Chapter 15: Seasons
Elena let out a sigh of relief, showing a profound smile, she looked towards the person in front of her. Seeing the complicated expression she had, Elena knew she had taken a leap of faith, so she said wholeheartedly "Thank you, Eina".
Eina stared deeply at Elena, looking for any sign of malice. She had never needed to give anyone her Sincerity. And at the moment she felt as if she was stripped bare in front of this girl. The discomfort didn't go away because of Elena's words, but left her with anxiety. She knew that this was only the first step to opening up, there would definitely be more times in the future that she'd have to let down her guard, and allow the person in front of her to see her secrets, her schemes, her inner workings.
A spontaneous sense of dread appeared in Eina's heart, wondering if she had made a grave mistake. But now that the arrow had already left the string, there was no turning back.
Eina didn't know how she returned to the room. Her heavy expression surprised the servant girls so much that they didn't dare to try anything.
When she reached the bed, her mind finally regained its senses. Knowing that she'd made a mistake letting those girls outside see, she cursed under her breath.
Focusing on absorbing the energy, she tried to forget the situation that had just occurred. Thankfully she had always been able to preoccupy herself before, and it doesn't seem to have changed. Falling into training, she no longer cared what happened in the outside world.
Naturally the news of what the servant girls saw reached the ears of their respective masters. Knowing that the timid girl was not as weak as she seemed to be, many sneered after hearing the news. The madam also received the report, but she didn't take it seriously. How many different girls had she seen in her time here? There had been many that tried to hide behind weakness in this place. But what's the point of showing weakness? Only men will pity them, not the other women here.
Knowing that she wasn't as simple as she seemed made the madam quite happy. Two girls so young, each of them with their own cunning. She was looking forward to how they grew.
Dain beside her asked indifferently "Do you need me to deal with her?"
Alessia looked at him with confusion, "Why would I want you to do that?"
Dain explained "With thoughts like that at such a young age, who knows how dangerous she'll be when she gets older?"
Alessia rolled her eyes, "That just adds to the excitement. You, a man don't need to get involved in the little games of us prostitutes".
Dain frowned, but still chose to listen to Alessia's opinion.
Alessia enjoyed his obedience. Thinking that she should reward him. She moved towards him seductively, dragging the frowning man's attention straight to her.
Elena knew that Eina had broken her disguise, feeling a little bad about her impatience. She didn't know it would affect her this much. It was too late to control the news from spreading, so she could only let her new maid find reasons to punish the girls.
She didn't intend to show mercy to them, as slaves they have betrayed their master, so naturally they aren't innocent.
The sounds of whipping came from the courtyard, and the cries of those girls screaming that they had been wronged floated into her ears.
The next day, Eina chose not to bother pretending any more. The news had been spread and she really was disgusted having to act like that everyday.
In all the missions she had done in her last life, those were the type she would try and forget after completion.
Now that her disguise had been broken, she didn't plan to become cruel and hateful. Instead she wanted to find a middle ground. One where she could live comfortably, but not so much that she would prove to become a threat in the eyes of others.
Eina and Elena maintained their schedule. Going to class on time, then leaving back to their yard. Not bothering to interact with others.
This left the other prostitutes unable to understand their relationship. With Eina's true personality showing they thought that the two candidates of that batch would tear their faces. But Elena still controlled the maids of the entire yard, seemingly with Eina's approval. Some of the servant girls even probed whether Eina wanted to fight back, obviously under the orders of their true masters. Only for those same girls to be severely punished the same day.
Knowing that the yard was under the control of Elena, they all began to focus on this expressionless little girl doll, writing off Eina as someone not worthy of taking seriously.
Time in the brothel was quite monotonous. Going to class to learn skills wasn't too difficult. Elena and Eina both had training in various arts from their previous lives. Seduction, music, dance. The two were surprisingly talented which brought them more praise from the madam, and naturally more jealousy from the other candidates.
With seasons passing under these monotonous days, the girls that were only children, finally grew up.
Fourteen years old was a tough time for regular prostitutes, at this stage they'd have to go out to mingle with guests, not for sex, but for their debut night when they turned fifteen.
But this didn't matter to Eina and Elena, who over the years had slowly built up a level of trust towards each other. With Eina's teaching of martial arts, and Elena's control of the servants, the two lived quite happily. They wouldn't be required to pick up guests until they were seventeen, however the two would need to entertain the nobles that came, to try and curry favour for their eventual debut.
Elena's boudoir had become more elegant with the addition of rewards from the madam. Eina also had her fair share, but she didn't care for those useless trinkets. Maintaining the bare bones look that it had originally been. She chose to give those items to Elena, who seemed to have an interest in them.
Eina lay lazily on the soft couch, watching Elena read a musical score she had recently received. Slowly strumming the strings of her qin. This had become a usual occurrence between the two who had been together for years.