As Alex had predicted, the three of them managed to sneak into Eidross half an hour after landing. Due to the upcoming Drazen family auction, which was set to take place beyond the massive mountain chains surrounding Eidross, a large number of people were gathered in front of the city gates, eager to stay in the infamous city.
Given the high volume of people trying to enter, the guards at the gates barely spared a glance at Alex's group. Not recognizing any signs of affiliation with known noble houses, they allowed them to pass after collecting the standard entrance fee.
Their infiltration into the city was so effortless that Alex wondered if their disguises—at least his and Amelia's—were even necessary.
What he didn't realize was that many people knew Amelia by sight. She had once been, and still was, considered one of the geniuses of the Fiore Empire. Moreover, her captivating appearance would certainly have drawn attention, something that would have been problematic for anyone trying to sneak into the city unnoticed.
What both Alex and Amelia also didn't know was that even if it had been discovered that they were nobles from the Eswald family, they wouldn't have been treated the same as other nobles.
***
"Twenty silver coins for two rooms," the bartender, a rough-looking man with a large belly, muttered, squinting at the man before him.
The latter only snorted at the bartender offer, "do you take me for a fool? Twenty fucking silver coins for two crappy rooms?!"
"Hmph, either you take it at this price or you scram from my tavern!" the bartender snapped, his tone sharp. "Good luck finding another place in the city that still has spare rooms."
"Fine, we're leaving then," replied the bartender's interlocutor, a tall man with purple hair and a mask covering half of his face. He turned to the two women behind him, both of whom wore similar masks.
"Let's go," Alex said to Amelia and Maya, "I'm sure we can find another tavern with a more reasonable price."
Amelia and Maya exchanged a glance, sighed in exasperation, and then nodded.
It had been almost an hour since they entered Eidross, and since they had no desire to explore the city, they immediately began searching for a place to rest. They could have opted for more luxurious accommodations, but Alex insisted that doing so would only draw unwanted attention. Initially, they agreed with his reasoning—it was logical, after all—but as time went on, they started to realize the truth: Alex was simply too stingy!
The guy had looted an entire treasury filled with mountains of gold coins from a secret organization's base and could be considered extraordinarily wealthy. Yet, here they were, at the third tavern they were visiting because Alex refused to pay a price that quite frankly didn't even amount to a drop in his vast fortune to rent just two rooms!
The two women sighed once again and walked behind Alex, who had already started to leave the tavern. However, just as he was about to exit, the bartender suddenly called out.
"Wait!"
Alex grinned under his mask and glanced back at the bartender. "What is it?" he asked in a deadpan tone.
"I will let you have the two rooms for fifteen silver coins," the bartender, who also seemed to be the owner of the tavern, offered.
"No," Alex shook his head. "The two rooms for ten bronze coins," he counteroffered.
Hearing his price, both the bartender and the two women behind Alex stared at him in disbelief. How could someone be so shameless as to offer such a low price for not just one room, but two?
"Fuck you!" the bartender exclaimed indignantly.
"Well, we are leaving then," Alex replied without missing a beat.
However, just as he was about to step outside, the bartender called out to them once again.
"Sixty bronze coins!"
"Ten bronze coins."
"Fifty!"
"Ten!" Alex insisted, his right hand already pushing the tavern door open as if to show that he was dead serious. He wouldn't pay a single coin more than ten bronze.
Seeing this, the bartender gritted his teeth. "Twenty bronze coins, please," he said, his voice nearly trembling as though he were on the verge of tears.
The other patrons inside the tavern looked at him in disbelief. They had never seen this big guy so defeated, and while many considered him a friend, they couldn't help but feel a twisted sense of satisfaction at his predicament. That damn swindler had it coming! Suddenly, their ales tasted sweeter.
Alex paused for a moment, considering the offer, then shook his head. "Fifteen coins. That's my final offer."
At this point, the bartender was grinding his teeth so hard that a faint cracking sound could be heard in the tavern, which had grown deathly silent during the negotiation.
"Fine, fifteen coins," the bartender finally agreed, nearly spitting out the words.
"Here are your coins," Alex said, tossing a few bronze pieces at the bartender as he walked back into the tavern.
After picking up the coins, the bartender snorted with regret and handed Alex two keys. "First floor, the doors at the end of the corridor," he muttered.
Normally, he would have guided the customers to their rooms if they were strangers, but the bartender wanted to stay as far away from Alex as possible.
Taking the keys, Alex nodded and walked towards the staircase, with Amelia and Maya faithfully trailing behind him.
The moment they disappeared from sight, a chorus of laughter and mockery erupted inside the tavern, with the bartender clearly being the target of the jokes.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP, YOU BUNCH OF DEGENERATES!" the bartender roared, his voice echoing through the tavern. "The next person I hear laughing will clear all their debts today!"
Immediately after the bartender's outburst, the tavern fell silent. The patrons who had been mocking the bartender quickly averted their gazes and began softly whistling, trying to avoid drawing attention to themselves.
Meanwhile, Alex and the girls made their way down the corridor and arrived at the two adjacent wooden doors.
"Here, you take this room, and we'll take this one," Alex said, handing one of the keys to Maya.
"I hope the walls here are thick," Maya muttered, accepting the key from Alex before slipping into her room.
Alex and Amelia shared a glance and chuckled before entering their own room.
As soon as they stepped inside and closed the door, Alex turned and pinned Amelia against it. In the next moment, their smoke masks dissolved, and Alex's lips met Amelia's in a passionate kiss.
His right hand firmly gripping her waist, and his left hand holding both of her arms above their heads against the door, Alex's lips crashed against Amelia's with a fervor that conveyed the depth of his desire. Their mouths moved in sync, lips pressing firmly against each other. Alex could feel his sister breath hitch as he explored her mouth, their tongues entwined in a heated embrace that sent shivers down both of their spines. The world around them seemed to fade away, leaving only the sensation of their bodies pressed tightly together, lost in the moment of their passionate kiss.
After a while, despite Amelia's protests, Alex managed to pull away from the kiss.
"Wait for me here; I won't be long," he said, giving Amelia a tender peck on the forehead.
Before she could respond, Alex had completely disappeared from the room.
Amelia traced her lips with a finger, sighing softly, "I hope he won't be long."
***
"Shit, where did he go?!" a man with a deep voice, obscured by a mask that covered his entire face, exclaimed.
"I—I don't know," a second man, also masked, replied with a hint of panic in his eyes. "I couldn't keep up with him!"
Before they could worry further, each man felt a powerful hand settle on their shoulders.
"Good evening, gentlemen," a voice as smooth as silk and as sinister as the devil whispered into their ears.
Turning slowly, the two men saw the face of the person they had been tracking smiling at them. At that moment, if not for their rigorous training to maintain composure, they might have crap their pants.
"You see, I'm about to have one hell of a time with my wife, and I'd prefer not to have two men watching us. So, good night," Alex said with a pleasantly malevolent smile.
With that, the two men vision blurred, and they collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Gazing down at the unconscious bodies of the two men, Alex's smile graduallly shifted to a chilling, icy coldness.
"It seems that our infiltration didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped."