Chapter 62: The Merchant From Out Of Town

They say a father and son share more than blood.

Maybe that was what King Aldrius was thinking when he looked down from the second-floor balcony and saw his wastrel seed waving up at him from the pleasure hall.

’That brat...!’

Aldrius’s mouth opened to unleash his fury, but Adonis had already turned away. He raised one palm at his father like he was shooing a fly.

"...Wait a moment."

Then he smiled at the madam.

"Madam, where’s Lily? I heard she’s the most expensive woman in this house, and only the cream of the crop nobles ever sleep with her. I’m a prince. Doesn’t that count?"

The madam pressed a hand to her chest, dazzled by his charm and radiance.

"Oh, Your Highness, she’s with some rich merchant from out of town tonight. Ah, there she is.

She pointed upward.

Lily stood obediently behind the man in question.

Adonis looked at the balcony, then at the madam, then at the balcony again.

"Wait. He’s the rich merchant from out of town? Since when is that his real iden—"

"Shhhh!!"

Aldrius almost had a heart attack with how hard he tried to shush to boy as he gripped the railing.

Adonis grinned at him, mischievous as a fox in a henhouse.

"To think you’d stoop this low. I can’t wait for First and Second Mother to hear about this. Hehe."

"YOU’RE HERE TOO!"

The hall went quiet. Aldrius realized what he’d just screamed and dropped his voice to a hiss.

Adonis twirled a lock of golden hair around his finger.

"Well, I’m already a disappointment. Nobody’s surprised when a disappointment does this. In fact, if I didn’t disappoint then that would be a disappointment, and we both know no one wants to be a disappointment. Mhm mhm."

Aldrius’s whole body shook.

He was the King. He could have the boy’s head cut off, any titles he had left stripped, his tail locked in the dungeons for a year. But right now, he couldn’t do any of it, because the moment he opened his mouth, the Kingdom of Falsbane would have a king who visited brothels.

So he gnashed his teeth to powder and said nothing.

"...Ohh, there you are, Lily." Adonis waved.

The woman behind Aldrius quickly lowered her head with a humble smile.

Since the young prince began visiting the district and treating her like his favorite food, her stock had skyrocketed. Only dukes, counts and marquises could touch her now, meaning everyone else could only beg her to take their money.

But the one man she wanted never touched her.

Adonis paid for a night, took her to a room, and went to sleep before she could even pour him wine. Whenever she tried to cuddle, he gently pushed her away and said with an unusually serious face:

"Sorry, I’m faithful to three women." ಠ_ಠ

’THREE WOMEN?! THAT DOESN’T EVEN MAKE SENSE!’

Her blood boiled every time. Still, he was dear to her. She combed her hair more, used expensive seed oil on it, and tied her corset tighter until her breasts were pushed up and her hips looked wide enough to carry three babies for him.

So when he called, the old merchant went right out of her head.

Lily took a step toward the stairs.

... Grab! A hand caught her porcelain wrist.

Aldrius didn’t say anything, he just glared down at Adonis, and the grip said everything.

Adonis looked up at the grimacing old man, and his innocent smile only grew.

"Well, well. It seems someone isn’t happy that a pleasure girl wants to make her own choices. Tell you what. Send Lily down, and I’ll give you three out of the hundreds of beautiful girls here. My treat!"

He swept an arm at the crowd of women desperately pressed against him.

Every one of them waved at the balcony.

On the upper floor, in a hidden box reserved for only the highest of officials, Count Vesta had stopped a girl from feeding him another cup of wine.

He watched the hall below.

He saw how many women were fawning over Adonis.

"That bastard is a problem!"

That was the main reason he’d been pushing for a royal court meeting.

Ever since the Fifth Prince arrived in the Diplomatic District, the best women of every house wanted to be near him. Some even said they were tired of round-bellied old men with greasy hands.

"My hands are NOT greasy!"

"Of course not, my lord," a girl said softly, "they’re—"

"Did I say you could speak?"

She shut her mouth.

The girls of this district were one to a hundred compared to the ones outside. One lady here was worth a hundred out there. They had the pride of flowers, so proud that no man could bed more than two or three at a time.

Yet there Adonis sat, buried in them.

Vesta bared his teeth in a vicious grin.

’Boy, you don’t know you poked a lion. Soon I’ll have my claws around your neck.’

Down in the hall, Adonis felt a small chill.

[Count Vesta’s hatred toward you has reached ★★★★]

’Four stars. Hm. I’ll deal with that barrel of beer later.’

"Have you no respect, little fool?! You want to take the woman an elder already claimed? If you don’t want to be embarrassed, be content with the ones around you!"

The one shouting was King Aldrius.

Adonis sat down in his chair. Some of the girls stood around him, and the rest knelt at his feet, the way they’d been trained to serve high nobility.

He laughed.

"Old merchant, it seems you don’t know who I am. I’m the Fifth Prince of this kingdom. That means I outrank you. The only man who could challenge my authority would be... hmm... maybe the King?"

He tapped his chin.

Lily felt the palm in her hand go clammy, then start to tremble like they’d stepped into the tundra.

’Hmph. Old men are always like this. Cold when it isn’t, and can’t hold a candle to Prince Adonis.’

She smiled at him sweetly.

Aldrius still couldn’t speak, so Adonis went on.

"But we all know the King of this beautiful kingdom would never stoop to a place like this. This is a place for men of culture. Not a man with five wives and integrity!"

The hall exploded.

"Long live the King!"

"His Majesty would never be here!"

"He’s too busy keeping the kingdom thriving!"

"A better man than all of us!"

The praise stabbed holes in Aldrius’s chest as his head sank lower filled with veins throbbing all over it.

’This manipulative bastard. He gains nothing from this. He just wants to teach me a lesson!’

Before the boy could say something worse, Aldrius let go of Lily and cleared his throat.

She quickly wiped her wrist with a kerchief and hurried for the stairs, but she never made it.

... Huh?

Outside, there was shouting.

Everyone turned toward the doors. The guards of the house were blocking a majestic woman in dark blue and white robes, a gold-trimmed white veil over her head. In her dainty hand was a sword in a royal blue and golden scabbard.

"Leave! This place isn’t for just anyone!"

"Move along, woman!"

Her head stayed down.

"How disgusting..."

One of the guards lost his temper and swung his sword.

No one saw her move. They only saw a flash of metal arc across his thick arm.

Spffff! Blood brutally sprayed across the stones, but not a single drop touched her elegant, full-figured robes. She remained silent and still.

Adonis wasn’t the first to recognize her. That honor went to the church figures, who burst out of their private boxes in a panic and threw themselves to the floor.

"We’ll never do it again!"

"It’s just that the women here are... are..."

They couldn’t finish a sentence and just kept begging.

The woman lowered her veil.

First came the snow-white hair. Then the long, pointed ears.

A buxom woman full of holy beauty.

"M-, Mother Superior!"

The hall stepped back as one.

An unimaginable fear rushed through King Aldrius.

Adonis felt it too.

But his eyes weren’t on the beautiful church maiden.

They went straight to Hershant.

The old chamberlain was smiling at him.

Adonis smiled back viciously.

’You’ve shown your cards...’