“Good morning young lord Lovewood. How have you been?” asked a smartly dressed man, when Arthur had arrived in the back room.

To tell the truth, Arthur didn’t expect anything. He was very disappointed, because the back room looked more luxurious than the front store.

Arthur sat down, and then crossed his legs, one on top of the other. “So, I have a business proposition for you”, he began, sounding strangely confident.

“Oh? What business may that be?” the smartly dressed man asked, paying careful attention.

“Before I tell you what my idea is, you and I are going to have to sign a non-disclosure agreement, and if you agree to implement this idea, you and I will split the share of profits in the ratio of seventy percent me, and thirty percent you. Clear?”

Arthur looked at the smartly dressed man. The man looked very confused. There was a frown on his face, but, it was then replaced by a fake smile.

“I’m not sure I follow”, the man replied.

Arthur sighed. “First things first, what about other business we had?” This had been mentioned by the servant when he first came in. He decided to play the card, hoping it would lead to something he could use as a bargaining chip later.

“Oh? You’re talking about the merchandise? Do you want to come and see it now?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“Very well sir, please follow me”, the smartly dressed man led the way towards another back room. And they took stairs that led underground, and they arrived at a hallway, which curved, leading into many other doors. It looked like whoever had designed this place didn’t want it to be found.

At least not easily.

Which meant that something illegal was going on. And at this point, Arthur realized that he may have gotten himself into some shit. Some really nasty shit.

This was confirmed when they arrived at their destination. Arthur marvelled at the fact that such a small building had a large theatre underneath it. If it was a modern building, with modern building materials, it was probably possible. But in this place?

The smartly dressed man sat down, prompting Arthur to sit beside him as well. The curtain was unveiled, and down on the stage, the merchandise was revealed.

On the other part of the theatre, there were other people as well, but then due to the lighting, Arthur couldn’t see their faces.

Arthur then turned to focus on the merchandise being shown on the stage. It was then, that he realized something was definitely wrong. A lot of things were wrong here, technically, but there was something else that caught Arthur’s attention. It wasn’t the naked woman with a collar on her neck, being sold on the stage. Yes, that was very wrong, but that wasn’t what caught his attention.

It wasn’t the fact that he was actually sitting there, watching all this happen as if it was normal, when to him, it wasn’t.

You see, when a man sees a naked woman, there’s something that always happens, whether the man wants it to happen or not. The problem was, for Arthur, this “something” didn’t happen at all. There was no response whatsoever. It was like there were no signs of life down there … and that’s when Arthur realized he was royally screwed.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Fuck!!!!!!!!” he shouted, before he realized where he was.

“Anything the matter, sir?” the smartly dressed man asked.

“This can’t be happening!!! It can’t be!!! It definitely can’t be happening!!!” Arthur began to mumble to himself. It was very unfortunate, because it was definitely happening.

“Is this the one you want sir?” the smartly dressed man misinterpreted what he was saying.

“I’m definitely fucked… I’m fucked … I’m really fucked …” and indeed, he was.

The smartly dressed man was even more confused. “If that’s the one you want sir, let me make sure she’s packaged the way you like. I didn’t know you had such a keen eye.”

Arthur sighed in dismay.

“Most people don’t know this yet, but that’s our most prized merchandize”, the man continued, but this time he was talking in whispers. “This girl was once an assassin, so she’s well versed with the blade. She was supposed to be a surprise, but it looks like nothing escaped your keen eye.”

What the fuck was this guy talking about? Arthur was here lamenting the fact that he wasn’t going to be having children any time soon, and he didn’t have a say in the matter either. Yet some dude is actually talking useless nonsense!

Arthur stood up. “I’m leaving.”

“Okay sir, let me show you out. The merchandize will be delivered to you tonight sir, so you shouldn’t worry about it”, the smartly dressed man led the way out of the room they were in.

Arthur wasn’t worried about it. He was worried about something else entirely. This matter was too important, especially for his pride as a man … and former billionaire.

The smartly dressed man said something or another, but Arthur was no longer paying attention. He simply kept nodding his head and saying “Yeah”, and “Sure, why not?” All in all, his mind was somewhere else.

After bidding farewell to the smartly dressed man and his funny shop, Arthur was still out of it.

“Sir, is everything alright?” the butler asked, upon seeing his gloomy face.

“Did you get the booze … eh … I mean wine?”

“Indeed sir. But did you finish your business with Mizel Scarlet?”

“Who?”

“Mizel, sir. The man you were with just now”, the butler explained.

“Oh, so his name is Mizel? Good to know.”

The butler became silent. It looked as if he didn’t know what else to do. No one did, not even Arthur himself. And he was the one who had the problem.

*****

Liz was not having a good time. It wasn’t her fault … it was her father’s fault. She agreed to become a guarantor for him when he borrowed money from the lord, and now she was being sold … again.

Initially, she was sold to the Raven Assassin’s guild when she was only sixteen. To pay off the debt to the lord, she had worked her ass off, until her crazy father borrowed some more money, plunging her into more debt. And now she was being sold to the lord’s son. Was this any more problematic?

“Wear this dress!” the caretaker yelled at her, throwing a red dress at her.

She hated this man with a passion. If she still had her blades, she’d have slit his throat already. Unfortunately, she didn’t have her blades, and on unarmed combat, he would overpower her. Assassins were more effective with the element of surprise, and their blades.

She had been told by her previous master, that a great assassin can use anything to get the job done. This was before he was killed by her own hands. Element of surprise, very effective.

Liz wore the red dress. She hated the red colour. It reminded her of blood. The blood she had shed as an assassin. Now she was going to be a plaything for the lord’s son. Suddenly, the colour became the least of her problems.

After wearing the dress, she was attended to by some maids. They threw a lot of make up on her face, and then they combed her hair, before finally filing her nails.

When they were done, even she could not recognize her own reflection in the mirror. Yet she still preferred not having any makeup.

“You look perfect. I heard the lord’s son has some weird tastes, I’m sure he’s going to love you deeply. Just don’t do anything to disappoint”, the caretaker stared her up and down, before looking away.

That statement got her even more worried. Was this going to end well? She wasn’t worried about herself, but she was worried about what the lord would do to her father if she did something to his son. Maybe she shouldn’t think about it too much?