CHAPTER 424: CONCLUSION

After sending off all the guests, Mornak closed the doors of his luxurious room and walked toward the table where Aden was sitting on the other side.

He glanced at him, picked up a bottle of wine, poured himself a glass, and after throwing another look at his foolish friend, he drank it down.

"Still angry?" Aden said lazily, clearly showing no signs of guilt or anything close to it.

"Did you really have to pull something like that on a night like this?" Mornak sighed. Normally, he wouldn’t care, but tonight was different.

Yet this bastard had ruined everything and even managed to make Mariantha angry with him. He was barely holding himself back from tearing this trash apart.

"Didn’t you see her? She was a really hot woman. Though honestly, I don’t remember doing anything." Aden muttered.

"You don’t remember? What do you mean?"

"Before we entered the banquet, I took some drugs. Maybe it was because of that. I didn’t expect Black Cake to hit me that hard."

"You took Black Cake? Are you an idiot?" Mornak barely restrained himself from shouting, the glass slipping from his hand and shattering.

"Hey, don’t get mad. I only took a little." Aden raised his hands.

Mornak opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. He was obviously furious but also knew it was already too late to change anything.

"Black Cake isn’t something just anyone can take. That thing is made for giants and border knights. Did you really think a body as pathetic as yours could handle something on that level?"

Black Cake was exactly the drug he was planning to sell to Mariantha—and the only reason that woman even agreed to come to this city.

Black Cake worked like a kind of adrenaline, but far stronger. Once consumed, the body would go into an aggressive state, boosting a person’s strength at least twofold.

But the side effects were extreme: hallucinations, euphoria, dizziness, and severe headaches. In some cases, hallucinations got so bad that users had attacked their own spouses, seeing them as monsters.

And this bastard had taken it? The fact that his body was still intact was already a miracle.

"If I’d known it would make me forget such good memories, I wouldn’t have taken it," Aden shook his head in regret. But when he thought about tomorrow, excitement lit up his eyes again.

"Doesn’t matter. Tomorrow night I can play with that woman as much as I want."

"You’d better be careful. Those two weren’t part of the main guests—they came here with fake invitations." Mornak gave him a look.

"What? Fake invitations? How’s that even possible? That means they came here with bad intentions." Aden’s face suddenly changed.

"Not really. Those fake invitations are sold by me—or more accurately, by my subordinates. They go for ridiculously high prices, and the profit is good."

"There are plenty of people willing to buy those fakes just to come here even once, to get a glimpse, maybe try to make connections, or use some of the other services. The same services you’re obsessed with."

"I see... didn’t think you were this sly." Aden sighed in relief and laughed.

It felt a bit stupid that others would spend so much on fake invitations, but remembering those hidden services reserved for the inn’s guests, he realized it was worth it.

"Still, you should be cautious. He might only be a Peak Advanced Climber, but better to be safe." Mornak warned anyway.

He was sure the man was only Peak Advanced Climber level, but he had a bad feeling about it. Still, since the duel had already been decided, there was nothing more he could do.

More importantly, if something happened to his friend, he couldn’t save him or break the rules. Taking revenge would be difficult too.

"Don’t worry. I’m a Grand Climber. Crushing that bastard won’t be hard. After I kill him, I’ll enjoy his woman as much as I want." Aden licked his lips with lust, ignoring the warning.

At the same time, in another inn, inside a room, two figures sat on separate beds facing each other.

"Did you really have to cause such a scene?" Andreas asked with a frown, his face back to normal, the female disguise gone.

"You got a better idea? Besides, you saw how well it worked." Daniel shrugged lazily.

From his perspective, the staged act had been a masterpiece. Everyone believed it. Even Aden himself hadn’t felt anything was off.

"I guess you’re right... but this is the last time. I won’t do it again, not a second time." Andreas declared seriously.

Even now, thinking back to that scene made him feel sick. Nothing had actually happened—it had all been staged—but it was still disgusting.

"Relax. Still, there’s something we need to talk about." Daniel then explained about the other people who had come to assassinate Aden and the girl from the Palace of a Thousand Ice.

Hearing this, Andreas frowned and sank into thought.

"The Palace of a Thousand Ice is a powerful force in the northern continent. They stay neutral with all the great powers, playing both sides in a way. It doesn’t make sense for them to send assassins."

"When we get back, I’ll report this to my aunt. But I doubt it’ll be anything major. The Palace of a Thousand Ice doesn’t dare go against the Lionheart family."

"If you say so... doesn’t really matter to me." Daniel nodded, then laid back on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

Andreas also collapsed onto his own bed. Today had been a busy day, and for the first time, he felt genuinely tired.

"Tomorrow this mission is finally over. Hopefully your aunt won’t be stingy and gives us some kind of reward."

"Plus as soon as we kill him, we have to leave the city. From what I’ve seen, the relationship between Aden and Mornak isn’t just simple friendship. There’s something deeper. If we kill Aden, he’ll definitely come after us with some excuse."