William started to sweat buckets as his mermaid lover demanded that he give her whatever special serum that he had injected into Wendy, that made the blonde beauty look so bright, and springy today.
"What's wrong?" Ashe inquired. "Are you saying that I'm not qualified to have it? Whatever Wendy can do, I can definitely do better."
William stared into Ashe's light-purple eyes before making his resolve. He lowered his head to whisper something in her ears that made the body of the young lady who was hugging him firmly shudder.
"Ashe, are you sure you want to do it?" William asked softly.
William didn't know if he could recreate a dreamworld for Ashe, but he was willing to give it a try in order to meet his lover's demand.
Ashe lowered her head and didn't say anything. William waited patiently for her answer because he didn't want to force her to do anything that she didn't want.
Finally, a voice that was barely audible escaped Ashe's lips.
"...wan… it."
Even with William's powerful hearing, he was barely able to understand the words that Ashe had just said. Even so, the redness that had extended up to the tip of Ashe's ears was more than enough to tell him what he wanted to know.
However, William still wanted to hear it clearly and coaxed the blushing mermaid to repeat what she just said.
"I want it." Ashe finally relented as she buried her head on William's chest. "In the eyes of the mermaid race, I am already your wife. It is only normal that we…"
Ashe wasn't able to finish her words due to embarrassment. Instead, she pounded William's chest with her closed fist in order to hide her bashfulness.
What she didn't know was that this gesture of hers only made her look more endearing in William's eyes. He wrapped his arms around her waist and whispered something in her ears.
Ashe then raised her head and stared at William's eyes. The Half-Elf nodded and lowered his face to kiss her lips.
The two of them were so lost in their own world that they didn't notice the door of their room opening. William and Ashe continued their passionate kiss, disregarding those around them.
Only when their kiss ended, did they finally realize that they were no longer alone inside the room.
Two pairs of eyes stared at the Half-Elf and the blue-haired girl who were holding each other in a firm embrace.
"Go on. Don't mind us," Wendy said as she chewed on some walnuts.
She was currently seated on top of the bed and she was not alone. Sitting right next to her was Brianna, who was looking at William, and the beautiful lady that she had never seen before, with genuine curiosity.
"Big Brother, I didn't know that you were such a good kisser," Brianna praised. "Can you teach me?"
The adorable loli threw a grenade that could be interpreted the wrong way intentionally. Clearly, the little troublemaker wanted to see how her Big Brother, Wendy, and the lady in Wililam's arms would react to her innocent request.
William knew that if he agreed to Brianna's request, even in a joking manner, he would be sleeping on the floor tonight. He also felt Ashe's two fingers subtly shift on his waist and knew that he would be in a world of pain if he gave the wrong answer.
"Brianna, kisses are for adults," William said in a righteous manner. It was as if he was a monk who was free from worldly desires. "You are still too young. Save your kisses for when you grow older."
"Tsk!" Brianna clicked her tongue as she grabbed a walnut to eat. Her little prank had failed, so she decided to eat while looking at her Big Brother in a mischievous manner. However, the next scene that unfolded before her eyes made her drop the walnut in her hand to the carpeted floor, as her jaw dropped in surprise.
Ashe had reverted back to her boy form and looked at Brianna with a smile. She knew that Brianna was a person that William trusted, so she didn't mind sharing this secret with her.
"Y-You are a girl?!" Brianna gasped in shock as she stared wide-eyed at Ian.
Ian nodded and pressed a finger over her lips. "Keep this as a secret. You understand, right, Brianna?"
Brianna hastily nodded her head in understanding. She was there when Princess Sidonie had interrogated Ian. Back then, she just thought that Wiliam and Ian only had a close relationship because he was one of William's Knights. She never thought that Princess Sidonie's accusation was spot on.
William felt Wendy's gaze and the latter was looking at him with a very sweet smile plastered on her face. He could tell that his first girlfriend wasn't the least bit bothered by the kiss that Ashe had shared with him.
This change in Wendy's mindset surprised William. All of a sudden, she felt more mature in his eyes. The Wendy he was familiar with had a hidden inferiority complex that she had openly exposed to him.
He used to always assure her not to compare herself to others, especially to his fiance, Rebecca, because in his eyes, she was already very beautiful.
Now, that same Wendy was looking back at him with confidence, knowing that William truly loved her with all of his heart.
'I guess she stepped into adulthood last night,' William thought as he approached his first lover to give her a kiss as well.
Ashe had already given her consent and William wanted to meet her expectations. The only question was, what kind of scene he would see when he visited her dream tonight. Although he wasn't sure of how far he could take the Incubus Job Class, he was willing to do some experiments in order to understand how the Dream World worked.
-----
Somewhere in the Hellan Kingdom…
Conner surveyed the land from the sky, while riding a Gryphon. He was currently at the South Eastern Side of the Hellan Kingdom, looking for any signs of the dungeon that had vanished without a trace.
With the Oathkeeper Key in his hands, he was looking for any kind of reaction from the artifact as he did a systematic sweep over the ground.
Ever since the Hidden Valley had disappeared, the majority of the members of Deus had split up to look for the signs of the monument that served as the entrance to the Undying Lands. Their comrades, who had accompanied Conner when he inspected the Domain, had assured them that it was a Domain filled with priceless treasures.
This information was enough for the members of Deus to take this mission seriously as they looked for the Hidden Valley in the territories that had been assigned to them.
Conner was getting agitated with each day that passed without results. It was as if he was presented with a very delicious dish from a high-class restaurant. However, before he could even take a bite from his plate, the waiter decided to take it away and clean up the entire table, without leaving anything behind.
This made Conner very depressed and his temper also grew by the day. After another day of fruitless labor, Conner decided to rethink his plans for the Hellan Kingdom. Now that the Kraetor Empire and Elven Armies had arrived, his plan to take over the entire continent was no longer possible.
In fact, he was quite pissed off on how things turned out the way it did. After all the resources he had spent, and all the years that he had planned to secure the Oathkeeper Key and activate the Continental Spell, the gains he got were abysmal.
The faces of his two colleagues flashed inside his mind. Conner cursed them inwardly because the two of them had taken advantage of all of his hard work, and conquered three of the four factions that ruled over the Southern Continent with very little effort.
The ridicule and contempt had been very evident in Berthold's and Alessio's eyes when they came to see him. How he wanted to gauge their eyes out at that time, but he held back because fighting the two of them at the same time was a very stupid thing to do.
Conner felt very helpless. He understood that Alessio and Berthold would not spare him if they succeeded in conquering the Hellan Kingdom. He only had two choices and they were to flee or to fight against them.
The only reason why he was still hesitant to leave the Hellan Kingdom to its fate was the possibility of finding the Undying Lands after their relentless searching. His teeth ached at the thought of having his two acquaintances accidentally find the Hidden Domain after they took over the kingdom.
The only solace he had about all of this was that the Oathkeeper Key was in his hands. Berthold and Alessio weren't aware of the existence of the Undying Lands. Even if they were to find the monument by accident, they would just think that it was just a structure from the distant past.
After pondering for a while, he decided to continue his search for the Hidden Valley for a few more days before returning to the Hellan Capital. He had already invested too much to find the Secret of Immortality that he was unwilling to give up in his search.
This gave Est and Brendan enough time to bring all of the survivors, who remained on the outskirts of the Hellan Kingdom, back to the Capital City of Gladiolus.