Chapter 18: 18) Ray of Hope?

"No, we don't."

One of them politely declined with a plastic smile on her face. While playing with a strand of her amber hair, she approached Aylin as she claimed in her honeyed tone, winking meaningfully, " Young Master, why don't you come inside and enjoy some time with me? I promise I will give you so much pleasure that you will forget about her."

The woman flashed her bewitching smile as she raised one of her hands to touch Aylin's cheek but Aylin dodged her hand hastily.

"Sorry, Miss. I am in a hurry right now. Are you sure that you know nothing about her?"

The woman's small forehead wrinkled slightly as she answered in a slightly offended tone, "Of course, I know nothing about her. Why are you searching for that particular woman? Are you in love with her or something?"

Her envious eyes travelled from Aylin's toes to her robe and then to her face as she squinted her eyes curiously, "Who are you, Young Master? I can't remember seeing you here before."

Aylin noticed the doubts in her hawk-like eyes and as Kai suggested, she wasn't allowed to reveal her relationship with Mable. It would complicate the situation. Her heart was pounding rapidly but suppressing the nervousness, Aylin answered casually, deepening her voice, "She borrowed some money from me and hasn't returned it still now. I didn't find her in her house so I ended up here."

The woman couldn't help herself as she burst out in a peal of teasing laughter.

While playing with the strand of her hair and twisting it with her fingers, she answered cynically, "These rich women of the Blossom Palace are all like this. They pretend to be white lotus but all of them are arrogant and proud of their beauty. What do they think of themselves? Some kind of Goddesses! Whore, they are just lowly whores. I-"

Sighing disappointedly, Aylin interrupted her, cutting her in the middle and taking a step back, "I think, I should ask others then. Thanks for giving your precious time, Miss."

Aylin was least interested in listening to her jealous and illogical accusations. So, she hastily turned around to leave. But the woman shouted from behind in her sharp and feminine voice, "Young Master, come back again when you will get time. I promise I will show you heaven."

'One and half an hour later...'

Aylin wiped the drops of sweat from her forehead and she knocked at the door of a three-storey cottage, a few houses away from the Blossom Palace. A middle-aged lady came out of the cottage while smoking a cigar.

She puffed out a mouthful of smoke and asked in a heavy voice, "Who are you? Delivery boy?"

Waving her hand, Aylin cleared the smoke in front of her as a strong scent of tobacco hit her nostrils. Licking her dry lower lip, she responded, "I am searching for someone here. Can you help me, Madam? I am searching for Miss Mable of the Blossom Palace. Do you know-"

"Jeez!"

The woman made an annoying sound. Before Aylin could finish her sentence, she rudely closed the door on her face while cursing in her sharp voice, "Useless! All hopeless beggars knock at my door to waste my time. Disgusting!"

"Madam? Please-"

"Get lost!"

With a loud thud sound, she closed the door on Aylin's face just like that. Sighing, Aylin turned to knock on the door of the next cottage. Since the early morning, she had been knocking at uncountable doors and asked numerous women in the red light area about her Aunt Mable, but most of them either tried to pull her inside the cottage as their customer or just closed the door on her face while cursing her. They didn't even bother to listen to her.

Disappointed and exhausted Aylin wiped her sweaty forehead once again. In the haze of the afternoon, she could feel the loose oversized robe start to cling to her back in places and there was a slight sting to her eyes as if her eyes were burning and her throat felt as dry as the desert. Salty droplets flew down her face like soft summer rain, dripping onto the concrete as she sat down under a tree to regain her breath and to calm down suddenly.

There was despair and disappointment, written all over her face. Aylin was thinking about Kai; whether he managed to find anything useful or not, and suddenly she felt a gentle touch on her shoulder.

Startled, Aylin turned her head and a wrinkled and skinny hand offered her a glass of water. She looked up to see the sudden well-wisher and she was greeted by an old lady with winter-white hair and blood-flecked eyes as she was very old around 80 years. Her face was timeworn and it was extremely wrinkled.

Slightly moving her trembling hand forward, she spoke in her weak and fragile voice, "You look thirsty, young lad. Here, have some water."

Aylin was surprised by her sudden appearance, specifically by the warmth of her behaviour. But, her friendly and cheerful smile assured Aylin to trust her. She took the glass from her hand and gulped down the water in a breath.

While wiping her face with the back of her sleeve, she mumbled gratefully, "Thank you so much, Mam."

With her motherly smile, the old lady shook her head satisfiedly as she asked, "Do you want some more? My house is near. I can arrange some food for you also."

But, Aylin hastily denied in her shy tone, "No, Mam. I am totally fine. Thanks for your kindness but I am not hungry at all."

Supporting the tree trunk with her wrinkled hand, the lady sat next to Aylin as she scanned her face intently. Then coughing slightly, she asked in her weak voice, "Your face has turned red. I saw that you were knocking at everyone's door. Are you searching for something or someone here, kid?"

There was sympathy in her trembling voice. Scratching her false beard, Aylin explained her situation in brief, "Yes, I am searching for someone. But, it seems that nobody is ready to help me here. I asked almost all the cottages around but nobody knows anything about Lady Mable or they just don't want to tell me. She is a-"

"Oh Jesus! You are searching for Mable? Are you her relative?"

Hesitating for a moment, Aylin shook her head to deny, "I am only one of her acquaintances. Do you know anything about her, Mam?"

The old lady breathed in a shallow, quick gasp as she scanned her surroundings with a scared expression. She replied in a small frightened voice, "Yes, I know."

Aylin almost jumped up from her place in excitement as she asked, grabbing her hand, "Really?"

"Shhh! Calm down."

Grabbing her wrist with her warm and trembling hand, she whispered cautiously, "Come with me. It is not safe here to talk about her."