Six months later, the gold was gone.
Starvation hollowed me out. I slept on cold pavement, searched garbage for food, tried to beg for work, but no one would hire a fifteen-year-old girl who looked like a stray animal.
One night, when I was drifting in and out of consciousness on the roadside, a middle-aged man approached. I don't remember his face anymore.
He offered me 5 silver for the night.
I wanted to run. But hunger left me no strength, and the instinct to survive crushed everything else.
I went with him.
Once we were in his room, he fed me, bathed me, and once the night was over, he handed me five silver as promised.
It lasted me 10 days.
After that I didn't know what to do again. I starved for another 2 days and on the 13th night, I returned to the same spot, hoping someone, maybe even the same man, would approach.
Hours passed. Many men slowed down to stare. None stayed.
Finally, one of them muttered under his breath, "Ugly."
That was when I understood why.
It was already past midnight.
And in that moment, standing under a flickering streetlamp with hunger burning deeper than shame, I stripped all my clothes and stood butt naked in the middle of the road. The first passing car stopped. The driver leaned out and quoted 3 silver.
I walked past the car and another second car stopped. Before the driver could utter a word, i spoke out loud "10 silver". He accepted the amount and I followed him.
That night, I enjoyed it for the first time.
The morning when i woke up, as promised, the 10 silver were placed near my legs.
That afternoon my stomach growled the loudest but I didn't go for food. I draped the blanket around me and went straight to the beach, washed myself in the ocean, and with the money I earned, I bought the first dress the shopping mall mannequin was wearing.
That evening, I returned to the same road. No one stopped for the first hour. As the night creeped in, a few cars slowed down but none stopped.
This time I didn't strip to seduce, instead I made the boldest pose i could remember my mother making.
I spread my legs, kept my two fingers inside my skirt and another 2 into my mouth. I started licking my fingers with raw hunger while my other fingers started exploring my lower lips.
A car stopped and the man quoted 10 silver. I didn't stop and as the drool flowed along my lips, he said 30. I continued my exploration. My fingers went deeper and my tongue became wilder, the drool continued down my hand and a thin line of juices started leaking down my legs. The man quoted 50 and I stopped this time.
I took him into his car. He tried pushing me down but I caught his hands and kissed him with the same raw hunger i licked my fingers. He melted in my mouth.
I didn't give him a chance to recover. I pushed him down and my hands dug into his pants. His dick touched my fingers and my instinct, which I didn't know existed, took over me.
That night I didn't just enjoy the sex, but for the first time I truly felt powerful. A power that made me feel alive again.
I earned 50 silver that night and the will to live. This time i didn't want to run to live, instead I wanted to crush everything that made me run.
The next morning, I ate the fullest in my life, enough to feed a family for a week. And I slept the whole night without a nightmare or a single speck of fear.
The next week I made 200 silver and two months later I was making 2000 silver a night.
I saved as much as I could, bought proper clothes, purchased a small house, and slowly built a life that looked nothing like the starving girl I once was.
Months later, when everything seemed to be going well, I heard a rumor.
The man I had stabbed, the one who nearly killed me was alive. More than that, he was the owner of the largest legal brothel in the world, and located only a few kilometers from the mansion where everything happened.
When I heard it, I felt… nothing.
No fear.
No hatred.
Nothing at all.
That was the moment I realized just how much I had changed, so much that I could no longer remember the girl I used to be in that quiet little village.
Later, after hearing stories from travelers and workers, I learned that I could earn even more in Northill, because at that time brothels were illegal in every kingdom except Noida. Meaning: in Noida, we had low demand. But in Northill, a large kingdom with no legal brothels yet, the demand was far higher.
So I moved here.
The beginning was difficult, but not unbearable. I worked and adapted, and before long I was earning twice what I made even on my best days in Noida. And somehow, twelve years passed.
Then a new law was passed across all seven kingdoms: brothels would be legalized everywhere.
That sparked the idea.
With my savings, I decided to build a brothel of my own, but to do that, I needed more money, more knowledge, more workers, and more experience in managing such a place. So I worked for another two years, gathering women who needed a living, learning the business from the shadows, and planning every corner of the building.
Two years ago, I built Nirvana's First Premium brothel, Pleasure House, my brothel.
As you said, its structure is impressive. That is what consumed most of the investment. But within a year, I earned most of it back and earn even more now.
I consider myself a successful businesswoman.
But compared to a man who casually shows an alpha credit card, I'm still no match...
…
"I was fifteen when I was raped," she continued quietly, "and at that time, I didn't even know a word like that existed. Now I'm thirty-three. In these eighteen years, I've met thousands of people; men, women, all kinds of people. I've seen beautiful things and terrible things. I've lived through moments no woman should ever face. And all those experiences shaped me into the person standing before you."
She stopped walking and stepped closer.
"This is who I am now. I don't feel things anymore. I fear to no one. I have no family, no friends, no reason to live for anyone but myself. That's why I didn't panic even when you opened the locked floor. But last night…" She smiled faintly, almost bitterly. "…you made me feel fear again. Something I had nearly forgotten. Maybe that's why I told you everything, my truth, which no one else knows."
Obero silently walked to his clothes, dressed, and said:
"Daughter of a man who trafficked women… sold by her own father… assaulted by the man who bought her… later becoming wealthy by running a brothel herself. Yes… a strange tale indeed."
She didn't argue. She simply sat quietly on the bed.
He walked to her, leaned forward, and asked in a low voice, "Do you have a wish, one that only the creator of everything could grant?"
She immediately blinked, as if answering yes.
He smiled, taking out a crystal chess piece, a Bishop, from his pocket.
"Keep this with you," he said softly. "And you may get the chance to make that wish."
He placed it gently in her hand. The moment she touched it, the piece glowed faintly.
By the time she looked up, he was already inside the elevator.
When she realized he had left the floor, she hurried downstairs, but he was nowhere to be found.
She approached the girl at the reception. "Did you see the man from last night?"
The girl gave a blank expression, until Kat added, "He had an alpha credit card."
Her expression changed immediately. "I remember him, ma'am, but I didn't see him leave."
Kat sighed. The receptionist hesitated. "Did he not pay you, ma'am?"
Kat blinked, stunned. "…I completely forgot."
The four women guarding the lobby tensed instantly. "Should we go after him?"
Kat looked at the chess piece in her hand and smiled.
"No. If anything… I should be the one paying him. Last night was… unforgettable."
She dismissed Ria to rest and took her place behind the desk.
Still staring at the glowing crystal piece, she whispered,
"Why did he give this to me…?"
Just then, a teenage boy approached the counter. Kat quickly slipped the chess piece into the drawer and asked calmly:
"Which girl did you choose?"
End of piece