Chapter 169 Risky
1/2
====
Sierra was telling me that a week ago, during a personal conversation with Veronica, she found out that Adam\'s birthday was approaching. Typically, beings who had long surpassed the age of one hundred years would forget the day they were born, but…
"Your mom is so obsessed with you that she even remembers the hour you were born. Isn\'t that creepy?" Sierra said, laughing.
For some reason, Adam felt a shiver running down his spine. If he wasn\'t mistaken, he wasn\'t Veronica\'s biological son; he was adopted. So, logically, she shouldn\'t know his birthdate, but it seemed like there was nothing about Adam that Veronica didn\'t know. This made him slightly uneasy.
Returning to the present, Adam sat at a round table wearing a festive hat, while the women around him clapped and sang a birthday song. This situation was a bit awkward for him since, essentially, he was an ancient relic. Lighting the candles with her magic, Seraphina clapped her hands and said, "So, Adam! Lady Sierra told us that in Avalonia, there\'s a tradition to prepare a birthday cake and put candles on it. Since you\'re too old, we decided to put only twenty candles." She said this with a mischievous tone, proudly raising her chin. "I chose this cake, so you can say I made it. Please, start blowing out the candles!"
"You volunteered to choose the cake because you wanted something tasty for yourself," Nyx said in a nonchalant voice, lounging on a chair.
"N-no, of course not!"
Adam smiled gently and stood up, still surprised by the size of the cake. It had ten layers, which couldn\'t help but amaze him. Each layer had a candle, and he was supposed to blow them all out. Taking a deep breath, Adam exhaled.
Phew.
With delicate control of magic, he easily extinguished all ten candles. Then, applause followed, and he returned to his seat under their smiling gazes. From the outside, it looked like a dream birthday.
"Then, I think we should start cutting the cake, shouldn\'t we? I\'m so hungry!" Seraphina said, and Adam noticed she already had a knife in her hand.
"Yes, of course," he replied with a smirk.
"Yaaay! Finally, some delicious cake! There\'s raspberry filling inside, right? Right?!" Sierra asked with a smile, wiping her drooling mouth. "Damn, I almost drooled."
Adam gave a bitter smile. He suddenly felt that the Queen of Nymphs was looking forward to this day more for the cake than for him. But he could only smile and thank Seraphina, who had cut a nice slice of cake with strawberries on top. She whispered to him.
"This is the juiciest part of the cake. I specially picked it for you," she said in a hushed tone and giggled.
Adam nodded silently.
"Why did your ear turn red? What happened?" Seraphina asked with an innocent tone, though a smirk played on her face.
"Oh, you..." Laughter erupted at the table, and Adam smiled.
***
A few minutes later, two women close to him joined the table - Amarantha and Elara. The others couldn\'t make it because they had to watch over the city. The atmosphere was festive and cheerful, and everyone was having a good time.
Adam danced with his women one by one. In most cases, it was a tango or another type of dance involving close contact. He was currently twirling with Aurora, who was trying to follow his lead but doing so quite clumsily.
"What an annoying dance, seriously! I can\'t understand what\'s so romantic about it!" she complained, pouting. During one of the moves, she accidentally stepped on Adam\'s foot and almost fell to the floor, but he caught her in time, holding her by the waist. "Ouch... excuse me."
"It\'s okay. Take it easy, don\'t get nervous. I know you\'re not very graceful in these matters," Adam said with a smile, pulling her closer. He kissed her on the cheek.
The girl blushed deeply.
In such an atmosphere, Adam tried to teach her the waltz, but it wasn\'t going very well. However, he didn\'t mind; in fact, he enjoyed the process. It seemed like the world stood still for both of them, and their feelings were conveyed through their touches.
"You stepped on my foot again."
"I\'m sorry. It was accidental."
Then his partner became Nyx, who initially outright refused to dance with him, but Anna and Gaia pushed her with mischievous expressions on their faces. This amused Adam.
With a grumpy expression, Nyx took Adam\'s hand and led him to a free spot. The music started, and they began to dance, this time it was a tango. Despite her clear reluctance, Nyx was still enjoying the dance.
"You look so grumpy. Don\'t you like spending time with me?" Adam said, smiling sadly, though he did it on purpose.
"What? N-no. It\'s just, you know, I\'m not a fan of dancing, and... I\'m embarrassed," Nyx replied, blushing. She looked away and said, "Plus, I forgot to mention, but... I\'m glad you came back. You kept your promise after all."
"Hehe. Of course, I kept it. How could I leave my beloved nymphs here?"
"Flatterer."
After half an hour of dancing, Gaia took over, and she was smiling carefreely. This time, she decided to take the \'lead\' and suggested dancing however they wanted. At first, Adam thought she just wanted to have fun, but..."
"You could have just said that you can\'t dance."
"...I wanted to look cool."
Either way, Adam also offered to teach her to dance. Her movements were somewhat clumsy, but she was undeniably a fast learner. Whether intentionally or accidentally, she pressed her ample bosom against him at every convenient opportunity.
Nonetheless, they were both satisfied with the dance. The celebration ended on a positive note after ten hours.
***
"Damn, your mansion is synonymous with luxury. Maybe I should live here too?" Sierra said in amazement, flopping onto the high-ranking guest bed.
"Are you sure your kingdom will function normally without you?" Adam replied with a smile. He placed the key to this room on the nightstand. "Here\'s the key. You can come here whenever you want; it\'ll always be open for you. As for any questions, you can contact Amarantha."
"Thank you, dear son-in-law! If I had known it was so comfortable to live here, I would have found myself a son-in-law a long time ago," Sierra said with a laugh.
"Not everyone is like me," Adam replied proudly.
Sierra giggled and lay back on the bed. She suddenly raised her legs into the air and began swinging them, as if pedaling a bicycle. Adam glanced for a few seconds and turned away. The problem was that...
She always wore schoolgirl clothing. In other words, she was wearing a skirt, and in this position, it presented him with the same view as if he were a stalker, peering at his target through a telescope.
"I think at her age, one should wear more mature lingerie, rather than... with a teddy bear," Adam thought, massaging his temples.
Although judging by her carefree appearance and light smile, Sierra was having fun. In any case, you couldn\'t fully understand this woman based on the expression she showed. According to what Amarantha had said about this woman, she was one of those beings who hid tons of secrets behind their smiles.
Turning around, Adam said she could always approach him if she had any questions and began to open the door. But then, Sierra called him. Turning back, he raised an eyebrow and asked, "What? Something else?" tilting his head to the side.
Sierra smiled and jumped up from her seat, walking up to him with a bouncy gait. Her chest brushed against his abdomen, while her arms wrapped around him.
"Damn, you have such a muscular body! You don\'t look that way from the outside; you appear slim and lean," she exclaimed, feeling his body. "Now I understand why everyone adores you. You\'re a real sex bomb!"
"...Who even taught you that word?" Adam asked, his hands ending up on her waist for some inexplicable reason. He was horrified that his body was behaving this way.
"Elara~. She said you often used this word to describe yourself. It looks confident, hehe," she said with a laugh, smiling. "Though my question was slightly different..."
Adam showed by his demeanor that he was listening attentively. Sierra\'s ordinary cheerful smile shifted into a somewhat melancholic and empty one, which briefly left him at a loss. Her voice, slightly coarse and even a bit hoarse, clearly indicated that she was going through an emotional moment.
"Anna... Do you know how to help her?" she asked with a smile, still exploring his muscles. She avoided looking at him and any eye contact. "I\'ve heard that you already have a few options with that dragon, but will it work? I need a convincing answer."
"..." Adam narrowed his eyes when the conversation turned to the most painful topic, one that currently brought him discomfort. Undoubtedly, he had been pondering this issue since their separation, but coming to a wise solution was proving to be extremely difficult. So he responded vaguely, "Possibly. There are some options, but they won\'t guarantee a hundred percent result. There\'s one option, but..."
"But?" Sierra asked again, finally lifting her head. She noticed that his facial expression had become cold and serious, and his sclera turned black. She was surprised to feel that her natural resistance to toxins was triggered.
It was unclear what Adam was feeling, but it was hard not to notice that his demonic energy was surging out of him when he didn\'t intend for it to. This made Sierra cautious, and she stepped back.
"This option is somewhat risky, but...," Adam mumbled and cracked his neck, looking into her eyes. "I will attempt it. But I can\'t tell you what it is. I\'m sorry."