Chapter 64 64 - A Hearty Toast [Step-Relations Warning]
"Ahhhh…I can't believe he really was duke Laria," her face buried against the table, the sound of Fay's cries resounding throughout the crowded inn.
Surrounded by the convoy of adventurers, she couldn't believe the extent of her stupidity. Even though she'd constantly been told who Snow was, she had taken it as a joke and laughed right at their faces. And now while she regretted presenting herself so immaturely in front of the duke, the rest of the convoy smiled hysterically.
"Now be a good sport and make good on the lost bet," pushing a table together with the silver storm, Mortar slammed a glass of ale in front of Fay. " Don't forget you're paying, ahaha!"
Having cheekily mocked them against their claims, she had made a bet to pay for their return party if Snow really turned out to be the duke of Laria.
"We'll pay our own, don't worry," Maggie assured while pushing another table together with help from Garth and Maya.
"I don't think we should go too hard at this, to be honest, the duke hasn't paid any of us yet,'' Still a bit concerned about Snow's safety, Diana jumped into the conversation.
Throwing his hand over her neck, Kane squeezed her shoulder to ease her unrest. Turning to look at him, Diana faked a weak smile to not ruin anyone else's mood. It had been a long time since any of them had the luxury to unwind without worrying about bandits or monsters, even in the city of commerce the incident with Jenna had kept them all on edge. So finally being back in their homeland helped them all relax without worries.
"Look, I know you're worried, but Miss Roselia can take better care of the duke than we can, so we should all just try to unwind a little," picking up a wine glass, he offered it to Diana.
"Come on, Diana, I think we've done enough," joining the conversation, Lucy held her glass forward. "The duke was practically a magnet for trouble!"
"That, is an understatement," Arthur mumbled, sipping on the ale.
"If you all say so," grabbing the glass from Kane's hand, Diana decided to unwind as well. "But if anything happens, I'm gonna teleport away and leave you all to the guillotine."
Holding her glass up high, she offered a toast, and with warm smiles, on their faces, the silver storms clinked their glasses together.
"Ahhhhhh…I wanna die," cried Fay, her face still pushed against the table.
"Don't cry," patting Fay's head, Maya tried to console the poor soul.
"Yeah, you don't have anything to worry about, the duke is quite forgiving," as those words left Garth's mouth, the entirety of the clovers were reminded of what happened in the cave.
While the fact that Snow didn't mention it again after that was comforting, they were quickly enshrouded in shame for listening to Haruki and Asuka getting off in the tent. Bright blushes taking over their faces, they shared awkward glances at each other before deciding never to hint at the awkward memory ever again.
"L-let's eat, okay?" Maggie said, trying to divert from the topic.
"Y-yeah, I'm re-really hungry anyway," Garth replied, fumbling through words.
"Me too.." Lastly, Maya added.
Washing off their worries, the adventurers ordered the food, and as it began to arrive they dug right in.
***
Back in the castle, Haruki was storming off the corridor with Rose following him. After being told where the others were, he was off on his way to check up on them. However, with Rose right behind him, he wasn't sure if he could be as open with his servants as he wanted to be.
"Rose, you don't have to follow me," he said in a commanding voice to shoo her off.
"I'm not letting you out of my sight after what you just pulled with the councilmen!" She shot back.
Grunting in annoyance, Haruki held the brooch and constructed giant walls behind him as he kept moving. Barely hindered by those tall blocks of ice, Rose breezed through the walls by melting them with an infernal aura emanating from her body.
"What the-" Struck with confusion, she reached the end of the walls and yet there was no sight of the duke in front of her.
'Where did he go?' She wondered, looking around trying to find any traces of him ever being there, but with not even a hint of him lingering in the air, she clenched her teeth and grinded them in annoyance. 'Where the hell is he?!''
Far away from her reach, Haruki had escaped her clutches with the help of his new familiar. As Rose was trying to melt through the ice, Haruki swiftly managed to summon the entrance to the high-tier familiar called the tormentuos dungeon. Once he passed through it, the entrance disappeared and dumped him into a fleshy cavern providing him with safety.
"Goddammit…" He mumbled as he tried to clean up the slime falling on him from the ceiling. "I did not expect this to be so filthy."
Scanning his surroundings he noticed vast cavernous paths leading in all directions. Unsure where they led to, he decided to make his own path forward. Closing his eyes, he recalled the servant's quarters in the Frost castle. In doing so the dungeon contorted and throbbed like a living creature.
"Drop me into that room!" Yelling out those words, the floor beneath Haruki swallowed him whole before spitting him out right by the servant quarters. Being a bit more cautious this time, he made his body float so he wouldn't fall head-first against the floor.
'Short-distance teleportation, huh? Might be useful later on.' Gently descending on his feet, he made his way to Asuka's chamber. Standing right outside, he could already hear chatter coming from inside the place. Making use of his heightened senses, he began assessing the voices coming from inside.
'Margarette, Asuka, and Riley…All of them in there, but what are they doing exactly?' Despite his keen senses, his hearing was nowhere near as good as Asuka's or even Riley for that matter. 'I know Rose said they were all in the servant's quarters, but I didn't think they'd be in the same room, or did they gather while I was dealing with the councilmen?'
Tired of waiting, Haruki pushed the door open before anyone could see him standing openly in the hallway. Getting into the room, he quickly glanced over at the three, however, as he noticed the sight in front of him, his whole body began burning up from the inside. Laying in bed surrounded by the tentacle monster, Asuka and the other two were squirming around the bed with the monster toiling with the most sensitive parts of their bodies.
'Carnal lust, I almost forgot…' Being reminded of the curse, he could feel his libido shoot up high. 'Still…how can they both be okay doing this kind of stuff together?'
Staring at Margarette and Riley flopping around groaning euphorically, Haruki couldn't help but question the nature of their relationship after being turned into lust demons.