The Innkeeper

Within a millionth of a second after the four disappeared, five Celestials appeared in the room. There was a look of intrigue in their eyes as they scanned the room but could not detect any lingering traces from their teleportation, which was extremely unusual.

It had to be known that even if they themselves teleported somewhere, they would leave behind some traces that could be sensed or detected. Of course, if they planned far in advance and prepared meticulously, they could teleport somewhere without leaving any residual traces from the laws of space, but even that was conditional. Moreover, they were in the official peak realm of the Origin realm. How could someone in the Golden core compare to them?

The answer was simple. They couldn't. That left only one explanation for what had just occurred. The golden keys that Lex had handed out had been supreme treasures, the likes of which could not be easily procured.

The heirs' father picked up the envelope left behind by Lex and opened it. Within lay a small letter explaining that Lex had taken Kenta to a place called Midnight Inn which was, as was evident from the name, an Inn. Lex had also left behind a couple of golden keys in the envelope as well, in case the father wanted to investigate.

Although he had been brief, he had given somewhat of an overview of the Inn, as well as the fact that it was an entity recognized by the Henali, so there was no cause for concern. He could come and check it out himself if he so wished.

"It seems we are behind the times," said one of the Celestials as he read the letter.

"Are you going to go?" asked another, though it was clear that he could not have cared less. He was, instead, enjoying the fact that he had won his bet.

"I will go, yes. But first, I need to confirm with the Henali if what is written in this letter is true. It would be tragic if this all was an elaborate ploy to trap me, and I went in without any preparations."

"Suit yourself," said another Celestial before disappearing away.

None of them were really concerned about the wedding. Even if Kenta did not appear, they could just use their abilities to create a projection of Kenta as a stand in. Regardless of whether the heir was here or not, he would be getting married today.

*****

The three holding the keys did not feel the teleportation at all, as it was very different from normal teleportations which would have various negative effects. For them, one moment they were in Kenta's room, and another they were in an entirely new place.

The entrance of the Inn, where all new guests would teleport to, was elaborately decorated without being overdone. There was greenery, there was man made architecture, there was a massive flowing river nearby in case any of the guests were aquatic, and there were many more features that made the place look like paradise.

Lex's own visit to Zuri Adisa's planet had given him a unique perspective of what guests must feel like when they entered the Midnight Inn, and he used that to improve the landing zone, to improve all guests' first impressions.

A natural, exquisite fragrance from nearby flowers specially grown by the turtle elevated everyone's mood and heightened their senses. The pure, unpolluted spiritual energy of the Inn was extraordinarily appealing to nature loving races like elves and nymphs, even more so than others.

It was for that reason that the three, instead of being alarmed or frightened by the sudden change in their location, became mesmerized. They forgot that they were caught up in a heated argument, and forgot their impending responsibilities. They were too preoccupied enjoying the purity of the environment.

Lex also did not disturb them, as he wanted them to temper their anger as much as possible. After all, Kenta aside, he would have to apologize to two possibly furious ladies he had somewhat manipulated.

At the same time, he was also feeling extremely satisfied at a successful mission. He would soon be free from one of the inscriptions on his body.

Eventually, Kenta recovered, and turned to look at Lex. He was the first to understand the whole situation, and guessed that Lex had a hand in the princess' arrival at his doorstep at such a time, though he did not know if her feelings for him were genuine. Being charming was such a burden, he could not really blame her for falling for him.

Seeing that Kenta had recovered, Lex decided to delay things no further. He cleared his throat, attracting the attention of the princess and Aoi, before saying, "welcome to the Midnight Inn, the best Inn in all the universe. I believe I have some explaining to do, though, how about we relocate to a more private location first."

Neither Aoi nor the princess voiced any complaints. Although they should have been concerned, for they had just possibly been kidnapped, but their intuition said that this was a safe place. Moreover, there were countless others arriving and leaving here beside them, and they could see various guests being welcomed with a similar greeting, claiming the Inn to be the best in the universe.

Nodding his head, Lex led them towards one of the public transport facilities nearby, and procured them all peacocks to ride. 

By now, having lived in the Inn for so long, the peacocks had all grown tremendously strong bodies, and a few of them had evolved into Beasts as well, albeit only in the Qi training realm. They had grown larger, more beautiful and better capable of carrying guests of all shapes and sizes.

They even had saddles, though none of them opted for a saddle. Each of them got on the peacock as if they had been riding them since birth, though their fascination with the birds clearly stated otherwise.