Chapter 98 – Reader

"Now, my beautiful ladies and gentlemen," Dorian said, in his true appearance, inside the underground room of Bliss’s House, looking at the nine men and women standing before him. "Today is Thursday night. And the day after tomorrow, as I have already told you, you will be among those participating in the Royal Event. As servants for the Heirs."

He paused, his devilish eyes sweeping across their faces, curious yet serious.

"We have already discussed this matter before," he continued, slipping both hands into his pockets with easy leisure. "But let me repeat myself in case some of you have been fucked so hard you have started forgetting things."

Soft giggles and laughter echoed around the room, with some already eager to return to their usual work.

"All of you here are part of my Whisper Sect. You have been groomed, trained, educated in the art of hearing whispers, of making your clients speak their darkest secrets. All while perfectly performing whatever wicked thing they begged you to do." He smiled proudly. "You are my finest people. And that is exactly why I chose you for this task."

No one spoke. All of them wore quiet, happy smiles at being acknowledged by their Master, their eyes fixed on Dorian with full attention, each one understanding the delicacy of this mission.

"All I ask is that you do the same here." Dorian began to walk between them, continuing his speech. "You will enter the Royal Event. You will complete the tasks you have been given. But not only that, my dears. Oh, not only that."

He stopped abruptly, face to face with a woman of pink hair and silver eyes. Her eyelashes were long, curved upward, impossibly beautiful: each blink of them carrying something that could weaken the knees of men and women alike.

"Tell me, Julie." Dorian whispered, smiling. "Tell me what else I need you to do."

"Create chaos." She answered. "Enough chaos that no one can think clearly."

"What is the correct timing?" He asked again, his eyes steady on hers.

"When the King, Queen and even the High Priestess have retired to their quarters, leaving the heirs to enjoy the Event on their own. Likely during the Sparring Contest or the night, when they begin to dance with their chosen partners."

"Exactly, dear. Exactly." He said, then turned to the rest of them. "And I am speaking to all of you. You act only after they are gone. If not, don’t even think about it. You will all die faster than thought itself."

"We understand that, Master." Julie said. "But after the chaos...what about us?"

Her question made many of them harden their expressions.

It was true they were grateful to Dorian. Grateful for the fact that he had found them on the streets or in terrible situations and brought them under him.

He had given them a roof over their heads, food on their tables, a way to earn a living and maintain their lives without being crushed by debt.

It was not the most honourable way of living. But life, as all know, was kind to some, severe to others, and cruel to still others.

And all nine of them had drawn the short stick — their available options, at the time, had been either death or using their own bodies to survive.

Many they knew had chosen death, wishing to die with their honour unblemished.

But not them. They were not the honourable, holy kind.

As long as they survived. As long as they lived. As long as they had money to take care of the families that depended on them...then using their bodies as the price was not too steep.

That was exactly why, at that instant, all of them were afraid. Afraid of losing the lives they had protected at the cost of their reputations, their honour, and their bodies treated as nothing but dirt all this time.

Dorian Desdemona would not have been this successful if he hadn’t understood exactly that about his people.

And so he had already thought of an answer.

"You will simply need to escape, my dears." He said, looking at all of them. "Let me be completely clear, ladies and gentlemen: do not hesitate. Do not stop. Do not even think. The moment you unleash mayhem inside the Event, that brief window when everyone is confused and the guards are useless..."

He paused, making sure every pair of eyes was with him.

"...escape the palace through the west. A way out will be created. I want all of you to run — after changing your appearance as I have taught you — straight to our Fifth Hidden Space. From there, I will send you all to Kurppe Kingdom."

"Kurppe Kingdom?" One of them echoed, their voice uneasy.

"Yes." He nodded. "I opened an Inn there not long ago." He smiled. "I need workers to make it function as I intend. And who better than all of you?"

At that, they all smiled with immediate relief spreading across every face.

"Still, it will be one hell of a mission, sir!" A girl said with excitement in her voice.

"A bunch of whores successfully throwing the nobles and royal family into chaos!" A man in tight clothes said with wicked anticipation.

They laughed and talked, hiding the slow tension creeping beneath it all behind crude humour and excitement.

After a moment, Dorian clapped his hands. Absolute silence returned.

He looked at them for a few breaths without a word, then bared his teeth into a grin.

"Let’s not waste time." He said. "Let’s begin preparations for tomorrow, since you will go there in advance to be ready for Saturday."

"LET’S GO!" A plump woman shouted, and the others followed.

All while Julie watched with a quiet smile, eagerly anticipating Saturday.

...

Meadow sat at her study table, still inside the Tycoon’s Château building, not having gone home even though the night had long settled in.

Her personal maid waited outside her office, saying nothing about it, finding it entirely normal. Her Miss loved to read until late at night, after all.

But on that particular Thursday evening, Meadow Wealth was not reading.

In front of her, beside the oil lamp illuminating only the table, sat a sheet of paper and a pen crafted by the Wealth family themselves with the symbol W of Wealth etched onto it.

Thoughts churned inside her head as she tried to recall everything Cassius had advised her that morning.

’Heh,’ she laughed at herself. ’Who would have thought I would take Cassius Desdemona as my editor?’

It was so unexpected it was almost ridiculous. Yet it had happened. And it had happened in a way that left her genuinely speechless, because in the process she had also agreed to join a Sect and become the CEO of a merchant company that had yet to see the world.

’Fallen Angel and Devil’s Advocate.’ She recalled the names, finding Cassius’s naming sense rather poor.

’Poor, just like everything about him.’ She sneered, then shook her head and decided to focus.

Cassius had told her to write in first person a journal-style novel, recounting her own days.

’Remember, my little aspiring author,’ Cassius had said, grinning with insufferable arrogance, ’make it entertaining. Your life is already dull. You will need to put in more effort to not lie while writing, yet still make it worthwhile. But I trust you... I think.’

As the memory fuzed through her mind, Meadow cursed him quietly under her breath, wondering how he dared call her life dull, then picked up the pen.

She exhaled, cleared away every useless thought, and fixed her full attention on the blank sheet of paper before her.

She muttered a quick prayer to Vorn, and began to write, letting herself be guided by the world’s essence, being nothing but a conduit:

<Today has been a strange day. I started it, just like any other, with nothing particular in mind, treating it as a routine day before the Event, planning to continue my guilty pleasure read, ’The Woman with a Thousand Harem.’

At least, ah, that was what I initially thought.

I had forgotten — I genuinely admit — that I was supposed to have a meeting with Cassius Desdemona himself. The Last Born of the Desdemona. The most hated man of our generation.

Now, you must forgive me, reader, for not being able to explain who he truly is today, for even I find myself lost and confused about his real nature.

But I will explain it all one day. Yes, one day, when I am better, when I have grown better, I will take my time and cover every aspect of the man named Cassius Desdemona that I have managed to uncover.

For today, however, I only wish to write about how I found myself the CEO of a Merchant Company, a member of a hidden Sect, and the sole author under the Great Editor — as he loves to call himself — Cassius Desdemona.

And all of it began with a single meeting...!

Oh. I think I have forgotten something important.

I haven’t introduced myself yet, have I?

Ah, sorry. Let’s do that properly, shall we?

I am Meadow Wealth, reader. And this is the tale of how I became, under the guidance of the Last Born of the Desdemona, a bestselling author.

...hopefully.>

—End of Chapter 98—