Robin's room looked neater than last time he was in Tamworth. Usually, the books on the bookshelf on the right of the room were always clogged up and stacked. Unlike back then, the books were neatly organized side by side, even in alphabetical order as well. A queen-sized bed replacing the single bed on the left was smacked in the middle of the room, touching to wall furthest from the door. Noticing that there was a table next to the window, Gray moved over, and shifted the curtain over to cover up the window. Shifting his gaze towards the table, he noticed a particularly tan stain on the edge of the table.

"Robin, what the hell," Gray complained.

Robin looked away in shame, "Always meant to clean that up, but I often forget it."

Gray cringed in disgust as he went to the washroom next to the entrance of the room. He grabbed a towel hanging from the hinges next to the door. Approaching the table, he mentally casted a low-tier water spell to wet it and rubbed the stain as hard as he could.

Robin looked away, "Alseif, please... you're embarrassing me."

"Maybe if you start cleaning up after yourself, I wouldn't mind!" Gray panted.

"Alseif please-"

Something dropped in at the door stopping Gray from his actions. Both Gray and Robin turned to the door immediately, and saw a young woman standing there in shock with a bucket of bath utensils on the floor. Her crimson hair tied into a top knot as if she intended, or already used the bath. The uniform she wore consists of a red sleeveless female tunic and black skirt covering below her knees with a white apron overlaying. Instantly, Gray recalled her face four years ago because mole next to her left eye.

Everything remained the same, the way her green almond eyes shined, and how her visage produces cute dimples when she smiles. Unfortunately, there were no dimples on her face, but rather, her eyes widened in shock. With her flushed red face like an apple, Gray knew... he knew he had done something terribly wrong. He gasped and immediately drew his hand away from the towel as if he had never touched it.

Gray bit his lips, "I can explain."

Eliza, Robin's wife and friend of Aria, cover her flushed face with both hands, turned and walked away from the two of them. Gray face-palmed as he went to sit on the bed, looking down at the floor is shame. Perhaps, he shouldn't had done what he did, and even Robin warned him about it. Well, too late now, might as well live with consequences of his actions. Meanwhile, Gray noticed a flustered Robin walking speedily towards the table and grabbed onto the towel. He began to rub the desk as hard as possible with his flushed face as evidence. Gray sighed.

"Listen," Gray muttered, "Whatever happened here... never happened..."

"Easy for you to say," Robin replied. "You aren't the victim in this."

"I'm sorry..."

"If it weren't for us being freaky that night, none of this would've happen," Robin quickly added. "Okay, maybe things get crazy between us! She wanted a kid okay, so I really got in the mood since I've been drinking some aphrodisiac mixed with ale! Not to mention I wanted a kid as well, what hell was I supposed to do, huh?"

Gray shook his head in guilt, "I don't need to know about your night dances in bed! Besides, no need to play the guilt card! I'm already feeling horrible right-"

"Oh, should I also add how loud she-"

"Robin, don't make me knock out a few of your teeth," Gray sighed as he took his sword off from the back of his waist and set it down next to him. "Listen, the thing that I wanted to talk about was the raided village east of here."

Robin continued scrubbing the desk, "I heard."

"The bandit leader knew my identity," Gray hissed. "How did he come upon it?"

"Are you accusing me?"

"No," Gray denied. "You wouldn't have known that I was Gray Raultivon unless you confirmed it yourself. In other words, you don't like giving out false information... well, that is until today."

Robin stopped scrubbing, "Rumors travel through the underworld fast, Alseif. Your dark Magic must've given you away."

Gray shook his head, "I know Dark Magic, but I don't use it due to the repercussions on the body."

"You did, but did they?" Robin began scrubbing the table again.

Gray cringed, "Would you stop with that!"

Robin frowned as he stopped, "Fine."

Gray sighed, "Cursed from birth, huh?"

"Gray Raultivon, the Exiled Prince of Raultivon is the only person to have been cursed from birth by his father. A fitting curse by the king because the bastard child was not his own. Due to that, his curse influenced magic differs greatly from others."

"My magic swords," Gray rubbed his head. "I should hold back more."

"As long as you're within my Inn, I'll protect you."

Until I leave that is, Gray wanted to say. Robin is a nice guy and all, but he's an information broker before a friend. Most of the things that Gray spoke about are information that Robin already knew. And he could tell that Robin knew since he answered without the slightest hint of hesitation.

"Once I'm out there in the streets, things will change," Gray muttered.

"Sorry, I can't do anything about that."

"Oh, right," Gray recalled, "Killed an Ogrum that was on the outskirts of the town."

"Ogrum," Robin growled, "I guess that confirms my suspicions about tomorrow."

Gray furrowed his brows, "You mentioned that I had picked the wrong time to arrive in Tamworth. What's happening tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow is Mourinthia, a festival in remembrance of the dead. Many travelers come here to celebrate and offer prayers to the fallen. Always wondered why people named the festival after the goddess of death, Morith?"

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Gray rubbed his eyes in disbelief, "There're way too many coincidences to call this chance. First, Raultivon searching for me in Tamworth means that they knew I was on my way here. Secondly, Zazion sends a convoy with an Ogrum in their midst to Tamworth means they're looking for a fight."

Robin scowled, "It's gonna be a bloodbath tomorrow."

Gray threw his hands up in the air, "Well, there goes the escape plan..."

"Best if you don't show yourself tomorrow for everyone's safety."

"If I stay hidden, there are less chances of a fight breaking out. Raultivon will act if they see me therefore causing Zazion to act as well."

Robin smiled bitterly, "Go get some sleep, you'll need it."

"Tell Eliza that I'm sorry," Gray apologized as he picked up the sword behind him, moving into the corridor. Opening the door immediately to his left, he walked inside as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. Slowly but surely, the candle lanterns lighting the room help his eyes adjust faster than usual. Noticing two small bundles to his left, he figured they were Faris and Rafaila. Gray smiled understanding even though Rafaila seemed mature, she still capable of acting like a little girl. Unlike him, she is still capable of living as a child.

"Alseif?" he heard Aria call sleepily from the bed to his right with Momo in her arms.

"Yeah," he replied. "It's just me, go back to bed."

Somehow, no matter how much times he tried to cut ties with the four of them, he can't seem to forget them. Perhaps it's because all the girls still remember him to this day simply because he saved them. Then again, imagining himself in their shoes made him realize that he played a key role in their life. After all, how could they forget about him who pulled them out of the depths of hell? Avoiding them for four years didn't seemed to lessen the bond between them for some reason.

"A bond that can never be broken, huh," Gray softly whispered. Walking over to the lanterns, he popped open each and blew on them. Looking out the windows, he noticed some of the people below were already setting up shops and decorations for tomorrow's festival. He bit his lips hoping that the two kingdoms wouldn't meet.

"Hmm..." he heard a soft voice mumble from behind him knowing that Momo sat up her bed. He turned back to her and smiled as he made his way towards her. Softly grabbing her by the shoulder, he laid her down to the bed then put a finger to his lips.

"Time for bed," he whispered and pulled the blanket over Aria's and Momo's shoulders. Noticing that Aria had strands of hair over her face, Gray lifted her hair and curled it around her ear. He smiled sadly at Aria, understanding that her feelings for him were unrequited, and even if he wanted a relationship with her, it's not going to end well.

After a couple minutes, Momo breathed softly like a little child needing their sleep. Confirming that she was fast asleep, he walked over to the corner of the room. Sitting down, Gray brought the sword to his chest and embraced it as he closed his eyes to let his mind drift.

***

"So were the girls happy," Eliza asked as she loosened her hair getting ready for bed.

"I thought having them meet Alseif would make things easier for the three of them," Robin mentioned as he settled himself into the bed. "I may have worsened the situation."

Eliza curiously turned towards him, "What do you mean?"

"Do you feel something for him?"

Eliza flushed red in embarrassment, "What?"

Robin sighed, "As I thought."

"Dear I-"

"Let me finish," Robin leaned back onto the wall, "what you feel for him is not love. You may be thinking that you have lingering feelings for him, but that's not true. You're confused."

Eliza bit her lips, "I'm sorry..."

"What are you apologizing for," Robin lightly chuckled. "This is a problem much deeper than the feeling called love. You see, that's the thing about this situation that makes it worse because all of you girls think you're in love with Alseif. But it's rooted much deeper than that."

Indeed, the problem is much deeper than the feeling called love. It could be damaging for both Gray and girls if they were to accept the lie that they love each other. If Aria gets together with Gray, the damage can cause severe issues in the future. Gray mustn't have noticed his different attitude around the girls, but Robin clarified their relationship today. He ease dropped on Aria and Gray conversing, and chose only to step in when needed.

Robin smiled sadly, "Eliza, you must not allow Aria to ever converse with Alseif again."

"Robin!" Eliza exclaimed, "You know how much that girl loves him! Are you trying to break her heart?"

"It's neither bond nor love, Eliza."

"Then what is it? I still have lingering feelings for him like you said, but you aren't stopping me from talking to him. Why?"

"Because she is the victim and he is the rescuer! She will consistently try to seek out a persecutor just for Gray to come and save her. Their future endeavors will never have a happy ending."

Robin has seen multiple people with multiple backgrounds coming into his inn, but some have the same circumstances as Gray had with the girls. Sometimes it ranges from an older woman rescuing a younger man, other times it could be an aged man rescuing a little girl. It could also be the same sexes as well, but none of that matters. What matters is that Gray is the rescuer and Aria is the victim. The two of them don't see what they are slowly becoming, and soon Gray may marry Aria even if he has no feelings for her.

"Alseif is a good man, but he has the same look as all the other people I've met. Back when he saved you girls, he had that empty look in his eyes. He may not realize it, but he helped you girls because he wanted to relieve himself of his own guilt."

"Are you saying that he helped us because he wanted to feel better about himself?"

"I wanted to confirm if he had any feelings of love towards her, so I tested him earlier today." Robin chuckled sadly, "Turns out my hunch came true since Alseif killed his first man at the age of nine. That small piece of information tells me that something may or may not have happened in the past to cause him to feel such guilt. By saving you girls he alleviated some of his guilt, but if staying with Aria will make him feel less guilty, he will do it."

Eliza frowned as her eyes watered, "Aria will confuse his guilt for love therefore hurting the two of them on the long run."

Robin scratched his head, "Not only will Aria realize that she doesn't love him, but she will also realize that she needs him to support her since she can't do anything herself. By marrying Alseif, she will never learn to be independent because she'll believe that her savior will always save her..."

Immediately, Robin casted his eyes down as Eliza burst into tears. He silently watched, knowing that it's best for her to settle her feelings for Gray as well. After all, she was also a victim and Gray is her savior. Feeling grateful, that he had married an intelligent and loving woman, he couldn't help it but embrace her in his arms as he dragged her down to the bed.

After a couple minute, he felt Eliza's eyes on him, so he returned her gaze. Somehow, the way her eyes looked at him with the cute dimples on her cheeks as she smiled aroused him for some reason. Her mole added to her cute and beautiful face as if she begged him to do something to her. Luckily, his overpowering ability to reason prevented him from taking action.

"Can I..." Eliza whispered, "Reinforce... my love... with you?"

"Can I?" he begged as he felt his ability to reason slowly wither away.

"No more counter though," she smiled seductively.

Robin felt himself on the edge of breaking, "Oh come on."

"But... you can... do whatever," she leaned into his ears. "You want to this body," she bit his ear.

All ability to reason wiped itself from his mind, and he let the ravenous beast within take over. Within seconds, he took Eliza's nightgown off as she giggled from his cold touch. Her giggle further strengthened his arousal, so he leaned in to get a mouthful of her tongue. Feeling his shortened breaths as he continuously sucked on her tongue, he lifted himself up gasping for air, undressing himself in the process. Tonight, he wouldn't let himself rest until he satisfied his loving wife.

***

Gray jerked himself awake as he heard squeaks and giggles from next room. Things like this weren't unusual for people like him who often rest at inns, but today was too different. Laughing sounded through the wall just as Gray pushed himself up to find the source. Squeaks and moans blasted through the thick barriers, but for some reason the girls didn't wake up. They must be used to this type of situation or something! However, tonight these people were a little bit too energetic. Irritated, Gray prepared to kick the wall to shut the two of them up... until he realized the voices.

Gray groaned, "Should've told them that I'm a light sleeper."

"Harder!" Eliza screamed.

"Yes mommy!" Robin screamed in turn.

"Seriously, role-playing!?" Gray cringed, "What the hell?"

This kind of thing shouldn't be different for Gray, but for people that he actually knew made the experience even worst. From the moans and squeaking, the two of them were very energetic. Coming to terms with the ruckus, Gray understood that tonight is going to be a long night.