Adrian’s eyes flicked toward Mikhail before he gave a slight shrug. It was his way of saying he’d go along with whatever Mikhail decided. In any case, whether they shared a room or not didn’t make much of a difference to a dragon.
Mikhail, who had been silently mulling it over, caught Adrian’s response and gave a slow nod, his expression unreadable.
“Alright.”
“That’s a relief. The guest is packing up now and will be heading down to the lobby shortly. Once the room has been cleaned and prepped, we’ll notify you both. Please relax until then.”
Once he had the guest’s approval, the manager responded with a smile full of customer service cheer. Then he lifted his hand from the phone receiver he’d been covering and seemed to resume his conversation with the current guest.
Watching the manager, Mikhail crossed his arms, then uncrossed them to fold his legs, fidgeting restlessly like he was trying to act unaffected. Adrian, noticing how uncharacteristically Mikhail was fiddling with his fingertips, asked him a question.
“We shared a room back at Basamiel too, remember?”
His tone suggested he already knew exactly why Mikhail was acting strange. There was no real reason for him to get this flustered over something as trivial as sharing a room.
Mikhail’s lips worked silently for a few moments before he finally spoke, voice low.
“It’s… not the same as back then.”
Why are you even asking that?
He shot Adrian a pointed glare, eyes brimming with frustration like he couldn’t believe he still didn’t get it.
“Yeah? What’s different from our academy days?”
Adrian tilted his head slightly, curious.
“I don’t really see the difference.”
Of course, dragons were perfectly aware of human norms—how lovers or married couples typically shared a room, and what kinds of things usually happened in those rooms.
But the two of them weren’t in a relationship. So, from Adrian’s perspective, there was no reason this situation should feel any different from when they shared a room for a year at the Basamiel dorms.
Mikhail, who had been anxiously chewing on his lower lip, froze in place. Still seated on the sofa, he leaned forward, closing the distance until his eyes locked directly with Adrian’s.
“You really don’t know?”
They were so close that Adrian could see the reflection in Mikhail’s crimson eyes—there sat a blond-haired man, face devoid of emotion.
“You seriously don’t know what’s changed between us?”
For Adrian, the immediate urge to reply No, I don’t came with a flicker of irritation. He was a dragon who knew everything in this world. To simply admit he didn’t know grated against his immense pride.
And then—
“Um… excuse me…”
The manager, who had been on the phone for some time, finally broke the heavy silence between Adrian and Mikhail. He’d clearly been debating when to cut in, sensing the tightly wound tension between them.
“They’ve finished cleaning the room. Haha, that was fast, wasn’t it…?”
Still wearing his ever-pleasant smile, the manager gestured politely toward the entrance to the guest room.
“Shall we head in?”
“Yes, let’s.”
As Adrian rose from the sofa, the Darphung, who had been sleeping on his thigh, lifted its head with a start. Without waiting for Mikhail, who remained seated across from him, Adrian turned and began to walk.
“…Shit.”
Mikhail pressed a palm to his forehead and muttered to himself bitterly.
***
“This is the room.”
The manager spoke as he opened the door to a room on the topmost floor of the inn.
“…”
Standing before the room the manager had brought them to, Adrian and Mikhail peeked inside—and were struck speechless. Only the Darphung seemed delighted, bounding into the room with his stubby legs and gleefully hopping around on the carpet.
“…What the…”
Mikhail was the first to speak.
“What the hell is this room supposed to be?”
“Pardon?”
At his words, the manager’s eyes went wide. The carefully maintained customer service smile on his face looked like it was moments away from crumbling.
“…Pardon? Is there some kind of issue, sir?”
“What are all these ridiculous decorations supposed to be?”
Mikhail pointed with his index finger at a scattering of red rose petals. Candles flickered all around the room—on top of furniture, by the windowsills, and more. But the centerpiece, the pièce de résistance, was the enormous white bed that dominated the room, lavishly decorated with heart-shaped arrangements of rose petals.
“Ah…”
The manager finally seemed to understand what Mikhail was referring to and nodded.
“The previous guests who canceled their stay were on their honeymoon. Lucky, isn’t it?”
“…”
Lucky?
The moment the manager saw Mikhail’s dumbfounded expression—his mouth slightly open, blinking in disbelief—the last remnants of his service smile finally vanished.
“…”
“…”
Mikhail and the manager stared at each other in silence for a beat.
“By any chance…”
“Yeah. That ‘by any chance’ is exactly right.”
Mikhail cut the manager off before he could even finish the question.
At that, the manager audibly sucked in a breath. No matter how he looked at them, they definitely didn’t seem like just friends—and assuming so had clearly been a huge mistake.
“Ah—! I’ve made a terrible mistake. My sincerest apologies.”
Bowing deeply to Adrian and Mikhail, the manager hurried to salvage the situation.
“I’ll have the decorations removed immediately. If you could just wait a moment—”
“It’s fine.”
Adrian cut him off, stepping into the room without concern.
“If we just push things to the side, it’s not going to be a problem staying here.”
“…Adrian.”
Mikhail grabbed his arm, halting him. Adrian turned to look at him with his usual detached expression.
“What? Can’t sleep in a place like this?”
“…”
“I’m not in the mood to waste more time waiting around. Stop being so picky.”
Mikhail’s eyebrow twitched.
And whose fault is it that I’m being ‘picky’?
Watching Adrian nonchalantly survey the room, Mikhail ruffled his own hair in frustration.
“…So you’re saying this setup is fine?”
The manager, trailing behind, asked hesitantly as Mikhail finally stepped into the room as well. Mikhail turned his head sharply and grumbled.
“Yeah, apparently it is.”
At the same time, he pulled out the promised gold from his pouch and handed it over to the manager.
The moment the gold was in his hand, the manager beamed and bowed again.
“Wonderful. Then I hope you both have a pleasant evening.”
With that, he shut the door behind Adrian, Mikhail, and one small, excitable Darphung.
SLAM!
On his way back to the lobby, the manager glanced down the hallway to make sure it was empty, then muttered under his breath.
“Sure looked like newlyweds to me… What, did they have a fight or something?”
Adrian clearly heard the manager’s muttering from inside the room and let out a quiet chuckle, the corner of his lips curving upward.
Is that so? So Mikhail and I look like that kind of couple to him.
Click.
Adrian opened one of the doors in the room. It was likely the bathroom.
As he pushed open the door, Adrian fell into silence. It was just like what had happened earlier when the manager had first shown them the room. As expected, it was indeed the bathroom. But the decorations inside far surpassed anything in the main room—like someone had tried to float every rose petal in the world on the surface of the water. Steam rose from the warm, pre-drawn bath, and the sweet, heady scent of roses filled the space completely.
Even for him, this was going too far.
Adrian closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, golden irises gleamed beneath half-lowered lids. He clicked his tongue softly and raised his index finger. The motion was fluid, elegant.
As he traced a circle in the air with the tip of his finger, the extravagant petals and ribbon decorations that had overwhelmed the entire room began to gather in the air. With a simple organizing spell completed, Adrian snapped his fingers—snap!—and all remnants of the honeymoon-themed decor vanished from the room.
The door to the bathroom creaked open. As Adrian stepped inside, the lingering steam and rose scent rolled out like a wave, washing over Mikhail.
“…So I’m the only one being picky, huh?” Mikhail muttered, looking around.
Must’ve been annoying enough for him to actually use magic.
Now that the excessive decorations were gone, Mikhail could finally take in the room properly and slumped onto the sofa with a sigh. He had to admit—it really did live up to the manager’s claim of being the best room in the inn. A massive window offered a sweeping view of the city, the bed was neatly made, and every piece of furniture seemed crafted from high-end, vintage materials.
But at some point, the other side of the room had gone completely quiet. Mikhail, who’d been looking around with Darphung, turned and called out.
“Adrian.”
It was just after the spell had been cast inside the bathroom. Mikhail called his name again, but there was no reply from the one it belonged to.
“Adrian?”
He stepped up to the bathroom door and knocked twice.
Woof! Darphung barked at Mikhail’s feet, mimicking the knock. Mikhail gave the little creature a quick glance, then, after a brief hesitation, reached for the doorknob.
“Something wrong? I’m coming in, okay?”
