For the remaining hours he could spend, Sigmarus patiently taught Grace how to sound out different letters into words. At first, she could barely read each word, but now she could almost sound out an entire sentence in one go. The way her forehead creased when focusing on unfamiliar or longer words amused him. Teaching somebody how to read was surprisingly fulfilling, though he wouldn’t choose to go out of his way to waste time teaching anyone else in the future.

A few minutes before he planned to leave, somebody knocked on the door again. Sigmarus and Grace glanced at each other and then stared at the door. In answer to their curiosity, the person who knocked spoke from beyond the door, albeit with a hesitant tone.

“Valerie, it’s me. Can I come in?”

“Oh, it’s Madame Lee again,” Grace quietly said. Then, she raised her voice and answered, “Yes, ma’am!”

The door slowly opened, creaking on its old hinges. Madame Lee paused briefly before entering the room. Unlike the last time they saw her, her head was slightly lowered, and her face was downtrodden.

“Is something wrong?” Grace asked the moment she saw her.

Madame Lee’s eyebrows rose, and she straightened her posture. Clearing her throat, she forced a smile and said, “It’s nothing to worry about. Anyway, do you two mind coming to my room for a bit?”

Tilting her head, Grace asked, “Did I do something I shouldn’t, again? Wait, Mister Sigmarus, too?”

“Is that alright… Mister Sigmarus?” Madame Lee asked Sigmarus while avoiding his gaze.

“Hmm… Before that, I want to ask... Have we met before?”

Instantly, Madame Lee froze. She bit her lower lip as though unwilling to answer. Just that was enough to verify his thoughts, but she cemented his suspicions by stammering, “Y- Yes.”

“Thought so. I can spare a minute, then.”

He turned his gaze toward Grace as though expecting her to answer as well. It only took a moment for her to catch on.

Grinning, she looked at her boss and said, “I can’t say no to you, Madame.”

“Okay. Follow me, please.”

Briefly sighing, Madame Lee turned around and stepped back into the hallway. After giving each other curious looks, Sigmarus and Grace stood and followed behind her. The book in Grace’s hands caught Madame Lee’s eye and brewed some curiosity within her toward the situation between them. However, she chose to ignore it for now.

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Along the way, Sigmarus scratched his chin while trying to remember Madame Lee’s actual name.

I’m pretty sure my memory got better thanks to the apparatus, but remembering such a small detail is hard. Maybe it’s just because I didn’t care enough to learn names back then? Yeah, that’s probably it.

Before long, the Madame led them into her room on the second floor. The high-quality furniture which would normally be impossible to obtain as a muskrat immediately derailed Sigmarus’ train of thought. How did she get her hands on such things? Was it because of the Green Devil gang who owned the brothel? Sigmarus couldn’t comprehend how either of them could get their hands on these things. Although the furniture was incomparable to the things his parents owned in the Middle Sectors, one would at least have to live in the Lower Sectors, which entailed the first twenty or so floors above the foundations, to get their hands on it.

Maybe I’m thinking too much, but do they have a way to get upstairs or something?

While Sigmarus pondered about the issue, Madame Lee sat behind her desk and gestured for the other two to sit on the chairs in front of it.

Grace quickly sat in the chair to the left. She then turned around in her seat in order to tell Sigmarus to sit without worrying about manners, but then she stopped with her mouth half open. To the surprise of both Grace and Madame Lee, he plopped down in the other chair as though this was his own home, even going so far as to rest his hands on the back of his head while leaning the chair back on its hind legs.

For Grace, Sigmarus’ aloof demeanor was easy to accept. She ignored it and focused on Madame Lee. On the other hand, her boss was speechless.

“So, umm, what did you need us for?” Grace asked.

“Oh, right…” Madame Lee mumbled to herself while struggling to tear her widened eyes away from Sigmarus. Perhaps Grace could accept his behavior, but for Madame Lee, she couldn’t comprehend how the weak child from back then who always suffered under the feet of bullies could now act so nonchalantly. Eventually, she forced herself to come to terms with it and said, “I noticed you two were in the room for a long time.”

“Yes?” Grace replied, unsure what the Madame was hinting at.

“He’s not a VIP customer.”

“Eh? Oh!” Grace exclaimed. She then lowered her head and clenched her fists.

“I gotta be a VIP to use more time or something?” Sigmarus asked.

Madame Lee nodded and answered, “Yes. Only VIP customers can spend more than an hour with one of our girls.”

“I see. How do I get that?”

“First, I want to know why you spent so much of Valerie’s time.”

“He knows my real name, Madame Lee,” Grace said.

“Eh? Do you two know each other outside?”

“He’s the one who gave me credits the other day…”

Madame Lee’s eyes widened. Her lips opened, but no sound came out. Her eyes shifted left and right as she tried to comprehend the situation, and her eyebrows wrinkled. Then, she took a deep breath and sighed. This situation was really unusual.

“Val- Erm, Grace, do you mind stepping outside for a moment so I can talk to him alone for a bit?”

“Umm… okay.”

Although obviously unwilling, Grace nodded and left the room. Sigmarus and Madame Lee looked each other in the eyes, but Madame Lee quickly averted her gaze. Observing her wary attitude towards him, Sigmarus again wondered what had brought such a talented person to such a low station.

“Hello, Sigmarus,” Madame Lee greeted.

“Long time, no see, miss Student Council President,” Sigmarus casually replied.