One of the things he loved the most about the manor was that the bathroom had clearly been designed by a woman who liked to be spoiled. It had a massive tub that seamlessly sprouted from the marble floor, and there were two sets of copper tubing that climbed along the sides of the tub and back to the fireplace on an adjacent wall, designed to transfer heat from one to the other. The fireplace was already loaded with, extra logs stacked neatly to the side.

Lucas pulled a lever, and the tub began to rapidly fill itself. So, Kegan didn’t just note down the inventions in his little book; he actually made them a reality in his own manor. It was by far the most convenient bath he had encountered in the entire fantasy world so far. He lit the fire next to the bath and disrobed, placing his clothes by the door. He then stepped into the four-person tub and waited as the fire heated the copper wires and then, in turn, the water in the bath. To his surprise, it went much faster than he would have suspected possible.

The door cracked open, and Bonnie stuck her head in, thankfully keeping her gaze fixed on the floor. “I’m not interrupting, am I?” she asked.

“Not at all,” Lucas replied.

“Good, good. I’ll be back when these are exchanged, boss.” She disappeared then, leaving Lucas alone for only a brief minute before the door opened once again.

Xun Guan walked in this time.

Lucas watched her with curiosity, and she gave him a wicked smile. “I see you’ve been making yourself at home in a dead man’s house.” She produced two shoddy packs of bottled beer and a few plates of snacks, mostly mutton skewers, fried chicken, and garlic fries, which she placed around the bath, half next to Lucas and half on the side across from him. “I mean, not that I’m surprised. You always were the kind not to worry about anything, or at least not to show it.”

“What can I say? It feels nice and cozy,” he replied. He shrugged noncommittally as he grabbed one of the fries, bit into it, and savored the wonderful flavor of garlic and salt that was layered across the crispy potato stick. While he was reaching for one of the bottles of beer that Xun Guan had set next to the plate of snacks, she disrobed right in front of him and slowly slipped into the bath, not even bothering to hide her figure.

He couldn’t take his eyes off her. Hers was a body that he had seen naked a thousand times, but it had been too long. His heart beat so hard that he could feel it in his throat. This was the figure he had longed for every night he went to sleep in that cold, empty bed.