The brothel and the smoking woman

"Master Arnold went to fetch a man in the pub opposite Boulevard Street. The man was rather young, with an eyepatch covering one of his eyes. Master tasked him with a mission to find the bearer of the key in Moonridge. The man did not answer but instead left. After that..." The seat continued, referring to Arnold as Master. Josh didn't care about the other minor details the coach was revealing; he was happy to have a description of who was after him, he had seen the man with the eyepatch on the day he left his apartment for good.

After a while, the coach was quiet again, and the effects of the ability had ended. Josh was amazed at the ability and rested on the seat, thinking. Were there more ability users out there, or was he and the old man the only exceptions? If they existed, what type of abilities did they possess? Were they on par with his divine ones? Josh believed that once he mastered his abilities, he would be the most dangerous man in the kingdom, or perhaps the world, due to all the past knowledge he would have access to. But for now, he had to hide and get to the bottom of this matter. It seemed there was more to this than he initially thought. But how was the crown involved in all of this, and were there more of those creatures out there?

Josh thought back to the day he led his team to their deaths. The coach stopped after a few minutes, stirring Josh out of his thoughts. Simon opened the door with an excited smile, making Josh frown in return, knowing that whatever had Simon smiling was not good. And indeed, it wasn't good, as stepping out of the coach, Josh found himself before a brothel. He could tell by the large number of men entering with excited, angry, depressed, and sad emotions on their faces, while the ones coming out had pleasure written all over them.

A woman stood by the entrance with a cigarette in her hands, puffing on it. The smoke wafted up into the air as she inhaled and exhaled slowly. Her expression was weary and somewhat sad, and her attire appeared worn and tattered. But every time a male passed by her, she put on an inviting smile, her aged beautiful face hidden underneath the makeup. Some perverted men would spank her behind as they passed, and she would giggle, pretending to like it, but her eyes showed disgust and pain. It was just like Simon to bring him to such places.

Josh didn't feel the rush other men of his age felt when it came to women. After all, he grew up having one dream: to serve and protect the kingdom. And for a while, he had achieved his dream, but... Refusing to enter the brothel with Simon, who seemed excited like a baby, Josh retreated back into the coach after telling Simon he would wait for him there.

Looking out of the window, Josh's gaze met the woman's gaze. She immediately smiled and waved her hand shyly. The woman's acts couldn't fool Josh, who was trained to read a person's emotions. He closed the curtains after giving the woman a slight shake of his head.

"I wonder what her reason is for doing this? By the looks of it, she appears to be a mother, a widower, in fact. She has no choice; I understand."

But before he could rest his eyes, a slight knock on the coach made him curse out, "F*** this." Josh opened the door unwillingly, and to his surprise, it was the woman. On her pale pink lips was a soft smile, and her black eyes had a seductive gaze. Her scent was of tobacco mixed with perfume. Josh raised a brow at the woman, but she merely stood there, as if awaiting an invitation in. He gestured for her to come in with his head, and Josh observed her movements quietly as she entered. Closing the door once she was inside, he didn't see the look Herman sent him.

"You seem stressed," she spoke with a soft, flirtatious voice. Josh shook his head at her assumption. "Trust me, love, you do not want to do this."

Josh gazed at the woman in the same way she gazed at him. The woman seemed lost in his abyssal eyes for a moment before answering, "You don't know what I want."

She bit her lower lip in a seductive manner. Josh stared at her for a bit before pulling back and fixing his appearance in front of the woman.

"Money...you want money - no, you don't want it; you need it, to take care of your kid, perhaps one or two kids?"

Josh raised a brow at the shocked woman. The woman stared at Josh, unable to respond, her hands trembled. Not even one of her regular customers had ever deduced that. She suspected that the young man before her was someone following her, but for what? What value did she have to be followed by a butler of a wealthy family? Maybe the master wanted her, or perhaps the young master? Her thoughts were a mess, and the low chuckle from the young man only made it worse.

"Don't worry, I am not here to harm you. I propose you stop working here and start focusing on your children. I will cover your daily needs and their costs."

Josh spoke with his eyes closed, as if hiding his emotions. The woman couldn't believe her ears - why would a stranger do something like that for her? Was he a customer who fell in love? She couldn't wrap her head around this whole conversation, staring blankly at him, she asked one simple question: "Why?"

The man in front of her opened his eyes and gazed at her. He was a handsome young man, and she was sure she would remember such a face if he was one of her customers, but she was still blank.

"Because no mother should have to go through what you are going through."

Josh answered, taking out a bag of coins from his pocket and placing it in the woman's hands.

"Go be a mother; this place doesn't suit you. I will make sure you are taken care of...all of you."

The last part he didn't say out loud. The woman burst into tears and started crying.

"You have sent a guardian angel for me, Tom? I'm-I'm grateful."

The woman spoke through her tears. Josh's expression was unreadable as he stared at her. After she calmed down, she gave her address and banking details to Josh, who insisted on getting her banking details. Just before she left, she turned to him and said:

"You can call me Elena, Elena Crawford."

And after that, she left the coach.

"And I am Josh, Josh Belling."

Josh murmured after she was long gone, his mind drifted to a memory a year after his recruitment into the royal task force.wearing his neat navy blue uniform, he stood there as he watched his teammates and friends bid farewell to their loved ones. Since he was an orphan, he had no one except for his friend Simon, who was left in Moonridge. He had begun thinking of a few possible strategies they could use on their mission when a firm hand gripped his shoulder. Turning his head around, he saw who it was - one of his teammates, Thomas, a man in his early thirties with a receding hairline and kind brown eyes, stood before him with a heavily pregnant woman beside him.

"Hey kid, I want to introduce you to my wife, Elena. As you can see, she's expecting, and I truly hope it's a boy this time around."

Thomas screamed, catching the attention of everybody. His wife threw him a murderous glare before turning to Josh with a kind smile.

"Never mind my husband, young man. I have heard good things about you, Mr. Belling, and I hope that you can take care of this big idiot for me."

Elena spoke to him politely. Josh was amused by the couple, so he nodded slowly, accepting the woman's plea. Josh was fond of Thomas since he was one of the only guys who had no problems with him leading them, even though he was younger and inexperienced compared to them war veterans. Plus, they had history as soldiers, while he used to be a law official. But because of his sharpness and analytical abilities, Josh was noticed by Her Majesty and recruited into the task force. And after a year of serving gracefully and effectively, he was given a promotion. Thomas was one of the individuals who congratulated him.

Shaking his head as he reminisced, Josh closed his eyes, blaming himself for Elena's current condition. Even though she did not remember him, he remembered her. Plus, the report after that dangerous mission of theirs said that there was no survivor, so in her eyes, they were all dead.

"I can't bring you back to life, but I can at least make sure your families are safe...and I will make them pay for what they did to us, I swear."