His eyes were cold, yet kind. His untidy and uncombed hair was curled back this time. This was the man who previously gave off the impression of being easily swayed around by his red-haired colleague.
This man was Aldous Clayton, a Mayflower reporter whom Connie met at Grand Merrill-Anne.
[Mister Aldous!?]
When Connie raised her voice in surprise, Scarlet nodded.
ăWithout a doubt. Iâll never forget a face Iâve seen once. But he is unexpectedly handsome like thisă
Hearing that, Connie looked at him again, and the man who was about to leave had suddenly stopped moving. After that, he slowly turned aroundâââand looked straight at Connie. His sharp face, which probably could be cut when touched, did not resemble the weak-looking man she met the other day.
A tense silence fell. âââIt was Aldous who spoke first.
[âââah, fuck. I wouldâve left you alone if you didnât notice.]
Itâs a troublesome thing. Itâs written all over that slightly distorted face. Ha, Connie covered her mouth. This careless mouth of hers probably doesnât have a lid. Perhaps heâd sew it close? After all, she could imagine something similar happened recently in some detached Palace.
His cold eyes seemingly scanned the surroundings for something. The opponent is a fellow who can kill people calmly. With her buttocks on the floor, Connie took a step back. Then, with all her might, she banged her head against the wall. There was a resounding sound. Stars seemingly pop out in her eyes. She got teary-eyed due to a lot of things.
When she glanced at the other person, Aldous Clayton had a strange expression on his face, as if I had found a land turtle performing a splendid step in a simmering pot.
[âŚNo matter how I look at it, youâre an idiot, arenât you?]
While scratching his head with one hand, he pointed the muzzle of his gun at her gaping mouth with the other free hand. Connie looked up at the sky.
Youâre absolutely correctâââIâm a huge idiot just as you said.
Thereâs no way she could retort with a gun pointed at her.
She was put on a carriage and brought to Rose Cross Street, which is famous as the royal capitalâs premier entertainment district. The sun was long gone, but some shops cast a dim, soft light, and people still come and go on the street. The sight of the colorful sky lanterns floating in the darkness was just like a festival night, and it was fantastic in a way.
Connie timidly got out of the carriage as ordered.
In front of her was a milky white gate with gold carvings. In the back is a symmetrical silver palace. Thereâs no doubt. The building was the rumoured high-class brothelâââăFolkvangr Hallă
The moment Connie realized that fact, she fell to her knees in shock.
[Am I, being sold offâââ!?]
=====
In a gorgeous room with a glossy crimson carpet, a lone woman was laughing painfully.
[So, you were surprised when your identity was discovered so you took her here with you? Even though you werenât even wearing a disguise or anything sort. Thatâs also a lot of confidence on your partâââno, oh, my stomach hurts from all the laughing. You do cute things sometimes, AldyâŚ!]
The woman wipes the tears from the corners of her eyes while regulating her breathing. The object of the laugh, Aldous, however, kept a very cold but calm face. By the way, Connie had her mouth wide open, not knowing what actually happened here.
Blonde hair like the sun, loosely woven into one.
Blue eyes as clear as the summer sky.
The woman was not exactly beautiful, but she has an attractive smile.
[Why did you look like a pigeon that got hit by a peashooter, Connie?]
Saying that, tilting her head and looking at Connie, was Abigail OâBrien herself.
=====
[First off, itâs not exactly public knowledge.]
Fresh fruits and baked sweets that can be picked up in one bite were skillfully arranged on a gold-crafted table. Were the two women who are serving them the prostitutes of the hall? There was a beautiful woman with droopy eyes and a gentle atmosphere, and a slender lady with a vaguely determined impression. In addition to their well-groomed appearance, every single gesture oozes out lustrous sex appeal.
The droopy-eyed beauty pours a thick, amber liquid into Connieâs glass from a porcelain teapot. From the wide open neckline, her heavy breasts fully asserted their presence. It looked white and soft and seemed like it could spill out of her dress at any moment.
[This stretch of Rose Cross Street originally belonged to OâBrien. Holdings of the business across the street have changed hands multiple times over the years, and now only this building remains ours.]
After Abigail explained, the beautiful woman who had just finished pouring Connie a drink interjected.
[Abby is the Hallâs madam, you know? Right, Rebecca?]
With a soft smile, she asked for confirmation from the other beautiful woman with long slit eyes who was sorting out fruit nearbyââit seems that her name was Rebeccaââââand she snorted mockingly.
[Miriam, you idiot, you are meant to say âownerâ]
[Ehhh?]
The droopy-eyed beautyâââMiriam tilted her head. Then she looked at Connie and smiled proudly, saying, [Abby is actually our benefactor].
[The truth is, until a few years ago, I and Rebecca were treated like slaves in the lowest kind of brothel you can imagine. This was outside the capital, you see. Itâs like we were in prison. And since we were barely fed at all, we were always starving. But you see, it wasnât illegal because we were bound by a contract we never remember signing. So there was nothing we could do about it, we couldnât escape, and the law couldnât help us either. We were treated like animals. Well, that said, none of the prostitutes over there could read properly anyway.]
Rebecca corrected her by saying [I could read.] curtly.
[One day, the business suddenly deteriorated. As the bastard who owned the place began to make plans to escape in the dead of the night, a woman suddenly arrived, claiming that she owned a brothel in the royal capital. She said she was looking for prostitutes and would buy us all on the spot if the bastard close up the shop for good. It was Abby. Of course, the bastard owner was overjoyed and sold us out for pennies. âââit was only afterwards that I learned that the failing business was because Abby had been making moves behind the scenes.]
Miriam let out a smile.
[Everyone who works here has been helped by Abby like that. Of course, sometimes there are customers who get rowdy, but when that happens, Mr Aldous always helps usââââă
While saying that, Miriam glanced at Aldous Clayton and blushed. Rebecca, seeing this, spat out a [Geh] .
[On that note, do you know that the Mayflower Newspaper that Mr. Aldous works in is also owned by Abby too?]
Speaking of the Mayflower, it has a short history, but it is one of the leading domestic publishers that handles a wide range of products from newspapers to popular novels. I looked at Abigail in amazement, and she smiled in denial.
[To be exact, Iâm simply one of the investors.âââBut since there are some people who have reservations about women sitting on the board, I borrow my husbandâs name for business matters.]
Rebecca sneered at Miriam, saying [As expected, Miriam is an idiot.] .
Miriam, in response, tilted her head while saying [Eh?] .
Looking at the two of them sideways, Abigail suddenly remembered and clapped her hands. Then, she turned to Connie.
[Oh, thatâs right. Allow me to apologize on behalf of my misbehaving pup. You mustâve been scared when he dragged you here without your permission, right?]
Aldous Claytonâs face twitched at the sound of an apologetic voice. However, Abigail didnât seem to care at all and continued to speak.
[Actually, recently there have been some unruly kids peddling some rather nasty substances on Rose Cross street. One of the customers who bought it even tried to use it on our cute girlâââsince it happened here, there is no way it didnât come to my attention. Knowing it can cause loss of consciousness, I asked Aldy to go after the seller since I couldnât let them go unnoticed for long. I heard you finally had a leadâââbut you ended up killing him?]
Aldousâs face immediately turned to look like he had swallowed a bitter bug.
[âŚ..I shot him in the leg and it barely phased him, you know? Heâs not any random dealer, more like a trained soldier. Mind you, if I hadnât killed him, it would be me whoâd be lying dead in the ditch right now. And your future sister-in-law wouldâve been like swiss cheeseâŚ!]
[Of course, Iâm grateful, Aldy. I expect nothing less from my favorite dogâââSo do stop sulking, will you?]
Aldous swallowed his words.
[But, well]
Abigail placed her hand on her cheek and tilted her head elegantly.
[âââsomething is certainly more than meets the eye.]
Connie, who couldnât keep up with the conversation, slowly looked back at the flow of events up until now.
Basicallyâââmister Aldous was following a man involved in drug dealing taking place on Rose Cross Street to find out the mysterious dealerâs identity. Thatâs why he happened to be there where the man was about to attack Constance. Perhaps.
The first thing that came to Connieâs mind was more questions.
[âŚ..Huh, why?]
Why would the dealer attack Connie? Moreover, he knew about Lily Orlamundeâs secret spell. It just doesnât make sense.
As Connie twisted her head, the corridor suddenly became busy. Apparently, someone was arguing about whether or not he was allowed to enter this room.
Ignoring the voices screaming that itâs no good, the door opened. Connieâs eyes widened at the sight of the person who entered without hesitation. Oh, Abigailâs voice bounces.
âââBlack uniform with matching black hair. Well-proportioned body. Eyes as blue as lapis lazuli. Although he was expressionless as ever, the color of fatigue could be seen on his face. He scanned the surroundings with a terribly stern gaze, but when he noticed a girl with bright red hair looking alright and healthy, he relaxed his fierce gaze slightly. The entire thing made Connie blink involuntarily.
When Randolph Ulster, whom Connie met for the first time in half a day, was exposed to the curiosity of the roomâs occupant, he simply shrugged his shoulders and said this unapologetically.
[âââApology. Iâd received words that our Constance Grail had been causing you some trouble.]