“Wait, are those Holy Dragon Mansion guards?”
Everyone followed Lilith’s gaze. Those men, who had just shed their armor and were wearing iron boots, walked in arm-in-arm.
Fafner instantly dove under the table, and Mil gasped, “No way, what a coincidence?”
“No, they come here often… they must have just changed shifts.”
Alesia said, also feeling anxious for them. She counted quickly; nearly thirty people had arrived all at once.
“Boss! Can we borrow your training ground!”
A guard waved towards the counter, then led two others upstairs.
Another five people sat right by the entrance, and the rest crowded in twos and threes by the kitchen door, blocking the way to the back exit.
And the guard captain immediately spotted Alesia sitting in the corner, waving his hand and shouting, “Yo! Sister Ale is here too!”
With that, he walked towards them.
Alesia looked at Mil and whispered, “Either let him run out with his face covered, or… take him upstairs. The VIP room is empty.”
Disguise magic is a self-targeting spell; unless you prepare a potion beforehand, you can’t use it on others.
Seeing the guards leaning against the door and acting crazy, Mil could only pull Fafner up and head upstairs.
Fortunately, Mil and Fafner’s departure did not attract the guard captain’s attention.
The people in the tavern continued to play music and dance...
And the guard captain was simply pulling a new guard aside, self-importantly recounting the legendary deeds of Sister Ale, Alesia.
Seeing Fafner leave, Lilith asked with interest, “Miss Alesia, you said the Mistletoe Society did many absurd things. Do you have an example?”
Alesia pondered for a moment, then looked regretfully in the direction Mil had left, her fingers rubbing the wooden beer mug, hesitating before she spoke: “Once, they adopted a lion beastman cub. He was clearly a boy, but they raised him as a girl from a young age…”
“Why?”
Lilith was a bit confused, and Alesia shrugged helplessly: “I heard… it was their research project. They wanted to see what would happen if a male lion was raised as a female.”
“How boring…”
“At first, the young lion felt inferior about his robust physique and abundant body hair. Later, when he learned the truth, he couldn’t accept it for a long time…”
As she spoke, Alesia’s expression became a bit awkward. She looked up again towards the staircase where Mil had disappeared, sighed, and continued: “However, lions are creatures strongly influenced by their nature. In the end, his beast nature awakened, and he returned to normal.”
Upon hearing this, Lilith also realized the problem, suddenly remembering Mil’s repeated emphasis earlier that there would be a princess in the Dragon Royal Family…
Meanwhile...
The corridor on the attic floor was L-shaped. One end led to the training ground, and the other to the VIP room. All other rooms were locked.
Inside the VIP room, with its deep red drapes, the lingering embers in the fireplace cast a mottled warm glow on the bluestone floor.
Mil pulled Fafner in and locked the door, finally letting out a sigh of relief...
“Kid, is your alcohol tolerance that bad?”
Fafner slumped onto the velvet sofa, his silver hair cascading like moonlight onto the dark green silk cushion, glowing with a soft, mother-of-pearl sheen.
Not long after sitting down, Fafner, in a daze, hugged Mil, his porcelain-white cheeks flushed with a peachy blush.
His cloak hood had fallen back, and his long, snow-white hair, under the dim light, exhibited a metallic luster and exuded a faint fragrance.
His cheeks were like peeled hard-boiled eggs, fair and delicate, now stained with a blush, his long eyelashes trembling slightly, and his eyes hazy.
Mil felt that Fafner’s state was becoming increasingly abnormal…
“Hey! Kid? Fafner! Can you act normal?”
“Didn’t you say… I needed to… get used to… interacting with boys?”
Fafner was still drunk, his words mumbled and indistinct, his breath reeking of alcohol.
“Not like this!”
With that, Mil pushed him away.
Suddenly, from outside the room, came the sound of someone rattling the doorknob, followed by a voice saying, “I don’t remember locking the door?”
“Is someone inside?”
He couldn’t tell who was outside the door, but if it was a guard from the training ground, it would be troublesome.
“Knock, knock, knock!”
The person outside knocked on the door, then shouted: “Sister Ale! Are you in there? The target in the training ground is broken, we’re going to replace it!”
Mil’s heart sank by half at the sound, but thankfully he was clever and had locked the door in advance, so this person shouldn’t be able to get in.
“Never mind, maybe Miss Ale accidentally locked the door…”
After he spoke, the sound of the door lock being tampered with followed.
“What are you doing?”
“Don’t worry… I used to do this. We’re not stealing anything, give me 20 seconds!”
Mil’s remaining half-heart also sank…
He looked around, where were these targets? But there was no time to think so much, he had to hide Fafner first!
“Closet, closet! Get in quickly!”
With that, he pulled open the closet and pushed Fafner inside.
The carved walnut cabinet, with its scent of aged oak mixed with cedar, rushed out, but unexpectedly, Fafner, that kid, was surprisingly strong…
“Why did you pull me in here?”
The closet space was small; fitting one person was already a tight squeeze.
Seeing the room door opening, Mil could only pull the closet door shut first.
“Shhh—! Don’t say a word…”
However, Fafner suddenly bit his shoulder.
“You brat, what are you doing?”
“Your scent…”
“Why are you acting drunk at a time like this? You’re a grown man, why are you biting randomly?”
However, they were too close, and he couldn’t push him away.
The people outside rummaged through the room but found nothing:
“Did you find it?”
“Could it be in the closet?”
However, Mil, in the darkness, felt… the target.
Should I just get rid of these two?
No, that’s not realistic…
It’s over, this guy has truly ruined my life!
Just as the people outside were about to open the closet, a scolding voice came from outside the door—
“Who came in with you two?”
“Sister Ale? We… the target is broken…”
“You two go out first, I’ll bring it to you in a moment.”
After she spoke, the two people outside scurried away.
The stone in Mil’s heart finally dropped, and he completely relaxed, slumping in the closet…
And when Lilith pulled open the closet door, moonlight was just bathing Fafner’s sleeping profile, as he had fallen asleep on Mil’s shoulder.