Chapter 153: I Don’t Know

"THANK YOU HUSBAND!!"

​Asher turned to Juliana, only to see her flying towards him; he quickly opened his arms, catching her as they both fell onto the soft mattress of the bed.

​"Thank you!"

​Juliana added, hugging his neck tight, her body trembling slightly from the sheer, overwhelming relief of seeing Sara freed from three years of agonizing torture.

​"What are you saying? This is what I should do," Asher said, a warm, genuine smile forming on his face as he held her close.

​Juliana withdrew slightly, staring down at him with glowing, affectionate eyes: "Tell me, what do you want as a reward! Anything at all." She said, a bright smile gracing her features.

​’What sort of question is that...? But would I give up on such an opportunity?’ Asher thought, his eyes flickering with quiet amusement. He nodded his head slowly: "Umm... I don’t know, maybe a kiss?"

​"Huh? Are you sure?" Juliana asked, a little taken aback by his humble request when he could have asked for, well... Other things.

​Asher nodded his head, and before he knew it, Juliana leaned down and kissed him straight on the lips. He smiled inwardly, wrapping his arms securely around her waist, savoring every second of his earned reward.

​"Ahem!"

​The two froze instantly. In the heat of the moment, they had completely forgotten that Sara was standing right behind them. They separated quickly, shifting their awkward gazes toward Sara.

​Sara pointed her delicate finger straight at the bedroom door, a slight, exaggerated frown on her beautiful face.

​"She said we should continue this in another room... Not in hers." Juliana muttered in a whisper, hastily sliding out of Asher’s hold and getting back on her feet.

​"Um... Well, it’s already late," Juliana said, clearing her throat as she walked over to Sara: "What about you give our Husband a ’Thank You’ kiss?" Juliana whispered slyly into her ear.

​Sara snapped her head toward Juliana, her cheeks flushing slightly. She sighed softly, turned on her heel, and walked straight into the walk-in closet, closing the frosted door behind her to change.

​"I tried." Juliana said with a casual shrug, turning back to Asher.

​Asher sat up, a small smile playing on his lips. He wasn’t in any rush; at least Juliana was completely open and devoted to him now. He would slowly, patiently grow his relationship with his other wives over time.

​"Tell me, what is your favorite color, food, clothes, game, and... Hmm... Tell me."

​Asher turned to Juliana, completely stunned by her sudden barrage of questions. She crossed her arms tightly in front of her chest, staring down at him with intense, eager curiosity:

​"Come on, I want to know everything."

​Asher blinked, a profound sense of emptiness washing over him. Did he actually have things he liked? All his life, he had been trapped in absolute darkness, treated as an irrelevant pawn by the Starfire family. He hadn’t played any games, nor had he ever enjoyed fine dining. Colors? That was another distant luxury in his harsh past. As for clothes? He simply wore whatever ragged garments he was given.

​"I don’t have any." He answered honestly, his voice devoid of emotion.

​Juliana blinked, utterly dumbfounded by his response. A pang of deep sympathy pierced her heart. She moved closer to him and sat down on his right, taking his hand into hers: "Hmm... Okay, what about your birthday?"

​Asher fell completely silent, his gaze darkening as painful memories threatened to surface. He had long since forgotten if there was ever a specific day set aside to celebrate his existence.

​"I don’t know." He muttered softly.

​"....?!"

​Juliana was left speechless. She raised her other hand and grabbed his, squeezing it with tight, reassuring warmth.

​"Let’s start anew then—a brand new Birthday... Make a pick," she said, offering him a radiant, uplifting smile.

​"A new Birthday?"

​"Yeah, it’s just some numbers that make up a birthday anyway. We already changed our names and paved our own paths, so what’s the problem if we change our birthdays too?"

​Asher went silent, contemplating her words deeply. After a few seconds of quiet thought, he looked up and nodded his head firmly:

​"The Day I cure the three of you... That day will officially be my birthday."

​".....?!"

​Juliana was completely stunned. Even Sara, who had just opened the walk-in closet door, stood frozen in her newly changed nightgown, her hand hovering over the door handle.

​’Are we truly that precious to him?’

​Both women thought in perfect unison, staring at Asher in absolute, emotionally charged silence.

​"Alright, we shouldn’t dwell on such sad things..." Asher turned his head toward Sara, breaking the heavy silence:

​"I have two questions," he said smoothly.

​Sara snapped out of her daze, walked gracefully toward the bed, and sat down on his left side. She opened the top drawer of the bedside cupboard, pulled out a neat notebook along with a fountain pen, wrote something down rapidly, and handed the book to Asher.

​With a confused expression, Asher took the notebook, staring at the elegant handwriting on the page:

​["What are the questions?"]

​He looked up at Sara, genuinely confused. She could hear perfectly fine thanks to Juliana’s potion, and although she couldn’t physically speak, she could easily transmit her thoughts to Juliana via telepathy to speak for her. But...

​She had specifically chosen to bring out the physical notebook to write to him. A warm smile formed on Asher’s lips; it seemed he wasn’t the only one who derived comfort from their quiet, handwritten conversations. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

​Juliana sat still beside him with a fond smile on her face, watching attentively as Asher wrote his first question down in his sharp script and passed the notebook back to Sara.

​["What are demons?"]

​Sara stared at the words written on the paper. She raised her slender hand, tucking a stray strand of her silky white hair behind her right ear, and immediately began writing her response.

​Two minutes of silent scratching later, she passed the notebook back to him. Asher took it, his eyes scanning the detailed text as he was left stunned speechless:

​["Demons are not ordinary monsters; they are high-tier entities that have been explicitly acknowledged by the System within a dungeon and granted an official Title. No one knows their true ancient origins, but they are exceptionally, terrifyingly powerful... You can primarily locate them inside S-Rank and above Dungeons. The more Titles a demon accumulates, the exponentially stronger that demon becomes."]

​Asher slowly nodded his head, his mind storing the vital piece of world intelligence. He continued reading the extra note penned at the bottom:

​["There are also persistent underground rumors which claim an Awakened can forcibly mutate into a demon if their core becomes heavily corrupted by unknown energy... I do not know for certain if this is true."]

​Asher nodded inwardly; knowing the volatile nature of the Aether Stone and corrupted cores, it undoubtedly possessed the raw power to accomplish such a horrifying transformation. He took the pen, cleared his mind, and carefully wrote down his second crucial question.

​["Can you tell me anything specific about an SSS-RANK Dungeon?"]

​He passed the notebook back across the bed. Juliana leaned in closer, extremely curious about the high-level answer as well. They both watched as Sara took the book, her pen gliding across the paper for a moment, before she handed it back to Asher.

​Asher and Juliana leaned over the page, reading the freshly inked words together:

​".....?!!"