Shortly after, they arrived at the inn.
The inn wasn’t large and looked quite modest. Morning glories climbed the exterior walls, and lotus leaf wind chimes hung from the porch, letting out a crisp tinkling sound whenever the evening breeze blew.
Behind the counter stood a young receptionist.
She looked listless; perhaps a full day’s work had left her exhausted.
As Philousa stepped forward, the receptionist’s shoulders jerked, and she stared at her blankly. Milli let out a helpless sigh; it seemed there was another victim to Philousa’s charms.
Milli remembered back when she, too, thought Philousa was a serious person.
Only after getting involved with her did she realize that the woman was a total pervert!
Forget it. The past was too painful to recall, and life was rarely smooth sailing anyway.
“We’d like a room.”
“Uh,” the receptionist snapped out of it, “do you want a double room?”
“A double, of course,” Philousa said, wrapping an arm around Milli and starting to get handsy. “Can’t you tell? This is my lovely little wife. ~ ~”
Milli pursed her lips and tried to push Philousa away, but Philousa only held her tighter.
It seemed she was determined to show off their affection, so Milli had no choice but to let her behave recklessly.
The young receptionist sighed, looking at Milli with envy.
Milli actually wanted to hand Philousa over to the girl, but then she reconsidered—the child in her belly might very well be Philousa’s!
She couldn’t let her daughter be without a mother the moment she was born.
Philousa paid the bill and led Milli upstairs.
They opened the door to see the room’s layout.
There was a simple wooden double bed covered with a soft quilt, along with a wardrobe and a desk. It had a private bathroom and a basic shower.
After a couple finished being intimate, they’d be able to wash up right away, wouldn’t they?
Wait, why was she thinking about that?
Fortunately, the shower was quite small and could only fit one person. This would prevent any “mandarin ducks playing in the water” scenarios. Milli felt she had made the right choice coming here.
Click.
Philousa locked the door.
Milli jumped instinctively, looking at Philousa with a wary expression.
“I’m telling you, no touching.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not that kind of person.”
Milli’s mouth dropped open as she looked at Philousa in disbelief.
“You’re not that kind of person? You’re a pervert!”
“No, I haven’t even laid a finger on you, yet you’re calling me a pervert. Are you trying to provoke me so I’ll tease you? Are you feeling unsatisfied?”
“Who’s feeling unsatisfied! —”
Milli protested with flailing arms, waving her little claws for a good while. When she realized Philousa wasn’t attacking her, she wondered if the woman had actually reformed.
Just then, Philousa unbuttoned her coat.
This immediately set off alarm bells for Milli.
Is it finally happening? Is she stripping down first?
You said you weren’t that kind of person, but you really are a pervert… huh?
Philousa ignored Milli and sat down on the bed. She pulled out a book, leaned against the pillow, and began to read nonchalantly.
Milli waited for a long time, but Philousa didn’t make a move.
“Are you just reading?”
“Milli,” Philousa said with a pained expression, “Am I the pervert, or are you? Why do I feel like you’re actually hoping I’ll attack you?”
“How is that possible? …”
Could it be that Philousa was reading an erotic novel?
Milli craned her neck to look at the cover. The title read “The Twelve Paradoxes of Eternal Echoes.” Milli felt like her brain was about to grow just from looking at it.
“What kind of book are you reading!”
“The Dialectical Relationship Between Ancient Sorcery and Magic,” Philousa explained. “Are you interested in the principles of magic? Big sister can teach you, you know.”
“I’m not interested…”
What even was that? She couldn’t understand a word of it!
Wasn’t magic just about using your will to control things? You shout “Fireball” and a fireball flies out, right? Why was there a need to study theoretical knowledge?
Still, Philousa wasn’t reading smut.
Milli’s opinion of her improved slightly; it turned out she could be serious sometimes.
Since the bed was occupied, Milli didn’t want to walk into a trap.
Instead, she sat at the desk and opened the “Parenting Bible.”
She had borrowed this book from the doctor. As a fit mother-to-be, she couldn’t remain ignorant. She had to prepare for any foreseeable problems in advance.
Giving birth might be very painful, and Milli had no experience. However, she’d cross that bridge when she came to it. If it really didn’t work out, she’d have a C-section and just ask the doctor to give her more anesthesia.
The fine inn had turned into a reading room.
The only sound in the room was the rustling of turning pages.
After an unknown amount of time, Philousa looked up from her book and stretched luxuriously. Milli was startled and quickly tucked the Parenting Bible away.
If Philousa saw it, she’d be able to deduce that Milli was pregnant.
“Milli, what are you reading?”
“Nothing much,” Milli said guiltily. “Just an ordinary storybook.”
“Is that so?” Philousa was a bit skeptical, but she didn’t press further. “Alright, go take a shower first. Don’t worry, I won’t attack you.”
Milli was extremely suspicious, but she decided to trust Philousa.
Besides, the shower could only fit one person, so there was no room for any romantic atmosphere.
However, after the shower, they would be sharing a bed. She hoped there wouldn’t be a night attack. Even if there was, Philousa had to be gentle; she had heard that it was easy to have a miscarriage in the early stages of pregnancy.
At that moment, the sound of high heels echoed from the hallway.
In the dead of night, the sound was particularly piercing.
Both Philousa and Milli grew alert and looked toward the door. They heard the click of a lock—not their own, but the room next door. It seemed that person had gone inside.
It was probably just another guest; Philousa hadn’t booked the whole place, after all.
However, they soon realized something was wrong.
A fluctuation of magical power drifted from next door. That sensation… it felt like the aura of a witch!
Milli stood up abruptly.
Philousa’s face turned pale as she rushed to hush her.
“What are you doing?” Milli questioned in a low voice.
“Keep it down,” Philousa said mysteriously. “The opponent is just a small fry. Even if we catch her, we won’t be able to interrogate much out of her. It’s better to play the long game to catch the big fish.”
“How are we supposed to play the long game??”
Philousa cupped her face, her eyes darting around.
“Her coming here means she suspects us. Don’t be mad when I say this, but the witches would love nothing more than to tear you into a thousand pieces. Even if you dyed your hair, you’re still very conspicuous.”
Milli wasn’t angry; what Philousa said was the truth.
“Then what should we do? The mission will fail.”
“We just have to pretend to be a couple. No one would ever imagine that the normally high-and-mighty Saintess would be so bashful in bed.”
“We’re already pretending to be a couple, aren’t we?”
“It’s not enough,” Philousa said with a serious expression. “It’s best if we show some… passion.”
“What! …”
Milli instinctively covered her mouth, but her face was still bright red.
She wanted to show some passion? Did she mean like what happened on the airship? The sounds of the couple next door being intimate were already drifting into Milli’s ears!
Even if she couldn’t see their faces, hearing those sounds was bad enough!
It was too shameful. How could Philousa say such things with a straight face!
“No way! I won’t do it!”
Milli lowered her voice and protested seriously to Philousa.
Philousa didn’t answer. Instead, she slowly stood up and approached Milli. Milli’s face grew redder and redder. She shook her head, but she had nowhere left to hide.
Was she really supposed to let the witch hear the sounds of their passion?
She wasn’t some actress in a smutty movie!