Chapter 32: The Start of a Journey

About two hours later, the happy customer and his company come back to the bar. I look at the two and see that their hair is still wet from the shower. I smile at Helio and speak,

"I would assume that our products are up to code as well?"

He coughs and speaks with a slight blush,

"Indeed. I believe them to be of high enough quality."

I speak,

"So, would you recommend us for noble customers?"

He coughs again and straightens his tie, getting serious,

"Yes I would. This brothel is cleaner than most bars and casinos frequented by nobles. I'd recommend this place to the royal family, were that not insulting to them. I could see this place becoming a gathering center for nobles, despite the subject matter."

I smile and say,

"Well, a brothel isn't the only store I plan on creating, just the first."

He nods his head and answers,

"Well, I'm certain that, so long as they are of the same quality, any store you open shall be wildly popular amongst the nobility. With this, I'll take my leave. Once you submit your ads, and pay for them, they'll be distributed within the noble district."

I nod my head and say,

"I thank you for your time. Do feel free to visit any time. I'm sure Aiwin enjoyed your company."

Aiwin blushes and waves at him as he walks towards the exit. I then speak in a teasing tone,

"Though, next time, I'll have to charge."

Helio freezes for a second, but continues on, exiting the brothel. I turn to Aiwin and speak,

"Good job. I can guarantee he'll be a regular. I'm proud of you."

I pat Aiwin's head and give him a warm smile. He looks up at me with hearts in his eyes and says,

"Anything for you, mistress!"

I then look into Aiwin's mind and see the prince cowering in a corner, holding his arms and shaking slightly. I speak directly to him,

"Oh, poor little prince. This is just the beginning! Be glad your first time was with such a dainty man. I can assure you, there's some fat, disgusting noble who will be drooling to get his hands on such a pretty boy."

I laugh at him and send Aiwin away to go dance. I think up some designs for a few ads. My favorite one is by far the one I've just made appear in my hand.

[The Succubi's Secret, For those with expensive taste!]

It's on a white paper with golden outlines, and shows the silhouette of Aiwin holding a champagne glass in a lounging position.

I also design a few recruiting papers for the store to get more employees that aren't clones. Advertising is free in the slums, so I just create a bunch and put them all throughout the slums. They don't put down sex workers, and explain that the job will come with healthcare, childcare, and free housing and meals. It also explains that they'll have the right to refuse customers, and yada yada you get it. I let Rok'taar know to let any potential employees know that I'll be there tomorrow during the day to interview them.

It'll take a while for Helio to get back to the commerce guild, so I teleport back to my room. I put on my lingerie and climb into bed with Annie, planting a gentle kiss on her cheek. This kiss stirs Annie awake. She looks at me and says,

"Can't sleep?"

I smile at her and say,

"How could I possibly sleep with such a beautiful girl laying by my side?"

She blushes and cuddles up against me, listening to the sound of my heart. I kiss the top of her head and say,

"I love you."

She looks up at me and reciprocates with a kiss, before pulling away,

"I love you too… Rosanna."

I move her hair out from in front of her face and put it behind her ear before planting a kiss on her forehead. I tease her,

"Y'know, in about two weeks, you and I will have this entire mansion all to ourselves, save for the servants. Oh the debauchery we'll be up to!"

She blushes and pouts at me,

"Hmph! Just for that, We'll do no such thing!"

I chuckle at her and run my hand down her cheek to her shoulder, down her shoulder to her side, and down her side to her thigh. I kiss her and say,

"Oh dear, we both know you won't last a week."

She pouts at me again and flips around to face away from me. I wrap my arms around her waist and cuddle up against her, planting more kisses on her cheek. For a few seconds, she doesn't really react. But, she turns around suddenly and looks in my eyes. I can tell that she wants to talk about something serious. I put my hand on her cheek and ask,

"Is something bothering you?"

Annie nods her head and says,

"To be honest, I keep thinking back to the day you died… I was one of the servants that was brought along to take care of you after the party. I remember watching you, and thinking you were the most beautiful person in the entire world. I was so happy that I was even allowed to be around you. I felt so jealous seeing you chase after the prince, that curr."

She speaks with venom as she mentions him,

"A-and then I remember seeing him push you. My heart dropped as I saw your feet leave the ground. Seeing your delicate body hitting the stairs as you fell, and hearing that awful crack as your head hit the ground… It felt as though my purpose for existing had left. Hearing your mother confirm that you were dead, and seeing the healers struggling…"

Tears begin falling from her eyes as she recounts,

"The following week was hell. Nobody at the mansion could get any work done. I was sent home early one day because I kept sweeping the same spot for hours on end. Even the madam and master stopped caring for their duties. The young master was even worse, having locked himself away in his room. The knights ended up nearly killing a reporter during this time who spoke ill of you while trying to get an interview. He's lucky. I would have driven a knife through his heart, and your family would have vaporized him."

She squeezes my hand as she continues,

"Then the day of your funeral came. The Royal family had announced that they would be attending, but your father explicitly told them that were they to come with a mile of the church, he would rebel against them. Tensions were high, but eventually your father relented and allowed the princess and queen to come. As, those two were for punishing the prince for what he had done. I remember seeing the princess crying at your funeral. I had thought to myself that it makes sense, the two of you were the best of friends for the longest time. But this felt like a much deeper loss for her."

Annie looks into my eyes,

"I could feel a similar hurt to mine in her. I… Felt as though she and I were the same. At least in pain. And then, you woke up."

She chuckles slightly as she says,

"And you said 'Be quiet! I have a headache!' as if that headache was the only matter at hand."

She looks at me and says,

"And then we found out about your memory loss. The master and madam may not have explicitly shown it, but they're incredibly worried. As am I… Just for differing reasons. They're worried that you'll eventually fall ill again, and are also sad that you don't remember your time with them before the incident."

Annie squeezes my hand again,

"W-while I… am afraid that you'll get your memory back."

Tears well up at the edges of her eyes once more as she beats herself up mentally,

"It's so selfish of me. But I'm afraid that, if you get your memory back, you'll no longer love me. That I'll go back to being just another servant of yours. That you'll forget our time together."

Her eyes are closed as tears force themselves out of her eyelids,

"*hic* I-I'm *hic* such an awful person."

I look at the crying girl in my arms and kiss her gently on the forehead. I speak to her softly,

"Is that all? I can assure you, Annie. No matter what happens in the future, I will always love you. You will always have a special place in my heart. We may have been together for only a matter of weeks, but I already feel as though I've been with you all my life."

I grab her chin and gently lift it up to face me. Her eyes open and I look into them. Her beautiful brown eyes seem to enrapture me, causing me to feel warmth rise up in my heart. I smile at her warmly and say,

"I'll always love you, Annie. 'Til the end of time. And even beyond. You are my first love. You will always be special to me."

And I seal that with a kiss. I meant that. At first, I just wanted to test myself. See if I could seduce someone and testing it on Annie. But, now… she has earned herself a place in my heart. I hold her close to my chest afterwards, and let the girl fall asleep in my arms. I suppose the commerce guild can wait til the morning.

—-----------------------------

After waking up, and washing up with Annie, I tell her about my business with the commerce guild, and make a clone of myself at the third circle to replace me for the day. I get there and hand in the ads, and the payment. I specify that I want the ads to be more focused around the lower nobility's area. They tend to be the most degenerate. Then, I head to the brothel to see if any potential employees have shown up.

Not many, which isn't surprising. It's only been one day. Three have shown up. Two girls and one guy. I sit behind the bar and tell one of the clone workers to go bring one of the interviewees over. They bring back one of the girls.

She seems to be in her early twenties and has brown hair and green eyes. She's got a more petite figure. She walks over to me with a bit of timidness on her face. I speak in a warm tone,

"Don't worry dear. What's your name?"

She sits on the bar stool and says,

"Uhm, I'm Neela."

I smile at her and say,

"Alright, Neela. I'm Midas. It's nice to meet you."

She nods and says,

"U-uhm, you too."

I create some papers under the counter and pull them out, putting one in front of her. This paper is basically blank, just some basic stuff on it asking her a few questions such as her age, her reason for applying, and basically swearing that nobody pressured her into applying.

"Here you are, I just need you to fill this out before we continue."

She looks at the paper and begins sweating a little, it's evident that she doesn't know how to write. I smile at her,

"It's alright if you don't know how to write. Just knowing how to read is good enough. Tell you what, if you can think about the information on the paper, that'll work."

I cast a spell on the paper that will read her mind and fill itself out. After this spell is cast, writing appears on the paper, filling out her info. She looks at it with a bit of shock and confusion. I hold my hand out to take the page and begin reading it.

"Alright, So you're 19 years old. You live in the upper slums, and you're applying to help your family through the winter?"

She nods her head along,

"And nobody forced you to apply, you just chose to because it was the only place with no requirements other than your age?"

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She nods her head once again. I put down the paper and look her in the eyes.

"You do realize that this is a brothel, correct? You'll be selling your body. Having sex. You know that, right?"

She blushes as I say that and nods her head in embarrassment.

"I-I know! If-if it's for my family I'll do anything!"

I smile at her and say,

"Well, you can start today if you'd like. We can find an empty dorm for you to move into-"

"NO!"

She suddenly yells out, and quickly shrinks back down,

"S-sorry! I didn't mean to yell… It's just… I can't leave my brother and sister alone in the slums… So, I can't live here…"

I clear my throat and say,

"There's no need for that. They can come live with you. We have a back entrance, so if you're worried about them finding out about your work it'll be fine. We provide free schooling to kids from ages four to sixteen as well."

I slowly wave my hand over my mask, changing from my full-face one to the half-face.

"It'd be a shame if you got too popular and someone followed you home. We'll keep you and your family safe. I promise you that."

She looks down and says,

"A-alright. Th-then I'll do it!"

I smile at her and say,

"Well, are you a virgin?"

She blushes and jumps back suddenly before saying,

"Wh-why?!"

I look at her and tilt my head slightly,

"Are you serious? People will pay a lot to take a girl's virginity. I was thinking we could have you dancing for a while at first, and then auction off your first time. Of course, only to customers you would want to. All of the money from the auction would go to you, as well."

She blushes some more and says,

"U-uhm… Whatever you think would be best. Th-thank you for the opportunity!"

I reach up and pat her head,

"Thank you for applying. Also, you don't have to sell your body if you don't want you. It's fine for you to just be a dancer."

She nods her head and says,

"I-I'll think about it."

I nod and say,

"You can go get your brother and sister. The backdoor is on the left corner of the building. If they ask, say you work at a bar."

She nods her head and leaves. The other two applicants were another human woman and a human male. The interviews went relatively the same, they were both really interested in making money by having sex. Neither of them were virgins, so we can't really do a virginity auction with them.

My plan for the auction is that we'll have her dance for about a month, letting the customers get to know her, then we'll announce the auction as well as the requirements for joining. I think it'll bring out the maximum amount of money for her. Well, now that the first batch of applicants is done, I'll leave the rest to one of the clone workers.

For now, I think I'll let the brothel sit for a while. Get itself going. My work is done with it for now.

—------------------------

[Two Weeks Later]

I get up from my meditation, having just mimicked breaking through to the fifth circle. I look at the house and see my father looking at me with a sad smile. He sighs and speaks while walking towards me,

"Haaaaah. I don't know if I should be proud of you or disappointed in myself."

I chuckle and give him a hug before teasing,

"I could give you a few pointers if you wanted!"

He lightly bonks me on the head and says,

"Good Gaera, what in your holy name have I done to deserve such a cheeky daughter?"

He then laughs and says,

"Honestly, I'm very proud of you."

He rubs my head and holds me tightly, he then grabs my shoulders and pushes me away giving me a serious look.

"Your mother and I will be leaving for the dukedom later today. We'd like you to stay here just in case something were to happen and you were to fall ill. After his son's disappearance, the king has been making an effort to rekindle our friendship. I've asked him to have the royal healers and doctors come here should you fall ill."

I nod my head and am about to speak when he says, in a teasing tone,

"And don't think I haven't noticed you and that maid of yours."

He looks at me with a slight amount of anger, that quickly breaks away into a smile and a chuckle.

"Well, so long as you love her, I'll say nothing against it. Rather, I'm glad you've fallen for someone who truly loves you. You better invite your old man to the wedding!"

I chuckle and put my fist on his shoulder,

"Of course! What kind of daughter forgets to invite their family to her wedding?"

He chuckles back and says,

"Good! I'd hate to have to listen to your mothers lecture with you!"

After that, we hear a voice,

"Ahem… Really? What would I have to lecture her on, hmm?"

Dad slowly turns around and sees mom looking at him with a scary smile on her face. He clears his throat and says,

"Ahem, Uhm, if she were to push herself too hard during her training."

I notice from the look on her face that she didn't buy it for a single second. I sigh and answer,

"Haaah. Well, Annie and I… Are in love."

She looks at me and tilts her head,

"Is that all? Dear, why would I lecture her about that?"

He shakes his head and says,

"N-no. I was making a joke about her not inviting us to her wedding."

She laughs and says,

"Well, obviously I'd lecture her for that!"

My dad is about to say something else, but my brother interrupts him,

"Dad, mom, the carriage is here."

They nod their heads, and we head inside. After bringing their luggage out, we hugged outside the house. My brother brings me to the side and says,

"The prince has been missing for a while. I told the guards that if he shows up here, to get rid of him silently. I wanted to stay with you, but I have to learn how to manage the territory from father. Stay safe, alright little sis?"

I smile at him and give him a hug,

"Of course. Besides, the prince is far too weak to hurt me anyways!"

I flex my arm and give him a confident smile. To which, he pats my head and says,

"I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too, bro."

With one last hug he gets into the carriage. Mom comes over and gives me a hug as well,

"You'll have to send me messages every week, okay? I want to know how your relationship with Annie goes. If she mistreats you, there'll be hell to pay!"

I hug her and say,

"I'll miss you, mom."

She smiles,

"Me too sweetie."

With a hug from my dad, all three enter the carriage and head off. I reach down and hold Annie's hand as I see the carriage leave over the horizon. I know one thing for sure.

My true journey begins today.

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AN: phew, that took me all week to write. SO MUCH DIALOGUE T_T

anyways, I have a patreon. Archmage villainess isn't on it, but all my other stories are including books that haven't been released.

https://www.patreon.com/sorrestwriting

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