Upstairs, right after flashing that terrifyingly lewd grin, she had explicitly told him her request: she wanted to be called names and dragged out in front of everyone.

She wanted to be publicly humiliated by him. He really didn’t mind doing it... acting like an arrogant jerk cost him absolutely nothing, and it kept the overpowered royal happy and compliant but he seriously had to question if Zephyra was actually alright in the head.

The stark contrast between her terrifying strength, her noble upbringing, and her overwhelming desire to be publicly degraded was highly jarring.

It was a completely bizarre dynamic, but he played his part flawlessly, entirely committed to the bit since she did pay for the place.

They reached the bottom of the stairs and began crossing the tiled floor toward the heavy front doors.

Zephyra continued to play her role perfectly, letting out a convincing pathetic whimper as she stumbled behind him.

Just as they were about to reach the exit, a large shadow blocked their path.

The burly Adventurer stepped directly in front of the double doors.

He crossed his thick, heavily scarred arms over his massive chest with his jaw set in a rigid line of righteous heroic indignation.

He wore a heavy chest piece made of hardened leather, and a broadsword hung loosely at his hip.

Klaus stopped, his eyes narrowing as he looked up at the massive man.

’Who the fuck is this?’ he thought with his annoyance spiking.

"Hey," the Adventurer grunted, his deep voice carrying clearly across the silent lobby. "That is no way to treat a woman."

The man’s eyes dropped down to their hands, immediately noticing the matching silver bands resting on their ring fingers.

His scowl deepened in absolute disgust. "Especially your wife. You should be ashamed of yourself."

Behind Klaus, Zephyra completely froze.

She was still covering her face with her hand, but beneath her palm, she gritted her teeth so hard her jaw physically ached.

The violent shaking of her shoulders wasn’t from crying... it was from the immense effort it took to hold back her overwhelming killing intent.

She wanted to kill this guy so bad.

She had spent a lot of time convincing Klaus to indulge this highly specific fantasy, setting the stage perfectly, getting her husband to finally treat her the way she desperately wanted, and now this random irrelevant mob was ruining the entire experience.

Before the Adventurer could take another step forward, or utter another word of fake unwanted chivalry, Klaus acted.

He didn’t draw his sword... He didn’t bother tapping into his Wind Affinity or utilizing his Metal Magic.

He just immediately reached out with his free right hand, pivoted his hips to generate maximum torque, and delivered a brutal lightning-fast backhand directly across the Adventurer’s face.

SMACK!

The sharp bone-rattling crack of the impact echoed through the lobby like a gunshot.

The force behind Klaus’s strike was overwhelming, fueled entirely by the terrifying hydraulic power of his Strong Body passive.

The massive heavily armored Adventurer was lifted entirely off his feet. He shot sideways through the air like a discarded ragdoll, crashing heavily into the polished floor tiles. He bounced a couple of times, skidding violently across the lobby until his back slammed into a wooden waiting bench, completely shattering the wood upon impact.

The man slumped to the ground, knocked out cold before he even stopped moving.

"Ahhh!" Several people in the lobby shouted in absolute panic, scrambling backward away from the unconscious man.

Papers flew into the air as the receptionist ducked behind her desk.

Klaus stood his ground, casually shaking out his right hand as if he had just swatted a minor insect.

He glared down at the groaning pile of muscles with his expression completely devoid of mercy.

"I do whatever I want," Klaus stated coldly, letting his voice carry so every single terrified person in the room could hear him.

He turned his attention back to Zephyra and he pulled sharply on her hand, forcing her to stumble closer to the doors.

"Come on, Bitch," Klaus ordered flatly, lacing his tone with as much venom as he could muster. "We’re leaving."

Zephyra let out another soft gasp, offering absolutely no resistance as she let herself be dragged outside into the morning air.

The heavy double doors swung shut behind them, cutting off the shocked murmurs and terrified cries of the lobby.

They walked down the marble steps and kept moving briskly past the open iron gate, completely ignoring the armored gate guard who stood absolutely frozen at his post with his face pale and too terrified to speak after witnessing the brutal display of unprovoked violence inside.

Once they were a good distance down the cobblestone street and entirely out of earshot of the real estate office, Klaus slowed his pace.

The bustling sounds of the town market began to filter back in with the smell of fresh bread and horses replacing the sterile scent of the office.

He let go of her wrist and slipped his hands back into his pockets.

"Are you satisfied?" Klaus asked, stopping in his tracks.

He turned back to face the woman. Zephyra stood there in the middle of the street. She had finally lowered her hand from her face.

She was a complete, blushing mess, her disguised gray eyes locked onto the dirt road, entirely incapable of meeting his gaze.

Her skin was flushed a deep vibrant crimson as she was biting her lower lip with her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath.

The thrill of the public humiliation and his violent, unapologetic display of dominance had completely overwhelmed her senses.

She squeezed her thighs tightly together, shifting her weight slightly as her voice dropped to a trembling whisper.

"Hubby... I–I... I’m wet again."

...

"We’re home!" Zephyra immediately announced as soon as they got home, and immediately the girls turned to them.

Over by the small circular wooden table situated near the single window, Taula and Serra were currently playing a game of cards.

The deck was a worn, localized variant of a popular gambling game, and from the frustrated slump of Taula’s shoulders and the small serene pile of copper coins resting neatly in front of Serra, it was obvious who was currently winning.

Over by the small washbasin in the corner, Mirela had just finished the chores with her hands drying on a clean linen towel.

The moment the wooden door clicked shut behind them,

Taula immediately got up. She completely abandoned her terrible hand of cards, scattering them face-down onto the table, and ran up to Klaus.

Her blond hair hair bounced at her sudden movement.

"Klaus~" Taula cheered, her bright eyes scanning his face for any signs of trouble. "How did it go?"

Klaus stepped further into the room, rolling his shoulders to relieve the lingering tension from his previous encounter with the belligerent adventurer in the lobby.

He looked at the eager expectant faces of his party members.

"It went very well," Klaus immediately told her. "We secured a property and we’re moving to a very good place within two hours. They are finalizing the runic wards and sending a carriage for us."

Zephyra stepped up beside him with a massive proud smile stretching across her disguised features. She puffed out her chest slightly, taking on the role of the provider.

"Yes, it’s a pretty big place," Zephyra added cheerfully, waving her hand to emphasize the scale. "And everyone gets their own individual rooms~"

The sheer concept of individual rooms in this highly dangerous world was a luxury most low-level adventurers could only dream of.

"So," Zephyra continued, clapping her hands together. "You should all start packing your clothes right now!"

The two other girls... Serra and Mirela simply looked at each other for a brief second before turning back to the disguised royal.

"My clothes are already securely stored within the dimensional space of my storage ring," Serra informed her calmly, lifting her hand to show the silver band resting on her finger.

As a dedicated healer and a highly practical mage, she rarely ever left her personal belongings exposed to the elements or the possibility of theft.

Mirela nodded quietly from her spot by the washbasin.

"Mine are in my ring as well," the younger girl added softly.

Zephyra blinked, looking down at her own attire. Currently, she was still wearing the oversized, white button-down shirt and dark trousers she had completely commandeered from Klaus’s personal inventory.

The fabric swallowed her frame in some places and stretched dangerously tight in others.

"Well," Zephyra murmured, her cheerful tone dipping slightly as she pinched the loose fabric of Klaus’s shirt. "I don’t really have much clothes of my own... Is that the same for the rest of you?"

Serra shuffled the deck of cards with fluid motions as she smiled.

"I have a full wardrobe contained within my ring," the blonde healer stated. "Standard traveling cloaks, spare robes, heavy weather gear. However, I wouldn’t mind acquiring something a bit more casual for when we are resting inside the new compound."

Zephyra then turned her disguised gray eyes toward the quietest member of the group.

As for Mirela, the young girl nervously fiddled with the edge of her towel.

"When I was taken back from the Valakris Mansion," Mirela explained. "Serra and Taula took me to a local merchant and bought me a small, basic set of clothes. It isn’t much, but I really don’t mind. It’s perfectly fine."

Zephyra frowned, her royal sensibilities completely rejecting the idea of settling for a ’basic set’ of anything, especially for people she now considered part of her immediate highly exclusive inner circle.

"That won’t do," Zephyra declared, placing her hands firmly on her hips.

Her eyes lit up with a sudden dangerous spark of inspiration.

She looked around the room, her gaze sweeping over the three other women. "Why don’t we all head down to the Boutique in Galen Town to get some really good clothes?"

The suggestion hung in the air for a fraction of a second before Zephyra turned her attention directly onto Klaus.

"And Hubby will help us choose~" she added seamlessly.

Klaus completely froze in his tracks.

His mind, which was currently calculating the exact steps needed to efficiently pack up their remaining supplies and deal with the innkeeper aggressively stalled out.

"I will?" Klaus asked, his voice entirely deadpan and Zephyra nodded at him rapidly with a bright expecting smile on her face.

Klaus let out a heavy breath. T

he sheer thought of navigating a crowded, overpriced clothing store filled with fragile fabrics and endless aisles of dresses sounded vastly more exhausting than fighting a Tier 3 snake monster in the middle of a cursed forest.

He needed an out.

"I can’t," Klaus stated flatly, pointing his thumb back toward the wooden door. "I still have to go downstairs and formally talk with our former Landlord. We need to settle the final tab, return the keys... It’s an important logistical—"

Zephyra didn’t say a single word. She simply dropped her hands from her hips, stepped directly into his personal space, and looked up at him.

She deployed the puppy eyes.

It was a highly devastating utterly unfair tactic. Her disguised gray eyes widened to impossible proportions, shimmering with tears that made her look incredibly vulnerable.

Her lower lip jutted out just a fraction of an inch and the overwhelming pressure of her absolute cuteness hit his mental defenses like a battering ram.

IT WAS SUPER EFFECTIVE!

Klaus stared down at her and then he sighed with his shoulders dropping in defeat. "Fine. I accept."

The exact moment the words left his mouth, the atmosphere in the room changed.

Taula, who had been standing nearby listening to the exchange, suddenly thinned her lips.

Her bright competitive eyes locked onto Klaus with a visible spark of annoyance flaring in her gaze.

She wasn’t about to let the disguised royal completely monopolize his time and dictate his schedule.

Taula stepped forward with explosive speed. She reached out and immediately took Klaus’s right hand, aggressively curling her warm palm tightly around his fingers.

"I will follow Klaus," Taula announced,.

She looked directly at Zephyra, waving her free hand through the air in a highly dismissive, shooing motion. "You can go look at the expensive stuff on your own. Shoo, shoo~"

A highly visible pulsing blue vein instantly popped on the side of Zephyra’s forehead.

The disguised royal’s puppy eyes completely vanished, replaced by the terrifying, cold glare of an apex predator whose absolute authority had just been openly challenged.

She didn’t hesitate for a single microsecond. Zephyra reached out and violently grabbed Klaus’s other hand, her slender fingers locking onto his left wrist like a steel vise.

She aggressively pulled at his arm, planting her boots firmly against the wooden floorboards for maximum leverage.

"No,... Zephyra hissed, her disguise barely holding back her leaking aura.

She glared daggers directly at the gold-haired warrior, mirroring the exact same dismissive gesture. "He is coming with me. You shoo, shoo!"

Klaus was suddenly caught dead in the center of a dangerous game of physical tug-of-war.

Theforce pulling on both of his arms was completely absurd. Even with his Strong Body passive trait working at maximum capacity to reinforce his joints and prevent his shoulders from being violently dislocated, he could feel the immense pressure trying to rip him perfectly in half.

"Hey," Klaus groaned, gritting his teeth as he actively channeled a small burst of mana into his legs to anchor his boots to the floor.

He looked back and forth between the two glaring women. "Can we just go already?"

Over by the table, the other two women simply watched the display. Serra covered her mouth with the back of her hand with a genuine laugh escaping her lips, while Mirela giggled softly from the corner.

The walk from the iinn to the affluent commercial district of Galen Town was entirely exhausting for Klaus, completely due to the fact that neither Taula nor Zephyra had relinquished their iron grips on his hands.

They arrived directly outside the Galen Boutique.

The establishment was completely out of place compared to the rustic highly practical armor shops and general stores that populated the rest of the town.

The boutique was a massive, two-story building constructed from pristine white marble and polished dark wood.

The front of the store featured enormous, completely clear, magically reinforced glass windows and behind the glass, a dozen featureless wooden mannequins stood in elegant poses, draped in incredibly expensive, high-end silks, enchanted cottons, and vibrant, colorful fabrics that practically glowed in the afternoon sunlight.

Above the heavy, gold-trimmed double doors, a large, glowing sign spelled out the name of the shop in elegant script.

Klaus stopped on the cobblestone street directly in front of the entrance and he looked down at his trapped arms.

"Alright, we’re here," Klaus stated flatly. He tried to pull his arms back. "Let go of me."

They absolutely refused.

"Not a chance..." Taula declared, tightening her grip on his right hand and pulling him forward toward the doors.

"We’re going inside together, Hubby," Zephyra agreed, her grip on his left wrist completely unyielding as she mirrored Taula’s movement.

With a heavy, long-suffering sigh, Klaus allowed himself to be physically dragged up the marble steps, through the heavy gold-trimmed doors, and directly into the opulent interior of the boutique.

The air inside was pleasantly cool, completely regulated by hidden temperature-control wards.

The scent of expensive perfumes and fresh linens hung heavily in the air as the floor was covered in a plush, incredibly soft white carpet that completely muffled their footsteps.

They marched past the initial displays of highly enchanted winter cloaks and dragged Klaus directly up to a massive mahogany Receptionist’s counter situated near the center of the room.

The Receptionist standing behind the counter was a severe-looking woman with sharp features, her hair pulled back into a flawless immaculate updo.

She wore a tailored black suit that looked sharper than most of the iron swords sold in the local armory.

The woman looked up from her ledger, her eyes scanning the highly bizarre five-person group standing before her.

Her gaze lingered specifically on Klaus, who was currently standing dead center, looking entirely exhausted, with two incredibly attractive women aggressively holding his hands, and two more standing dutifully right behind him.

The Receptionist maintained her strict professional composure and she cleared her throat. "Welcome to the Galen Boutique. How may I assist your party today?"

Klaus was the first to speak, desperate to get this over with.

"We need to buy some clothes," Klaus said. "Each girl wants woman’s wear... Casual stuff, everyday outfits. Nothing heavily armored."

The woman raised a single perfectly plucked eyebrow as he tapped her polished fingernail against the mahogany wood.

"I see," the Receptionist said. "However, the primary female sections of our establishment are highly restricted. We value the absolute privacy of our clientele while they browse and utilize the changing rooms. If you wish to accompany them into the restricted wings, I must ask: Are you their lover? Males absolutely cannot enter the female parts without explicit, verified permissions and relationships to the clients."

"He is my fiancé," Zephyra declared instantly as she squeezed his left wrist.

"He is my bestest friend in the whole wide world," Taula countered loudly, stepping closer to Klaus and pressing her shoulder against his right arm.

Mirela stepped forward nervously, her eyes looking down at her boots, entirely incapable of meeting the sharp gaze of the receptionist.

"He... he is my Master," the young girl mumbled softly, but clearly enough to be heard.

Serra remained standing in the back with a small blush on her cheeks.

"He is my boss," the blonde healer stated with a smile. "And I don’t mind his presence at all."

The Receptionist slowly blinked and then slowly lowered her pen. She looked at Klaus with her strict professional facade breaking for just a fraction of a second.

"Smooth Criminal..." the Receptionist muttered under her breath.

Klaus heard her perfectly, his left eye twitching slightly at the completely unfair judgment, but he chose to keep his mouth shut.

The Receptionist immediately regained her composure. She reached out and firmly rang a small silver bell resting on the counter.

A few seconds later, a young, highly professional maid dressed in a pristine black and white uniform hurried over to their group.

"I am assigning you a dedicated caretaker," the Receptionist informed them as her tone returned to strict business.

She gestured to the maid. "She will show you around the Galen Boutique, grant you the necessary permissions to enter the restricted sections, and help you pick excellent clothes."

The maid nodded her head respectfully. She stepped forward, placing a white-gloved hand over her chest, and offered them a perfect practiced bow.

"Greetings, esteemed guests," she introduced herself, her voice light and accommodating. "My name is Reina. It is an absolute pleasure to serve you today. Please, follow me."