my nudity.

Ironically, holding my chuckles back was harder than hiding any other emotion, because even as she leaned forward, I could see a certain awkwardness on her beautiful face.

It wasn’t too surprising for her to feel self-conscious. It wasn’t our first time, of course, but it was the first time she was taking action without any kind of prompting from my end, be it an extended erotic massage, or something much more direct…

Like chaining her hands and testing the limits of her endurance.

That novelty value was the reason for her awkwardness, though it wasn’t alone on her face as her hands moved over my shaft, gently dancing around in an effort to bring it to life. Excitement and desire joined her expression soon, turning her awkwardness into an erotic masterpiece.

Admittedly, her lacy nightie that was barely capable of hiding her caramel curves — especially with her current angle — played a very important role in the erotic tale her body was exemplifying.

I continued to relax in the bed as her fingers wrapped around my shaft, moving up and down slowly with a fluidness that sent pleasurable shivers across my body as my shaft started growing, soon thick enough to strain her fingers as she tried to keep them closed.

Her fingers climbed even higher, grazing the crown, but this time, my attention was on the way she was leaning forward, her beautiful lips already parted.

She gazed at me to see whether I was showing any signs of waking up. And since she was unable to see through me, she pulled back.

Yet, that move was nothing compared to her follow-up, a surprising move that tested my desire to play along with her little surprise. She stood up, only to open a nearby drawer, and pulled two pairs of handcuffs.

I suppressed several questions that tried to force themselves into existence while she quickly used them to lock me against her bedpost — though I wondered whether it was my growing trust in her, or my utter confidence in my own abilities to free myself from them if needed that allowed me to react with such calm.

Regardless of the reason, I acted like I was asleep while she took her earlier position, her hands wrapped around the base of my shaft. But this time, there was a big improvement.

The crown was trapped between her thick lips, adding another dimension to my pleasure. I watched as she started moving up and down. Choppily at first, especially without my hands guiding her with the aggressive manner she came to expect.

That state of confusion didn’t last long. Soon, she adapted an impressive rhythm, alternating between fast and slow, driving me deeper into the pleasure, as if forcing me to admit that I wasn’t sleeping.

I chose to enjoy it passively because watching her as she slowly developed a technique of her own was a unique experience. It would have been a pity to interrupt that.

It wasn’t as simple as simply rejecting that, of course, as while the tone and position might be different, we had shared some very memorable events together, and, clearly, I wasn’t the only one learning about the body of his partner. She had discovered several interesting tricks in the process, and started applying them with devastating consequences.

Curious just how many tricks she had managed to discover, I let her have free access to my body for the next several minutes, watching as she teased my shaft from every possible angle, her lips even occasionally dipping down to my balls, each second there renewing the flood of pleasure.

Soon, I was not too far away from a climax. And while letting that come as a surprise was an option, it wasn’t the most fun option.

Instead, I spoke. “What an excellent way to wake up?” I whispered softly even as I gave a tug to the handcuffs, acting as if I had just noticed their presence.

“I decided to be a good hostess,” she answered as she raised her body, her throaty tone sending shivers across my body. Then, she put her finger on the cleavage of her nightie. She didn’t pull it down hard, but her nightie wasn’t the most robust clothing in the first place, and her finger deepened the cleavage significantly. “Is my services satisfactory?”

“I would be remiss to comment on it before you show your full abilities,” I commented.

Her enthusiastic smile was very promising…

[Level: 32 Experience: 499160 / 528000

Strength: 46 Charisma: 63

Precision: 40 Perception: 42

Agility: 40 Manipulation: 45

Speed: 39 Intelligence: 49

Endurance: 39 Wisdom: 51

HP: 6528 / 6528 Mana: 8000 / 8000 ]

SKILLS

Master Melee [100/100]

Master Tantric [100/100]

Master Biomancy [100/100]

Master Elemental [100/100]

Master Arcana [100/100]

Master Subterfuge [100/100]

Master Craft [84/100]

Expert Speech [75/75]

PERKS

Mana Regeneration

Skill Share

Empowerment (0/1)

Teleportation

COMPANIONS

[Cornelia – Level 22/26]

[Helga – Level 22/26]