On the way to the Hotel 'Flor de Lis', the carriage where Shiro, Nathalia, Ayumi, and Luke were being a little cramped. Shiro and Nathalia were on the side with their backs to the coachman, and Ayumi and Luke were on the other.
The Matriarch's leg was touching the half-wolf's, and as Shiro and Nathalia talked, they didn't even notice the glances between the Elf lady and the half-wolf.
In a silent conversation, he incessantly asked her to stop teasing him, and she eagerly continued testing him.
The woman couldn't tell what attracted her more to the half-wolf, if it was the mysterious air that surrounded him or if it was the adrenaline that she felt running through her body every time she did something with him.
The carriage continued to be driven by the Jognart Brothers quietly. Although it was already night, the moonlight always appeared in the summer, so the road to the city was not in complete darkness.
Vasconcelos was not the safest city in the world, just like Oukiwa, there was also the risk of muggings. In order to have the advantage in case something like this happened, Ayumi requested Shiro's presence.
When they finally arrived in front of the hotel where Alexis was staying, she was waiting in the lobby and when she saw Luke's face through the window, she cracked a big smile.
Alonso Jognart, the thinner brother, got down from the driving seat. "Good evening, milady. You look beautiful." He greeted her, bowing.
"Thank you very much." She thanked him for the courtesy, bowing slightly as well.
Then the man opened the carriage door, however, the half-dragon's smile transmuted to a look of fascination.
"Good evening, Ayumi." She greeted the Matriarch, as she walked up the stairs of the carriage. Alexis was carrying a small shoulder bag, so small that only the potion could fit in there.
Ayumi was awestruck for a few seconds and replied: "Good evening... I confess I didn't expect that the Alexis that saved Luke was you."
'Wait... do they know each other?" Luke thought, dragging himself to the side, so Alexis would have somewhere to sit, but he soon felt a resistance coming from the blonde Elf.
"Such a common, corny name... I thought it might belong to any rabble-rousing mercenary." Ayumi teased her.
"Haha! As usual... you're hilarious." Alexis spoke, clearly debauched.
"Khum!" Nathalia pretended to clear her throat. "You two know each other?"
"Not much..." replied Alexis.
"Well even too well." Ayumi retorted, which made the mood in the carriage different from before.
Between the blonde Elf and the half-dragon was Luke, who understood nothing of what was going on, yet he tried to connect everything, while Shiro and Nathalia chose to remain quiet.
"Let me just ask... You two don't like each other very much, do you?"
"I like her a lot," Alexis spoke, gently swinging her left leg.
The Matriarch noticed this rubbing on the bodyguard's leg. "Tsk! Not a bit." She said, crossing her arms.
"Ahhh... Don't talk like that, Ayu... I like you." She spoke, leaning towards Ayumi, which exposed the cleavage of her dress and a lot. "I just got a little angry when you didn't pay for that contract."
"Getting 'a little angry' is an excuse for destroying three acres of land?"
"I didn't destroy it! I just helped plan it."
The Matriarch gave a corner smile and quickly tried to disguise it by crossing her legs. "Anyway, I'm glad you're still alive."
"Thank you... It's been what? Five years since we've seen each other?"
"That's right..."
On the way to the venue, which was to be in a small castle at the foot of a mountain away from the city, the two women eventually explained where they knew each other from.
Apparently, they were close friends back when they were attending college in the Cardinal Kingdom, a little over 10 years ago. While Alexis was a young prodigy who was attending college at the age of thirteen, Ayumi was a recent widow who was preparing to receive the most prestigious post in the Strogueher Family.
This unusual combination yielded huge rewards for the two at the time, who helped each other all the way to graduation.
"Ah... that was such a great time," Ayumi said, nostalgically.
"Yeah... and in the end, you got what you wanted so badly, didn't you? You managed to raise your daughter away from the clutches of the noble pigs. That's quite an accomplishment."
"I still worry about her future, but I believe Nat now has many good examples to follow." The Matriarch spoke, looking at Shiro, Luke, and Alexis.
"I-I?" The half-dragon inquired, pointing to her surprised face.
By the end of the brief ride, the tense atmosphere had completely died down. As they felt the carriage stop, the group inside it looked out and saw many people climbing a marble staircase.
Tlec! The carriage door opened and, amazingly enough, Luke got out before everyone else. The half-wolf had been sitting on the leather seat over his draught all this time, not to mention that he was in the middle of two beauties, so he sweated a lot.
The 'small castle' that Ayumi commented on was huge. The marble staircase connected to a long bridge, which created a crossing between a deep ravine.
"Shall we go?" inquired the Matriarch, touching the half-wolf's shoulder.
"Yes." He replied after refreshing himself, being bold enough to offer his arm to the woman.
After the bridge, there was a mountain and at the base of that mountain, a castle with tall, pointed towers. On this same estate, there was a beautiful garden on its side, which looked very much like a chalice. Below this chalice, a small waterfall poured water over the precipice.
The place was well lit by small crystals, which Luke had never seen before. These small ores were even on the lamppost next to where the carriage stopped. They were greenish and created a pleasant ambiance.
Before Ayumi and Luke even started walking toward the stairs, Alexis called out to him. "Hey, Luke! Can I have a minute alone with you?"
"Sure." He replied, holding out his hand for the half-dragon to carefully climb down from the carriage.
When a little further away from the carriage, the woman reached into her small purse and held out a flask to the half-wolf.
"We don't want to draw too much attention here, so drink this." She ordered, handing him a flask that held a bluish liquid.
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