The Innkeeper could appear in many places, and it was natural for him to have clones. But for serious meetings such as these, Lex liked to make it seem like the Innkeeper was giving it his whole attention.

While that wasn’t exactly true, as Lex himself was still with the rest of the workers, who were excitedly discussing plans for the auction, a majority of his attention was towards the meeting with Gerard.

This was the first time he had seen the old, reliable butler with an expression anything other than overwhelming confidence.

"Come in, Gerard," the Innkeeper said, his warm voice soothing and relaxing Gerards nerves. "You seem troubled. I’m glad you came to me for help."

Gerard almost felt like he didn’t even need any advice anymore, for the Innkeepers mere presence put him at peace, and chased away the troubles that had plagued him. But he knew that his problems weren’t actually solved.

"I... I am faced with a situation that I don’t know how to respond to. It is too complex, and my emotions are all in a mess," Gerard admitted, almost like a child, and not at all like the old man he appeared to be. But in the cultivation world, he couldn’t even be considered the equivalent of a teenager yet in his age, so it was perfectly justified for him to be overwhelmed by his emotions.

"Come, tell me about it," said the Innkeeper as he moved out from behind his desk and sat on a chair, indicating for Gerard to sit right opposite to him. A fresh cup of hot chocolate lay on the table between them, alongside a warm butter croissant. If that wasn’t the cure to a troubled heart, then Lex didn’t know what was.

Gerard wasn’t really hungry. An Immortal hardly ever felt hunger. Even so, he could not resist the allure of the treat before him. Without even realizing it, he dipped one end of the croissant in the hot chocolate before biting off that tender edge, not letting a single drop of that chocolaty goodness escape.

Gerard didn’t even realize when his eyes closed, and his mind, body and soul relaxed even more than he already had. Of course they had - both those had been made from the Patisserie at the Midnight Inn using immortal level ingredients. It was the best of the best.

When he opened his eyes, he realized that the entire treat was gone, and quite a while had already passed. He had just been sitting there, enjoying his meal like a kid in front of his parent. How embarrassing.

The Innkeeper smiled knowingly.

"Now, tell me what’s been bothering you. Start from the beginning," he said, looking at Gerard, as if his troubles could all be solved simply by revealing them.

Gerard sighed. He should have done this from the start. He didn’t even know why he had been hesitating.

"As you know, I’ve been dating Lilith, who is a devil," Gerard began. "Dating her is great, and we were having a lovely time. Lilith told me that it wasn’t unusual for couples to date for tens of thousands of years before considering something more serious, so that is the mindset I had embraced.

"However, some time ago, Lilith reached out to me with a conundrum. Her father... the Dao Lord... is encouraging her... to propose marriage... Although he hasn’t said out right that he wants it to happen, how can she reject the words of her father, and a Dao Lord, both in one? Moreover, I am concerned that if I reject it, it will ruin the relations between Devils and the Midnight Inn.

"That’s not even considering that... while I like Lilith, I haven’t even thought of marriage yet. Even if I get married, marriage for the sake of avoiding political fallout... seems like an unstable foundation for a relationship.

"Then again, Lilith’s help was invaluable when she helped out Lex with his plan in the Origin realm, which only proves how powerful and influential the devils are. They cannot be spurred, and yet the idea to marry for the wrong reasons, even if it’s the right woman, fills me with such reluctance.

"I... I have failed the Inn. I cannot even..."

"Hush child," the Innkeeper said, chuckling a little. "For one usually so composed, I did not think that all it took to get you flustered was your little sweetheart. You do not need to worry at all. The proposal is not an actual proposal, or else Lilith would not have been encouraged. She would have simply been ordered.

"No, Gerard, if you were a little more clear headed, you would see that this is merely a sign of goodwill from Lilith’s father towards me. It is to indicate that he supports the relationship between you two, and won’t interfere - if that is my intention. Yet he does not realize that I do not place value on relationships based on political benefits. What is the point of strength if you are still prisoner to these social or political chains? Better, then, to be a weak pauper living in the wilderness with the sky as a blanket and the ground as the bed."

The Innkeeper shook his head, as if he had heard the silliest thing, and summoned his pen and ink well, as well as the Midnight Inn letterhead.

"Do as your heart desires - as long as you don’t purposefully take advantage of someone’s sincerity. If you like Lilith, then date her without care for intrigue, and see where your relationship leads you. In the Midnight Inn, we help each other, we don’t make use of one another."

The Innkeeper scribbled a few lines on the letterhead, folded it in half, and handed it to Gerard.

"You can ask Lilith to hand this over to her father. After that, you can pursue your relationship as you wish. Don’t worry about it.

Gerard took the piece of paper, feelings of gratefulness overwhelming him. He didn’t try to peek at what was written on the paper. Instead, he simply bowed to the Innkeeper deeply, a silent expression of his gratitude, and left to deliver the paper.

Meanwhile, Lex wiped invisible sweat off his brow. The day had come. Pretending to be a Dao Lord had finally forced him into having communications with other Dao Lords. He just hoped his small message wouldn’t cause him any problems.

What Lex didn’t know was that Ballom was not considering the Innkeeper to be a Dao Lord, but instead someone who was on the verge of entering into the realm after Dao Lord!

With Gerard gone, and nothing else major to distract him, he could finally use that quest reward he had gotten.

Lex rubbed his hands with impatience as he opened up the reward panel and looked at the Phantasm Core. He had negotiated with Interlink for it, so he was quite curious as to what it could do for him, and what it was exactly.

Of course, the best way to do that was to put it in the Gift Shop for a split second - with a price and qualifications that made it all but impossible for anyone to buy.

As it happened, Wu Kong was feeling bored so he was perusing the wares in the Gift Shop. Since Wu Kong was the one person Lex couldn’t see with his system scan, he had no idea that the monkey was there.

*****

Gerard wasted no time in delivering the piece of paper to Lilith, who was also anxiously waiting for a response inside the Inn. Lilith, in turn, promptly returned to Garvitz and delivered the piece of paper to her fathers assistant, who quickly brought it to Ballom.

The process was tedious, but it took barely a couple of minutes, even including the various flows of time involved.

Ballom opened the note eagerly, but he had to tame his excitement as he read it. Even then, he wasn’t disappointed. Indirectly, even the Innkeeper had acknowledged their relationship. What was unusual, however, was the amount of freedom and leeway the Innkeeper afforded mere mortals and immortals. It was both odd and refreshing, and highly unlike any other Dao Lord he had encountered.

"Pass news to Lilith. She can take things at her own pace. I won’t interfere with her decisions from now on - at least in terms of this relationship. However, also warn her. She’s been in the limelight lately, and her siblings won’t overlook that. Since she is living by her own decisions, she should also defend them on her own."

There was no one around him, yet Ballom had no doubt that the message would be sent - even if the message had to come to life and deliver itself... itself!

He looked at the Innkeepers piece of paper one more time and chuckled.

"What is the point of power," the paper read, "if power itself becomes a shackle? I let the children live and love to write their own stories. In who they choose to love, and how, I will not interfere."

Ballom felt like he was receiving a mild scolding. How interesting. He hadn’t felt that since...

Ballom looked wistfully into the distance, lost in memories of a time long passed.