Atonement, About it's Cruelty - Chapter 2
Wearing a dress cut so deeply it left little to the imagination. The chest alone was so desirable that even a woman would want to touch them and many people would want to suck on it. But it wasn’t just her physical allure.
Her face was so lovely it was never tiring to look at. Her smile was so innocently carefree it couldn’t help but charm. Surprisingly, her voice carried a weight that kept it from seeming vulgar.
Even to Cathrin, who had seen many come and go in her decades in the business, there was never such a gem. It was clear that anyone, unless a eunuch, would be tempted if Anna made an advance.
Especially if they’re someone in a place like this.
“Anna.”
Cathrin whispered as the sound of the carriage wheels slowed. She adjusted her attire meticulously. Her classic, high-collared dress made her look more like a royal chief lady-in-waiting than a brothel owner.
As she stepped towards the wide-open gates, she whispered to Anna.
“This man could spend the equivalent of five years’ budget of Felpe in just one night.”
Anna’s eyes, previously brimming with naivety, sharpened in an instant.
A man who could spend that much.
It wasn’t an exaggeration.
This was the owner of a transcontinental railway and a massive steel company known as the furnace of the Norfolk continent. As well as the head of the esteemed Marquisate Reinhardt. Remarkably, he had achieved all these feats himself while still being young.
“If you play your cards right, you’ll be in a league far beyond King Felpe’s mistress.”
“….”
“Just stall for time until the Grand Duke realizes the Marquis has arrived.”
As she finished her sentence, the carriage came to a halt. Cathrin’s expression brightened as if meeting a beloved family member after years, and she went out to greet the Marquis.
Meanwhile, Anna stayed by the door, waiting for the right moment.
“Welcome, Your Excellency. We have been expecting you.”
Cathrin greeted warmly. Despite this, no reply came from the Marquis. Only the sound of his confident footsteps approached.
Anna, who had been waiting, peeked out hesitantly.
Her deeply cut dress seemed to embarrass her as she covered her chest with one hand, with her characteristic clear-eyed expression. She had planned to inadvertently block the Marquis’s path, as if by mistake.
Having lived in Felpe’s Amant Rose, she had met many high-ranking individuals, and even the king had visited secretly the previous month. What would be so special about a young Marquis from another country?
However, Anna found herself unable to dare obstruct the young man breezing past her. She could only follow his movements with her eyes and staring dumbstruck.
“…”
He was exceptionally tall, with broad shoulders contrasted by a slender waist. As he walked away without hesitation, Anna couldn’t even recall his facial features. They were merely an afterimage.
Yet, she could wager her entire fortune that among all the people she had ever seen, none possessed the beauty that this man did.
Suddenly, Cathrin jabbed Anna’s waist, snapping her out of her trance.
By the time Anna started following him, he was already turning around the stair landing, climbing up. Anna raised her neck to look up at him.
His slightly wavy black hair seemed tousled, yet it appeared to be styled that way intentionally. Underneath his hair, his deep-set eyes and a straight, prominent nose were visible.
The way he confidently placed one hand in his pocket and ascended the stairs, there was a total absence of etiquette in every aspect of his demeanor.
“Your Excellency.”
Cathrin called out hastily, but the Marquis did not seem to hear her or show any response. Anna tried to catch up by nearly running up the stairs, but she couldn’t match the pace of the Marquis and the four men following him.
Their strides were so long that even the waiter guiding them had to run to keep up, and their actions were decisive. Cathrin, clutching her dress and running, and even Anna, seemed completely irrelevant to them.
As soon as they entered the hallway, even the waiter became unnecessary. The Grand Duke’s secretary was already anxiously waiting by the door.
The Marquis’s relentless stride halted just a few steps before the door. The four men trailing him stopped abruptly as if on cue.
The Grand Duke’s secretary turned deathly pale when he saw the Marquis, as if he might faint at any moment. The paleness wasn’t his alone.
The clamor of the shoes had stopped suddenly, and the oppressive silence seemed almost tangible, broken only by the unsettling noises coming from behind the door.
“Aahh… uuhng…!”
“Do you like it? Are you this wet because it feels good?”
“Hahng, yes, yes, Your Grace…”
“More, more… suck more, more.”
It was as if the scene behind the door was vividly visible.
The Marquis let out a cynical chuckle in astonishment. The low laugh continued for a while. He rubbed his face and turned to the secretary with a soft whisper.
“Hurry up and open the door.”
“Your, Your Excellency…”
“Open. The door.”
The Grand Duke’s secretary, desperate for any support, looked towards Cathrin in the distance.
Cathrin quickly nudged Anna forward.
In this world, the threat of nearby power was always more fearsome than distant authority. This was Felpe, and the Grand Duke’s secretary was a more immediate concern than the young Marquis of Luxen.
Anna, pushed around unexpectedly into the space between the four men, was just there when the Marquis turned to look back. Then, he addressed Cathrin, the seasoned madam of Amant Rose Mansion.
“Do you have the key?”
Both Cathrin and Anna, who was right beside him, were so taken aback they could only flutter their lips, unable to speak. The Marquis laughed.
Was his disheveled black hair part of this unrestrained demeanor? His eyes, deeply set and unexpectedly blue, sparkled under his well-shaped brows, and a small dimple appeared beneath his well-curved lips as he grinned.
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