Weiss placed his gold helmet on the air, as if setting it down on a table, and the helmet stayed there, as if gravity forgot to work on it. The Celestial stepped into the office, his daughter lagging behind as she too relaxed, removing her helmet and placing it behind her fathers.

"No, please, it is my honor to welcome you as a guest to the Midnight Inn," said the Innkeeper as he walked across the table to greet the Celestial Dao Lord. "The reputation of the Celestials precedes them."

Weiss nodded with a soft smile as he took a glance around the office before taking a seat on one of the sofas in front of the Innkeepers desk, and his daughter stood behind the sofa, positioned to her fathers right.

"Thank you for your praise, Innkeeper, but lest there be any confusion later on, I must specify that I am visiting in my capacity as an individual, and not as a member of the Celestial court. This is but a family vacation - my daughter has been clamouring about the Midnight Inn ever since she started reading the comics."

Weiss turned to look at his daughter who blushed slightly out of embarrassment, but said nothing.

The Innkeeper raised an eyebrow.

"I have heard that the Celestial race follows a set of unquestionable rules created by the founders of the race. Unless this too is a part of those rules, then please, allow your daughter to sit, and relax. I have never been much of a fan of such unnecessary formalities."

Weiss gave an admiring glance towards the Innkeeper, then waved a hand, calling his daughter to come sit beside him.

"No, it’s not really a part of my race’s rules, just a set of general rules followed as a precaution in the presence of Dao Lords," Weiss said. "The slightest carelessness in terms of controlling their aura could completely destroy an Immortal, which is why our Immortals don’t usually relax around Dao Lords.

"However, I see that your Inn has a splendid capability of suppressing harm from auras. This is genuinely an excellent spot for a family vacation - I don’t think I’ve ever sat comfortably around my daughter before. Speaking of, this is Tildie, my daughter."

Tildie bowed slightly towards the Innkeeper.

"It’s a pleasure to meet you, Innkeeper. I have been following the story of your Inn ever since the Love Island incident with one of your workers," Tildie said, her voice sweet and delicate, as if Tildie was a little girl. Perhaps by Celestial standards, she really was a little girl for Lex could tell that she wasn’t even a century old.

The Innkeeper laughed, suddenly reminded of that unsavoury event. Of course, he could not say that to his guests.

"Many of my workers are quite talented at getting themselves pulled into all kinds of trouble. It would make sense that a comic series based on them would be quite entertaining to read. I am glad that the shenanigans of my young workers were able to amuse you."

Tildie’s eyes sparkled with excitement as she heard the Innkeepers words.

"Oh yes, I loved it! Like the arc where Gerard taught table manners to the wild beasts found in the wilds of the Midnight Inn, or the one where Nurse Jubilation discovered that one of her trainees had been treating Zombification among guests like pneumonia. Or, or the one where the sentient lazy river went through a goth phase and swapped the water with dark chocolate."

The Innkeeper chuckled, and this time it was genuine. Ah, it was nice when the focus wasn’t on his own misadventures.

"Well now that you’re here, you can take your time and explore the Inn, and see all the sights for yourself," said the Innkeeper warmly.

Yet he did not get the response he was expecting. Instead of excitement, Tidlie only seemed disappointed.

"Unfortunately, we cannot stay for long," said Weiss, taking the opportunity to enter the conversation. "You see, I and these children have all been assigned duty in the Artica realm. I cannot be away for long, and neither can they. We truly only came here to take a look, to get acquainted, and to discuss a possible partnership with the Midnight Inn."

The Innkeeper showed an expression of understanding, while internally he thought that it made sense. After all, Velma had come here from the Artica realm, so whoever she was representing had to come from there as well. To be able to leave their duty in the realm behind and come here, they must have very important matters to discuss.

"The Midnight Inn always looks forward to catering to the needs of its guests. Please, speak freely about what you want, and we will do our best to accommodate you if we can."

Though he said as much, Lex already had an idea of why they were here. Now he just wanted to understand how such a situation came about.

Tildie blushed even more, and could not help but look down at her feet, unable to speak, letting her father take over.

"Unfortunately, duty has bound me too tightly these many years, not leaving me much time to act leisurely, or else I would have long visited your Inn myself, and I would not need to rely on others to hear such news. It has recently become common knowledge among the Humanoid Alliance that a descendant of the Human King Zarek is a worker at your Inn.

"As you must know, while the human race has been suffering through a decline recently, the Celestial race still holds them in high regard, and has great expectations from them in the future. A continuing lineage of one of the old kings is almost impossible to find in this day and age, so when I heard about it, I found myself compelled to visit.

"Encouraged by the fondness my daughter has already displayed for the Inn, I was hoping to establish an alliance by marriage with the Inn. With the combined support of the Midnight Inn my own family, I am sure we will be able to recreate the glory of the old kings."

A sense of understanding dawned on Lex. That explained why he suddenly felt like someone wanted to set a marriage with Z. The question now was, how did they find out?