Celine helped Lucian fluff the pillows, making the bed look untouched as if they hadn't used it earlier.

She had to return to her place before anyone could notice she was gone. Having traces of women in his place wouldn't ruin his reputation if anyone were to find out. Her dark hair, however, could, so they took the utmost care in cleaning everything properly.

Once alone, Lucien tried to return to his working mode.

'I'm now stronger than most people in the kingdom. If I don't squeeze every tiny little benefit out of my new rank, I'm going to lose my mind.'

Spending that much money on something that would not bring any profit back left him feeling a bit empty, despite his physical gains.

Regular town and city guards were mostly at copper knight level, and some of them were even at the iron level. Lucian has surpassed those two levels, and altogether, it cost him 2600 large gold coins to cross to the bronze level.

His pockets were now so empty, that a gust of wind could make them whistle (most of his savings were gone, not his wealth).

He stared at his desk, where a pile of letters stared back at him. Most were marriage proposals and a few invitations to attend different social events and gatherings.

A bronze knight wouldn't make them go out of their way to marry off their noble daughters to him. His feat was not as great as the price he paid to get it.

At the end of the day, it still came down to money. He would gain more power by getting richer than stronger at this point.

'Two more ranks until I reach Edmund's level...' he thought.

Lucian's motivation to get stronger stemmed mostly from his desire to be able to hold his own against Edmund.

That young heir was giving Celine lots of headaches lately, with how he was going against her every step of the way.

Celine spoiled and cleaned after Edmund too much in Lucian's eyes, and when he pointed that out, she pointed back to him and said Edmund used to be obedient before he came along and ruined her little brother (Edmund is older).

"Sir, you have a visitor," a store's employee interrupted his thoughts, knocking on the door, "Lady Lily is here."

Lucian acted deaf to the last part and continued looking through the proposals.

Whoever was able to persuade his employees to let her in despite his orders, was probably even better than he was at persuading people to do his bidding, and that was not something he was looking forward to dealing with.

He had been stumbling onto this high class courtesan more and more often.

Sometimes Lady Lily would act surprised and other times she would pretend she was just taking a walk and happened to pass by him by chance. It was like fate kept pushing them together.

Celine at least didn't act like it was the God's will but hers, which made the God listen to her demands and interfere with Lucian's attempts at avoiding her.

He didn't remember Celine ever using subtle seduction tactics on him. She was short on time, and in case he was a dense blockhead who didn't understand her advances, she wanted to make sure her message came across clearly.

Lady Lily went the mysterious aura route that said: 'There's more to me than meets the eye'. But that's not the only thing that made her so desirable.

She was considered to be the number one beauty in the capital.

Lady Lily had men falling in love with her at first sight. The only thing that kept them in check was her price tag.

Lucian shuffled through the letters, disagreeing with the public's beauty standards.

Celine used make up to blend in, while Lady Lily did it to look the best she could. She had to, for her profession depended on it. Celine could afford to look ugly, and she would still have everything at the end of the day.

Why give people an eye feast when she already had the upper hand over them?

Lucian would have worn a mask if he could hide his appearance. Keeping a certain expression on his face all the time was tiring.

But alas, his looks were one of the things that made him seem trustworthy, so he had to endure the strain on his facial muscles.

"Sir...?" the employee asked with another knock.

"Is he alright?" A soft, feminine voice asked from the other side of the door, "Perhaps he needs help?"

"He must be busy, my lady," the employee insisted, "Please, wait in the guest room. Sir Arclight doesn't like being disturbed while working."

"I will leave as soon as I make sure he is okay. Are you not worried that he might have passed out from exhaustion in there?" Lady Lily asked.

"He does this all the time. Your worries are misplaced, Lady Lily. We have a schedule that has to be followed. We don't want him to think we can't follow simple instructions."

Lady Lily didn't argue back, "You are right. My apologies. I didn't realize how stressful it must be to meet so many people, day after day..."

Lucian used his third eye to observe her tactics and learn something useful to pass on to Jax's courtesans to increase their earnings.

Lady Lily had the right amount of sympathy in her voice, and it sounded quite convincing.

Her light purple hair was tied into a neat bun at the back of her neck, and her eyes were a shade darker than her hair. Her skin was delicate, like it was meant to be admired, not touched.

She was wearing a laced dress that showed just the right amount of curves to tease the imagination. Her hands were covered by long, silk gloves, and her hat was adorned with a small veil.

Lucian felt his little general finally calming down at the sight. It stopped poking at his pants. Who knew that all it needed was a top beauty to scare it back to sleep? Not a cold bath that only seemed to rile it up more.

Just the thought of what Celine did to him under the cold water caused Lucian to get distracted again.

'This won't do. I need a change of scenery,' Lucian gathered all the letters and work-related documents, and put them inside his briefcase, then opened the door to slip out of the office, taking a chance while Lady Lily was being distracted.

'She has probably figured out that a business proposal would help her get closer to me instead of a fleeting smile here and there.'

Lucian was not going to make it easier for her just because she was a woman, no matter how beautiful. That wouldn't be fair towards other businessmen, would it?

He entered his carriage and closed the curtain, "To the Red String Brothel."

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