Chapitre 3: Catch up
'It's not enough. I'll have to put more effort into this...'
Luna was left with no choice but to come out of her comfort zone and begin using her tongue on his abdomen to look more natural around others.
She absolutely hated doing this. Not only because of her personal grudges against the emperor but also because she once made a promise to her past love that she'll never get intimate with anyone else other than 'him'.
'But in order to meet you, I must do this, my love. I know at this moment, you don't even know who I am, but even so, when the time comes and we meet again, I won't hesitate to beg for forgiveness in your heart.' Luna's eyes felt watery as, despite knowing his identity she couldn't imagine his face in her head.
It was heavily heartbreaking for her.
The play continued but with the passage of time, things began to escalate and Luna didn't find herself ready to get adjusted to that.
The steam in the air was getting hotter and hotter, and all Luna could hear from her surroundings were desperate cries yearning for more pleasure. The emperor was giving everyone a chance to get touched by him, and definitely, this was making Luna more anxious with every passing second.
She was holding onto her breath so tight that she overlooked how scared her face looked to others. But as if anybody would pay attention to that, they took this as the opportunity to move ahead when suddenly, out of the blue,
*KNOCK! KNOCK!*
A messenger arrived at the door.
He requested the emperor to attend today's minister council meeting, as he has been avoiding them for the past few days. Inevitably, he clicked his tongue from disappointment, allowing Luna to breathe some relief and joy.
'S-Safe!' The happiness was spread all over her face, but her sight didn't come under the emperor's line of vision.
Along with the other girls, Luna sat at the farthermost corner of the group and watched the emperor unwillingly forcing himself to stand up from his bed. Some ladies who seemed to fight for the top spot followed him like shadows, helping him to get dressed while secretly hissing at each other behind those masked smiles.
Before leaving, the emperor shared a few more moments with those four women sticking to him and opened the door wide open with full pride, exposing every woman to the old wimpy man standing outside.
'This is ridiculous! Just how arrogant is he that he didn't even care for our dignity and self-respect?! This is horrible!!' Luna clenched her jaw in anger and hid her face behind the wall of naked girls sitting in front of her.
The old perv didn't even pretend to look away from the emperor's prostitutes. Instead, he politely walked behind the great majesty while creepily glancing back at the four gorgeous figures standing in aghast.
"You! Close the door! Hurry up!" One girl ordered the ones sitting on the bed, while the remaining three glared at the old man without batting an eye. Their lips were sealed, but their eyes weren't. The tears of helplessness were not enough to anguish the fire of anger and revenge that glimmered in their eyes.
In this mansion, every single one of them is being harassed in one way or another right under the emperor's nose, but despite the terrible situation, they can't bring themselves to complain about it because of their extremely low social status. Even the so-called favorites aren't spared from this molestation.
'You are a prostitute, aren't you? What's there to make so much fuss about? It's a part of your job.' It was very easy to expect this response from him.
And if looked at from society's perspective, he wasn't wrong, nor he would be even if all of this was taking place a century later. An era where people don't get exhausted from how much they support feminism and the trans community. Quotes, pictures, speeches, the world echoes in their support, but when a person is asked about a prostitute such as in a street interview.
The only expression that'll escape from their breath is "Uh... well, they chose this line of work, knowing what kind of industry it is, right? They're fully aware of how things like this often happen in this line of job, yet they're willing to do it because of money."
The only difference is, many women don't get to CHOOSE but rather FORCED to opt for this job.
Avoidance, disgusted, unaware, sympathy. These are some of the common reactions you'll observe from many people across the globe.
For some countries, it may not hold true, but people working in the sex industry, whether they be prostitutes, sex toys sellers, or NGO workers, are often subjected to harsh criticism by their society and the general public.
So, in a way, they're all seen equally guilty through the lens. And here the young millennials say that our society is discriminatory...
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The crowd on the bed began to disperse and started collecting their casual gowns, towels, and soaps from the rows of cupboards hidden behind a blue light curtain. The four women included that bronze-skinned girl as well and together they all appeared like queens of this place since they didn't even raise a finger to fetch their essentials.
Just relaxing on the sofas while ordering their assistants, the rising hate within everyone was being heavily suppressed by their own fears.
Turns out, the queens have been living here for a much longer time than these newcomers had. Thus, many innocents have already fallen into their hierarchical system while the rest are figuring out to make their own group.
Fortunately, Luna and Stephanie don't fall into any factions, but that also makes them the ultimate targets in every leader's spotlight.
By overhearing other girls gossiping, Luna too has now gotten aware of this issue and she's panicking to figure out a plan along with Stephanie very soon. However, unlike her, Stephanie looks the least concerned about this issue.
'She's undeniably bold and strong. She fought knights barehanded during our escape and got us a victory. Though, isn't she inviting more trouble by not joining any group? I ain't got the guts to be a lone wolf like her...'
Luna always idolized Steph as her superhero since the time she protected her. Although, that's a different matter she helped Luna out of pity since she was so pathetic in self-defending.
"Hey you, get up from the bed! It's time for the bath!"
A woman who was sitting right behind Luna yelled at her to move as she was blocking her way. From the way she said it, it looked like she was from the back alleys of a town since that's the accent that worked in those places.
Luna spared a nervous smile at her and quickly jumped out of her way like a scaredy cat. But as soon as she noticed the queens were on that side as well, she decided to rather crawl over to the other side than pass secretly behind them.
'Who knows if they accidentally pick me up as their new slave?! I must remain careful...
And quick!!!' her eyes caught Stephanie walking away towards the exit.
She bumped into a group of women, but thankfully, they weren't too aggressive with her.
"Jesus! I feel like I am on a minefield here." She muttered under her breath while changing into those plain white flashy gowns and quickly sprinted towards Stephanie who was walking very fast, as usual.
"Wait! *HUFF!* *PUFF!* I said wait!" Luna called Stephanie from behind in the empty corridor of the second floor and panted heavily as she finally managed to put a brake on her legs.
Resting her hands on the bent knee, she looked above at Stephanie's perplexed but annoyed reaction.
"What is it?" Her voice was very cold.
"I..ahem! Let's bath together, shall we?" But Luna ignored the dangerous aura Stephanie was emitting and instead approached her with a friendly smile.
Stephanie felt a little uncomfortable as she was being a bit too attached to her than the rest of the girls, for apparently no good reason.
'It hasn't even been a week since she arrived here, not to mention how much she ignores everyone. And now she's suddenly acting all buddy-buddy with me?! She's damn suspicious.'
Stephanie narrowed her eyes and gave a stern look at Luna's pure smile.
"For the last time, I said go away from me. I don't want to see you around me ever again." She made herself loud and clear, but a very unexpected response hit her back.
"I won't! Don't you dare ever say that to me! You understand?!" For strange reasons, Luna yelled furiously, with tears pouring out of her eyes. It was very weird for Stephanie to see this intense level of dramatic reaction over such a small matter.
Her sniffs forced Stephanie to recall her past, but nope, there was no memory of Luna in her record. She only met her here for the first time.
"But all I said was to stay away from me. Why are you getting so heated just from that? We don't even know each other." She said her thoughts aloud and watched Luna flinch at the sudden realization of a huge mistake she had just made.
"That...you won't understand. But please, don't push me away from you, as you are the only one I have in this world. So please... just… take me along with you." Her tears were leaking again, despite the efforts she was making to hold them back. It all looked so dramatic to Stephanie that her body shivered from the cringe.
She couldn't process what to do with her. It ain't like she would hesitate to dust Luna off her shoulders, but assuming maybe she was one of those soft heart types Stephanie thought of keeping her as a lackey instead until she realizes she's just been used, of which Stephanie is sure she will.
Thankfully, since they were walking so fast, the rest of the girls were left behind and nobody heard Luna's yelling, but the sound of their giggles indicated they were catching up to them very soon and there were still tears in Luna's eyes.
"Okay! Okay! But at least wipe those tears off your face. You look pathetic in that state." She hurried Luna to quickly come over to her and go to the bathhouse together.
It brought a radiant smile to Luna's face as she listened to the same words which the old Stephanie too was used to say whenever she cried.
She giggled unreasonably along the way, which itched Stephanie to land a slap on her face, but she controlled herself from doing so.
Meanwhile, behind that cheerful face, Luna began to calculate her next step now that she had successfully managed to remain on Stephanie's side.
"What's left now is to sort out a safe plan and I don't know where would it be safe to discuss this with Steph. Unlike last time, we cannot afford to leave everything just on luck and run away from this place. We have to be strategic."
Her brain got busy assembling the gears in search of the pieces she was missing at the moment.
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