That was if he wasn’t just playing her and truly did know about her from the beginning, which might explain why he’d come to her in the first place. But what if that was not the case, and he did actually come to her due to simply innocent curiosity? What then?

Jean frowned. Why did this have to be so complicated? It would have been far more simpler to grant pleasure and then when the venture ball started, look for an opportunity to seek her revenge.

Taking a deep breath, she pulled out her diary from her pouch, opened it, and brought the pen close. Since it didn’t require ink, she didn’t need to leave the bed, and that was something she liked very well. The bed was quite comfortable. She found a relatively untouched page and began to write.

"Who is Klaus?"

It wasn’t about who he was in the title—she already knew he was a Venture. Instead, it was a question of his true nature. What did he want? Why had he come to her? Was he one of those who had buried her in that pit of spiders, or was he simply unaware? But even then, how was he unaware to something like that? It was not like she was quiet when that pit. If anything, she screamed till her lungs gave out.

Thank the healing of the pleasure pavilion.

She pondered these questions for a while, then sighed. No matter. I doubt I’ll get the chance to discover any of this after that…

Moving to a different page, an older one, she noted many entries: memories of her days working in a brothel with her pleasure master, Walter, and of being sold by that very same Walter to the Ventures.

Strange how her first love had also been the one to sell her to be tortured in that pit. Perhaps it had been unrequited love. She was barely sixteen at the time, while he was in his mid-thirties. No matter, he, too, was a target for revenge. And unlike the ventures, she planned on being a bit milder to him. After all, despite what he had done, he likely didn't do it out of some spite or wicked nature. He simply wanted the money.

Finished with that, she turned to another section and wrote:

"Dunn remains dead."

She frowned, then looked at her pen, bringing it close to the page. He’s been dead for years now… shouldn’t I move on? With Klaus?

What?

Jean startled, pulling the pen away abruptly. What was she thinking? Had she really just entertained that thought? Why? She had only just met Klaus, and yet here she was, considering erasing Dunn from her heart. For who? Klaus? A Venture? A man she barely knew?

Dunn could be said to be the definition of her ultimate, and yet she was thinking of another man.

This felt wrong. Suspicious. Unnatural.

Is something wrong with me?

Suddenly, Jean realized she had been strangely calm, despite not knowing where she was. She felt comfortable here—too comfortable. Why had she accepted this place so easily? When she awoke in the ventures home, she was immediately suspicious, but here, she had remained oblivious.

Quickly, she glanced around.

She was in a vast room with eternal lamps burning on both sides of the walls, stretching out like a hall more than a room. An intricate chandelier hung above, and the bed was enormous, large enough for at least ten people to lie comfortably. At the end of the hall room was an open square space, which could have functioned as a door if it had any to open or close.

She was covered to her knees by a slick, red sheet.

Isn’t this Madam Cornelia’s room? she realized the familairy.

As if to confirm her thoughts, a soft sigh sounded beside her. Jean turned to her left and saw the tall, slender woman with blue hair, a narrow jawline, sharp eyes, and an outrageous beauty and grace. Her every movement seemed enough to captivate anyone, making her appear like a woman empires would wage war for, or even one the gods would desire.Mother knew, any man that would not desire her was either mad or simply dead. But again, even the dead had desires.

"Mistress Cornelia!"

"Yes, Jean," Cornelia replied softly, her eyes regarding her. "You’ve been asleep for a couple of days. By the way, why were you found in an alley, bedding a beggar?"

Jean blushed. "Giving pleasure." Did I really sleep for a couple of days?

"With that body—your body?" Cornelia’s brow furrowed slightly.

Jean cringed. "Uhm, well, I…" She fumbled for words. "I was attacked."

"By the Ventures, I know." Cornelia’s tone remained even. "My question is, why? You were told to wait until their ball started. Secondly, you were on a mission from the Mother, and yet you went to confront the Ventures?"

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"No!" Jean raised her hands in defense. "I didn’t plan to attack the Ventures, nor did I even have such intentions. It was more of a coincidence." She lowered her arms. "I went to a simple ball at the theater to see a new musician who had been signed. It was there that I met him. At first, I didn’t even know it was him. It just… happened."

Cornelia eyed her. "Then how did that lead to you attacking him?"

Despite her even almost casual tone, Jean felt an overwhelming urge to speak the truth, as if that very desire was being pulled out from her, She suspected that the Mistress was likely using one of her powers on her.

But which one?

"I received an exceptionally painful revelation from the Mother."

Cornelia tilted her head. "What made it so exceptionally painful?"

"There was a word… Black."

Before Jean could even begin to utter the complex words, Cornelia moved swiftly. Jean suddenly felt an overpowering urge to close her mouth, to stay silent, and to keep the truth hidden. The feeling was so intense that she bit down on her lips to keep them shut.Warm blood streamed down from them.

"Do not say those words. In fact, do not even think of them," Cornelia said. "That knowledge far exceeds the Desolation Class. If you speak of it, your soul will be violently burnt from your body."

Jean shuddered, recalling what happened when she’d woken from that strange dream. She had an inkling about the name that began with "Black," but now, understanding the consequences, she dared not speak it.

Before, she had simply refrained from thinking about it based on the Mother’s orders, but now she understood why. However, if the knowledge could burn one’s soul, how was she still alive? Surely, the pain alone should have killed her.

The Mother!

But when did the Mother gain dominion over souls? Wasn’t her power over desire and emotion? Jean hesitated and dismissed the thought. After all, what did she truly know about gods? And her making any assumptions of the Mother was the same as Blasphemy.

After a pause, Jean spoke again. "Then why did the Mother tell me about it?"

"Perhaps to reveal something of it," Cornelia said. "Is there more to this revelation?"

"Yes," Jean replied. "The summary was for me to save… or maybe help the boy against the Black—" She quickly closed her lips. It was though the desire to never say the complete word was now deeply rooted in her.

"To help?" Cornelia looked puzzled. "But given the difference in class between the bearer of the name and what he represents, the order should be far-reaching—perhaps involving the entire faction or even the other colors."

“It’s that dangerous?” Jean felt her apprehension deepen. “Who exactly is he?” She paused, adding, “I mean, you don’t have to tell me everything, but considering the Mother asked me to help the boy, I should know something, right?”

Cornelia regarded her for a moment, then sat down slowly on the edge of the bed. “This will be taxing, as nearly every part of this knowledge could violently destroy your soul.”

Jean stayed silent. She was already aware that certain knowledge was inaccessible to some, based on how secretive the faction was. But now she understood why. Perhaps this is why people say the mysteries of gods are unknowable.

Cornelia sighed softly. “To begin, you know there are five millennia: the current one, the previous one that saw the Annihilation Wars, the one before that, the second millennium—which is often called the Solitude Epoch, though some scholars believe the Solitude Epoch occurred in the third millennium instead.”

Jean nodded. This much was common knowledge, although the events themselves were shrouded in mystery. The general consensus was that the third millennium saw the Mad King wage war on humanity.

Cornelia continued, “The Black first emerged around the Solitude Epoch. But his presence became most prominent in the third millennium, during the Mad King’s war against humanity.”

The Mad King and the Black knew each other? Jean thought, finding the piece of information quite intriguing.

“However, sometime after the Solitude Epoch ended, the Black was either sealed away or entered a deep slumber. It’s possible the Mad King was the one who reawakened him.” Cornelia went on, “Together, they waged war on humanity but were ultimately defeated by the Eleven Gods. Although some sources claim there was no such thing as the Eleven Gods before then.”

What does that mean? That the gods only came to power during the third millennium? Then what truth does the creation story hold?

When she still followed the Pure White God, the creation story had been deeply ingrained in her. According to that myth, the Eleven Gods had come from a singular being—a creator so great that, to make something truly exist, he had to shatter, allowing his very body to form the world. In the myth, the “world” was often equated with the Ulsharian system.

But if this creator’s world was just the Ulsharian system, did that mean he had only made one planet? After all, it was public knowledge that their was only one planet in the system..or maybe the universe.

Regardless, the Eleven Gods were presented as the creator’s consciousnesses, sent to love and protect humans. Non-humans, however, were labeled as abominations, an error in creation. To Jean, that part of the myth had always seemed sloppy. Why would an all-powerful creator be capable of making mistakes? It was though, the Gods wanted themselves to not be beyond mistakes.

But from what Mistress Cornelia was saying, it seemed the myth of creation was nothing more than “ash-hound shit,” and the gods were not the consciousnesses of some creator. Then again, there was another myth from the Tudorson clan. According to them, the world had been created by four beings: Independence, Erudite, Unity, and Adam. But why wasn't the Mother among them?

Nevertheless, the myth was never widely accepted, partly because of the presence of “Adam,” who, unlike the others, did not represent a concept, and was more of a physical being.

Perhaps that one held more truth.

She exhaled, refocusing on Cornelia. “After the defeat of the Black, he wasn’t killed but sealed away again. The faction has tried tracing his evolutionary branch, even experimenting with different species. His powers are linked to law and order—though in a deeply distorted way.”

“So what class was he?”

“I can’t tell you that,” Cornelia replied.

Jean shrugged. “Then why does the Mother want me? What could I even offer? And, more importantly, how is the boy related to the Black? Could his vortex be drawing the being in?”

“If so, that would mean the boy is even more powerful—or at least more mysterious—than he seems,” Cornelia said.

Not powerful, but certainly mysterious, Jean mused. “The Mother must have a plan if I’m involved.”

“True,” Cornelia agreed. “In any case, you need rest. Afterward, you’ll find the boy and discover what ties him to the Black.”

Jean nodded, then paused and sat up slightly. “Did you use your powers on me when I first woke up?”

“Yes.”

“Which one?”

“The Lady of Bliss.”

----------------------------------------

Some time later, Jean was walking pass the shelves of the pavilion library.