Chapter 14 (1/2)

Insidious Feisha

Full moon has passed, and so the three moon siblings finally prepared to leave. Feisha followed them to the front desk, reluctant to part, only to find Isefel and Gin waiting there as well.

“Have a safe trip,” Feisha emotionally shook hands with Moon, eyes brimming with tears. They’re finally leaving, hallelujah; he’s saved from mutilation!

Moon did likewise, feeling touched. “Don’t worry, we’ll be back next month!”

Feisha ripped his hand back as if burned. Behind him, Gin smiled through his haggard expression. “Please take care on the trip back.”

“I know you hate to part with us, but your sentiments really showed through this time. I’m moved,” said Lune.

“Then can you guys hurry up and leave? It’s really windy outside, I’m about to fall asleep here,” said Gin.

“How does it being windy outside make you sleepy?”

“Cake and pens don’t have anything in common either, but occasionally they get placed onto the same table.”

Lune considered this for a moment, then nodded. “You have a point there.”

Luna suddenly popped up in front of Feisha. “I’ve met lots and lots of humans here before, but you’re the prettiest one out of all of them.”

…Is that a compliment?

Feisha decided to correct a little detail. “You’re supposed to call men handsome, not pretty.”

“You’re not handsome though. Just pretty.”

“How am I not handsome?” Feisha asked, offended.

“Compared to Isefel? You tell me.”

Feisha stole a glance at Isefel, and continued after seeing that he wasn’t even listening. “Then what if you compare me to Layton?”

“Now you’re just fishing for compliments.”

“I changed my mind; you guys should leave.”

Luna dug a gold coin out of his pocket and held it out to Feisha: “Here.”

“What’s this for?” asked Feisha, accepting it with a confused expression.

“A tip.”

Feisha was a little surprised. “You guys tip here as well?”

“Of course! Well, humans tend to get tipped less because they always try to avoid us, but you should keep up the good work!”

The tears in Feisha’s eyes finally spilled over as he leapt forwards to trap Luna in a bone-crushing hug. “You can’t only plan for the full moon every month! In fact, new moon is just as round as full moon, so make sure you come visit us if you feel uncomfortable in any way! And- uh, you can bring more gold coins next time, I have four pockets in total if you count the suit.”

The moon siblings finally departed.

Feisha slipped in front of Isefel before he could leave, and suggested: “Let’s do group discounts!”

Ideally, groups with around a thousand members. If every single member tipped one gold coin, then his debt could be cleared easily with plenty to spare. Haha…

“The one in charge of sales is Dea,” Isefel said.

“Oh, yes, you’re right. I’ll go find him immediately-”

He took two steps and was promptly stopped by Gin. Taking in Gin’s dark smile, Feisha quickly wiped all traces of pride and greed off his face, saying heavily: “And also sort out that other thing while we’re there.”

For once, Dea wasn’t in the warehouse, forcing Feisha to scour the hotel for a trace of ginger. Gin shadowed him in dead silence, bringing about a cloud of gloom.

Feisha had enough, stopping in his tracks. “Can you not stare at me with such an ominous expression?”

“We of the blood clan take romance really seriously, you know. As a member of said clan how do you think I feel, being misunderstood and rejected by my lover? I’ve been in this living hell for two whole days already… Oh god, I might as well kill myself.”

“Oh dear…”

“This is a really serious issue, how dare you mock my pain?”

“No, look behind you.”

Gin whipped around and paused. “Oh dear,” he uttered softly.

Dea walked by the other end of the hallway, clearly not wanting to talk to them. As soon as their eyes met, he immediately did a 180.

Feisha stopped Gin as he readied himself to give chase. Throwing a ‘leave it to me’ look over his shoulder, he quickly caught up to Dea, who was merely walking rather than running away. Thank god faeries are a race that value the importance of composure and presentation.

“Dea, I have a very very important matter I need to discuss with you.”

Dea reluctantly stopped walking and looked at Feisha suspiciously. The orange hair flowing softly over his shoulder formed a makeshift shawl. At this, Feisha’s concentration wavered for a second but quickly collected himself under Dea’s cold stare.

“What I wanted to talk about is- To improve this hotel’s overall performance, I think we should offer group discounts.”

Dea frowned. “Group discounts?”

“We have way too many rooms, it’s a bit of a waste to not draw in big groups,” Feisha said with a nod.