Chapter 85: Not this
Stefan’s POV
I found my way out of the palace the same quiet route Kara had shown me the day before.
No Flowers stopped me. No one even looked twice. Being a con man had its uses, even on a different planet. I mapped places the first time I saw them without thinking about it, catalogued turns, landmarks, the way the light hit certain walls.
By the time I cleared the last side gate and stepped into the ordinary streets, I already knew exactly which path would take me to her house. Some skills didn’t care what world you died on.
The servant woman was outside the compound when I arrived at Kara’s house, barking orders at the Bounds in that beast tongue. Her voice cracked across the yard like a whip, effortlessly sharp. She stopped mid-sentence the moment she saw me.
The frown that took over her face was immediate and deep.
"What is this Alien doing here?" she demanded, fixing me with a hard glare.
I kept walking toward her, in an unhurried steps, my hands loose at my sides. "This Alien is looking for your mistress."
Her expression darkened further. I didn’t give her time to escalate. I pushed the little Authority and Charm stat I had, forward at the same time and watched the change happen in real time - the sharp edge in her eyes softening, the tension in her shoulders dropping a fraction. It wasn’t full submission, but it was enough.
"Would’ve been nice if that worked on its own. " I grunted under my breath.
[Passive attributes of this nature only enter constant activation once they reach 100% and above,] the System supplied smoothly in my head.
[To prevent host from careless misuse.] It added and I let out a scoff.
"Of course, there is always a restriction with you."
The servant woman recovered enough to speak again, though her tone had lost most of its bite. "Mistress has somewhere to be. She will not be available to attend to a visiting Alien."
The entrance door opened before she barely finished the sentence.
And Kara stepped out. She was obviously dressed up for an outing. She had on a flowery floor length, body free, cool color dress which wasn’t transparent. First time seeing such on her.
It was always transparent silk that accentuated her curves. However, I didn’t have time to dwell on that.
I didn’t waste the opening. I turned my face slightly to the side and quickly checked my inventory to purchase passion perfume. I uncorked the small vial of the Passion Perfume with one discreet twist of my fingers, and swallowed the portion in a single gulp. The effect settled under my skin almost immediately - warm, subtle, the kind of pull that didn’t announce itself but made people look twice without knowing why.
Then I turned back and gave her my sweetest, most practiced smile. The one that used to open both doors and legs with equal ease.
Kara blinked. The usual blunt sharpness in her expression softened, the same way it had the night I first made her come apart on my tongue. I closed the distance and pulled her into a hug without asking permission. She didn’t resist. When she inhaled against my shoulder I felt the exact moment the perfume reached her - her body loosened, not slightly, and a quiet breath left her.
Her voice came out softer than usual.
"How did you smuggle yourself out of the palace... and find your way here?"
I smirked against her hair as I replied. "I have my ways."
Kara pulled back just enough to look at me, her eyes a little less guarded than before, then took my wrist and led me inside. The door shut behind us with a solid click. She pointed toward a low seat near the wall.
"Sit. Wait here. I need to go somewhere."
"Where?"
"It is nothing that concerns you." she replied a little bit sharper.
I nodded as if I accepted that completely. "Okay."
But when she turned to leave, I caught her wrist before she could take a second step, pulled her back, and kissed her, deliberately possessive, so she would believe I was really going to wait for her where she left me.
Kara made a small sound against my mouth, surprised and not entirely displeased. When I finally released her she was smiling, just a little, the expression still new and slightly unsure on her face.
She left without another word.
I waited exactly long enough for the sound of her footsteps to fade down the outer path. Then I dusted off my clothes, adjusted the pouch of currency at my side, and followed.
The Bounds working in the yard didn’t try to stop me. They only bowed their heads lower and kept sweeping, scrubbing, carrying.
I stepped back onto the street in time to see Kara climb into her carriage. The two Bounds lifted the poles. The servant woman took her place beside it then they moved off at a practiced steady pace.
I followed on foot, keeping enough distance to stay unnoticed, my mind already working as I walked.
"Of course she won’t easily tell me what she’s hiding."
Fine, anyway. I’ve always preferred catching people in the act anyway. Cleaner. Fewer lies to sort through afterward.
The carriage wound through busier streets first - market stalls spilling color and scent, clusters of proud-looking women with hourglass figures and high chins, the occasional Bound trailing behind with lowered eyes and careful steps then turned into quieter lanes where the buildings grew closer together and the noise thinned. Eventually it stopped in a still, almost empty stretch of road. Kara stepped down and the servant and the Bounds remained with the carriage, waiting like furniture.
She walked alone down a narrow alley and disappeared into a building that stood out immediately from everything around it.
It was taller than the surrounding houses, though still nowhere near the height of the palace. The walls were a deep, unusual color I hadn’t seen elsewhere in the city, marked with painted symbols that looked crappy and old. The whole structure felt set apart on purpose, like it didn’t want to belong to the ordinary streets around it.
"Where’s this place?" I mumbled under breath.
I waited a few careful breaths, listening for any sound of footsteps returning, then slipped in after her.
The moment I stepped inside and my eyes adjusted to the lower light, my jaw went slack.
Whatever I had expected to find - some quiet meeting room, a handful of noblewomen trading secrets, maybe a ledger or two, it wasn’t this.