Shortly after they left Iris' mansion, Alia floated over to Shui's shoulder.
"How are you feeling?"
"I should be asking you that. What's with the sudden consideration?"
"How rude! I'm always considerate."
"Sure. If you're asking because of what happened between me and that woman, then you don't need to worry. Our talk didn't inspire any good memories, but I've come to terms with it by now."
"I see."
Alia could tell that Shui didn't want to go into details, so she didn't force him. She usually jumped at the chance to make fun of him, but she had no intention of taking her jokes too far. She planned on being a little nicer for the rest of the night, but she had to reconsider when she heard what Shui said at the front desk upon returning to the Myriad Flower Lodge.
"Could you pass a message to Miss Alicia of the Sphere clan telling her I'd like to have a word?"
"You damn pervert! Give me back my sympathy!"
Despite being in the presence of the young woman working as a receptionist, Alia exclaimed in outrage. Shui knew he had no chance of calming her down, so he decisively tuned her out.
"You must be Shui. The young miss of the Sphere clan told us to escort you to her should you ask. Please follow me."
After informing the other receptionist, the young woman guided Shui to a small room. The room had no other exits, but Shui soon realised that it needed no more. Once the entrance closed and the receptionist pressed a button next to the door, the room rose.
"I see, so this is an elevator."
"Indeed. I suppose this is your first time visiting the city."
"Yes. Are these common in Paraj?"
"That would be correct. Most multi-story buildings have at least one functioning elevator, but there might be restrictions on who can enter them. As a guest at our establishment, you may freely use all elevators not marked for 'staff-only' access."
"That's good to hear."
With Shui's physique, it was impossible that he would break a sweat climbing a couple flights of stairs, but as a crafter he naturally appreciated the chance to examine an invention like this.
The elevator ride was unfortunately rather short, so with a bit of reluctance, Shui followed the receptionist down a hallway with doors on the right and windows on the left. While they appeared to be windows, you couldn't actually see outside the lodge through them because the windows showed realistic illusions of what the outside would look like.
"Is it possible to change what the windows are showing?"
"I see you already noticed. It is possible, but only those who have rented one of our private gathering rooms, like the young miss, can make such a request."
"Fair enough."
The two continued talking about the rooms and features of the Myriad Flower Lodge until the receptionist stopped and knocked on a certain room.
"As a staff member of the Myriad Flower Lodge, I have come with your guest."
Shortly after, a male voice responded, "Come in."
As the voice wasn't what he expected, Shui was starting to wonder if he had been brought to the wrong room. The room itself was simple, with a large round table at the center and a lamp above it, but the person waiting inside the room wasn't the member of the Sphere clan that he came for. He waited for the receptionist to leave and then confronted them.
"Should I assume that Alicia won't be joining us?"
"You don't need to worry about that. She'll be here in due time. I just wanted to take this opportunity to speak with you. Please, have a seat."
The young man sitting at the round table with his back to the wall on the right, was the same person who had accompanied Alicia inside the carriage into the city.
There was no point in standing in front of the door, so Shui took a seat opposite to the young man.
"How about we start off with introductions? You can call me Alex. I'm Alicia's older twin brother."
'Twins, huh? I guess I can see it.'
It wasn't obvious to him before, but when Shui imagined both of them standing side-by-side, he could see the strong resemblance between their looks and their auras.
"You can call me Shui."
"Very well. First, I'd like to apologize for the trouble that my sister has caused you."
Shui was sure that he would express his discontent after introductions were over, so he was shocked when Alex suddenly stood up and bowed his head in apology. It caught him off-guard, but the apology sounded sincere, so Shui said not to mind it despite the fact that Shui minded it quite a lot.
"It's fine, but I'm surprised. I thought for sure that you would accuse me of disturbing your beloved sister."
"Heh, that's not a bad idea, but I trust her judgement. If she's decided to befriend you, then you must have the skills worthy of that treatment."
'So that's it.'
Once the apology was out of the way, Alex quickly moved on to the real topic.
"Now then..."
"What do you want to ask?"
"Just a few questions to get to know you better. My sister is an adult, so I won't interfere with her decisions, but if you two are going to get closer, then I think we should also get to know each other."
"I suppose."
"So, do you have a lover?"
"Huh?"
For a moment, Shui had to doubt his hearing. He knew what he heard, but he had to wonder if it meant the same thing he thought it did.
"A lover. In other words, someone you cherish in a romantic sense and feel the urge to have se-"
"Okay, I get it. Why are you asking that?"
"I told you. I want to know more about you."
Shui still thought it was a strange question to start with, but it wasn't one he couldn't answer. Shui wasn't sure what the best response would be, so he answered honestly.
"Not right now, no."
"I see. Next question. If you were to settle down, are you willing to move in with your wife's family?"
'What in the...'
[Did I miss the part when you asked for that girl's hand in marriage?]
[That's what I'm wondering.]
'Why does this suddenly feel like I'm being interviewed by my potential father-in-law?'
If the first question wasn't strange enough, then the second one was definitely out of the box. Even Alia wondered if Shui's relationship with Alicia had progressed further than she noticed. Shui wasn't very comfortable with this topic, but when he looked at Alex's serious and firm expression, he felt obligated to answer for some reason.
"Well, I haven't really thought about it, but I guess it would depend on the circumstances."
"Hmm. My sister tells me you're a skilled array master, but I haven't heard of you. Do you have a stable source of income?"
Compared to the first two questions made him feel awkward, this one was much better. Shui rarely experienced money problems in recent days, but it wasn't like he could proudly state how he gained most of his wealth.
"Well, you could consider me a vagrant cultivator, but I have no issue earning money."
Shui hid a lot of information with his answer, but he didn't lie. Alex nodded his head and then continued.
"I know you probably have some questions for me as well, but I hope you'll allow me one more chance."
"Sure, what is it?"
"How far have you gone with Alicia?"
"Brother!"