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It was an hour after midday when everything in the manor returned to normal and all the servants resumed their tasks. In the dining hall, lunch was prepared with dishes befitting those of nobles. The dishes’ aroma permeated the room and all the rooms across from the dining hall. Anyone would be drooling at such an array of dishes presented on the long dining table but not this group.

Aedan, being the master of the manor, was sitting at the end of the dining hall table, while Erin, being the mistress of the manor, was sitting on the other end. Their companions sat between the pair. They were all giving them frowning and scowling glances, save for Lilian who was happily indulging herself in the dishes as if she wasn’t part of the problem whatsoever.

Nivia, the one with the deepest frown and scowl, faked a cough.

Lilian snapped out of her trance of enjoying her lunch. “Yes?” she said after she swallowed her bite.

“Yes? Is that all you have to say?” Nivia, who was sitting across from her, asked with a glare glued to her.

Erin was taking small bites of her food as she glanced around the table. She felt the sting of guilt every time she glanced at Nivia. The sting hurt even more when she met Lyra’s disappointed gaze. Siv was as aloof as ever with her impassive gaze.

“...I’m sorry?” Lilian said.

Nivia raised her brows. “You ditch me in the library just so you can have a threesome with Erin and Aedan in the dungeon and all you have to say is sorry? Are you joking right now?”

“That’s not—”

“Yeah, that’s right, Lilian. Nivia has a point,” Lyra chimed in. “Why wasn’t I invited?”

“That’s not my point, Lyra!” Nivia shrieked.

“Wow, Lady Erin. You’re even wilder than I expected,” remarked Amyra who had joined them at the table, wearing the least bit of clothing out of everyone at the table.

“Can you be silent, Amyra?” Nivia cast her scowl at the Augur. “Why are you even here anyway?”

“I have yet to have my lunch and I was invited by my lord and my lady.”

Erin and Aedan nodded when Nivia looked at them.

“And what’s wrong with the three of them laying together? We’re in our private abode and some of the servants get kind of loud during the night at times too.”

Nivia shook her head, refusing to believe what she just heard. “Why do I feel like the insane one here?” Nivia groaned, clutching her head.

“As Amyra said, I don’t see the problem here,” Lilian said. “Sure, I cause some problems but I don’t see the point of your anger, Nivia.”

“The point here is that you are being more and more unbecoming for a Fae! What will the others say about you upon your return? Have you no desire to return to the forest?”

Lilian shrugged, her glance gradually slanting towards Aedan. “Not anymore, I have to admit.”

“N-not anymore? You followed me on this journey for the reason of righting the people’s perception of you. And you want to give it all up now?”

“I’m tired, Nivia. The Fae’s strict code isn’t meant for me. And I’m not giving up. I’m just moving on.” Her gaze completely shifted to Aedan as she spoke.

“You can’t be serious… Lilian, you—”

“That’s enough, Nivia,” Erin said.

“Erin, you can’t possibly agree with her, right?”

“That’s not my decision, it’s hers, but I didn’t stop you for that. Look, I apologise for what happened just now and I can explain. Well, not me but Aedan can explain.”

Nivia sighed and folded her arms. “Explain,” she said and slumped into the backrest of the elegant chair.

Aedan proceeded to explain everything from his and Olivia’s sudden arrival to the threesome they were having in the dungeon. After he was finished, it was Erin’s turn to tell Aedan of their current goals and objectives. He raised an eyebrow at the mention of bounty-hunting the past lover of Lyra.

“That’s very terrible, Master Aedan,” Siv was the first to respond after Erin retold the story. “I can’t imagine how it would feel like losing everything you have accumulated over thousands of years.”

“I didn’t lose everything, Siv,” Aedan said as he took a bite of his steak. “Just a good portion of my powers and I didn’t lose them. It just sealed within me. And please, drop the master.”

“If you say so, Aedan.”

The others were still in silence, absorbing the heavy knowledge they were just imparted.

“A Seraphim… A Seraphim is in the city…” Nivia was mumbling such words. She had yet to touch her plate. “The Covenant has a Seraphim… This is going to end so badly…”

“Great… looks like there won’t be much time for sex in the future…” Lyra muttered quietly while taking small bites of her lunch.

Aera had a clueless expression as usual. Despite having the heaviest reason for coming here, she was often the misplaced one in the group. Her choice of attire did not help her in fitting into the group either with her clergy robe.

Amyra, the real priestess, was barely wearing anything. She wore enough to cover her private parts which were a pair of leather shorts and a leather brassiere. Her equable temperament was nowhere to be seen upon the mentioning of a Seraphim’s presence in the city. It looked queer to Erin to see Amyra having such a serious expression considering she had known for only a day at most.

Erin was mildly regretting discussing this over lunch but she wanted to let them, no, she had to let them know as soon as possible. The sooner the better.

“Perhaps we should finish our meals first before we advance any further with our discussion,” Olivia proposed after being silent for the entire time.

Everyone nodded and they silently and quickly finished their meals. Deserts were brought in after the main course and everyone’s mood brightened. It was shaved ice in a bowl mixed with assorted cut fruits. Nivia was finally smiling at her first taste of the desert after having that deep scowl and frown on her face ever since they entered the dining hall.

After deserts were over, they moved to a parlour room that had couches arranged in a circular fashion, allowing everyone to face each other as they conversed. Lyra and Siv were sitting on each side of Erin. Nivia was sitting beside Lilian. Aedan was sitting opposite Nivia with Olivia and Aera by his sides. Amyra was sitting on a couch by herself and she was making full use of it by lying sideways on it, facing Erin directly.

“What’s the course of our action now?” Lilian asked.

“As far as I know, we were not followed,” Olivia said. “They may have seen our faces but they don’t know where we are. The rest of you will be safe outside the Grove, relatively. Just keep doing what you were all doing before. Don’t stray from your routine. As long as Aedan and I remain in the Grove, they can never find us, not unless they wish to turn this whole valley upside down.”

“Will they do that?” Lyra asked. “Flip the valley upside down, I mean.”

“...No,” Olivia answered after a brief hesitation.

“You hesitated.”

“I did,” Olivia admitted.

“Great…”

“What happened to this Seraphim?” Amyra asked with her head resting on her palm.

“If he wasn’t a Seraphim, I would say he’s dead,” Aedan said. “But since he’s a Seraphim, he’s probably alive. Gravely wounded, but alive. If he’s truly with the Covenant, the eyes in the city might have doubled or tripled by now.”

“How will this affect our hunt for the Covenant’s members and operations?” Aera asked in a cold rigid tone.

“It will be even more difficult.”

Aera clenched her fists, making a loud crack of her knuckles.

“What about our bounty that is my dear past lover, Edmund?” Lyra asked.

“It’s a Guild’s bounty. They will still be suspicious but there is not much they can do about it.”

“Where do I even find this sack of shit in the first place?” Lyra grumbled. “We don’t even know where to start looking now that I think about it. Erin?”

“I was planning to track him down using your scent, Lyra,” Erin said.

“Oh?”

“If he was your lover, much of your scent had to have been imprinted on him.”

Lyra shuddered slightly. “I’m getting the shivers just remembering his touch,” she muttered.

Erin embraced Lyra with her tails and pulled her close. “Then I’ll be making sure you forget them when night comes.”

Lyra shuddered even harder at Erin’s words.

Nivia rolled her eyes.

“I think I know he might be,” Aedan said.

“You do?” Lyra questioned.

“It’s a place where people like him loiter in.”

“People like him?”

“Wanted individuals.”

“Where is he then?”

“The slums, the midnight district, or whatever the locals called it but the district looks just like any other, except that it’s a place where criminals and outlaws gather.”

“And the officials do nothing about it?”

Aedan rubbed his fingers.

“Ah, of course. But why?”

“Where’s the best place to hide a tree?”

“A forest?”

“There you have it.”

“So… they’re hiding something by letting this district continue to thrive?

Aedan nodded.

Lyra scoffed. “That’s a bit much, isn’t it? What could they be hiding?”

Aedan shrugged. “No clue but that’s not our concern. All you need to know is that this place is where you’ll find Edward.”

“Edmund,” Lyra corrected him.

“Where is this district?” Erin asked.

Olivia took out a map from a pouch dangling by her hips and spread it on the round table before them. The map was much too big to fit into that pouch that was no bigger than a person’s palm but yet, it did.

“Whoa,” Lyra exclaimed. “Is that the famous infinite pouch?”

“It’s just a normal pouch carved with runes and enchanted with the Spatial Magic spell, Vault. I haven’t a bull’s notion of where the name ‘infinite pouch’ came from.” Olivia shrugged. “Anyway, this is the map of Sephrodia Valley.”

Everyone leaned in to take a closer look at it, except for Amyra.

“This here is Eden. We are here,” said Aedan as he tapped on one end of the map. “And this is the slums, the midnight district.” He tapped at a spot northwest of Eden.

“That’s quite far,” Nivia mused, peering at the map. “And what’s this place behind the slums?”

“That would be Midnight Creek. It used to be a lovely garden but some idiots dabbled in dark arts, and the whole place was abandoned due to superstitious fears. This kind of place tends to attract those hiding from the law. Which is why the nearby boroughs turned into a gathering of outlaws and criminals.”

“They certainly are not hiding from the law any longer,” Lyra mumbled.

“Alright, let’s say he will be here but where exactly?” Erin asked.

“There are three taverns in the slums.” With a pencil he asked from Olivia, he circled three spots on the map. “These three are practically the centres of the slums. If he’s like any other men, he will be at one of these taverns when night comes.”

“He certainly will be in one of those. Have I ever mentioned that he cheated on me when we were still lovers?”

Erin raised an eyebrow. “He did?”

Lyra nodded. “He got so drunk that he mistook a fucking wench was me. Her bosom was fucking huge and she was plump. And he dared tell me that he had mistaken her for me. Fucking bollocks. He will be there, getting drunk to force himself on some poor lass or loose wench.”

“I’m not surprised,” Lilian muttered with a titter. “Boys will be boys.”

“So, we will be going to the slums tonight?” Aera asked.

“Yes,” Erin answered. “Lyra, Siv, you two will take this tavern here. Lilian and Nivia will take this one here. Aera and I will take this one. Clear?”

“Why can’t I go with you?” Lyra asked.

“Because I’m the only one who can make sure Aera doesn’t go berserk. Or do you want to go together with Nivia instead?”

“I’ll go with Siv,” Nivia said.

“Sorry?”

“I said I will go with Siv,” Nivia raised her voice.

Erin looked at Siv. “Do you have any qualms about that?”

“None, mistress. I’m fine with whoever is my partner. Of course, as long as it doesn’t concern the affair of the bedroom.”

Erin and Lilian chuckled while Nivia had a slight regretful look on her face.

“Wait, so I’ll be going with Lilian?” Lyra blurted out the obvious in disbelief.