City of Desire [Kingdom Building]

Proofread by Thomas F

Revina Ales

The screen of the elevator receded, and I stepped out before walking toward the office of Master Silver.

I didn’t have to do it personally. They had said they would handle the formalities, but I want to do it.

Master Silver and Velvet Garden at least deserve this much respect.

I feel ashamed for what I am doing, but I have to do it for my survival and, most importantly, my future. No matter how much shame and guilt I feel inside.

I had not taken this decision lightly.

I had rejected the offer several times, but after the merchant’s agreement with the undead, I was forced to think deeply about it.

The statements from the Ashton Harbor reinforced my decision further.

I would not be a hypocrite and say the offer didn’t play a part in it.

They have given me several offers, with the latest one being the best—a massive signing bonus and a position similar to one I currently hold.

It is even greater than I have here. It’s a throne, with hundreds of brothels under it.

I reached the office and turned to Jill, sitting at the table by the door.

“I want to meet, Master Silver,” I said to her. The young girl was surprised. It’s sudden, usually, as a Grade II, I meet Master Silver twice a week.

I am scheduled to meet him tomorrow. “Is it important?” she asked.

“Yes,” I replied after a moment of silence.

She didn’t reply immediately. “He will see you,” she said after a few seconds, and turned to the guards guarding the door before opening it.

I nodded and stepped inside the office.

I was relieved that he was the only one present in the office. It took all my courage to come here. I wouldn’t have come if one of the three had been here.

It is the reason why I came at this time.

Carla is out of the city, Margaux is in college, while Madam Caena is in the tower, but at a place nobody knows; some areas are restricted even to Grade II.

She is now less visible.

Though at every meeting, she asked questions that made everyone sweat.

Many things had changed in her leadership style. Giving more responsibilities to Grade II and others while she keeps careful watch.

It made the madams and other employees work harder than before.

“Revina, take a seat,” he said. Polite as always, but now there are lines of worry on his face, not about me, but for the city and legacy.

It began to hurt me more seeing him like this, so I almost got up, but I steeled my heart.

“Thank you, Master Silver,” I replied and sat down in front of him.

“What do you want to talk about? Is there a problem on the store floors?” he asked. “No, it’s about my resignation,” I replied, with all the courage.

It stilled him.

I could see surprise and pain in his eyes, but not the anger and accusation that I had been prepared to see and would have made me feel better.

He remained silent for a second before sighing, but with acceptance appearing in his eyes.

“Who got you?” he asked. I had not expected him to ask the question, at least this calmly. “Transcendent Pleasure,” I replied.

“It’s a good place, with a bright future. I hope you got a good offer,” he said, with a small, painful smile appearing on his face. “Yes,” I replied.

“Best of luck, Revina, and thank you for informing me personally.” He said. “I will ok your paperwork when they contact me,” he added.

I nodded and got up, shaking. I didn’t expect it would go smoothly, and I hate it.

It would have been much less painful if he had cursed and raged, but here, there was just politeness and acceptance.

“Thank you, Master Silver. For everything,” I said with tears streaming down my face, before walking toward the door.

I will never forget this place; it will always be something I cherish deeply, but I must follow my dreams. Something which this man and this place had taught me.

All the preparations had been made. I had my bags packed and ship ready to take me to Belnin.

…

The carriage stopped and I got off it, before walking into the city hall.

Just like the city and the Velvet Garden, it is noticeably emptier.

Soon, I reached my office and stepped inside. “Has Revina truly resigned?” Lola asked, shocked and hurt. She is her friend, a woman she had known for years.

“Yes,” I replied as I sat down.

A Grade II madam had left; she was the section chief, responsible for the whole of the three store-floors. Her position was only below Caena and Margaux, being equal to other section chiefs, such as Cath and Danielle, among others.

With her leaving, there are only five working Grade II section chiefs remaining in the legacy.

The legacy at least needs ten of them, and now we are at half that strength.

“So much had changed in the past three days, since the agreement was signed,” said Bell. I couldn’t help but nod at it.

Yes, people were leaving, but the girls were too. However, many important ones were staying.

Like the girls of the Velvet Garden, nearly a hundred had left—but none from leadership. All Grade I, Grade II, and Grade III madams had stayed, along with the trainees.

But in just two days, three Grade III madams departed, and half the trainees followed. And now Revina.

As for the girls, well. Their numbers are now greater than those who left in the past month. From barely a hundred, the numbers have reached two hundred and fifty.

This is just the beginning, as more will leave. Hallowing the foundation of the Velvet Garden and every institution of the city, which I had built with my blood and sweat.

“The undead had issued another list,” informed Zela, and I gritted my teeth.

The next moment, the list materialized. It has the names of military personnel, administrative officials, the staff of the Velvet Garden, and other people.

The undead might not be attacking directly, but they have started waging other types of war.

The information and psychological war.

In the past three days, they have been releasing these lists of people that they would target specially.

They have stated that these individuals have harmed the interests of the Kingdom of Vris’alud and will be punished. They will be tortured, experimented on by the necromancers, and then turned into undead.

Forget the civilian and military officials; they are also targeting madams of the legacy.

They usually leave the members of the legacy alone, but here, they are promising to do many things to them as well.

“How is the condition of the other cities?” I asked. They are not doing this to me alone; they are doing it to the others as well, and the effects are visible.

“Riverbell has been allowing the limited movement since morning, while Deerpond and Port Midlet are keeping a strict curfew,” she replied.

It is counterproductive because it isn’t just citizens trying to leave, but also the important people.

It is why the last time a gate of Deerpond opened, thousands of people, including civilian and military officials, ran out of it. The same things happened in Port Midlet as well.

It is chaos in those cities.

The undead are very good at information and psychological warfare. We had caught many of their agents, but there are still more.

They are also using scatter message spells and other ways to attack us.

The conditions in Greltheaven and Panar are much more stable, but people are still leaving.

The undead don’t have to do this; they have the advantage of numbers, but the undead are thorough if not anything after suffering defeat after defeat.

This ceasefire had provided them with ample time to mess with us.

On the island, it had helped them conquer many cities with less effort. In some cases, they had entirely abandoned it.

It’s the fear of the undead and what they could do that is making people run away, and I wish I could blame them for it.

The undead will do those things to the people.

I asked a few more things before focusing on the file in front of me.

It is one of the new weapons that will be arriving from the merchant state in a few days.

Of course, they could sell us to them. The whole reason for the agreement with the undead was the trade. The island was their largest trading market, and the war had disrupted it.

The new agreement would allow a limited number of ships to pass through the blockade surrounding the island after they have been inspected.

I heard a few secret agreements were also signed for the trade directly with Vris’alud.

The same thing will happen here in the region. The undead won’t stop the trade if they conquer the cities. They will let the ships of the merchants pass; here, there won’t be even an inspection.

I wonder what the undead promised them from the legacy.

I am sure my legacy is discussed; the merchants would never leave it out of the negotiations, but the information isn’t open to me yet.

I am trying to find out, but the merchant bastards are keeping a tight lid on it.

I finished with files and signed some of them before walking out of my office for the meeting. There are several of them throughout the day.

Hours passed, and it was evening. I am in a meeting with the merchant guild’s officials.

A third of them had already left the city, and more will leave, but here we are holding up better than other places.

The people we are putting in their places are merchants with years of experience; they are generally very good at management.

‘He had arrived,’ informed Zela, and a smile appeared on my face.

“Continue,” I said, leaving Hardt in charge of the meeting while I walked out of the room.

Things are terrible, but some people still have faith in the city and are doing everything they can to strengthen its hand against the undead.

One of them had just returned with the tool that would become another pillar of resistance against the undead.

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