Chapter 137: Poisoned Roses
The married couple was practically steaming on the inside.
But neither of them dared to let it show. The reason? They had no idea who the man in front of them was.
They’d done their digging, of course. They knew this mysterious figure had appeared out of nowhere and settled in Asakusa a few months back. That he’d bought this mansion, one of the most lavish residences in the district. And their inquiries also confirmed he’d snapped up a whole pile of instruments, paying outrageous prices for them...
But beyond those scattered facts, the man remained a complete enigma. Even the entire aristocratic circle of Asakusa was utterly unaware of his existence.
But of one thing they were certain: everyone who’d come around looking to cause him trouble had vanished without a trace... as if by magic.
To this day, both this man and his mansion were the living embodiment of mystery throughout all of Asakusa. And as long as it could be avoided, nobody had the slightest interest in provoking them.
Her husband tugged hard at her sleeve, his intent obvious: ’Sell it. Two hundred thousand is little, but better that than making an enemy of someone like this.’
Omitsu, however, resisted.
This had been passed down to her by her father, just as it had been passed to her father by his. A lifetime’s effort, repeated three generations running... It wasn’t something she could just let go of.
"Sir, if you truly wish to buy it, we’d be in no position to refuse. But two hundred thousand... is very little. Far too little."
Marcus raised an eyebrow. "Then name your price."
Omitsu clenched her teeth. "Five hundred thousand... Not a coin less."
Marcus gave a slight start. And then, all of a sudden, he smiled.
"Very well... Then keep it."
Omitsu froze.
Paying her no further attention, Marcus rose to his feet. "Pearl, see our guests to the door."
Omitsu blinked, completely thrown.
’This wasn’t how it was supposed to go!’
’He’s giving up, just like that?’
’No threats? Not a single bit of intimidation? No forced purchase, no "sell or face the consequences"?’
’We don’t reach an agreement on the price, and this man simply... throws in the towel?’
Still half-dazed, but with the instinct to protect her family and her legacy above all else, she shot to her feet, yanked her husband along, and politely bowed in farewell.
And just as they reached the door, Marcus’s voice rang out behind them once more, calm and even.
"Omitsu. Are you sure that a business riddled with constant runaways and suicides by the day is really worth five hundred thousand?"
Omitsu turned to stone. She stiffly turned her head and fixed her eyes on Marcus.
"What... What do you mean by that?"
Instead of answering, Marcus countered with another question. "How many girls ran away from the Kyogoku House in the past year?"
The color drained from Omitsu’s face.
"And how many lost their lives?"
A thread of sweat began trickling down her forehead.
"Could it be that they all vanished under strange circumstances, without leaving a trail worth following?"
Nagabe went deathly pale. His hands began trembling without his being able to stop them.
His wife, on the other hand, swallowed down the tremor and answered stubbornly. "S-sir Marcus, there are things you don’t know. Runaways and suicides among the courtesans are... something quite common in Yoshiwara..."
"Oh, really?"
Marcus walked over to the window, turning his back on them.
"That they run away, normal. That they take their own lives, also normal. But tell me one thing, Omitsu: don’t you think that at the Kyogoku House those ’normal things’ happen a little too often?"
Something tried to come out of Omitsu’s mouth, but her throat clamped shut all at once.
"Sixteen, seventeen runaways in a year. Eight dead." Marcus turned, and his eyes fell straight onto her. "Two girls, on average, leaving this world every month inside your business. The highest ratio in all of Yoshiwara."
The pressure finally broke Nagabe, who spoke in a shredded voice. "Th-that... that’s not our fault! If the girls lose their minds, what are we supposed to do?"
"Yes. They lose their minds." Marcus smiled. "And why do they lose them?"
Back in his seat, he settled in and picked up his cup.
"Are you absolutely sure there’s nothing shady behind all this in your house?"
A shiver ran through her whole body. ’Shady...?’
If there was one thing to point to as the shadiest of all, it was that business a year ago... Right when Warabihime first set foot in the establishment.
That it had never crossed her mind the matter might have something to do with her?
Please. Of course it had crossed her mind.
The Kyogoku House was an old business, the kind that treats its girls as well as it can. All of Yoshiwara knew that. Before, even if the place was no gold mine, there was a reason it was a house with a long-standing reputation: the most stable in the district, the one that caused the fewest problems.
Until last year.
Until Warabihime showed up.
And with her... everything changed. The strange noises in the middle of the night. Clients who vanished without explanation. Girls who ran away, or who died, just like that...
She had thought about it... Oh, had she thought about it. She’d turned it over a thousand times, imagined an endless string of possibilities, each one worse than the last.
But...
That same Warabihime was the one who pulled the place out of the pit. The one who transformed it from a dump with plenty of land and no clients into the most sought-after, most dazzling courtesan house in all of Yoshiwara.
Throw Warabihime out? ’No... That... that I can’t allow.’
"There are things... that are worth thinking over carefully. Lest one day you have your life to earn the money, but no longer have any life left to spend it..."
These words were like a needle. They sank straight into the deepest fear, the one Omitsu had buried at the bottom of her chest.
What if one day, out of nowhere, her entire family, or she herself, turned up dead? A strange, inexplicable suicide?
What... would happen then?
A shiver ran through her body.
"S-Sir Marcus, do you... do you happen to know something?"
"..."
There was no answer. Only a look from Marcus. A look laden with something resembling pity, like someone gazing at a corpse.
And that look froze her solid.
"Sir, I beg you, tell me!" Omitsu hurried back and dropped to her knees with a sharp thud. "It’s the house my father left me! I can’t let them destroy it!"
Nagabe collapsed beside her, knocking his forehead against the floor once, and again, and again.
Watching them, Marcus sighed.
"Get up. I don’t like seeing you on your knees."
Approaching unhurriedly, Pearl helped them both to their feet and led them back to their seats.
"S-Sir..." Omitsu’s eyes had already gone red. "What is it that you know?"
A moment of silence passed before Marcus answered.
"The unsettling rumors of Yoshiwara, you ought to know them better than I do, no?"
"Sinister rumors...?"
"Yes, the legend of the Demon Oiran." Lounging lazily against the backrest, Marcus toyed with the little spoon Nezuko had in her mouth.
In stark contrast, Omitsu trembled from head to toe, her pupils contracted with terror.
"They say that in Yoshiwara, every now and then, an Oiran appears with a beauty that defies all logic. Poisoned roses: gorgeous on the outside, with a rotten character on the inside." He raised a finger. "And all of them, every single one, share certain things."
"One: they’re not raised by the establishment itself. They come from outside."
"Two: they love hanging the character ’Hime’ on their names."
"And three... when something isn’t to their liking, they have a habit of tilting their head and fixing you with a stare, just like that, dead-on..."
"NO!!! P-Please, don’t go on!!!"
An unheard-of scream tore out from the depths of Omitsu.
Because this she knew. She knew it better than anyone. Before, she could afford the luxury of not looking that way, of playing dumb, anything to keep from being the one who sank the family business. But now, with every word Marcus let fall, the trembling climbed up another notch. And another. And another.
And when he finished listing, one by one, every mark that Warabihime shared with these Demon Oiran of the past...
Something broke. Her legs gave out. She came crashing down against the floor, her face a disaster of tears and snot.
"Sir... the price you offered just now..."
"Two hundred thousand. Not a coin more, not a coin less." Marcus smiled brilliantly. "If you want to sell, you take the money and you’re gone this very day. And if not..." He opened his hands. "Well. Carry on with your business, and you’ll see what a lovely ending awaits you."
"I’ll sell!!" There wasn’t a second’s hesitation. "Sir, for two hundred thousand I’ll sell!"
Marcus felt satisfied. "That’s the attitude. Pearl!"
Without wasting any time, Pearl spun on her heels and went to the study to fetch a stack of documents prepared ahead of time. And, along with them, two hundred thousand in cash.
"This is the agreement transferring the deed. Sign it, add your fingerprint, and the two hundred thousand are yours."
With a tremor that barely let her hold the pen, Omitsu scrawled her name on the paper. Nagabe followed suit, stamping his fingerprint beside it.
A quick review was enough. "Master, everything’s in order," Pearl nodded.
A satisfied pat landed on Omitsu’s shoulder.
"Done. Deal closed. The Kyogoku House, from this moment on, is mine."
Omitsu nodded and rose to her feet, soulless.
Already at the door, she stopped her steps abruptly and looked back.
"Sir Marcus, if you’ll permit me... I’d like to make a request."
"Tell me."
"I watched those girls grow up. I beg you... treat them with kindness."
Marcus arched an eyebrow, but quickly nodded with a soft smile. "Rest easy. I’m going to look after and indulge every single person who belongs to me. Including... Warabihime."
At hearing that name, Omitsu went pale. With the money and the contract in hand, she fled the place gripped by panic.
The papers now put away, Pearl came closer.
"Master, so our next step is..."
A glimmer of anticipation appeared in Marcus’s eyes, and he smiled broadly. "Fufu~ Tell Yushiro to ready the carriage."
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