Arte was hurried into a carriage with the red-dressed girl after changing from his paladin uniform to a rather plain hooded outfit that, in Xavier's words, would blend in with commoners.

During the time he was to change clothes, Arte understood, or at least was able to guess by himself, what kind of place the Rose Blanche was.

The strange motivation that had drawn Xavier away suddenly vanished after Arte cleared up the misunderstanding and explained where his interest in that establishment stems from having to reveal too much.

Arte wasn’t stupid; he knew from their reaction and the way they looked at him weirdly when he made mention of that establishment that there was definitely something wrong with that place.

Arte eventually remembered that his master had never really confirmed that the place was indeed a smithing establishment, which was understandable given that Arte himself had not bothered to seek confirmation; he simply assumed from his master's words, claiming that these were the ones to whom he owed his spear, that the establishment was a smithing-related one.

But still, things unfolded so quickly that before he could come to a complete sense of what was happening, Arte and the girl found themselves carriage-riding through the streets of the Lower District.

Arte sighed.

He would have preferred his master to explain things more clearly, but since he promised to deliver this letter to its rightful recipient, the sooner he was able to do so, the better.

All in all, since the day Arte and his brother ran away from their familial mansion to find shelter in the holy city, less than six months had gone by, yet it was Arte's first time visiting the holy city's lower district; as a matter of fact, it was Arte's first time, in seventeen years of existence, visiting a lower district.

Arte and his brother used to live in a familiar remote mansion located in a remote domain located in a very calm place on the border between the empire and theocracy, mostly inhabited by nobles, primarily church executives and church's former executives, before moving to the Holy City. There was nothing in that domain that resembled a lower district; all of the commoners who lived there were servants of the neighboring nobles.

As such, the moment Arte's carriage rode through the streets of the lower district, he saw the place as quite uniquely different from how he initially assumed it would be.

For, in truth, Arte was expecting the lower district to be more untidy and chaotically crowded. Though it was fairly crowded, it wasn’t as much as he thought it would be. People were dressed in modest but quite respectable outfits.

"Rubi, was it?" Arte asked, wishing to start a discussion with the girl he sat with in the carriage.

"... Yes, Lord Arte," confirmed the girl sitting across Arte in the carriage.

"No… There is no need for the "Lord" part; just Arte will suffice. Say, Rubi, is every lower district like this one?"

"Like this one?"

"I mean, clean, tidy…" It was only mid-sentence when I realized how blatantly disrespectful his words were: "Sorry if I sounded discourteous with that question... it’s just that I’ve never been to a lower district before."

"No, no, no... Why are you apologizing to me, Lord Arte?" Rubi mumbled clumsily. "No, not every lower district is as beautiful as this one," she explained after finally gathering herself.

Looking nostalgic, she went on, "The one I used to live in wasn’t like this; its streets were far from being as clean and beautiful as this one, but still, the district I used to live in was a very pleasant place to live in."

"Oh, you’re not from here? Why did you move here?"

It took her some time to answer my question, but before she eventually did, Arte already understood why.

"The seven calamities destroyed everything we had. I was an orphan who used to gain her living by selling fruits she picked from various cultivators in the surrounding area, but all of that, after the calamity, burned to dust."

Arte didn't expect his question to have such a heavy weight behind it; had he guessed sooner, Arte would never have asked that question.

"I and some of my orphan’s friends managed to make it out unscathed from the calamity, but we were left with nothing. With the small sum we had, we paid ourselves a trip to this holy city, where we thought we could find our new start."

"Sorry to hear that," Arte expressed.

"It’s nothing, Lord Arte. In fact, it was my fault for bringing such an uninteresting topic into this conversation. But, in the end, we found it here in the holy capital, our new beginning. And it is the place that Lord Arte wishes to visit that offers us that opportunity. "

"La Rose Blanche..."

"Yes. By the way, Lord Arte," she said, opening the carriage window and pointing to a towering structure ahead. "I think the headquarters can be seen from here."

Peering through the carriage's window, Arte spotted a massive and towering gray building with a very familiar emblem engraved on it: a white rose similar to the one on Arte's master letter.

Arte recognized the place as the one that he, from the noble district structure, could see in the faraway distance. The more the carriage was getting closer to the place, the more Arte thought that, indeed, what he had assumed from Ana's and Xavier’s reactions was right. The structure is almost as imposing as a royal palace, and the design is similar to what anyone would expect to see in a luxurious gambling house, but anyone self-aware enough would have, in Arte's shoes, reasons to believe that place was anything but just a casino.

Back in the days prior to his enrollment in the Paladin Order, Arte found himself glancing at this location from time to time; he knew what the building was used for but had never heard or seen its name.

The place was clearly within sight when the girl sitting across from Arte spoke up. "Sorry, I was told by Lord Xavier to mention nothing about the place until you see it for yourself," she said, noticing Arte's gaze returning to her.

La Rose Blanche wasn't like any type of commerce or business, as most structures around here were; "La Rose Blanche" was a brothel, a noble and luxurious one, made not for commoners' customer bases but rather a noble one.

This time Arte finally realized and understood Ana’s reaction upon being asked his question about "La Rose Blanche."

"Seriously, what was the Master thinking when tasking me with this duty?" Arte mumbled under his breath. "I’m sure he is now laughing at this whole joke."

Understanding the implication she made when Ruby mentioned being given a second chance by the "La Rose Blanche" Arte, I ventured, "Rubi, you’re...."

"A flower. That's how we're known and called. But yes, I'm exactly what you're thinking of."

"I see… Sorry… "

"What are you apologizing for, Lord Arte? It’s just what I am." She said in a very genuine way, "Here we are." She said the carriage parked itself.

"Lord Xavier told me you weren’t here for our Rose Blanche’s service but were instead looking for someone in the establishment, but he didn’t tell me who you were referring to; may I know who it is? I might help."

"Yes. I am here looking for a certain person called Eleonora Blanche. Do-"

"What?!" Rubi suddenly shouted. "What do you want from her?"

Arte was slightly taken aback by her sudden and vivid reaction, but she quickly recovered from her earlier blunder.

"... Sorry… I'm truly sorry."

"No, it's nothing."

"It’s just that person is a very important person in the Rose Blanche. Even a flower like me, had only the opportunity to meet her once."

Arte let out a sigh of relief, as at least the one his master sent him to wasn’t a random person working for the "Rose Blanche," but, just as Arte had accurately guessed, someone high ranking in the establishment.

"I see... could you tell me who that person at your establishment is?"

"She is the eldest and most influential person in the establishment; she is even among the most influential commoners in the Holy Capital. Even for nobles, she is someone who is to be treated with the utmost respect, as she is among the few commoners that have achieved being made noble," she said with a voice beaming with admiration.

"Do you think you can arrange a meeting for me to meet with her?"

"Ah?! ... for that; I don’t think I can help... I can talk to one of my superiors; that’s the best I can do."

"A superior?"

"Yes, they are the ones charged with the task of overseeing us, flowers. Though not being directly under the order, I’m sure they can do something for Lord Arte to meet with Madame Blanche."

"Yes, please; I'll be counting on you then," Arte said as he walked toward the establishment's entrance.

Guards—unexpectedly women—wearing heavy, full-body armor and wielding lances stood guard at its entrance.

Young men, clearly nobles based on their attire, were casually entering and leaving the place with a girl, some with two girls wrapped around each arm, strolling around whether toward the entrance or toward a carriage as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Arte had never had a commoner friend, and as a result, he had never had the chance to be particularly close to any commoner. The only commoners Arte and his brother ever had around them were their nanny and housemaids. So the casualness between these young girls and these young men he knew were noble was quite a disturbing sight for him.

And the fact that he knew that this place was a brothel didn’t help either. Being a boy at that particular age, Arte’s mind naturally veered toward a certain train of thoughts that he himself realized weren't appropriate.

Putting his hood on, Arte got off their carriage and made his way to the palace with the help of Ruby. From there onward, things began to be very brothel-like, if one could say so.

Girls wearing rather short, very revealing outfits were parading around unbothered at all like they were in the middle of some sort of festival.

"What the hell am I doing here?"

A chuckle could be heard coming from Rubi.

"Lord Arte, you’re staring too much," she teasingly chuckled.

"I'm sorry, it...To be honest, all of this is very new for me, I never really visited a lower district, much less an establishment like this one."

"You do not have to apologize, it was my fault for not revealing it earlier,... Lord Arte, I have a question I was curious about; it might come across as very inappropriate, may I still ask it?"

"Yes, please do."

"How come Lord Arte didn’t know about our establishment? I am no noble, but I believe that most nobles of your age do know of this place, for they constitute a large part of this establishment's clientele."

"Ah, that. I think It's because, in a way, I'm still new to the holy city. My brother and I moved here to the holy capital barely five months ago. Even though I reached the age of 15, instead of immediately joining the Aurora Academia like any other noble, I decided to wait until my brother reached the required age to join the Academia with me, which is why, though I look as old as Xavier and everyone else, I’m rather new, as I only joined the Aurora Academia five months ago, and not even two months later, I enrolled myself in the Paladin Order as an apprentice paladin."

It was true. Not even nine months ago, Arte and his brother Uriel were living in theocracy in their familial house, a sprawling estate even by noble standards. Arte and his brother spent their childhood there, but when they learned of our father's death, they were, with what their stepmother did, forced to leave that place, leaving their entire childhood behind them.

Though Arte knew very well that he wouldn't be able to return to those days, he still misses those times—those he spent reading and freely training their magic in their courtyard.

"I see."

Arte continued to converse with Ruby as they walked through the large palace, and during their conversation, they arrived at a less crowded but still crowded part of the palace to ultimately reach an alley hall thoroughly guarded by guards armed to the teeth. It was then that, amidst that crowd, Arte noticed, from the corner of his eye, from across the room, a person whose tall silhouette struck him as very familiar.

"Lord Arte? Is there a problem?"

It was only a single fleeting glance that Arte caught sight of, so though a face came to his mind, he still doubted that that person would be the kind to visit an establishment of this kind.

"No, nothing. I thought I saw someone I knew, but it was only my imagination."

"I see."

Arte couldn't help but notice that, with his attempt to hide his identity with his outfits, he was calling most people's attention onto him, as most nobles Arte earlier saw were pretty unbothered to try to hide their identities.

Yet despite that, their entrance to the palace went smoothly—so smoothly, in fact, that the moment they were stopped as they were about to take a large staircase, Arte felt a certain relief.

"Halt, Rubi. Customers are not permitted to enter this corner." One of the female guards stepped in and explained.

"Naida, he is with me. He’s noble, but he is not a client; he has something to do with Lady Orchid." Rubi said, trying her best to explain Arte’s situation.

"With the Lady Orchid?" Puzzled, both female guards looked at Arte up and down, then one of them announced, "If you say so, I guess it should be okay."

"I’m sorry for interrupting your business," the guard apologized.

"It’s nothing."

Arte and Rubi proceeded to the palace's upper floors, having been granted permission to do so.

They were occasionally stopped at each floor, but once Rubi explained what brought him here, they were allowed through. After a while, upon reaching what seemed to be the Palace's highest floor, the duo reached a large wooden door, guarded by two guards, who were once again two women.

Upon having inquired about Arte and Rubi’s motive for coming to this place, the guards announced Arte and Ruby's presence to whoever was within the room.

It didn't take long for the person inside to accept Arte and Rubi's impromptu audience query.

Upon entering the room, Arte saw a large room, then a desk, and then, on the other side of that desk, a woman, whose sight struck Arte as vaguely familiar.

"Lord Arte," the woman said, snapping Arte out of his nimble state. "Was it?"

"Huh… Sorry. My name is indeed Arte Barbosse. Pleased to meet you."

"Same for me. While some know me as Lady Orchild, my name is Emma Blanche," she explained, introducing herself.

Hearing the name Blanche, Arte was certain that, despite the sketchiness of the place, he had arrived close to the one his master requested him to reach.

"So, Lord Arte, may I ask what I can do for you?"

"I am here because..." he said, stopping himself upon noticing Ruby's presence. "Thank you for everything you've done up to this point, Ruby, but could you please leave us alone now?" Arte requested.

Without a comment, she nodded and bid Arte and Emma, the woman, farewell before simply taking her leave.

When Arte's gaze shifted away from the closing door, he noticed the woman's gaze plastered on Arte's warped spear. And the woman was not hiding herself from it; after all, it was a rather normal reaction.

And in fact, Arte was quite impressed with how far he was able to roam through the palace carrying that thing around.

"What I’m going to say might sound strange, but," Arte ventured, before proceeding to unwrap his spear, revealing Allée. "This is a gift I received from a certain person, and that certain person told me that he made it through you, at least from what he said." Seeing that it stirred some reaction in her, Arte asked, "So I wondered if maybe you might recognize this spear?"

Arte dismissed the idea that these people bearing the name Blanche and this establishment were even remotely connected to the forging of his spear after learning the truth about the Rose Blanche as an establishment, but after seeing the woman's reaction to the spear, Arte came to realize that, while his master had hidden details from him, he might not have lied about them being involved in the making of the spear.

"So you are the one Hugo was talking about." Inspecting Arte up and down, she nodded, then went on, "You indeed look like what he has described."

"Hugo?"

"To most, Gunther Freshet, Holy Paladin. To you, your master."

Though there was no visible way to recognize one from the other unless that one were to display himself, Arte, using a method shared with him and his brother alone, knew his own little way of recognizing a noble from a commoner. As such, he was certain that the woman in front of him was not a noble but rather a commoner.

A certain theory blossomed in Arte’s mind, prompting him, in quest of an answer, to ask, "Excuse me, may I ask, what exactly are you for, Master?"

"Me to him? I, Emma Blanche, am his sister, his little sister."