Riou entered the room, the three lords were waiting for him already. To the side of the table, the manager smiled at him.

“Greetings Lord Brahm, I hope the entertainment was to your taste?”

“The entertainment, no. For I did not request it. But I liked the girl.”

The manager smiled quite surprised, “Is that so? Then I must commend Viki on her choice, it seems she really knows a bit of your tastes, my lord.”

Riou just forced a smile and approached the table.

“Let me make the introductions, this is Lord Riou Brahm. The one that requested this meeting. This is Lady Von Drampt, her family owns the best enchanting secrets on the whole Allard. This young man here is Lord Hiard, his family takes care of the production and distribution of weapon trading from here all the way to Thanes, his supplies are considered to be the most prestigious in Allard. And just as importantly, Lord Nesdam, the biggest armorer, fur, and leather dealer in the whole Allard. Both lord Hiard and lord Nesdam command artisans from Iris to Brigantium.”

“I see, a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” said Riou nodding his head before, sitting down on the empty chair.

The three looked at him, he was a young man but seemed quite well versed. Still, they continued measuring the stranger up.

“So you are a Brahm? Interesting” Said Lord Hiard, “How is your relationship to Lord Lucius?”

“Well, as you may know, he made me his kin. In front of King Torwald, and that’s about it,” replied Riou.

“About it? Is that so? You expect us to believe he adopted you because of your pretty eyes?”

“You will have to ask him the reason why he did it, his reasons are his own, I guess.”

Lord Nesdam laughed, very amused by the cocky answer.

Hiard glanced at Nesdam and continued, quite irritated.

“Then you won’t mind if we asked for some proof, because I don’t believe he’d give someone out of his own blood any power within his house, especially when he already has a successor.” Lady Von Drampt added, trying to settle down the mood once again.

“Ha! He doesn’t even allow guests in his own town! To think he’d adopt someone unrelated to him? You must agree that sounds quite odd, don’t you agree?” added Lord Nesdam staring at Riou. Looking for any reaction from the young man.

But Riou just smirked “Well, I don’t think he did that for me.” he then turned to Lord Nesdam, looking him deep in the eye, “And I surely didn’t ask for it.”

Lord Nesdam was impressed by his cockiness, “Ho, is that right? You didn’t ask for it? Then who would benefit from such a thing?”

“Like I said, you should ask him, not me.”

“Even so, you certainly didn’t deny it either,” said the Lady.

“It would be stupid of me denying such an opportunity, don’t you think my lady?”

Lord Hiard stepped into the conversation “And what were the conditions for such adoption? There certainly were conditions imposed, maybe that will shed some light on the matter.” Lady Von Drampt and Nesdam eagerly waited for Riou’s response.

He looked at Hiard “My conditions? Well...” the lord widened his eyes to those words, they implied that it was him and not lord Lucius that imposed conditions. Riou then looked to the lady and then Nesdam, “just one thing, that my word would also be the word of the house of Brahm itself, whenever he is absent, I rule all matters, trades, deals and everything else..”

“Woahahahaha! Preposterous!” Lord Nesdam burst into laughter.

Lady Von Drampt was more restrained in her disbelief, “That’s a nice story, but it’s just that, a story. Even if you are a Brahm, there is no way Lucius would give up on his power like that!”

Lord Hiard nodded after a moment, “Is this about the engagement? Because something didn't add up, you ended up engaged to the princess right after he adopted you, I think you both knew it would happen if he supported you and that’s why he did what he did.”

Lord Nesdam immediately stopped laughing after those words, Lady Von Drampt also turned her head, sharply staring at Hiard that continued to express his thoughts.

“Now I see why the rumors were so lacking and oddly timed.”

“Please explain your thoughts, Hiard.” Asked Lady Von Drampt.

“I heard a young man was adopted by the House of Brahm and immediately became engaged to Princess Eileen Strongheart. I thought it to be strange rumors since this all happened out of the blue, and it supposedly happened in a couple of days, far away from Allard, in Thanes. And the timing couldn’t be better too, it was right before the summer festival. But the problem with all this story was that there were no witnesses to any of those events. None of the Norse lords saw it happened, and I talked to many of them in these two years. A great effort has been made to keep it all well hidden and secretive… but I wonder why, a princess getting engaged should be something to be celebrated, don’t you think?”

“The tournament… I heard the young Brahm won it,” said Lady Von Drampt staring at Riou. “Could it be? To move the rites forward they gave him the tournament?”

Lord Nesdam nodded with widened eyes, “proof of Valor is a necessary step on the Norse rites. And I also heard strange rumors, from more than one house that there was something wrong with that tournament, that tradition was not followed, that Lord Lucius changed the rules and even that he bought the win for his house.”

Lord Hiard stared at Riou “It seems that Lord Lucius finally decided to make his move on Allard. If his house marries into the royalty, he will have free reign over the Allardian trade. The king probably will free him from all taxes, our products won’t be able to compete with his if that happens!”

“Not to mention that everyone loves the princess, especially after her resistance against Rodrick,” added Lady Von Drampt. “He could take all the market for himself in an instant..”

The manager just listened in with interest to the conversation.

“That won’t happen, gold alone won’t save Longart!” said Lord Nesdam quite calmly. “The king is as good as gone.”

“Gentlemen and Lady!” Riou got their attention, “I assure you, I’m no pawn in a greater scheme, I’m just trying to make a good profit and establish a good relationship for the future, whatever may happen, the need for trade will remain, am I right?”

All at the table looked at each other not sure what to believe. “That is, assuming you really are who you say you are, let’s not forget that you are yet to provide any proof,” added Hiard.

Riou put his hand on the table, revealing the ring with the black dragon crest on it. Everyone leaned towards it to have a better look.

“Well, I will give it to you, that does look like the Brahm’s family crest,” said Lady Von Drampt, quite impressed and surprised.

“I don’t know… it could be fake, I still doubt that black snake would make such a blunder with this young man and give him any power of his house. It makes no sense, that bastard wouldn’t give his crest away like that!” Said Lord Nesdam.

Riou then removed the ring and threw it towards them. It bounced and spun, stopping right in front of Lady Von Drampt that was in the middle of the three.

“Please, examine it thoroughly, you will find it to be the real deal.” Said Riou with a smile while leaning back on his chair.

The Lady looked at Nesdam, the lord immediately spoke “Mister manager, maybe you could be of assistance here?”

“By all means! Allow me,” the manager clapped a few times and the door opened and a young man entered the room. “Be a dear and bring me that ring?” said the manager pointing towards it.

The young man nodded and promptly went to get it, unaware of anything that was going on.

Lord Nesdam watched Riou closely as the servant approached the ring, Lady Von Drampt and Lord Hiard watched the servant with expectation.

The moment the young man touched the ring his arm lashed back as if got shocked. The man shouted in pain, grabbing his arm and pushing it against his chest.

“What are you doing? I said to bring it to me!” ordered the manager.

The man looked at the manager and then to the ring, fearful of touching it again. He slowly went for it, resisting the urge of pulling back his hand, and just rushed to take it.

When he removed the ring from the table, he immediately dropped it back at it as his whole arm cramped, the man fell to his knees and then to the ground twitching every now and then.

“Marvelous!” the manager clapped no more time, two more servants entered to take the man on the floor away.

Lord Nesdam nodded with a big smile, “Impressive!”, he then looked at the others, “I’m starting to like this new Brahm, he certainly is better than the old snake.”

“Fine, I admit you are a Brahm. But I still think you are a pawn of Lucius!”, said Lord Hiard.

“Could it be Blackmail?” suddenly asked Lady Von Drampt. “Since he joined the house of Brahm, he probably has run into some dirty secret of Lord Lucius. Something so nasty that he had to give this man whatever he pleased.”

Lord Hiard and Lord Nesdam pondered for a moment. “There are so many weird rumors surrounding that man,” said Nesdam to the three more and more convinced.

Lord Hiard nodded “Then what? Why did you come to see us? What’s your goal in this?”

“It’s simple, it’s pointless to fight against each other when we all can profit together. Allard has lost its armies and Longart is very weak but the King is still loved by the people, even the soldiers would go back to him if they could. Am I right?”

“So what do you suggest?”

“I know there are just a few noisy lords that have an agenda on this matter. But at the end of the day, Longart and Iris will remain. So why take sides? Traders must trade and make profit.”

“Ho? But we are Nobles, not only traders,” Lord nesdam smiled.

“And what do you expect to gain from all this?” asked Lord Hiard looking at the table and the other two with him.

“I want to form my own trade route, my own contacts. Independently from Lucius. I will use Brahm’s fortune to build my own name, my own brand. For that, I’ve been gathering researchers, mages, blacksmiths, enchanters, and all kinds of artisans. I will become a powerhouse on my own!” explained Riou.

Everyone looked at each other not sure what to think of it. “You wish to overthrow Lucius on his own game?” said Lord Nesdam, quite unsure.

The manager finally spoke, with a smile on his face “Let’s not forget that the princess herself is also here in Iris, she called the soldiers and pleaded to them to return to the King’s side. She claimed that the Brahms would be supporting the capital from now on.”

“Like I said, why take sides?”

“That only serves to prove that she is desperate, the king knows what is coming,” said Lady Von Drampt. “There is no way Longart won’t fall.”

They all nodded and looked at Riou in silence for a moment.

“But it won’t hurt to take a look at this product of his before deciding anything, am I right?”, said Lord Nesdam.

“Count me out of it, I don’t want to get involved in this, if he is supporting Longart, we shouldn’t have anything to do with this man,” Lady Von Drampt looked at the manager and began to stand up to leave.

The manager nodded at her in agreement.

“Well, like lord Nesdam said, a look won’t compromise anyone, it’s not like we are signing any contracts just yet.” added lord Hiard.

Riou smiled “Of course, I will arrange everything.”

Clap Clap Clap “In any case, I’m happy we reached a conclusion. Then, let’s start the festivities, shall we? After all, we are at the Tulip! The night isn’t complete without a bit of fun!”

“Finally!” Said Lord Nesdam glancing at Riou “Maybe the lord would like to accompany me in the lower level, mister Manager, what do you say if we take him downstairs? I’d love to see what he thinks of it.”

The smile on the manager changed immediately to a fake one “I don’t think that’s prudent, Lord Nesdam, you know the house rules, and our guest here is a new arrival, he shouldn’t be allowed in the lower levels so soon”

“Nonsense, you saw him yourself, he was wishing that one of us would pick that ring up. He wanted to see someone in pain, I say he is ready for that entertainment.”

Lord Hiard stood up “I’m not in the mood for such things, I will take my leave as well. Just send me the details of when and where.”

“Typical,” said Lord Nesdam standing up and moving towards Riou “So? What do you say? This experience will also help me make my mind about you, it will tell me what kind of man you are.”

Riou looked at him and stood up “Very well, I’m looking forward to seeing what else the famous Tulip has to offer.” He glances over the Manager that wasn’t very comfortable with the situation.

“Lord Nedam, maybe we could take him downstairs another time? After the proper procedures?” insisted the Manager.

“Nonsense, I will take full responsibility, so let’s go already!” Nesdam was smiling, his eyes changed completely as he couldn’t wait to start.

“If you insist… But I will have to send word to the owner, just in case.”

“Of course, of course, I’m sure Tullius won’t mind.”

Eileen was being properly escorted by Attia and Bellica as she arrived at the Lord Tullius Partridge mansion. His land occupied the full street and went back all the way to the walls, the plot of land was massive when compared to the other mansions nearby. The house itself was already impressive but it seemed to make an effort to stand out with magic runes lighting it with different light colors. It was an ostentatious display that extended to the large garden. Statues, fountains, and evenly paved roads and walks.

The gatehouse for the mansion was guarded by ex-soldiers, they promptly recognized the princess.

“Princess Eileen? Have you come to visit the Lord Partridge?”

“It’s not a personal visit, he has invited me to a Noble Gathering, since he knows I’m in the city by now, I can’t deny his invitation.”

The soldier looked at the other one a bit confused. “But the party is tomorrow, my lady.” said the soldier.

She looked at the invitation, and it clearly stated the current night.

Eileen looked at Attia and Bellica. “Let’s return Queen, I have a bad feeling about this,” said Attia as Bellica clearly shared that same opinion. “We’ve been followed all the way here, it could be a trap.”

Suddenly a small blue line formed all the way from the gatekeeper house to the main house. On its end, a blue circle grew and vibrated as a voice came from it.

“Princess Eileen! What an honor to have you at my humble abode, please come in. I’m sure you will find it quite an enriching experience, especially before our social gathering tomorrow.”

“I think I will just come tomorrow, we can talk then,” she said back.

“But I insist! Please, come inside, we shall talk in private. I believe I have a quite interesting proposition for you, something that might put an end to all your concerns.” The gate opened on its own and the guards stepped aside.

Eileen could see in their eyes, the soldiers weren’t very happy working for the lord. She looked at Attia and Bellica as both expectantly waited for her decision.

She grabbed her necklace and nodded. “I might as well hear what he has to say, please wait, I will be right back.”

Attia and Bellica nodded and remained at the gate as Eileen entered. By the side of the small gatehouse, a carriage was ready to bring her all the way to the main house’s entrance.

Lord Patridge watched from the top window of his mansion, waiting for her arrival with a big smile. He then spoke to an empty room, “Do we have a full report yet?”

A man walked from the dark corner, wrapped in a dark green cloak. “There is no past for this man. He is a ghost-like I’ve never seen before. The only connection we found was a boy, no older than 15 years old at the time, that our guild was supposed to assassinate under lord Rodrick's request. He had the same features, eye, hair color, and first name. But the likeness ends there as the age doesn’t match. Also, this boy was frequently seen around the princess, not to mention Victor Mercenaries and it was said he was taken under the Great Magus tutoring by the soldiers.”

“15? How old is the young Brahm now?”

“I’d say he is in his late 20.”

“Over a 10 year age difference? That’s quite high for them to be the same person.”

“Maybe some aging spell?”

“I've never heard of a spell that could do that, nor why someone would want it either. Is there anything that could explain that?”

“Not to my knowledge.”

“So, is he the same person or not?”

“At first, I thought it was. I was under the impression that this young kid was the one that the princess was engaged to. But since this older Brahm appeared, with the same name as him I don’t think the princess would have accepted such a marriage.”

“Agreed, Eileen is too stubborn and too proud for that to happen.”

“But this kid could be a brother or someone from his family. Still, both of them have no past we could find and the ability to vanish completely without a trace. Just so you know, the last information on the kid was that he was heading to Thanes with the princess. But then things get blurred.”

“Haha, that’s Brahm for you, Lucius must have gone through great lengths to find and prepare these people. To such extent that even Eileen accepted a marriage proposal.”

“In any case, the young Brahm appearance on the Tulip is the first confirmed sighting on the man we have, and he does look like the young boy.”

“So the chances of them are brothers is high… Which means Lucius might be working a long plan.” Tullius looked at the cloaked man “What do you think of the manager’s report?”

“Judging from the princess’ bodyguards, I’d say he was telling the truth, at least regarding his ability to produce better armors and weapons than what we currently have. Now, about his intentions, we are yet to reach any conclusions.”

“Agreed. But his timing… I can’t get past it, his appearance now, of all times. Why surface from the pits he was hiding himself now? Of all times, right before when I am about to strike Elrik down?”

“Not to mention it's just a few days after Rottcher, Rodrick, and Griffith's plans were dismantled. He might have been the one that allowed you to gather the armies.”

“Could he also be connected to those three downfalls?”

“For their intricate plan to be taken down and broken apart in a matter of a few days? This man’s arrival was the only new factor, we can’t take it as a coincidence.” said the cloaked man.

“Someone capable of taking down those three at the same time that fast? While I was struggling with them for over a year? Well, well, well, it seems he might be a very dangerous man to play with. We must be cautious from now on.”

The cloaked one nodded “And The manager said he was very confident at the meeting, which is a sign he holds more cards than he has shown so far, we may need to assign all our resources to find all we can about him as fast as we can.”

“Agreed, send everyone.” The lord glances through the window and watches at the carriage approaching for a moment.

“What about Eileen’s bodyguards? What do you make of them? Aside from their equipment...”

“Two Lionesses, openly guarding the princess like that? Seems like he is displaying them to whoever wants to see, he is sending a message.”

“My thoughts exactly, that is a very clear statement of sheer power. He is telling us he has the leash of the fiercest and proudest warriors of the beastmen. I wonder, how did he achieve that?”

“One of my best agents that were assigned to the plains has been seen in Iris recently, we will certainly discover more once I can talk to him.”

Tullius nodded and continued “Beastmen throwing away their pride to serve a human... Lions nonetheless. That man cannot be underestimated. Remember a while back? When I tried to hire that exiled lioness? She wouldn’t accept a human master, even if she was exiled she would refuse me! And I offered her a mountain of coins to her… So I wonder, what did he offer those two?”

“Coins would hardly be the answer when dealing with lions.”

“Yes, could this young Brahm be even more resourceful than the old Lucius? His achievements just won't stop piling up, no wonder why Eileen accepted a marriage with such a person. She must really think he is the best option to save Longart.” Lord Tullius watched the carriage stopping by the front door.

The cloaked man nodded “Since the prince is gone, the princess is the next in line for the throne. If Brahm marries her, he will be the king, eventually. That could be reason enough to justify his actions, maybe even Lucius’ reason to adopt him.”

“Lucius? That bastard... could he be really circling the throne? That would be bold of him! But we shall discuss this later, the princess has arrived and I must greet her, maybe even find out a bit more about our new friend..”

Eileen entered the main door, greeted by many maids and servants. The entrance hall was gorgeously built, with a large staircase, marble pillars, and many paintings, statues and fancy weapons, and golden armors at display.

From the top of the staircase, she heard a voice “Thank you for coming Eileen, I appreciate you making time to meet with me,” Said lord Partridge walking down the steps.

The man was in his late 50, black thin hair that went around his head while he had a completely bald top, his face seemed to be in a constant amusement expression despite an old burn scar to the side of his right cheek. His body was small and a bit roundly shaped.

“Lord Partridge, please be brief, what is this proposition you spoke of?”

“Please come, let’s talk in a more appropriate location,” he walked down a corridor and opened a door to an office for Eileen to enter.

“You grew up so beautifully Eileen, just as I knew you would. Oh my, it feels like it was yesterday that I went to see your father to ask for your hand. How the time flies.” he smiled while looking at her.

“Please, get to the point.”

“You haven’t changed a bit, my dear Eileen. To business then,” he moved to a table and got himself a drink from a fancy crystal bottle filled with a red liquor. “I’d offer you some, but I believe you’d refuse.”

She squinted her eyes noticing he clearly had no intention to hurry.

“Dear Eileen, we all know the good King Elrick has no chance of survival, he lost all the military power and the support from the most important nobles. He put himself against a wall and by assigning the dear knight captain Bhalrom to Iris, he just signed his own demise. There is only one outcome that can happen now.

“I know it was you who helped disband the soldiers under Rodrick's command. And I know you were also ready to pick them up once they did. Don’t act as this wasn’t planned, after all, you’ve always been against my father.”

Lord Partridge put his hand on the scar at his cheek and smiled wickedly at her, “Yes, of course, I’m against him, I resent him dearly for choosing the Norse tradition over an Allardian political marriage that would have benefited everyone immensely. Now look at the hole he finds himself into! He was a fool instead of king and this is what happens to fools.”

She looked at his scar on his cheek, “That scar was a consequence of your own actions, you were the one that challenged me, I had the right to defend myself and my honor. My father had no part in it as you can remember, and if you were an honorable man, you’d know that and put this behind you.”

“I won’t lie to you, I did take that loss very personally. I’m no warrior but I didn’t think I could possibly lose to such a young girl. Yet, my dear Eileen, the only one I ever blamed for what happened, was your father, for you was only doing what he allowed you to do. I could never blame my precious princess, could I?”

“Watch your tongue when addressing a member of the Royal Family of Allard! And I always knew what you wanted, my father too. The crown will never be yours.”

Lord Tullius shook his head and became very serious “My dear Eileen, you couldn’t be farther from the truth. I never wished to be king, even now, I’m only doing this because it’s the best for Allard. I vehemently believe that.”

“The best for you is not the best for Allard, I’ve seen what your views on the law are, they have only the nobility in mind.”

“But just think about it Eileen, the kingdom is its nobles. They are the driving force, the people with mental acuity to make things happen, to develop the nation further. If my ideas were put into motion, we could be so much more than we are today, we would be richer as a nation, the common folk would also benefit from it. Allard would have no equal! We would live in a prosperous and peaceful era.”

Eileen shook her head “By allowing slavery? By reducing the citizen’s rights? Increasing their taxes? By enforcing the disclosure of family secrets to people of your choosing? By allowing magical and alchemical testing on live humans? There is a reason why these were banned when our kingdom was founded!”

“These are new times Eileen, the old world should not rule ours. To improve our kingdom, to change it for the better, it will require sacrifices. I admit it wouldn’t be easy at first, but the benefits we would reap from it, these sacrifices would be a cheap price to pay for the greater good we would achieve.”

“That’s where you are wrong, you want to kill the citizens and enslave them, that's not a kingdom, that's a dungeon. And we won’t allow you to do it, you will never reach the throne.”

Lord Partridge smiled “I wonder about that, after all, what you or that Brahm can do about that?” he smiled very satisfied at her.

Eileen frowned and smirked at him “We can do a lot more than you think.”

Lord Partridge nodded, not impressed, “I know he has beastmen at his command, I know he poses a threat to our attack. But even so, there are so many beastmen at his command. Even if he has enough numbers, when a fight breaks out, thousands of Allardian lives will be lost anyway. On the other hand, if there is no clash, no defense, then nobody will have to die.”

The princess stopped in her tracks, his point made sense. Such a death toll was an unacceptable outcome. After all, they were all soldiers and citizens of Allard. Why should they suffer when they were the ones tricked and manipulated into this mess. Innocent lives should not die because of these evil political machinations.

“But I’m a merciful man, I do not wish to see a pointless battle as much as you do my dear. So, since I heard you’ve come to Iris, I thought of a proposition to make to you, something I believe you may like to hear.”

She looked at him suspiciously but waited for what he had to say.

“Believe it or not, I’m a better option to save Longart than the Brahm. Because I’m the only one who can truly avoid any deaths. Differently than this Riou Brahm, a Norse Lord from a notorious house for their lack of positioning. I do care about the people and the good of my kingdom, I really do. From the bottom of my heart, all I want is to see Allard thrive and flourish. I want it to become the great land I know it can be.”

“Get to the point already, Lord Partridge, you are too often testing my patience with this nonsense.”

“Very well, let me ask you then, how much do you know about the Brahms?”

“If you mean Lord Lucius, just what everyone knows.”

“And what about the young Brahm, the one adopted by him? Do you know him well?”

“Well enough.”

“I see, but then, were you there when this adoption happened?”

“I was.”

“You were? Interesting, I heard that was the very first time those two ever met, but I find it hard to believe that Lucius would adopt a man he has just met.”

Riou had told her they met beforehand once, but that was a secret and didn’t really matter for this conversation “Why does that even matter? Please get to the point already or I will take my leave.”

Lord Tulis squinted his eyes, “But my dear Eileen, this information is crucial to establish the point I’m trying to make. Oh, and since we are talking about crucial information, I was hoping to meet the young man whom I heard so much about. The one who valiantly saved the princess and became her servant, a young boy found by the Great Magus by the notorious forest. Where is that young lad nowadays? That one that strangely had the very same name as this Riou Brahm.”

Once again Eileen had to ponder how to respond, “I don’t know, he left with Maximilian one day, he wanted to be a mage, he is probably at the Academy of magic by now.”

“Interesting… very interesting. A mage you say? Ad how about this young Brahm? Does he also wish to be a mage? How long have you actually known him?”

“Why is that even relevant?”

Lord Tullius smiled “It’s a simple question that will help me explain to you why my proposition is the best and only option to avoid the deaths of our brave Allardian Citizens. So, tell me, have you ever met him before Thanes?”

Eileen pondered for a moment “that day in Thanes was the first time I saw him. Satisfied?”

“Oh my dear, so you knew him from before? Then how come we have never heard of someone like him before?” Lord Tullius smiled, “Did he really challenge you in front of your grandfather? For your hand I mean? Because I think this was just arranged.”

Eileen looked straight in his eyes and said “Yes.”

Lord Partridge closed his eyes and smiled taking a deep breath of joy “I got where I am because I can read people very well Eileen, and you, my dear, you are a bad liar. You are too honest, but that’s what I love about you.”

“This is a waste of time!”

“My apologies, I was just curious, perhaps a bit jealous as well. I apologize if I was out of order. So please, hear my proposal before you go. I’m sure you will find it quite interesting.” he smiles and pours more liquor on his glass.

Eileen took a deep breath to calm herself.

“Just out of curiosity, did you know he met with Lord Nedam, Lord Hiard, and Lady Von Drampt in the Tulip today?” He looked at Eileen attentively.

She didn’t reply to him, but her attention was clearly grabbed, Lord Tullius smiled at her reaction.

“Twice now he has been to the Tulip. I heard he is a heavy tipper to the girls there, he caused quite a commotion there I heard. He was there the night of your speech as well. Didn’t you know? That the man you are placing all your faith upon was meeting with the very lords that are financing the dethrone of your father?”

She remained quiet, listening to him with attention.

“So you knew? Very Interesting.”

She sighed and turned away, walking clearly having enough of that talk.

Lord Tullius immediately spoke with a louder voice “I will not order any attack at the capital if you marry me instead and Elrik Steps down! I will even spare him if he does! I will give him a beautiful country house for them to have a long and happy life! I will even build you a house close to them. But you will be my wife and I will be the rightful king!”

Eileen didn’t even bother to respond and continued towards the door. Not believing she lost all that time to hear such a thing.

“Think about it, Eileen! I expect an answer by tomorrow, at the party!” he shouts as she leaves the room and then the main door.

He smiles and takes a sip from his glass, “Send someone after her, I wish to know with whom she will meet next.”

The cloaked man appears briefly by the door and nods, acknowledging the order and leaving.

Eileen rushes back to the gate where Attia and Bellica were waiting. The princess was clearly in a very bad mood when they saw her.

“What happened queen?” asked Bellica, moving by her side as Eileen was headed back to the inn.

“It was as I expected. Let’s go back!” Attia and Bellica looked confused at each other. But as Eileen walked, a thought remained in her mind, it stuck to her. There can’t be a fight.

The whole year she spent fighting Rodrick and the plague came back to her mind, the countless lives lost to the disease while she found herself incapable of helping. But this time, it would be different. Allard couldn’t take any more useless deaths.

At the inn, Galan drank alone at the bar while Umbra delighted herself upon a feast served at a big table.

“The lady has quite the appetite,” said a man sitting down beside him.

Galan sighed, “shit… I noticed you guys circling around and was wondering when one would come to talk to me, but I wasn’t expecting it to be you, Ciram.”

“That’s how you treat a fellow brother, after so many years?”

“So we are brothers now?”

“Of course we are, Galan.”

Galan glanced at Ciram from head to toe in a moment “Well, you ranked up, intel gathering? For whom? Who is your guardian now?”

Ciram smiled presumptuously “You know I can’t tell you that.”

“Well, you were never a good assassin, to begin with, so, message boy? What’s the higher-ups want?”

Ciram restrains his fist against and forces a smile, “Shouldn’t you be more concerned? After all I heard your contract was running long and seeing you here now, out of your territory, care to tell me why?”

“So you are answering directly to the headmaster?” Galan was mildly impressed. “You really did go up the ranks then, well, didn’t you always want to be his favorite? Congratulations!”

Ciram suppressed his emotions, “the contract was a simple one, spy and inform for a couple of days, why haven’t you turned it in yet and closed it?”

Galan pulled a round orange crystal ball from his pocket, “Because the damn client went dark, there is no response for quite a while now..”

“And instead of reporting it, you decided to investigate it on your own? It was for things like this that you were assigned to that damned forsaken land. This punishment taught you nothing!”

“Ciram, if you are so concerned, why don’t you take this job over from me? Since you clearly can do a better job, do it and I can go on my merry way, back to the damned forsaken land where I don’t need to see or hear from you ever again.” Galan smiled at him

“I’d gladly take it, but you know it’s not that simple, I have orders of my own.”

Galan was playful yet sharp on his retort. “You can’t because you are not a field agent, you are merely a messenger boy, so why don’t you just fulfill the headmaster orders and stop wasting everyone’s time?”

“The Headmaster has requested your presence,” said Ciram, forcing a smile at Galan.

“Why does the Headmaster want to see me?”

“He is investigating the young Brahm, everyone was called to it, he believes you might have valuable intel.”

“Very well, I will go report to him tomorrow at the guild.”

“No, you will go now, he is upstairs, waiting for you in your room.”

“He is here? That’s not like him, making personal visits like that.”

“The young Brahm is a priority for the guild right now.”

“Fine, lead the way, I will follow shortly after.”

“I have other things to do.”

“Well, good look on your intel gathering,” he smiled at Ciram, who stood up and walked out the door.

Galan waited a bit and then stood up. As he turned towards the main stairs, he briefly crossed his eyes with Umbra.

She was staring at him, all the way from her table with piercing eyes. Her attention wasn’t on the food, but completely on him. Instinctively, concern grew within Galan’s mind. Her smirk sent many doubts to the hunter’s mind.

‘Did she hear me? No, that’s impossible from that distance, we were on our back to her either, she couldn’t have even seen us talking.’

He smiled and walked towards her, observing her behavior. “I need to go take a dump, I will be right back, don’t go anywhere without telling me! Wait for me.”

“I will be here, there is much I still need to taste,” she said with little regard lowering her gaze to the food and losing interest in him.

Galan nodded relieved and walked towards the stairs, he glanced at Umbra a few times, but she just remained seated and enjoying her food.

The hunter then entered his room to find a cloaked man waiting for him there.

“Galan, it’s been a while, it’s good to see you back at the city.”

The hunter stood straight, put his open palm on his forehead, and then moved it to his chest.

“Headmaster”

The cloaked one nodded “How have you been?”

“There wasn’t much to do in the plains, so I focused on hunting and creating a good backstory for myself. Just recently I got this assignment from the guild, to follow and report on the princess's whereabouts, that you sent me.”

“Yes, so, after so long, have you reconsidered? It pains me to see a talent such as yours so far away.”

“I like it there, it’s peaceful. And someone must do the job, so might as well be me.”

“I see… very well, but let me know if you change your mind. But for now, I could certainly use your help, I heard you’ve been seen with the young Brahm’s party?”

“Yes, during the contract you sent me, our paths crossed and I decided to remain with them. It was not easy, but I managed to infiltrate their circle.”

“Good, then tell me everything from the start.”

“The client was responsive at first, I managed to follow the target closely. But then, they went dark on me. There is no response for many days now, so I decided to investigate them as well.”

“Strange, clients don’t usually dare to disappear on us, you wish to take care of it yourself?”

“Yes, I will uphold the law, so can you tell me about the client?”

“They came to us through an orange crystal, they dropped it right on our doorway.”

Galan nodded and pulled it from his pocket, “So, nobody of our guys saw the drop? What about the payment?”

“Still pending, but they used Lord Griffith's name as Liaison.”

Galan “Where I can find him?”

The headmaster shook his head “He vanished, he is either dead or left without looking behind.”

“But it’s a start, I have my trail… should I follow it right away?”

“Not yet, first I’d ask you to remain close to the Brahm. We are gathering intel on him.”

“Ciaram told me as much. I guess you wish to hear what I know too.”

“Yes, tell me everything that happened in the plains.”

Galan chuckled “I don’t think I have that much time, it’s quite a story and the lady downstairs may finish her meal before I finish this story. If you wish me close to Brahm, I most certainly can’t lose sight of her.”

The headmaster nodded. “Then keep it short, and tell me the most important bits.”

Galan sat down on the bed. “Very well… you might want to sit down for this.”

Viki was moving to the main bar when she heard a discussion from inside the staff room “No, I won’t give it to you!”

“This is mine, I’m the one that should have been there!”

Viki sighed and made her way through the door, just in time to see Cibila defending herself against Karen that was trying to grab the coin pouch she was holding.

“What is going on here?” said Viki in a menacing tone.

“This payment is mine! I was the one the manager assigned to meet that lord, not her! All these coins are mine by right!”

“Shut up Karen, the job was a courtesy, there was no payment involved.”

“But I was the one to go! Why was she sent instead of me?”

“Because I said so,” said Viki bluntly.

Karen smiled at her “I knew it had to be you, Victoria. You love being a thorn in one’s side, don’t you?”

Viki pulled Cibila away “Go, I will handle this.” and stood in front of Karen.

“Since you’ve come to work here, things just got worse and worse. I knew it was a matter of time for you to start making calls and giving orders, wait until the manager hears what you’ve done!”

Viki smiled, “you can tell all you want, but just so you know, he was informed and agreed to it himself. So maybe you should tone down this self-sense of grandeur, you are not a noblewoman, you are just another whore in a brothel, act like it.”

Karen flared up, “You are the whore here!” and immediately raised her hand to slap Viki, but as her hand raised, a dagger was already being pressed at Karen’s Throat, Viki was much faster and was clearly expecting such an outburst from the proud Karen.

Viki smiled closely at her face, “I’m much worse than that, so I’d be very careful around me if I were you.”

Karen moved away from her “The manager will hear about this!”

“I’m sure you will tell him everything, that’s good, it saves me the trouble.”

Karen cursed the elements, “why, why do you hate me so much? Why do you favor Cibila so much?”

“I don’t hate you, but as you said, she doesn’t belong here and needs my help.”

“Then let me do the job! If you even admit it, why send an inexperienced girl that just arrived! If you know I’m much better than her! Why does she get the best clients?!” Karen was upset and very loud.

Viki shook her head and sheathed her blade, “I did you a favor by switching you with Cibila, so tone it down, Karen.”

“Is that so? Then please enlighten me. How did you help me? Hum? How that moron that doesn’t even know how to please a man after all these months was the best pick for him?”

“Because I know you and I know him, you two wouldn’t be a good fit.”

Karen smiled seductively, walked slowly towards Viki while biting lips in a completely different persona. “Maybe I should take you to a room and prove that I’m a good fit for everyone, even those that I don’t like. After all, I can pleasure both women and men.”

“You are just proving my point, Karen.”

She stepped back with a cynical smile “There is no one that I can’t seduce. Put me in a room with a client and they leave satisfied and wanting much more of me! The things I can do, nobody can!”

“Karen, just forget it, whatever you think you could possibly do, it wouldn’t work on that person. He is not here for that kind of thing… besides, he’d see through you the moment you’d step on that room and there would be nothing you could do about it. Believe me, Cibila was the best choice.”

“But Cibila? Cibila? The girl didn’t even want to go! You know she hates every second of these sessions! Every time she fucks someone she cries for hours at night! It sickens me! She should just go back to her bakery and move on with her damn life!”

“I know,” Viki smiled at herself and looked down “She is not like us, that’s why she was the best option.”

Riou followed the Manager and lord Nesdam to a nice waiting room, many lords sat down in fancy armchairs all over the room in small groups. They drank and smoked while chatting vividly with each other as young women and men moved around pleasing their every wish. Some were well clothed but some were wearing almost nothing. The room was intended to soothe the mood and provide a place for a more social gathering.

As they moved through the room, lord Nesdam promptly greeted most of the people there, men and women were there to be entertained.

The manager continued walking until the end of the room where a metal cabinet was set.

“I thought you said we were going downstairs,” said Riou, noticing they stopped in front of the cabinet, Lord Nesdam didn’t lose time and joined them quickly.

“We are, this is the only way for patrons to enter the lower floors,” the manager opened the cabinet with a key. Riou could see 4 distinct boxes, the first one was completely open and had a clear piece of half-transparent crystal inside, the second box was just closed in a wooden case. But the third one was made of a sturdy metal and had a large padlock locking it shut. The last box was similar but the metal casing was magically sealed, many runes could be seen on its surface shining in a strong blue light.

The manager pulled a keychain from his belt and selected a specific key from it. He then opened the second box and picked up the crystal inside of it. He then moved to the side and opened a portal using the crystal. “Please be brief, it won’t be long for the closing time,” he said with a smile.

“Of course, we will come right back, so shall we? Lord Nesdam moved through it without delay. The Manager looked at Riou, waiting for him to follow through.

Riou walked in and the portal closed right after his passage. He was now in a different room, unable to tell if it was still inside the Tulip or not, the place looked more like a prison than a brothel now, with crude stone walls and narrow corridors.

A voice came from behind them. “Tell me when you are ready to leave and I will open the portal back to the top floor,” Said an old man sitting down on a chair. By his side, a table with the other half of the crystal, attached to a larger blue one.

“Come on, you will love this floor,” said Lord Nesdam, who looked at the old man, “Is Jenice available, I’m sure it is her day.”

“Room 17,” said the old man.

“Splendid!” The lord moved happily through the narrow and long corridor. Many doors could be seen with numbers written on them.

As Riou was following Lord Nesdam to the end of it, he noticed a different door at the far back of the main corridor, on the far side from where they entered.

“What is that door for, Lord Nesdam?”

“I don’t know, never been there. Come on, we have arrived.” Lord Nesdam goes inside without even knocking.

A girl in a pretty dress stands up from the bed she was sat in, “Lord Nesdam!?” she exclaimed, surprised. “Back so soon?” she forces a smile at him.

Riou enters the room with him. The inside is a bit more comfy than the plain stone corridor. It has a large bed, redwood walls, and there are no windows. To all the four walls, there are several tools hanging. Ropes, whips, shackles, chains, wooden clubs, and more pervasive props.

To the corner, on a wooden shelf, several necklaces, arm and wristbands, rings, and even tight leather collars were on display.

To the ceiling, there were many hooks, ropes and chains spread, all over the room, even on top of the bed.

“Hello my darling, today I brought a friend to meet you. This is Lord Brahm, he will be joining us on our sessions today.”

“It’s a pleasure master Brahm.” Said the girl bowing courteously towards Riou.

“So, shall we begin?”

Jenice begins to take off her dress, getting completely naked as Lord Nesdam walks to the shelf and grabs a necklace. “Ah, this will do nicely!”

He then puts it on the young naked woman, she doesn't fight him but wasn’t too thrilled about having it either.

“These are a great invention, enchanted with a powerful spell that blurs the mind of the wearer. Costs a fortune, I tried to buy one for… home usage.”

The girl's eyes lost their spark but she was well awake.

He looked at Riou and smiled “Allow me to demonstrate how to use it. Jenice, hit your head on the wall as hard as you can.”

Riou restrained himself as the girl proceeded to slowly move towards the wall, lean back, and then strike the solid stone wall with her head. A flow of blood started to run from the large wound, painting red her body and the ground near her feet.

Not a single word came out of her mouth, nor any sign of pain.

“Amazing isn’t it? Now Jenice, put on these shackles.” She moves on, picks it up, and proceeds to put them on her wrists with the lord’s help.

He then points to the wall, “Over here, I want you locked here. The chains were on the tallest hook, forcing the girl to extend her arms up and while her feet barely touched the ground with the tip of her toes.

“Now, take the necklace off… after all, it will be no fun if she can’t feel it, don’t you think?” He glances at Riou as she takes off the necklace, immediately feeling the pain on her head. She held the tears despite knowing all too well what was about to follow.

Nesdam smiled joyfully, carefully selecting from a variety of whips from the wall.

He picks a short one with three tips, he looks at her face that was trying to hide her fear. “Now it’s more like you Jenice, turn around and start to beg, whenever you like,” He prepares the whip and strikes her back the moment she turns it, without warning and at full force. Immediately ripping her skin in three wounds on her back.

Jenice didn’t shout in pain, instead she immediately pleaded, desperately, “Lord Nesdam, I beg you! Let me please you in other ways! Anything but the whip!”

“Will you? Really?” another strike on her back. “Say it properly then, you know how I like to hear it!”

“Yes, Yes! My king! Allow me to take your massive member, let me help you to the bed, and take mount upon you! Please! Please! I beg you! Reward me like that! I’ve always been good for you my king! My lord! My master!”

Riou could see the change in Nesdam’s face after her words. The evil smile turned into a depraved one, he was now full of lust and his eyes showed a great desire.

The lord then takes a deep breath and immediately hands the whip to Riou. He was swallowing hard and containing himself to not continue his affair with Jenice then and there, “Where are my manners, please, have a taste of yourself, no one takes a punishment like my dear Jenice.”

Riou picked up the whip “Are you sure? You look like you could use some privacy right now.”

Lord Nesdam thought about it for a moment, staring at the naked body of Janice as the blood dripped from her head and back, clearly considering the option. But he then shook his head, “no, no, tonight is about you. After all, I’ve already had her many times before, so, suit yourself, I believe there is no better place for a man to reveal his true nature than this very place.”

Riou nodded, understanding what he meant and taking position.

The young woman was already trembling, as she was having a hard time as her feet barely touched the ground. The weight on her hands was also taking its toll, especially after the punishment she had sustained.

“Don’t you dare let go of those legs Jenice, you know what happens when you do!” threatened Lord Nesdam, his tone clearly showed that he was wishing that she’d slip, he was smiling and nodding at Riou to proceed.

Riou then took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a few moments.

“Everything is alright?” asked Lord Nesdam, quite suspicious of his delay.

Riou then readied the whip, Nesdam could barely wait for the strike to hit her again and saw her legs give up.

Suddenly, the young Brahm turned toward the lord, Nesdam could swear they looked like the eyes of a snake for a moment. “Say Lord Nesdam, I don’t like to play around, so you wouldn’t mind if I finished what you started?” Lord Nesdam blinked a few times, he got a bit woozy but nodded at Riou.

He then sees Lord Brahm proceeding to strike the girl, in full strength, over and over without rest with the whip. So many times that the poor thing had no skin left on her back. She wasn’t even moving anymore nor screaming, her legs had long given up and all that held her were the chains on her wrists. But Lord Nesdam didn’t have the time to say anything.

The Young Brahm just continued on assaulting her with the whip, restlessly with such intent that even Lord Nesdam got taken aback, it was not like he was seeking satisfaction it was just an act of evil.

He swallowed hard after each strike now, as they sounded louder and louder on his ears. The floor was getting drenched in blood, Nesdam had to step back to not dirty his boots as the pool that quickly advanced towards him.

She was gone, and yet, the young Brahm showed no sign of fatigue, nor stopping. He continued, flailing away the poor girl.

Nesdam forced a smile, quite frightened by his behavior, “Don’t you think this is enough? She is already…”

Lord Brahm stopped momentarily, turning to him with a large smile, “But we just took off the skin, there were so many layers of muscles to go through! Not to mention the spine! Oh I know, I’m sorry, do you wish to switch with me? Maybe if we pick a longer whip we could speed the process up? Don’t you think?”

Lord Brahm hands the bloodied whip to Nesdam, as the feeling of the drenched leather reaches his fingers, he immediately let it fall to the ground. “I think our time has ended, after all, we did start quite late today, maybe another time? We should go back before the Manager comes and sees this... ” The lord glanced at the girl one more time, she was hanging by her hands, not moving or twitching, her hair covered her face, her back was completely exposed, not a single line of skin remained, the live muscle showing was grotesque, he could see her spine line very clearly. He holds in an urge to vomit and quickly leaves the room.

Riou watches him leave and sighs. He grabs the dress and covers Jenice that was sitting in the corner of the room, already free from the shackles but the necklace was back to her chest.

Her head was healed, but her back was still hurt from Lord Nesdam Strike.

Riou puts a small coin pouch on the bed and then proceeds to walk to meet him, the girl looks on the bed and sees a coin pouch that was left behind.

Outside of the room, in the corridor, Lord Nesdam wobbles and leans against the wall with his hand on his head.

“Everything is alright lord Nesdam?” Asked Riou, approaching with a smile.

Nesdam forced a nod, not believing that a young man with that face could be capable of such cruelty, “Nothing to be concerned about. What about Jenice? Was she…”

“Dead? No, I’m sure the staff will put her back on her feet in no time, like nothing ever happened.”

Lord Nesdam forces a smile as a sharp pain afflicts his head, increasing at each step he gives. “Let’s return upstairs… I’m not feeling too well. I may have overdone it today.”

“What a pity, but it is late. Maybe you could show me more another day? Perhaps we could go to the other floors? Are they just as fun as this one?”

The lord was having a difficult time walking and his hand no longer left his head. “Maybe… but I don’t know about the lesser floors. Very few people go there I think.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, well, the first one is just a fuckfest, anything goes in there. And this one.. well, you already saw it.”

A big man crosses them in the corridor with a bucket full of bloodied water and a broom. He stops and greets Nesdam, “My lord, were the girls to your taste today?”

“As always Vadir, as always, but we may need to train another girl, I might have had enough of Jenice for the time being.”

“Absolutely my lord, tell the manager a name and I shall educate her properly for you next session.”

“Thank you, Vadir.”

“Lord Nesdam, my lord.” Vadir nods to both of them and continues on down the corridor in a great mood.

As they returned to the lord’s floor, it was empty. Everyone had already left or was leaving the place. “Been quite a night, after all, Lord Brahm”. Said Nesdam as they walked towards the exit.

“Of course, have a safe travel home, Lord Nesdam. I will send you the details for our next meeting.”

As the lord left, Riou was quickly approached by the Manager, “Was everything to your liking my lord?”

“It was interesting, if the second basement level was so fun, I can’t help but wonder what the other two lower levels could possibly offer.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t rush if I were you, besides, they are not that different from each other.”

“Really? I’m curious, can’t you tell me about them?”

“Well, the lower floors are a bit more private.”

“So, Isn't it just a matter of paying? I have the money for it.”

“I’m afraid it is not a matter of paying, it requires some trust with the owner, and right now, you don’t have any..”

“Trust, you say? And how does one earn such trust?”

“That’s also to the owner to decide.”

“I see… and the owner is this Lord, Tullius Partridge?”

“Yes my lord, but now, for more that we love your presence here, it’s time for us to close. The girls need their beauty sleep. So, if you don’t mind, I will be taking you to the exit.”

Viki left the Tulip by the side door used by the staff. The door led into an alleyway that was connected to the streets. She was ready to go home. But as she gives a few steps towards the street, she senses someone approaching her quickly from behind and turns at it with her hand ready on her dagger.

She sighs, “It’s just you, what do you want, Ciram? I’ve done nothing now to get the guild on my tail.”

“Easy now Viki, I’m here to chat… have you heard that Bronach is back in town. Did you meet him yet?”

She seems surprised to hear that “No, I didn’t even know he was in Iris.” she looks down for a moment.

“Are you sure?” he squints his eyes watching her closely.

“What do you want, Ciram? I’m tired and want to go home.”

“Business then, very well, I’m investigating the young Brahm and I heard that you actually know him from some time ago, is that true?”

She just nodded “Yes, I know the man, he didn’t call himself a Brahm at the time, but that’s in the past. And I really don’t want to talk about it right now.” she begins moving once again.

Ciram jumps in front of her, blocking her way. “His past is exactly what I wish to know, so why don’t you take some time to tell me what I want so we both can go our ways?”

“It’s late Ciram and I don’t want to get involved with the Guild or him anymore.” Viki tried to make way, but Ciram put his arm on her way.

“I’m afraid that’s not possible, we really need that information. We are willing to pay for it, name your price.”

She shook her head, “You can’t give me what I want, and what I want I can’t buy with coins. So why don’t you go look somewhere else? Ask someone else? There must be lots of other people that know him too, why don’t you go bother them instead of me?”

“That’s good to know, why don’t you tell me everything about these people as well? Just start from when you first met the young Brahm and we can go from there.”

“Fuck off Ciram, or the Black Rose will hear about this and you can kiss goodbye for that truce..”

“This has a higher priority than that right now, so either you talk or I will make you talk, Viki. Either way, you won’t leave this place before I get the information!” Ciram became dead serious and moved forward, threateningly at her, quickly raising his hand to grab her right arm.

Viki was taken by surprise by his sudden move, she couldn’t believe that he was willing to break the truce between the Assassins Guild and the Black Rose organization for such old intel.

She stepped back with quick reflexes to avoid his hand and immediately reached for her dagger, when all of a sudden, Ciram just stopped and dropped to the ground unconscious.

Viki watched as he fell down like a log on the cold stone. She was completely confused about what happened to him.

“I don’t like when people go around asking about me.” A known voice comes from close behind her, she didn’t even notice his approach much less what he did to Ciram, but she couldn’t help but smile having him talking to her.

She restrained herself and continued on, with the same tone as she was speaking to Ciarem “What happened? I thought you didn’t want anything to do with me,” She said, finally turning and seeing Riou behind her.

As he remained silent she quickly turned back to him once again, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anything about you, I know better than having you on my tail again.” She began to walk away from him, waiting with anticipation if he would say any other word.

“Actually, I didn’t come to you for that, but I would appreciate it if you didn’t.”

She stopped, and turned very curious towards him “What do you want then?”

“What’s on the third and fourth basement levels?” He asked without restraint, his tone was sharp and direct.

Viki stopped and glanced around to check if anyone could be listening to them, she then sighs, “Not here, let’s go somewhere that we can talk.” she starts walking to the main street once again.

“Very well..” he says as his presence vanishes completely. Surprised, she turns to see what happened, but he is gone.

“Where are you?” she looks around unable to find him.

“This Ciram guy you talked to was not the only one, there are a few more trying to follow me around. So I can’t just walk with you or they will spot me. So, just go, I’ll meet you again when you stop walking” his voice came from nearby, but she wasn’t able to locate its precise source nor see him there.

“So you can hide better than the guild assassins and can even take down someone like Ciram that easily? What did you do to him?”

“Don’t worry, he will wake up in a few hours, very confused.”

“As long as he doesn’t blame me for what happened.” She looked at the source of the voice once again, but she still just couldn’t find him.

She smirked and walked through the streets as she usually did, not sure if he was there or not. Viki constantly searched for other guild members that could be following her. But there were no signs of her being followed by anyone.

As she arrives at her house, she looks around before opening the door. “Here,” she says, glancing around and then entering the door, “Did I lose him?” she asked herself looking outside as Riou was nowhere to be seen.

“You live here?” his voice startled her, he was already inside and in the middle of her living room. Viki quickly turned at him, very surprised.

“How did you…” she looked at the door by her and then back at him a few steps ahead, quite intrigued.

“I was expecting something… fancier.” He says looking at the house. “And newer” he notices the holes in the ceiling and floor.

“Sorry to disappoint, not everyone lives in a mansion or is as rich as a Brahm.”

It was a simple place, nothing like what Riou expected from a thief that worked for the Black Rose for such a long time. The house was not well maintained, the shelves were mostly empty, and just some meat was hanging and drying up. There were no comforts or any fancy items anywhere.

“So?” he asks again, turning to her. Viki sits down on a large wooden chair and proceeds to take her boots off.

“The floors, I know, don’t worry I will tell you all I know about them.” As she takes off her boots they fall on the wood making a loud noise. The door for the bedroom immediately opens and a young woman rushes at the room wearing a sleeping gown “Viki! You are finally back!”

A young woman with long red hair, about 17 years. Her smile was genuinely happy as she looked at Viki. The girl was going towards her but stopped completely in her tracks, very surprised, when she realized there was someone else in the room with them.

Just as surprised was Riou seeing her there. The young woman was shorter than Viki, her body was extremely frail and thin.

“What are you doing out of bed? You know you shouldn’t be up!”

“You were late and I just wanted to see you,” she glanced at Riou.

“He is an old friend that I need to talk to, now go to bed!”

The girl smiled and became much more curious about him, “This is the first time you brought a friend home, I thought you didn’t have any!” she walks towards him. “I’m Maryl! Are you a friend from work?”

“Work?” Riou Asked.

“Yes, are you a delivery man as Viki is? You don’t look like it”

Riou looked at Viki that seemed quite concerned with that conversation “I can’t say I am.”

“Oh my! Are you my sister’s boyfriend?!”

“Maryl! Go to bed!” shouted Viki.

“I’m going!” She walked towards Riou to see him better.

“Is she… your sister?” Riou notices something odd as the girl approaches him. A strange scar around her ankle immediately caught Riou’s attention.

Viki could tell exactly where he was looking at, “Yes, why is that strange?” Maryl was very interested in him and was way too actively moving around, Viki got really concerned for her health “Maryl? Did you take your medicine as you should? Why are you not resting?”

“I will take it now! I just wanted to see you before going to sleep.” The girl glances at Riou one more time and walks back inside the room.

“Don’t mind her, we live alone here and since I’m mostly gone, she doesn’t have whom to talk to.”

“I thought your sister was… nevermind,” he drops the subject.

“I know, the floors, take a seat, make yourself comfortable in my humble mansion, I’d offer you a drink, but my servants are taking a day off and I wasn’t expecting company tonight.” The sarcasm was evident, the house was small, and there was just one bedroom, she clearly wasn’t making any money.

Smash the sound of a glass bottle breaking comes from inside the bedroom.

“Maryl? Are you alright?” Viki rushes to the room without a second thought.

Maryl was sitting down on the bed, her hand was bleeding and on the floor, there were glass pieces and a strange metallic liquid near it.

Viki immediately went to look at the wound.

“You are shaking! Not another event? But you’ve been taking the medicine, right? Why are you having these things so often?”

Maryl was smiling “Somethings can’t be controlled Viki, maybe I’m just too weak for the potion to make any effect.”, Viki cleans the glass from her wounded hand.

“You shouldn’t have waited, you should take your dose already! You know you have to drink it at the same time every week!”

“It’s fine Viki, I just wanted to see you before taking it, you know that I don’t like to drink it without you being home, it makes me sleepy and I can’t see you then.”

Viki went to a cabinet and picked a large white cloth, she then searched a shelf nearby. “Where are the other doses?” She walked back to the bed and wrapped Maryl’s hand. “Was that the last one? I told you that you had to tell me when you were running out of it!”

Maryl nods with a bright smile, as her whole body was shaking.

“Shit, I will go get more! Lay down, you need to rest, you are burning too much energy like that! I will be right back!” Viki passes by Riou, she looks at him briefly with a very desperate look, but restrains her words and just puts on her boots and rushes out.

Riou walked inside the room where Maryl was and looked at the silverish metallic liquid on the floor. “This doesn’t look like a healthy medicine.” he looked at the cabinet where the potion was supposed to be, then to the bed where Maryl was sat, the potion was broken not between the path to the two, but much farther up the room.

Maryl laughed a bit on the bed. “It’s not really medicine, I’m not sick.”

Riou was surprised by her response, “You could have fooled me.”

“I’m actually cursed.” She raised her thin, trembling arms. “Enfeeblement, they call it, have you heard about it?”

Riou shook his head, “No,” looking at the broken potion on the floor again, he saw the blood drops going from there all the way to the bed. The liquid in the top of the room was very thick and didn’t move since it had fallen, it didn’t spread either. The thing didn’t even get absorbed by the wood nor the piece of cloth that fell nearby. Not even the blood drops that fell from Maryl’s hand seemed able to mix in it.

Riou looked at the girl once again confused as to why she would have taken it there instead of drinking it right on the cabinet or at the bed.

The room had two beds, no paintings or images, the window was blocked from the inside with a piece of wood.

Riou walked around as Maryl observed him in silence.

Many holes on the boards in the floor there, the house was old and poorly maintained. As he walked back and toward Maryl’s bed, he took a better look at the scar on her ankle. It was nasty looking, like the skin was ripped from it forcefully.

Maryl smiled “Are you a Noble?”

“Why do you ask?”

“You dress like one, but you seem different than one.”

“Am I? How?”

“You have kind eyes. Even when you look at something like this,” she shows her ankle.”You don’t seem angered to see that I’m free from it.”

“You mean the Slave crest?”

She nods and goes silent for a moment. Her voice became more serious “Mister, I don’t know who you are, but can I bother you with a request? I have a letter for a person, would you be so kind as to get it to a delivery man? It’s to someone in Brigantium. I have a few coins to pay for it...”

“Brigantium?”

She nodded,

He looked away, “Why can’t your sister take it?”

Maryl went silent for a moment and then smiled, “I know she isn’t really working with deliveries…”

Riou nodded and then looked at the shattered potion on the floor, “This potion? Where does she get it?”

“She says it's with an Alchemist on the south side of Iris.”

Riou nodded briefly a couple of times, “And this letter? Who you wish to contact?”

“It’s to a merchant, I wish to give him my farewell.” She reaches over a nightstand, opens the drawer with her trembling arm, and pulls an old letter from it with two coins.

“So you want to say your farewell to Bronach?” he speaks to her surprise.

She let the letter fall from her hand on the bed, “How do you know? Did Viki...”

“A Long time ago, he told me about his story, I just put the dots together.”

She swallowed hard, her eyes rounded up as her voice saddened, “How is Mister Bronach doing nowadays? It’s been so long since, I always wondered if he remembered us. Viki never speaks of him and she thinks I was too young to remember, but I do have some memories of him and… and...” her trembling ceased as tears flowed down her face.

Riou took a deep breath and nodded “He certainly does, he remembers you two. I’m sure he will like to hear you are alive.”

She chuckles and smiles as her tears continue to fall “I would like to see him again, at least once, before I die.”

“I’m sure you will, sooner than you think.”

“Please take this letter to him!” She desperately tries to reach down the letter, grabbing it with her wounded hand, staining the old paper with blood, extending her hand holding it towards Riou.

He looked at the girl as she sat on the bed. Her arm, thin as a twig, her genuine smile only served to reveal the bones in her cheeks. Her wet eyes were hopeful and yet, also filled with great sorrow. As she holds the letter towards him, the wound worsens in her hand and the blood drips from her hand to the bed.

His chest got heavy, his eyes widened at the sight of the girl in the bed, she was literally all bones.

“You don’t think you will live for very long, do you?”

She nods. “I don’t have much time now.”

“What about the potion? Does it even work?”

“It eases up the effects and the shaking, it helps to extend one's life for a bit, not much. ”

“Then why are you at such an advanced stage, you are not taking it, are you?”

She smiles “No, I pour it over that hole in the corner so I can show the empty vials to Viki.” She points to the corner of the room.

“You want to die? Why?”

She puts her hand down and lays back on the bed. “Because I can’t take it anymore, I’ve been a burden all my life, I can’t do it anymore.”

Riou went silent and just looked down.

She smiled “You must know that we were taken by them while we were very young.”

He nodded “I heard it from Bronach,”

Maryl smiled happily, “She was the closest thing to a mother we ever had. I was younger than Viki, but to this day I still remember her, something here and there remained in my mind. I think that it was the first time we had that, my mind somehow knew I had to remember it. When I think about it, I don’t know the exact things that happened but I remember the feeling I had back then, and I can tell, the time living with mister and Mrs. Bronach was the happiest time of my life.”

Riou went silent, he moved towards the corner of the room to look down the hole as the girl continued.

“You know what they do with those they capture? A handler from the Black Rose comes every week and chooses one from the cage. He then takes them to another place where they do horrible things, over and over again. They call it training. But she wouldn’t accept it, Viki always said she was strong and that she tried to fight them over. Even with the horrible things they did to her, she refused to accept her fate. But they couldn’t break her. They killed her in front of us after humiliating and torturing her. Viki didn’t let me look, but I can still remember the screams, everytime I go to sleep without seeing Viki, I heard them again.”

Riou doesn't say a word, he just walks silently back, closer to her bed.

With melancholic eyes, she continues “One after the other, the kids were taken out and when the cage was almost empty, they brought a bunch more. There was always someone new coming. But it was just a matter of time before our turn would come. And one day, one day, it was my turn to go. The handler picked me, but Viki wouldn’t have it, so she stood up and said she wanted to go to my place. The handler laughed but took her instead of me.”

She lowered her head “I thought I had no more tears to cry after what happened to the Lady. But I was wrong. Very wrong. Say, mister, have you ever felt like you were truly alone in the world?” “In a different way, maybe.”

She nodded, “But then, when I had lost hope, she returned, Viki was now on the other side of the bars and said to me that everything would be alright from now on. Then they took me out of the cage and put me in a cell, all by myself. Some time went by, I don’t know how long. But then he came, a man I’ve never seen before. He put the crest on my ankle and took me to his house where I worked as a maid for many years. I was happy to leave the cell, and to see Viki there every now and then, so I worked, gladly for him. I even thanked him for saving me.” A tear runs down her face and drops on her lap.

“I was a slave, but he never touched me nor let anyone do it. I was young and was very happy there. But after a few years, I overheard Viki talking to him. I then learned why I was there, and about the conditions for my survival, not to mention the price of my freedom. She had to pay weekly to keep me alive and then the absurd sum of 50000 if she wished to ever free me. When I learned of it. I felt disgusted, I realized that man was the one behind everything that happened to us. I hated him from all my being.”

“Who was this man?”

“They call it Boss, that’s how everyone called him. There was never a name, I don’t even know the location of his mansion, we went in and out through a gate crystal.”

Riou nodded understanding what she meant.

“I tried to beg Viki to forget about me, to flee from those people that forced her to work for them. But she kept saying she would get the money, one way or another, that I shouldn’t worry, that she was close to it. But at that point, I didn’t care if I had to go to a brothel or some nasty lord house or even a shallow grave, I just wanted my sister away from those people.”

“So you know she still works for them, even now that you are free?”

“I know, and I can’t stand that Viki has to do their bidding, she has to do these bad things for them because of me. I hate them so much, I hate him so much that I dreamt of killing that man ever since I found out, and I would’ve done it if it weren't for the slave crest.”

She looked at the blood dripping from her hand in the bed. “And then, even after she finally bought my freedom, when we thought she could finally stop and put an end to it. This curse happened… Maybe the elements just didn’t want us to be happy. Maybe I’m really cursed, and if I weren’t here to hold her back, she’d be happier.”

Riou looked at metallic liquid on the floor again “Then the alchemist is actually the Black Rose, she must continue to obey them in exchange for them, the only thing that changed was the prison.”

Maryl smiled at Riou “I’m glad she has a friend, please help her once I’m gone. Take her away from this city if you can! Far away, somewhere she can start over.”

He shook his head, “I don’t think it’s that simple.”

“Please! I can see her pain every time she returns home and I can’t do it anymore, I can’t take another decade of her life like that, I won’t allow her to work for that man for my sake. I need to die so she can be free, please, help her when that happens! ”

“Why are you telling me all this?”

She smiled at him, “She is different around you, I could see right away, I know if it’s you, she will listen and move on.”

Riou sighed with his hand on his head, “You are a strange girl, Maryl… so, how did you get this thing? This curse?”

She smiled at him “Well, it’s a known curse that affects people that had the slave crest removed, very rare, but it does happen to some individuals.” The shaking on her arms returns and intensifies for a few moments until she could get it under control.

“Can it be cured or broken?”

“No, it's a death sentence.” She lays her head back and closes her eyes, “Please, could you take my letter to mister Bronach as well? I won’t forget your kindness, I will speak well of you in the spirit world.”

“I wouldn’t recommend going there…” Riou was close to the bed and reached for her hand as she raised the letter towards him.

Riou then gently pushed her hand and the letter down, just so she released the letter on the bed. “You seem to trust me for some reason, but can I trust you?” he asks to her surprise with his hand on top of hers.

She looks at him confused, his eyes are oddly calm but she can tell he is waiting for her reply.

“Yes.” She speaks with determination.

He pulls her hand up and turns it, revealing the cut. He hovered his other hand on top of it for a moment.

She stayed quiet, observing and not moving a muscle.

He lets go of it “Now don’t move, stay laid down.” He moves both his hands above her body sensing something, She couldn’t tell what he was doing, but he was certainly focused and dead serious.

Riou then nodded and stopped his hand above her stomach. She felt a warmth coming from his hand that spread all over her body, glancing over she saw the strings of mana coming from his hand and into her body.

“This might hurt a little, brace yourself, okay?”

Maryl nodded and prepared herself.

He clenched his fist and pulled the mana strings up, Maryl could feel something unrooting from deep within her body, moving from her stomach everywhere to the tip of her limbs. It felt like someone was pulling deep-rooted weeds from the ground with great force, unrooting them completely, to the very tip of the deepest parts of it. She could feel something detaching with great struggle from her body.

As he finished, she took a deep breath of relief. To her surprise, her lungs were filled up with air like she hadn’t felt in a long time.

It was much easier to breathe, her legs as well, felt lighter, her arms were not shaking anymore and felt stronger. For some reason, she felt at ease.

But he was not finished yet, “I’m sorry but this is also necessary, ready yourself again.” This time, mana went in her stomach once again, spreading like water in a tub until it settled in. She a moment passed and then she immediately felt the urge to puke, she rushed to the side of the bed, put her head out, vomiting lots of that silverish goo that seemed trapped inside her body.

As she finished expelling the last of it, Riou raised his hand another time, creating a green mist that covered her, soothing her body that no longer felt any discomfort, she a peace within her body, she could tell something had changed and she felt good, like she has not felt in a long time.

“Never drink that potion again, tell your sister you don’t need it anymore.”

“What did you do?” she looked at her hand, realizing it was healed.

“Remember that you said I could trust you? Then I was never here, in fact, I left a moment after your sister left, we never spoke after that.” he nodded and began moving.

He was ready to leave, Maryl was about to say something when he turned and spoke first.

“And don’t worry, I will make sure Bronach knows where to find you, you have time now, just eat well and you will be fine.”

“Am I really cured?” she asked, not believing it, but the shaking was gone, she felt well again.

Riou just smiled at her and walked towards the door.

“Wait! Please! Don’t go! Viki will come back soon, please wait for her! You wanted to talk to her, right? Please wait for her!”

“No… I changed my mind, I can’t involve her in this… besides, I’m not even here, remember?” he glances at her waiting for her confirmation.

She nods many times at him and Riou finally leaves the room. She remains there, looking at her hand quite incredulously, not really believing what just happened, wondering if it was real or not.

As he passes by the house entrance door, he stops and glances back for a moment, takes a deep breath continuing on his way out at a faster pace.

He pulls up an orange crystal “Max… I’ll go check the Tulip myself, I have a bad feeling about that place.”

“Wait, you could put everything to lose if you scare them away!”

“Then what do you suggest? I can’t just ignore that place.”

“No, we can’t. But maybe it’s time for our knight captain to make an appearance, he is expected to rough some feathers after all. I will ask him to go and check the place.”

“Then he will need magical support, there might be barriers, runes, and protections on the deeper floors..”

“Ursula and Lily wanted to help too, didn’t they? This is the perfect opportunity for it then, so sit tight and follow the plan so we can drag the council. I know they are here, I can feel it.”

“Fine, and another thing, ask Bhalrom to look into the prisoners being kept at the guard’s garrisons, they are probably working for the Rose and arresting people for other purposes. There is a Dornis and Bianca Whiteflower in prison right now, I want to know why they are there and who ordered it.”

“I will relay the message, oh and talking about requests, an invitation from Lord Tullius Partridge just arrived for you, it says there will be a ballroom party tomorrow night for most prestigious nobles in Iris.”

“Party? Wasn’t it today? Where did Eileen go?”

“She is here, but do come back, she wishes to talk to you. The spell and the crystals we set up were a good idea,, Eileen was being followed as expected, but they won’t be able to discover our meeting with that.”

“They tried to follow me too, ok, I’m on my way now.”