"Keep draining her," Aiden instructed Milarel. "Make her nightmares more frequent, if possible. The more tired she is, the quicker I can capture her."

As you wish, My Lord.

"Still no clue on how she’s awakening people?"

...My sincere apologies, My Lord. I can’t think of a way to find it other than by invading her mind. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Aiden shook her head at the mere suggestion. Milarel was already taking too big of a risk by controlling Joan’s nightmares. Invading her mind would be too big of a risk.

"No need. Just to what you’re doing," Aiden said.

Yes, My Lord.

With that, Milarel’s voice disappeared from his mind.

Things had taken an interesting turn. According to Milarel, the ascension, as Joan called it, happened only during the night. Every warrior in her group was placed around her chambers so that no one but Joan and her selected person could enter her room.

Milarel had tried sneaking in by disguising herself as one of the guards, but it didn’t work out. She couldn’t hear a word from the outside during the ceremony.

It was like the entire room had disappeared from her perception. In the end, Milarel had to take out her frustration by making Joan relive her worst nightmare.

The plan was to drain her mentally, but to Milarel’s surprise, Joan turned out to be a masochist. The worse her nightmares got, the more she got aroused.

Aiden did not expect that to be the case. If he had, then maybe taming Joan in his previous life wouldn’t have been impossible after all.

Just then, the elevator doors opened. Aiden was about to step in when he saw Karina standing inside. She had just sent Old Joe away after striking a deal with him and was rushing to tell Aiden about it.

He stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for his floor.

"Did you handle the business with Old Joe?" Aiden asked.

"Yes," Karina nodded. "I promised to send some females we were training along with a couple of enforcers. In exchange, I asked for some labor, and he is giving us their resident architect. He should arrive tomorrow."

Aiden raised an eyebrow at the ’deal’ she made with Joe.

"An architect? What do we need one for?" he asked.

She awkwardly scratched her cheek and smiled. She wondered if she should give it to him straight or soften the blow.

After all, no one dared to say it to his face, but the tenants were discussing the unusual placement of the facilities in the building. In the end, she just gave it to him.

"It seemed like planning a building was not your strong suit... I thought an architect might help you organize things better, hehe. Please don’t get angry."

Aiden looked at her and then shrugged. He couldn’t care less about it, honestly. After all, it wasn’t like he owned the building from the beginning. He had to make do with things as he unlocked more features.

Still, having an architect would help him greatly when his class upgrades again.

"You are right. Everything is all over the place. The farm is in the basement, the workshop is on the top floor, and we don’t have a proper warehouse anywhere. It is a mess. So thank you for that."

Karina’s cheeks turned slightly red, but before she could say anything, Aiden handed a package to her.

"What’s this?" she asked, about to open the package.

"No idea. Lina wanted me to give this to you."

Karina’s fingers froze as soon as he said that. It was supposed to be a surprise for Aiden, and she had almost ruined it herself.

"That stupid girl..." she muttered under her breath, turning to face Aiden. "You... didn’t see what was inside, did you?"

Aiden shook his head. Karina stared at him until her beast senses told her he was telling the truth. Only after confirming it did she let out the breath she was holding.

"Good. It is a surprise for you... so don’t even think about asking me or her about it," Karina pouted, pointing a finger at Aiden.

Aiden just smiled and nodded. Just because he did not open the box did not mean he did not know what was inside it. But he did not want to ruin Karina’s moment. He kept quiet.

It’s not like I haven’t asked Lina to make a few more for the rest. After all, I must treat all my girls equally.

Just as he was lost in his thoughts, the elevator suddenly jerked hard as it went up. The light flickered for a second, but that was enough to startle Karina.

Karina yelped in surprise. Without thinking, she jumped forward and wrapped her arms around Aiden. Because of their height difference, his face ended up completely buried between her breasts.

"Mmmph!" Aiden let out a muffled sound, unable to breathe as Karina kept pushing his head deeper.

Karina held him tightly, her heart beating fast. She was breathing heavily from the sudden scare. Her big breasts squished against Aiden’s face as she shifted nervously.

He could feel their weight and softness very clearly. Even through her clothes, they felt incredibly warm and heavy.

In the middle of it all, the box in Karina’s hand slipped from her fingers and fell to the floor. The lid opened, and the butt plug rolled out onto the elevator floor. It stopped right near Aiden’s foot.

Aiden didn’t see it because he was too busy taking a whiff of her sweet scent. Unlike him, Karina did not notice any of it. She kept holding Aiden tightly, her chin resting on top of his head.

After a few seconds, the elevator became steady again. Karina slowly realized what she had done. She looked down at Aiden, whose entire face was still buried deep in her cleavage.

"Ah... sorry," she muttered. "Though it’s not like you have something to complain about... hehe."

"You dropped the box," Aiden cut her off.

He only said it, and Karina jumped back so fast that she almost hit the elevator’s ceiling.

She bent down and hurriedly picked up the plug and stuffed it back into the box. Only after closing the lid did she look at Aiden as if asking if he saw anything.

"Did you forget where my face was buried?" he scoffed. "I couldn’t even see light, forget about seeing whatever you’re hiding."

"Good," she said, kissing him. "I will be waiting for you tonight, along with the surprise... hehe."

The elevator dinged, signaling they had reached the floor. Karina stepped out first, blowing him a kiss as she went.