He was still dressed in luxurious and beautiful clothing, but from his neck down to his feet, he was fully covered. Even his arms were not exposed.
While Elara was observing him, Imani slowly turned his gaze toward her.
The moment their eyes met, Elara clearly saw his pupils shrink slightly, and his whole body seemed to freeze.
But it only lasted for a second. When no one else noticed anything unusual, he quickly composed himself again. A playful and alluring smile reappeared on his face as he stepped down from the second floor.
With the soft jingling of the golden anklet bells, he walked toward them with elegant grace, his voice deep and pleasant.
"It's rare, tonight there are only two tables of guests in Yuyan Pavilion. Since I'm here, let me personally serve you, our honored guests."
Imani walked down from upstairs. Kristof, standing next to Elara, narrowed his eyes slightly. He looked at Imani on the stairs, then at Elara beside him. Suddenly, he leaned closer and whispered into her ear using internal force,
"Your Majesty, the owner of this tavern is indeed breathtakingly beautiful. I originally thought you'd be surprised by his looks, but you don't seem shocked at all. Could it be that you have too many beauties in your palace already, seeing them every day until you're no longer impressed? Or you already knew this stunning beauty?"
Hearing Kristof's low whisper, Elara raised her brow in surprise and looked at him, "You don't remember him?"
When she traveled south to Belladonna, she brought Imani along, and Kristof was someone she rescued from prison there.
Although Imani was used as bait for Lord Gregory and was kept in the backyard the whole time, he never left privately, yet they should've seen each other a few times.
Kristof saw the surprise in her eyes, made a sound, then lowered his gaze and thought for a moment. After that, he looked up and smiled, "Oh so he really is an old acquaintance of yours. But I truly don't remember. You must be referring to when you were still in Belladonna. Sadly, I was always being sent everywhere for tasks, so busy I can't even recall which beauties you had in your backyard then."
Elara gave him a sidelong glance. This man rarely spoke seriously in private. He always smiled, but his words often had a strange, sarcastic tone. It wasn't that he was complaining or mocking her, but something about his tone always felt off.
Elara didn't want to deal with him anymore and finally said one more thing before turning away to focus on the situation.
"It doesn't matter if you remember him or not. Just observe for now."
Kristof smiled with the same tone, "Yes, Your Majesty."
The beautiful male dancer was still dancing seductively on the stage.
Imani walked into the main hall, his steps ringing crisply. He instructed the young attendants behind him to quickly tidy up the best seats with the best view. Then, he turned to the middle-aged wealthy merchants and to Elara and Kristof, gesturing invitingly.
"Meeting like this is fate. You two are our last guests tonight here at Jade Flame Pavilion. Why not all sit together? It would be my honor to serve you personally."
The three wealthy merchants, who had originally wanted to cause trouble for Elara and Kristof, immediately shifted their gaze to Imani the moment he spoke and had been stuck on him ever since. When they saw that Imani was willing to personally serve them, they instantly forgot their earlier plans and gave sly grins.
"The beauty is here tonight too. It must be fate for us three brothers. Since the beauty requested it, how could we say no?"
With greasy laughter, the three of them flicked their sleeves, picked up their wine cups, and walked toward the table where Imani stood.
Although all of them were men, because in this world there were far more men than women, many men lived their whole lives without ever even holding a woman's hand.
Because of that, same-gender relationships, while not mainstream, were not rare either. Desire had to be expressed somehow, and with Imani being so stunning and attractive, it was normal that he'd draw attention from male guests.
Judging by how their eyes clung to Imani, like they were undressing him with their stares, it was obvious these wealthy merchants were quite into this sort of thing.
But Imani showed no signs of discomfort or disgust in front of their sleazy gaze. Whether because he was used to it or for another reason, he kept his charming smile as he waited for them to sit down at the big redwood table in front of the stage. Then, he turned slightly and bowed to Elara and Kristof.
"My lady and sir, would you also be willing to honor me? Let me have the privilege of serving you personally?"
Elara's purpose was to make contact with this clearly suspicious group of merchants. Based on everything so far, their identity, clothes, manner, and servants matched the profile of the cross-border smugglers in the reports.
She came here for them, so naturally she accepted the invitation and took a seat at the table with Kristof.
To show fairness, Imani sat between Elara and the three merchants, not ignoring anyone.
Once seated, he clapped his hands, signaling the attendants to serve the best food and wine. Then he picked up a wine pot and with graceful movements poured for them while chatting familiarly with the three merchants.
"Boss Hou, Boss Ba, Boss Wei, I haven't seen you in the tavern these past few days. I was wondering if you had finished your business and were preparing to leave, or maybe you found a place in Plumera City more to your liking than my tavern and decided to abandon me?"
The three middle-aged merchants glanced down at Elara and Kristof before responding to Imani with smirking, almost teasing smiles.
"Beauty, you're overthinking it. Hehe, in the entire Plumera City, except maybe in the Empress's harem, there's probably no man more handsome and charming than you. With that face and those looks, which of us could bear to leave you?"
"Exactly, Beauty, none of us could bear to. Just to see you, we rushed over here to your Yuyan Pavilion as soon as we finished our work."
"You're really overthinking it. You've already won our hearts. We might abandon others, but never you. We were just busy with some things the past few days. Now that things are settled, of course we'll spend our time with you."
Their greasy smiles clung to Imani like glue. Boss Wei, who sat closest, slowly leaned in, trying to grab Imani's wrist as he poured their drinks.
Listening to their replies, Imani's smile grew more satisfied. When Boss Wei reached toward him, Imani moved slightly and, without being obvious, gracefully avoided the hand, gently setting the freshly poured wine in front of Boss Wei. His voice was pleasant.
"It is my honor to receive such affection from the three of you. But you were gone for five or six days in a row. Did something happen? I was quite worried since you usually come by every day. Would you be willing to share if you encountered trouble? Maybe I could be of some small help."
Mentioning the past few days, the merchants' faces sobered slightly. They recalled being hounded by the secret officers of the Ministry of Justice, no matter how often they changed hideouts. Their expressions turned bitter as they downed their drinks in one gulp.
"Nothing major. Just some careless underlings who got us into trouble. Someone thought we were involved in shady business and reported us to your Justice Ministry. What a mess. Just thinking about it is frustrating."
Elara and Kristof, sitting quietly nearby, exchanged a glance and continued listening as Imani coaxed more from them.
Imani chuckled softly and poured them another round. "That really was a misunderstanding. You three have been in my tavern almost every day this past half month. Generous, respectable gentlemen like you shouldn't be suspected of anything. But I must admit, I am curious what kind of business would be misunderstood to the point of getting the Justice Ministry involved. Sounds like your businesses must be incredibly profitable, which makes me a little envious."
One of the merchants burst into hearty laughter, clearly pleased by the compliment. The other two, however, fell silent.
Especially Boss Wei, who was closest to Imani. He narrowed his eyes and studied Imani's unchanged smile before suddenly asking.
"What? Is our Beauty interested in our business too?"
Imani nodded without hesitation. As he leaned in to refill Boss Wei's cup, his eyes shone with the ambition of someone who knew the value of profit.
"Of course, Boss Wei. We're all businessmen. Who wouldn't want more and bigger profits? That's why I said earlier, if you need any help, just let me know. I'll do whatever I can."
Boss Wei no longer replied. He simply smiled lowly, lifted his cup, and stared at Imani in silence.
But Boss Hou suddenly leaned over with a greasy smile that didn't match the cold tone of his words. "Beauty, we just told you, we've been targeted by your Ministry of Justice because of a misunderstanding. You must know how difficult your Empress's new department is. Now that we're involved, there's a good chance trouble will follow. Even so, are you still willing to join us?"
Imani listened, still smiling calmly as he looked at Boss Hou. His voice was gentle and smooth as he said, "Boss Hou, the way you're speaking makes it sound like I'm a three-year-old child. Heh, in this world, anyone who wants to earn big money has to dance on the edge of a blade. Only ordinary people don't have the courage. I do have the courage, but I've never had the opportunity, until I met the three of you... hmm, I just wonder, would the three of you be willing to give me a chance?"
After hearing Imani's words, the three of them suddenly burst into loud laughter.
Just as Elara, Kristof and Imani all turned their eyes toward the unexpected laughter, Boss Wei, who was sitting closest to Imani, suddenly changed his face and made a move.
He suddenly reached out and grabbed Imani by the throat. In Imani's widened eyes, he was lifted straight up from his chair. With a dark and vicious expression, Boss Wei said coldly to Imani,
"Pretty boy, wouldn't it be better for you to just play the role of a toy for others? Your proposal along with that face of yours is indeed tempting, but too bad our kind of business isn't something just anyone can dig into."
"Heh, the three of us did keep coming here often recently because we liked your face. And yes, we helped you earn some money. But it seems you don't know your place. Our business only started leaking out ever since we came to your tavern. You really think I don't know that?"
"We came to see you this late not just because we missed you. The three of us planned to properly interrogate you tonight, to see how much you've learned from us and how much you've already betrayed us."
As he finished, Boss Wei tightened his grip around Imani's neck, clearly intending to strangle him.
From the moment Boss Wei made his move, all the black-clad thugs in the hall surrounded them. They drew their sharp weapons one by one, and the air grew heavy with deadly tension.
Just as Boss Wei was about to tighten his fingers even more, a small wine cup suddenly flew toward his wrist.
With a light cracking sound, the cup shattered into pieces. At the same time, Boss Wei's wrist gave off the same cracking noise, almost as if it had fractured.
He grunted in pain and instinctively let go of Imani.
Once free, Imani fell backward toward Elara. Elara didn't dodge. She let him collapse into her arms, his face filled with pain as he clutched his throat.
His smooth, dark hair, soft and fragrant, brushed against her cheek and neck. He was over six feet tall, yet somehow he made himself seem completely powerless and small, just like before he left the princess's mansion half a year ago. He clung tightly to Elara, as if seeking protection after being wronged.
This sight made Kristof, standing behind Elara, freeze for several seconds. His hand, holding the wine cup, subconsciously tightened.
Boss Wei clutched his fractured wrist tightly, fighting through the pain. He stared at Elara, Kristof, and Imani in her arms with a twisted smile and said,
"Ha, so you really are all in this together."
Elara looked at Boss Wei, who was about to strike again, and at the armed men surrounding them. She hadn't even spoken yet when Imani, still leaning on her, suddenly struggled to lift himself. With anger and hurt in his voice, he looked at the three bosses and said,
"Boss Wei, you're being so unreasonable. I don't even know what kind of business you three are in. Where would I even get the proof to report you to the authorities?"
"And what do you mean by saying I'm working with Miss Elara? Boss Wei, I won't lie to you. I do know Miss Elara. She even saved my life. Without her, I wouldn't be alive today."
"That's why, when I saw that only the two parties left in the tavern were you and her, I thought about introducing you. After all, Miss Elara is a businesswoman too. And she might have even better trade connections than you do. I only wanted to connect two powerful people together. And if you're willing to take me along, I'd be forever grateful."
"But before I even finished speaking, you suddenly attacked me."