Zephyra giggled softly at his immediate rejection, resting her chin on his shoulder as he reached for the third file.

Klaus pulled the heavy gray folder to the center of the table and flipped it open and the magical projection flared brightly.

This time, it displayed a sprawling, highly fortified, single-story compound located comfortably on the very edge of Galen Town, perfectly situated near a quiet highly scenic forest line.

Klaus’s dark eyes immediately widened.

"Now this..." Klaus murmured while being genuinely impressed. "This is a good one."

The property was entirely surrounded by a thick, highly durable, ten-foot-tall stone wall coated in visible, high-tier defensive runes.

The main house itself was a massive, sprawling estate built heavily from fortified magical timber and polished dark stone.

Zephyra leaned over with her eyes tracing the incredibly spacious layout.

"Oh, look at this, Hubby!" she cheered, swiping her finger to shift the magical pictures. The image changed to display a massive, incredibly wide, open-concept living room and right in the center of the room was an absolutely gigantic, highly plush, custom-made leather couch.

"The couch..." Klaus whispered, genuine reverence bleeding into his tone. It was a masterpiece of domestic comfort.

Zephyra swiped to the final picture.

The master bedroom... The floors were lined with incredibly expensive, impossibly soft white fur rugs but the centerpiece was the bed. It was a monstrous, completely absurd, highly customized king-sized mattress framed in dark mahogany wood.

It looked big enough to comfortably sleep five people at once without anyone ever touching.

"Hehe~" Zephyra giggled with a blush completely painting her cheeks as she stared at the massive bed.

Klaus aggressively ignored the giggling. He was completely sold on the property however he still needed to check something... He aggressively scanned the bottom of the magical projection, searching for the highly specific, crucial detail that would determine his immediate financial ruin.

"Where is it?" Klaus muttered, his brow furrowing as he flipped the page over rapidly.

"What are you looking for, Hubby?" Zephyra asked, tilting her head.

"The numbers," Klaus replied. "The files essentially contain the blueprints as well as pictures of the whole house and the insides as well alongside the furniture but there are absolutely no prices listed anywhere in this entire folder."

He dropped the file back onto the table, aggressively rubbing his temples.

"They intentionally leave the prices off the Black-Tier files to force you into a blind negotiation," Klaus deduced. "If a property has defensive wards this strong, a massive plot of land, and custom furniture, it’s going to cost a highly astronomical fortune."

Zephyra simply smiled, reaching out and gently placing her soft hand over his tense knuckles.

"Calm down, Hubby," Zephyra told him. "You really don’t need to stress about the numbers. We are taking this one."

Klaus took a deep breath. He trusted her confidence, even if he could pay for this.

After finalizing their decision on the third one, they stood up and returned to the massive mahogany desk, placing the chosen file firmly in the center while handing the rest of the rejected files to the waiting woman, who bowed and thanked them profusely.

The Manager instantly scrambled to his feet, clapping his hands together.

"Ah! An absolutely excellent choice, My Lord! The Forest-Edge Compound! It is undeniably one of our absolute finest, most secure properties!"

Klaus stood his ground, crossing his arms over his chest. He braced himself to hear a massive soul-crushing price tag that would likely force him to bring out some gold.

"Just cut to the chase," Klaus stated flatly. "How much is it?"

The Manager smiled widely. "For the entire compound, including the land rights and custom furnishings, the property is selling for exactly 10 Gold Coins."

Klaus completely froze as his brain violently stopped working. He stared blankly at the sweating manager, completely certain that he had misheard the man.

Ten Gold Coins? It was completely, absurdly, insultingly cheap. It was the equivalent of buying a multi-million dollar mansion for the price of a used bicycle.

Klaus’s brow furrowed in deep highly suspicious confusion.

"Why is it so cheap?" Klaus asked, his eyes narrowing at the manager, entirely convinced this was a massive scam or the house was built on a cursed burial ground.

However, before the highly panicked manager could even begin to explain the pricing structure, Zephyra stepped smoothly to his side. She reached into her pocket and casually held up the heavy, solid-black metallic Premium Card, letting it catch the light of the crystal chandelier.

"This little thing cuts all of my real Estate purchases by 70% so you don’t need to worry about prizes," Zephyra declared proudly with her voice ringing clearly in the quiet office.

A heavy bright blush flushed the face of the Royal, her gray disguised eyes sparkling wit devotion.

Klaus stared down at her, watching the joy radiating from her entire body. He genuinely imagined that if she possessed a physical tail, it would be aggressively going left and right right now in pure excitement.

"You can insult me if you want now~" she added softly.

Instead of insulting her, Klaus turned his face to his side, deliberately looking away from the eager expectation practically radiating off her disguised features.

He simply wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of the verbal abuse she was clearly hoping for right in the middle of a high-end real estate negotiation.

He kept his expression carefully neutral, staring at the intricate gold-leaf patterns woven into the expensive crimson carpet beneath their feet.

"Aw man~" Zephyra complained, her shoulders dropping in an exaggerated display of disappointment.

She let out a heavy sigh, pouting for a brief second before she forcefully gathered her composure, realizing that he wasn’t going to play along just yet.

She turned her attention back to the portly manager who was still sweating profusely behind his massive black-wood desk.

The man was nervously dabbing his forehead with his silk handkerchief, entirely unsure of how to navigate the bizarre unpredictable dynamic between the two commoner-dressed VIPs sitting across from him.

He had dealt with powerful eccentric nobles before, but the casual disregard they showed for standard etiquette was completely throwing him off balance.

Zephyra leaned forward slightly, resting her hands on the polished wood of the table.

Her demeanor shifted instantly from a pouting fiancé back to a strict authoritative buyer who commanded absolute obedience.

"We will take it," Zephyra declared firmly with her tone leaving absolutely no room for argument or further negotiation. "Bring out the building’s official papers immediately. I’ll be paying for this right now."

The manager didn’t waste a single breath.

The prospect of closing a ten-gold-coin deal on a Black-Tier property sent a jolt of pure adrenaline through his veins.

Such sales were incredibly rare in a border town like Galen, and the commission alone would secure his position for the next five years.

He carefully pushed the remaining gray files to the far edge of his desk, treating them as if they were fragile glass, and snapped his attention to his personal assistant standing frozen in the corner of the VIP suite.

He gave her a sharp series of frantic hand gestures and barked out rapid orders.

"Fetch the primary deeds for the Forest Edge Compound! Ensure the transfer seals are primed and bring the registry logs! Move quickly!"

The young woman nodded frantically with her heels clicking against the floorboards.

She scurried over to a large, ornate wooden cabinet situated near the wall of the office.

Reaching out, the assistant hovered her trembling fingers over the smooth surface of the dark wood as faint glowing runic lines appeared under her fingertips in an invisible highly complex lock system designed by the Galen Guild to protect the most valuable deeds in Galen Town.

She rapidly tapped a specific memorized sequence into the magical keys, inputting the code flawlessly and a soft mechanical click echoed in the quiet room, and the heavy drawer slid open with a smooth glide.

She reached inside and pulled out a thick stack of pristine parchment, bound together by a thin silver ribbon.

As the assistant returned to the table and began meticulously sorting through the pile to locate the specific deeds for the Forest Edge Compound, the manager clasped his sweaty hands together.

He seized the opportunity to fill the silence, launching into a rehearsed highly detailed sales pitch to assure them of their purchase.

"You have made a truly exceptional choice, My Lord, My Lady," the manager beamed, his chest puffing out with pride as he gestured toward the chosen file. "The Forest Edge Compound is not just a house; it is a legacy. It was actually commissioned a decade ago by a retired Master Mage from the capital... He desired a place of absolute peace, but refused to compromise on security. The defensive wards were laid down by the Galen Guild themselves, utilizing a matrix that draws directly from the leylines beneath the forest. The stonework is imported directly from the dwarven quarries in the north, ensuring the foundation can withstand a direct siege from a monster horde."

Klaus crossed his arms and visibly averted his eyes. He stared out the large glass window at the town below, completely zoning out the man’s rambling.

Klaus watched the small wooden carts moving along the distant streets, the tiny figures of townsfolk going about their day.

He didn’t care about the architectural history, the dwarven rocks, or the retired mage’s need for peace.

In the world of Artemis Online, lore dumps about housing were completely irrelevant to actual gameplay. He only cared that the roof wouldn’t collapse on his head, if the space was large enough to avoid Zephyra’s constant clinging if he needed a break, and the walls would keep the Death Cultists out.

The sales pitch was utterly meaningless to him.

Zephyra, however, nodded along enthusiastically. She acted the part of the deeply invested buyer perfectly, occasionally chiming in with small sounds of appreciation to keep the manager talking with her disguised gray eyes focused intently on his every word.

"Here we are, sir," the assistant finally said, stepping forward.

She placed two thick identically drafted contracts directly onto the center of the glass table, stepping back respectfully with her head bowed.

The manager smoothed out the edges of the paper as he reached into his suit pocket and produced an elegant, silver-tipped Mana Pen.

He turned one of the contracts around so it faced Zephyra and extended the pen toward her with a polite smile.

"If you would just sign your real name right here on the dotted line, My Lady," the manager instructed smoothly. "And the property will officially be yours."

Zephyra didn’t take the pen. She stopped smiling entirely with her cheerful facade dropping in an instant.

She gave the manager a flat, chilling look that made the temperature in the room drop a few degrees and the sudden shift in her aura caused the assistant in the corner to flinch and step backward.

"What are you talking about?" Zephyra asked as she gestured toward Klaus, who was still staring out the window, ignoring the transaction. "This property belongs to my Hubby. He will be the one signing for it."

The manager swallowed hard, realizing he had made a severe misstep. He had assumed, based entirely on the VIP card she had produced and the commanding way she spoke, that she was the primary account holder and the true power in their dynamic.

He immediately nodded with a fresh wave of nervous sweat breaking out on his forehead. A strained smile stretched across his face as he hastily slid the contract and the expensive pen over to Klaus’s side of the table.

"Of course, of course!" the manager corrected himself rapidly with his voice pitching higher in panic.

He looked at Klaus, wiping his brow with his handkerchief. "You are an incredibly lucky man to have a wife like that, My Lord. Truly blessed."

Klaus turned his head back to the table, his dark eyes fixed on the silver pen.

"Yeah, yeah..." Klaus muttered dryly, not bothering to correct the man’s assumption about his so-called luck.

Luck had absolutely nothing to do with it;

He reached out and took the cold silver pen. As his fingers gripped the metal, he could feel a spark of concentrated mana reacting to his touch.

Klaus pressed the nib against the thick paper and he quickly scrawled his name on the designated line.

The exact moment he lifted the pen, a bright flash of light burned across the paper.

The ink sunk deep into the fibers, and his name... Klaus began to emit a permanent golden glow, sealing the magical binding of the deed.

A second later, an identical flash of light sparked on the second contract resting next to it as Klaus’s signature magically appeared there as well, duplicating itself flawlessly without him needing to write it twice.

"The contracts are drafted in duplicate," the manager explained, gesturing to the glowing signatures while trying to maintain his professional smile. "We are required to keep one copy here in the official registry for our records, to prove ownership to the town guard, and the other belongs directly to you."

Klaus and Zephyra both nodded in understanding. The bureaucratic hurdle was officially cleared.

It was time to settle the bill. Zephyra casually opened her palm over the desk. The sleek storage ring on her slender finger flared with a brief pulse of spatial energy.

Clink! Clink! Clink! 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Ten solid gold coins dropped from the invisible inventory, landing in a neat, heavy pile directly onto the wood.

The coins gleamed brightly under the warm light of the crystal chandelier with the wealth practically illuminating the desk.

Each coin bore the intricate crest of the continent.

The manager stared at the gold, his smile stretching so wide it looked genuinely painful. He scooped up the coins with surprising speed with his hands trembling slightly as the precious metal clinked against his skin.

"It is an absolute pleasure doing business with you both..." the manager said, bowing deeply as his eyes were entirely fixed on the gold in his hands.

Klaus ignored the excessive groveling.

He had practical immediate matters to handle. "When exactly will the property be prepared for us to move in?"

"Final maintenance, runic tuning, and cleaning will be completed within two hours," the manager assured him, standing up straight and slipping the gold into a highly secure lockbox hidden under the desk. "I will personally hire an official, high-end carriage to come pick you up from wherever you are staying and transport you to your new estate. It will be completely spotless upon your arrival."

"Good," Klaus said.

He reached out and grabbed his copy of the glowing contract. With a quick thought, the paper vanished from his grip, sucked directly into the void of his own storage ring for safekeeping.

They stood up, turning their backs on the opulent office, and walked out, leaving the sweating manager to revel in his successful, career-defining sale.

As they stepped into the quiet, carpeted hallway and the heavy oak doors clicked shut behind them,

Zephyra let out a happy sigh as she turned to Klaus with a bright completely genuine smile on her face.

"Are you satisfied with it?" she asked, stepping a bit closer, her arm brushing against his. "Or if you want, we could look for another one later... I really don’t mind spending more time shopping with you."

Klaus looked at her disguised gray eyes.

He thought about the massive fortress, the incredibly thick walls, the defensive runes, and the giant leather couch that was currently waiting for him then he allowed a genuine tired smile to cross his face.

"No, I’m satisfied," Klaus told her honestly. "It’s a good place."

Seeing him smile, a deep red blush spread rapidly across Zephyra’s cheeks. She fiddled nervously with the hem of her oversized shirt, looking up at him through her eyelashes.

"Since you’re satisfied..." she began softly, her voice taking on a strangely hesitant, almost shy tone. "Could I bother you with a request?"

Klaus raised an eyebrow, his guard instantly coming down. "What request?"

The hesitation vanished instantly as a wide undeniably lewd grin spread across her face as her eyes glinted with a dark twisted excitement that sent an immediate chill down his spine.

The exact moment he saw that specific grin, Klaus immediately regretted asking the question.

...

Downstairs, the expansive main lobby of the Real Estate Office was still busy. Several locals, wealthy merchants, and low-level adventurers were waiting near the mahogany desks, engaged in hushed polite conversations about land disputes, property borders, and rental fees.

The junior receptionist was back at her station, stamping papers in a steady rhythm, trying to maintain order in the queue.

The burly Adventurer from earlier was still leaning against a nearby stone pillar, counting silver coins from a worn leather pouch, looking thoroughly annoyed with the slow pace of the bureaucracy.

The normal peaceful vibe of business was suddenly shattered by the sound of heavy footsteps and loud aggressive shouting echoing from the grand staircase.

"Keep walking, you useless piece of trash!"

The people in the lobby jumped, their heads snapping toward the stairs in alarm.

Klaus was practically dragging Zephyra down the carpeted steps by her wrist. The disguised royal staggered awkwardly behind him, stumbling over her own feet to keep up with his aggressive punishing pace.

She had her free hand clamped entirely over the lower half of her face, hiding her expression from the onlookers as her shoulders were shaking violently.

"I said hurry up!" Klaus barked, yanking her forward again, his voice echoing sharply off the high stone ceiling. "Don’t make me repeat myself, stupid."

The entire lobby went dead silent.

The townsfolk stared in absolute shock at the scene unfolding before them. Just twenty minutes ago, this exact pair had been escorted upstairs like royalty, given the ultimate VIP treatment after slapping down a card that terrified the senior staff.

Even the junior receptionist paused her stamping, the ink dripping from her tool as she looked at them weirdly, trying to reconcile the wealthy VIP clients with the horrific public verbal abuse happening on the stairs.

It made absolutely zero sense to anyone watching.

Klaus kept his face arranged in a furious, deeply annoyed scowl, glaring at anyone who dared to make eye contact with him, but internally, his mind was running in exhausted, bewildered circles.

’Does she have a fetish for this or something?’ Klaus thought, pulling her roughly toward the exit.