Chapter 9: Agreement

Eina voiced her thoughts to Rose, who looked at her with disbelief, "And what if he manages to take the throne?"

"What does it matter if he does? Will the Emperor who has to manage the internal troubles from all the forces in power and the external threats from foreign countries; have time to hunt down an escaped whore from some brothel far from the capital?" Eina retorted mockingly.

Rose lowered her head, but Eina still heard her barely audible whisper" You're right. I should've thought of that, back then".

Eina didn't respond, clearly Rose was not talking to her. She just sat in silence, staring into the darkness outside, with unfocused eyes.

The last two days had been too much for even Eina, and she had been subconsciously avoiding what impact her death and the subsequent reincarnation had taken on her. She tried to focus on how to approach the future, to fill up the time to reminisce on it but now that night had come, the raging emotions ran through her like a tide.

Fear, anger, resentment. All were present as she sat there, seemingly unphased. No matter how much she pretends to be indifferent to her life, doesn't her actions to successfully complete those missions prove her hope for life. She definitely wasn't loyal to the organisation, so her tenacity was completely for her self. She wanted to live, but when she finally came to terms that she was about to die, she was sent here. How could she not be spiteful? Not only was she not freed from her suffering, she also had to endure this foreign world she had no ties to.

Rose finally ended her melancholy thoughts, turning her head to look towards Eina, she was shocked by the eyes that stared into the darkness. Ever since her rebirth, the whispered comments she had happened to hear from her servants, as well as the people in the brothel, always mentioned that her eyes were lifeless, like a fine porcelain doll. But when she only glanced from the side, her heart once again felt that long lost fear from this girl.

To her, it was as if Eina had no light in her eyes at all. Staring into the darkness, Rose wouldn't be surprised if she was swallowed up by it. Rose hadn't thought much about Eina, after all she had only known her for a day. But being the first external change since she was reborn to the age of seven, naturally Eina drew her attention. However she clearly felt that this person had probably lived a much worse life than her. Even whatever one she lived previously must have been torture, to have a gaze as barren as Eina's. 'Ah, that's it' Eina concluded, 'She is completely devoid of hope'.

Neither broke that eerie silence, Eina just continued to stare into nothingness, while Rose observed her. Each had their own thoughts, but from an outsiders perspective, the two were very close.

The news that the madam had taken in two new girls as the prospective head prostitutes of the youngest batch, spread wildly throughout the front and backyard of the brothel.

This wasn't unheard of, to have two candidates, but after learning about this, don't talk about pleasantry between the two, it would be great if the two didn't try to eliminate the possibility of the other succeeding.

The various high ranking prostitutes of previous batches all had eyes in this courtyard, through the newly sent servant girls, while general level prostitutes could only try and receive news by sending the spies they had hidden in lesser known areas in the surroundings of the courtyard to try and pass back the most accurate news they could find.

After all, as the potential heads of the next batch, they will become threats to the older prospects, and they are potential stock for the general prostitutes who want to have a backing in this cannibalistic place.

Although Eina and Rose were young, but every candidate had to be taken seriously. After all, the heads of each year's batch of prostitutes were also added to the running for the position of madam, when the current one either resigns or dies.

Hearing the news that one is timid and the other morose, the prostitutes didn't underestimate them. They knew that the madam liked timid girls, easy to train. While sullen ones were very strong willed. At this point, they couldn't guess which of the two would become a bigger problem in the future.

Hearing that the two remained in the same room for dinner, each of the head candidates had their own thoughts as to whether the two new girls were on good terms or not.

This didn't have any effect on the two in question. Eina finally returned to her senses. Suppressing the tide of emotions that impacted her sanity, she turned to Rose, only to find the girl staring at her. Confused, Eina asked "What are you looking at?"

"Just looking at you" Rose replied honestly.

Eina felt a throbbing from her forehead, "Yes I'm aware of that, but why?"

"Can't I?" Rose said in the same plain tone.

'She's doing it on purpose' Eina thought, gritting her teeth. "Of course you can. After all we're now cooperating.

Speaking of cooperation. What exactly is it that you want from me?"

Seeing through Eina's desire to change the subject, Rose didn't continue to harass her. With a shallow smile she said nonchalantly "This place is very dangerous. Although we're young, there are no shortage of people that would want to do their best to get rid of us. What I want is for us to do our best to work together, to get through these years here".

"Well, as you can see from the disguise I've chosen, on the surface I won't be able to help you much" Eina responded truthfully.

"That's fine. I never intended for you to do so. And what I wanted was never your help on the surface. What I hope for is your protection in the dark. In return, I'll be your help on the surface. And over time you can act as if you've slowly been taught by me how to protect yourself, which leaves you the opportunity to slowly stop having to disguise yourself" Rose explained her intentions thoroughly.

Eina thought for a while, not agreeing or disagreeing, but she asked Rose "Do you want to learn martial arts?"

Rose was surprised by her question, "You would be willing to teach me?"

"Why not? If we are to cooperate, wouldn't it better for me, if you were stronger?" Eina replied with a careless demeanour.

"What if I go back on our agreement by then, and betray you?" Rose asked curiously.

Eina didn't answer immediately, she only smiled towards Rose. But that was enough for Rose to feel the familiar chill. Eina's eyes looking at Rose were like a hunter inspecting it's prey," If you did, it would make for a much more interesting association between us".

Rose understood her not so subtle overtones, she smiled harmlessly at Eina, "Lucky I have no intention of doing so. But I will accept your teaching if you're truly willing".