“Ah, Atlas. Don’t forget we are in public. You’re attracting too much attention. A Vampire is coming towards you from the back. He looks suspicious. Handle it.” Lilith noticed the Vampire behind Atlas and many others looking in their direction.

Immersed in the conversation, even she had forgotten that they needed to be careful. Fortunately, she realized it before it was too late.

Atlas stopped speaking as soon as he heard a Vampire coming toward him.

“How far is he?” he inquired softly.

“Around ten steps,” Lilith replied.

Atlas nodded in acknowledgment. He didn’t look back. He couldn’t let anyone know that he knew. Instead of stopping talking, he started talking even louder.

“Lord Carlisle was so glorious. I can’t believe I got to see him today! He is amazing. My Lord is like a god, walking amongst us mortals. I can’t contain my excitement after seeing him! I am so lucky!”

The Vampire reached closer to Atlas, only to hear his words praising Carlisle.

He chuckled as he turned around. “Talking to himself about seeing Lord Carlisle. These humans get excited at the smallest of things.”

“He’s leaving. Good dodge.” Lilith informed Atlas, letting out a sigh of relief. “But now you have to be careful. It might not work every time. When you talk, don’t look toward me. Alright?”

“I get it,” Atlas started walking away from the Vampire. From the start to the end, he hadn’t seen him, and he wasn’t interested in it either.

The sun had already set, and darkness was taking over the city, with only moonlight remaining as the source of light. More and more people started going back to their houses, calling it an end of their day. The shops started closing. Vendors gathered their stuff and left as well.

“Everyone is going back,” Atlas observed the streets, sitting on one of the roofs.

“Soon, all the streets will be covered by Vampires as more and more of them come out. The night is their favorite time, after all. I don’t think you should stay out. Even the roof isn’t safe at this time. Someone will sooner or later find you.” Lilith reminded Atlas about the risk of staying out, especially since there was going to be no cover soon.

“I can’t go back to Lancaster’s home. More Vampires are patrolling that place already. I wonder if I should just sneak inside someone else’s house to stay the night?” Atlas let out, thinking out loud.

“That’s not good. If you do that, you might have to kill them, and I don’t think this is something you should do in your condition. Stay away from bloodshed and violence. And even if you don’t kill the owner of the house, when you leave, they’ll certainly alert the Vampires outside. Not safe at all.” Lilith refused to go with the plan.

“Still, that seems to be the only option. Where else can I go?” Atlas muttered, trying to think if there was any other place that allowed a stranger like him. There were hotels, but certainly, they weren’t going to give him a room this late since it seemed suspicious.

“A place which allowed a stranger in at night without much interrogation…” Lilith commented, but something seemed odd about her tone, as if she knew a place but didn’t want to tell.

Ultimately, Lilith decided to speak her thoughts. “Oh heck, it’s much safer indeed. Let’s go to a brothel.”

“Cough! Cough!’ Hearing her answer, Atlas started coughing uncontrollably. He had never expected that her answer would be this! Going to a brothel?

Lilith was right that this place did match the criteria. It allowed strangers in at night and let them stay there all night without much interrogation. Anyone could go there as long as they had the money. And unlike hotels, they weren’t going to be suspicious when someone checked in so late since brothels worked at night, but still… Of all places, a brothel?!

“But that place is supposed to…” Atlas hesitated. He had only heard about those places, but mentally, he was only sixteen. Even though he was slightly curious about such things, he didn’t want to go to a brothel.

“Come on. It’s not like you need to have sex. Even if you wanted to, I wouldn’t allow you to sully my Master’s body in a brothel with a lady. Just go there and spend the night without doing anything. When it’s morning, you can leave for the servant selection. This is the best option! And it’s the safest! I don’t think Vampires will come there to check!”

Lilith kept trying to convince Atlas, who seemed a bit hesitant even more. “Come on. If you don’t leave now, it might be too late. There are still some humans outside. You’ll have some cover. If it’s late, it’ll be hard to even walk on the streets without attracting unnecessary attention. Stop being a kid!”

“Arghh! Fine! Fine I’ll do it!” Under the immense convincing pressure of Lilith, Atlas buckled and agreed. He had already gone against her so many times today, and this time she was really making sense to him. It was safer for him if he went to a brothel and spent a night there, no matter how uncomfortable he was.

He jumped down from the roof in another empty alley and snuck out. “Now, where would we find a brothel in the city? Do you know?”

“How should I know? It’s my first time here as well.” Lilith snorted. “Ask someone.”

Atlas scratched the back of his head. Now he even needed to ask someone for directions to a brothel?

“How do you know there will be a brothel in this city then?” Atlas inquired. “What if there is none?”

“I have common sense, that’s why. I’m sure you’ll find one in the city. Just ask someone,” Lilith responded.

Atlas was very brave overall, but in this situation, his courage was almost non-existent. Yet, he walked towards a man, having no other choice.

“Ah, excuse me?”

The middle-aged man stopped, glancing toward Atlas. “Yeah? Do you need something?”

” I was wondering if you can tell me where I can find a brothel in this city?” Atlas asked, trying to hide his embarrassment. “I’m new here.”

The man couldn’t help but smile as he gave Atlas a cheeky look as if he was pleased to meet a fellow man of culture. Seeing the expressions of the man, Atlas felt even more embarrassed. He was being judged even though he had no impure intentions.

“There’s one in that direction. Go straight and take the third left. You’ll find one right there. It’s called the Pleasure Club. I went there just last week. I must say, that place is heaven, man. When you get there, ask for Clarissa. She is the best girl they have. You’re lucky; she might be free.” The man winked at Atlas.

“That place is very expensive though. Just the entrance fee alone is one Silver Coin, let alone the other costs,” he further added before he left.

Atlas followed the directions that were given by the man and started advancing. He could already see many Vampires in the surroundings, but it still wasn’t the time of Curfew. Supposedly, after ten, no human was allowed to be on the streets.

Within a few minutes, Atlas found himself before the brothel. It was a massive mansion. At the entrance, the board was placed with the Pleasure Club name.

At the entrance, there was also a guard who stood.

“This is a really big place. It must be owned by one of the two great families as well, if I’m not wrong,” Atlas muttered, observing the building.

“Hahahah!” Lilith burst into sudden laughter, surprising Atlas.

“Did I say something funny?” Atlas asked.

“I just find it amusing. You killed the two Family heads today, and now you’re hiding in their own mansion, and to gain an entry, you’ll be using their own money,” Lilith explained. ” If they knew it, they would’ve exploded in anger.”

~~~~

A few hours ago~

Atlas and Lancaster stood on top of the border wall. Atlas had just told Lancaster that he needed to leave and go far away before turning around to get back into the city.

“Wait!” Lancaster called out.

Atlas stopped and glanced back. “What?”

“Take it,” Lancaster brought his hand out of his pocket in which he had a few gold coins. He placed the coins in the hands of Atlas. “Since you’ll be staying here, you’re going to need money to do what you want. I stole these coins from the men you killed. Take it and use them wisely.”

Atlas glanced at the golden coins. He kept them in his pocket, nodding before he departed.

~~~~

Current time~

“I had no option but to kill them. They had seen that I was behind it. Also, I didn’t steal the money. It was given to me,” Atlas responded lazily. “Now, don’t make me speak. I’ll look suspicious.”

Atlas stepped closer to the entrance, only to be stopped by the guard.

“Entrance fee is one Silver Coin,” the guard informed Atlas.

Atlas brought a silver coin out of his pocket and gave it to the men. There were only two silver coins in the batch that was given to him by Lancaster, and the rest were gold.

Getting the coin, the guard stepped aside and opened the door. “You can go in.”

Atlas entered the building, which seemed very fascinating from inside. The entrance led straight to a massive hall.

It was Atlas’s first time coming to such a place. Even though he looked like a young man, mentally, he was still a teenager who was only sixteen. He didn’t know where to look. No matter where he tried looking, he only saw ladies dressed in extremely short clothes. Some of them were even performing poll dances while others were just sitting on the couch, talking.

“Where did you make me come?” Atlas muttered, glancing at the shadow of Lilith.

“Hey, it’s not like I enjoy coming here,” Lilith snapped back. “Just select one of the Ladies and go to the room. That’s much better than staying in this place. I don’t want to see all this!”

Atlas didn’t know who to approach here. There were many ladies and a few men. The men were talking with multiple Ladies as if they were trying to decide who to select. And almost every lady here was trying to make the men select them.

Atlas’ gaze roamed over the entire hall as he tried to see who he could select. According to Lilith, only after selecting and paying could he be sent to his room where he could spend the night.

“There…” His search soon stopped as he noticed a woman standing all alone in the distance with a glass of wine in her hand. She wasn’t trying to talk to any men and just stood alone, looking lonely.

Atlas didn’t know why but only her eyes looked pure in this place. He could see some kind of greed in the eyes of everyone here, but only that one woman had no desire in her eyes. Her eyes looked so pure and desolate. There was just something different about her.