“No, we want two.” Irene said as she gave Adrian a look. Her face was as indifferent as ever.

Adrian turned to his comrade. “What’s wrong with one room?”

“Mother said I am not allowed to sleep with any man on the same bed.” She said.

“Oh, really?” He raised his brows. “What happens if you sleep on the same bed with a man?”

Her answer was straight to the point. “Baby.”

“Pfft.” The woman who had been watching the two converse in amusement covered her mouth, trying to stop her laughter.

She had watched the ‘one room, two rooms’ drama many times. But this was the first time she ever met such an answer.

“What if I tell you that ‘just’ sleeping with a man doesn’t give you a baby?” He asked, one of his brows still raised.

“I will not believe you.”

“But you will believe a fellow woman, right?” He looked at the innkeeper who barely composed herself. “Tell her.”

She looked at the icy girl and shook her head. “No, dear. Just sleeping with a man won’t make you pregnant. You will need to do something… more?”

“More?” Irene asked, tilting her head a bit. Her facial muscles, however, did not move by a bit.

“More… like…” The middle aged woman turned back to Adrian and wryly smiled.

He looked at Irene and smiled. “Do you want me to show you how it is done?” He gave the married woman beside a look.

The woman widened her eyes. This was not in her expectations at all. But she sighed and shook her head. “Maybe if I were younger. I would have jumped onto your noble arms. But now, with this body…” She sighed again.

“Tough luck.” Adrian shrugged it off and turned to her. “Anyways, now that you know there won’t be a third person joining us in our trip, let’s share a bed together, shall we?”

“No.” Irene shook her head. “Mother said not to sleep with a man. So, I won’t.”

Adrian sighed. “I will have to use my trump card then.” He looked straight into her eyes; the smile disappeared from his face as it took on a serious outlook. “That unusual aura that you occasionally find in yourself- I know what it is?”

The two purple orbs glinted, and even twitched a bit. But her expression was the same. “What is it?” She asked, her voice as cold as usual. “Tell me.”

“How about this? If you sleep with me through this entire trip, I will reveal everything.” The smile resurfaced on his face.

The ‘young’ woman looked down. Even though her face belied her actions, anyone could tell she was contemplating.

“Your family asked me to be your tutor.” He said. “Here is your first lesson- to gain something, you need to lose something. If you find a deal worth it, take it.”

“I accept.” She answered.

Adrian sighed yet again. “Looks like your next lesson needs to be negotiation.” He turned to the innkeeper. “You heard it.”

The middle aged woman sighed. “One room it is.”

“You know what.” Adrian continued. “Book two, we will use one.”

The middle aged innkeeper’s glinted. “Young man, is your offer still valid?” She winked.

“Nope, it expired.”

The middle aged woman laughed.

“Here, this is the key to room one.” She handed Adrian a key. “It’s the best room we have.”

He took the key and turned to Irene. “Let’s go.”

He began to walk towards the staircase. Irene followed.

The innkeeper frowned. How did he know that room one was up there? But she shrugged it off. Maybe he could read minds or something.

At the upper floor. Both Adrian and Irene entered into a room. The room was already lit up. The innkeeper’s husband was a cunning man.

Adrian scanned through the room. For an inn at such a remote place, this room was not bad at all. It was quite good actually. The bed was large, the furniture were well furnished. And everything was clean and tidy.

The pattering sound of the raindrops crushing against the wood increased. They were on the upper floor after all. There was a window, but it was blurred by water. Only new drops hitting against it could be observed.

Adrian took off his coat, threw it on the crouch nearby before jumping on the bed.

He lied down and turned to her. “You are a freak who froze even your body’s metabolism. Come here, you don’t need to go to the washroom anyway.” He patted the unoccupied part of the bed.

Irene looked down at her own clothes.

“There are nighties in the cupboard. Wear one.” He pointed at the tidy looking furniture.

She nodded and took out a folded nightie from the cupboard. She turned back to Adrian, and kept standing.

“What?” He asked. “Wear it.”

“Mother said not to show my body to any man.”

“Why? Because it gives you babies?” He asked.

“No, she said that this gives man the desire to make them.”

Adrian facepalmed himself. “Why did your mother need to teach everything like this? And worse, I can’t even retort.” He removed his hand and faced her again. “Go downstairs, take the key to the other hooked room, change and come back here.”

She nodded and left. A few minutes later, she came back. Now, she was wearing a nightie, which gave her a different type of charm.

She expressionlessly, lied on the bed, facing up. He faced her and wrapped one of his arms around her, prompting her to look at him.

“Is this ‘more’?” She asked with a blank face.

“To make babies, we would have to work much harder.” He closed his eyes. “How does it feel? Not bad, right?”

“It feels… warm.” She closed her eyes as well. Both of them were fast asleep.

Next morning, they headed out again. And in a matter of a couple of more days, they were in Wyvian forest- the same forest where Isabella took her Jungle Stroll- the forest that was shared by Nemphis, Darkshore and…

The Empire.