Translator: Nox

Chapter 11

But the woman, whom he expected to be hysterical at those words, only blinked her large eyes. It was the brothel madam whose shoulders trembled.

“Sir, how can you say such a thing?”

The madam didn’t know why this unidentified man was doing this, but he seemed intent on taking the woman out of here. However, judging by the way he was prodding her to leave, it didn’t seem like they knew each other.

Neither acquaintances nor master and servant.

Then I can’t let her be taken.

Yet, she didn’t dare say a word to the man. With a look of resolve, she turned back to Seo-ah.

“Do you want to leave?”

“…….”

“Fine. I’ve already received the money for tonight from you anyway. Even if you said you wanted to stay tomorrow, I wouldn’t want you here. But if you insist on leaving today, I have no reason to stop you.”

“…….”

“If you’re going, go now. But on a night like this, alone… I wonder where and how you’ll go. Even though we’re strangers, I can’t help but be concerned.”

Oscar burst into laughter.

Look at this philanthropist.

The low mockery laced in his laugh felt like a slap to the face, but the brothel madam held her ground, tensing her knees.

Oscar, who had been laughing for a while at the funniest thing he’d heard all day, put a cigarette to his lips and asked Seo-ah.

“Well? What will it be?”

Her watery brown eyes trembled slightly.

On one side was a middle-aged woman with a benevolent impression. On the other was a mysterious man standing askew with a cigarette in his mouth. To make matters worse, the middle-aged woman was dressed in a modest gown, while the man was dressed sloppily, his shirt unbuttoned.

Watching the entire scene from behind, Simon let out a sigh.

Looking at the two choices side by side, he felt the answer had been decided from the start. Honestly, the word ‘brothel’ suited Oscar far better than it did the middle-aged woman.

“…I am sorry.”

Sure enough, the woman chose the brothel madam over the Marquis von Reinhardt. The door closed quietly.

We’re screwed.

Simon despaired in silence.

I did it.

The brothel madam shivered with a chilling sense of triumph.

Now all that remained was to face the man behind her.

He was an extraordinary-looking man who seemed familiar for some reason. But he couldn’t be a high-ranking noble. They usually announced their visits in advance and ordered the prostitutes they wanted to be prepared.

That left him as either a nouveau riche or a noble who didn’t quite reach the upper ranks.

Of course, in either case, he was someone the brothel madam would find difficult to face.

But what era was this?

Was it not an age where even the royal family had to be mindful of commoners? One could not simply overturn another’s business without evidence or a trial. Furthermore, there was no evidence of human trafficking—the crime she had committed—since the party involved was not yet aware of it.

Yes. She could get through this.

Steeling herself, she turned toward Oscar. She would apologize as obsequiously as possible and treat him however he wished for the night.

“…….”

But perhaps it was because he was staring at his feet.

Her gaze followed his down to the floor.

With both hands shoved in his pockets, he was crushing a cigarette with his foot. Grey ash and tobacco leaves were being ground and pulverized together. A small ember that hadn’t quite gone out was crushed under his heavy boot until it died.

Had he insulted her, looked down on her, or even given her a hard slap across the face, she wouldn’t have blinked an eye.

Yet, absurdly, she found herself staring at him crushing a mere cigarette—something she had seen a thousand times. It was the cigarette being ground into the floor, but she couldn’t understand why she felt like it was her being crushed instead.

“I get stabbed in the back by an idiot during the day, and lose to a brothel madam at night. Is today some kind of special day for me?”

Oscar said it as if it were a joke, but no one else could laugh.

A red tongue swept over the edges of his teeth behind his handsome lips. Oscar raised only his eyes and whispered to the brothel madam, who was turning pale.

“Smile. It’s a compliment.”

Then, muttering that her eye for people was truly something else, he turned around. There was no sense of threat in his leisurely stride, but the moment Oscar disappeared from view, the brothel madam collapsed onto the floor.

---

Brothel.

What did that mean?

Standing blankly in front of the door, Seo-ah mouthed the unfamiliar word several times.

Brothel, brothel…

Repeating it didn’t help her understand. It was a word that hadn’t appeared in the books she used to study the common language of the Norfolk Continent. Seo-ah furrowed her small, clear face in frustration. One thing was certain, however: it was a name for a specific place, and it was definitely not a good word.

“This place is a brothel?”

The innkeeper had jumped at the man’s words, trying to reassure her, but she never actually denied that this place was a brothel. She only emphasized that Seo-ah was a guest staying for the night.

Seo-ah bit her lip hard.

The man looked as though darkness itself had been molded into human form. A dangerous and violent scent overflowed from the man shrouded in acrid cigarette smoke.

She didn’t trust the innkeeper, but she couldn’t follow that man out into the night either. She had closed the door to escape them all and buy time to think.

Just then, she sensed the innkeeper’s presence beyond the door.

“Are you alright?”

Several men seemed to rush over to help her up. The woman said nothing and disappeared somewhere with them.

Seo-ah swallowed hard, her throat feeling dry.

She gripped the doorknob with her left hand and turned the lock with her right. After locking the door tight, she meticulously checked the window locks as well.

Standing in the corner, Seo-ah carefully scanned the square room.

When she thought she might be able to sleep comfortably for just one day, this place had briefly seemed like paradise.

Just taking off the winter coat and dress she couldn’t remove despite the sweltering heat made her feel like she could breathe again, and the first proper meal she’d had in days felt as if it were melting directly into her blood. In truth, this was the first time she had ever seen a proper bed. If she buried herself in the thick bedding called a mattress, she probably would have fallen asleep before she could even close her eyes.

In the place where sleep had fled, an intense sense of crisis rushed in.

She couldn’t fail before she even put her plan into action.

Seo-ah quickly changed back into her original clothes. She hadn’t noticed while wearing them, but they smelled of sweat and dust.

Instead of putting the coat on immediately, she spread it out on the bed with the lining facing up. With quick fingers, she checked every pocket thoroughly. She checked for any holes and made sure everything that should be there was present.

The inspection ended with confirming the key and the Acquisition Confirmation Certificate she had received today. She opened the certificate to re-verify the contents.

The name written as if drawn, today’s date, the vault number, and the seal.

Lest it get wrinkled and something be erased, she carefully placed the certificate in a pocket, padded with another piece of paper. After tying the pocket opening tightly with a string and knotting it well, she straightened up, revealing the lining covered in dangling pockets.

Looking at the mismatched pockets, strings, and haphazard stitching, that day suddenly came to mind.

That day. The night of the midnight raid.

The horrific night when her grandfather’s grave was desecrated and the crimson flames that swallowed Hoyeonjae also consumed her teacher.

“This is it, isn’t it? This is what he’s been searching for, right?”

The night she had taken out the golden key she had kept hidden so tightly.

“Don’t go. The chance of failure is too high. You’ll get caught up in all sorts of trouble before you can even execute the plan.”

Seo-ah laughed hollowly.

“You were right. Like a fool, I got caught up in all sorts of things as soon as I arrived…”

Seo-ah toyed with the edge of her old coat, tidying the loose threads sticking out. As she tidied the threads, she also tucked away the memories that had suddenly surfaced, pushing them back below the water.

Her hands began to move quickly again.

After organizing the coat, she opened her luggage. She folded her underwear, which she had washed with clumsy hands, and tucked them into the corner of the bag. They would probably smell because they hadn’t dried properly, but there was nothing she could do about that. Seo-ah, who was about to close the bag immediately after putting the laundry in, paused for a moment.

She opened the bag wide again and carefully picked up the red silk ribbon that had become messily wrinkled at some point.

When she sat on the veranda after lunch and listened, she could hear the sounds of playing. When she crept toward the wall, stood on her tiptoes, and looked out, there were girls with ivory-colored faces.

With their hazel-like, shiny black eyes sparkling and their neatly braided black hair fluttering.

Watching the red danggi swaying at the ends of their black hair, she had thought, I wish my eyes and hair were black and beautiful like that so that red would suit me too.

Seo-ah folded the disheveled danggi neatly. She folded it in half, then in half again, making sure the end embroidered with a beautiful butterfly faced up before placing it with the cleaner items. Then, without lingering, she closed the bag.

She put on the coat spread out on the bed and tightened the belt around her waist so the clothes wouldn’t billow. Dressed and ready to leave at a moment’s notice, Seo-ah approached the window and hid her body against the wall. Lest her shadow be cast, she slightly lifted the edge of the curtain and looked outside.

When and how could she escape this place?

Searching for an exit through the window, Seo-ah began to sensitively feel for any signs of movement around the room.