Two-Faced Princess

unedited

The Baron nodded awkwardly.

“T-There’s no such thing as that!”

Ronald bowed his head repeatedly as the cold sweat rolled down his temple. Meanwhile, Lu looked at them with a dumbfounded look.

The young lady she saw for the first time turned the entire Bartan district upside down with just a few words. Latea and Ronald whom she thought were invincible, now crawling on the floor with tears in their eyes. Even the powerful Baron Aaron seemed to be wrapped around that young lady’s little finger.

“Let’s get out.”

Apollonia passed by Baron Aaron who stood there like a statue. There was fear on his face. The three brothers and Adrian followed her closely.

“What about the carriage?”

Apollonia asked Adrian.

“The situation seemed dangerous, so I put them on standby earlier. It was easy because the Baron was here.”

Indeed, Adrian was fast.

Smiling at Adrian, Apollonia left the screaming couple behind and get on the carriage.

* * *

Lu, no, Luana simply couldn’t register the situation yet.

It was just a normal day when a stupid waiter mistakenly told her that a guest had specifically requested her, and got beaten by Ronald on the way there.

But what happened afterwards was absolutely crazy.

A woman she didn’t know said she’d help her and paid her ransom. She knew the couple would eventually get ripped off by someone anyway, so she expected nothing from this young lady. But when she came to her senses, she arrived at a fancy mansion.

Three days had passed since then. For three days, Luana enjoyed something she had never enjoyed in her life. A soft and fluffy bed, a warm bath, plenty of food and a long rest where nobody bothered her.

It was the happiest three days in her life.

On the third day, the young lady returned.

“Have you treated your wounds?”

The woman poured the tea and asked as if nothing had happened. Appetizing refreshments were placed in front of them.

Luana thought that woman must be a witch. Her fiery crimson hair had turned into a sparkly blonde. Her golden eyes were something she had never seen before.

She thought that woman was pretty back then, but upon closer look, she was mesmerized by that woman’s beauty. However, her impression seemed to change depending on her expression or posture.

“It doesn’t hurt at all. It’s just a bruise.”

She confided with honesty and then reached out to the cake in front of her. She was scared of the witch who trampled on Ronald and Latea, but the food was too tempting to not take a bite.

Cake was Luana’s favorite food, and now the table was filled with her favorite snacks like strawberries, grapes, fruit tarts, and chocolate cakes.

Luana ate silently for a while. But her curiosity about the woman in front of her grew as much as the food that went into her stomach.

“Bartan district has been cleared up.”

The woman said before Luana could ask.

“Pardon?”

“It was nothing to do with you now, but I’m telling you in case you’re curious. ‘Latea’s Heaven’ is already taken care of and no one will ever be trafficked there again.”

Her tone was soft, but there was coldness imbued in it. Her confident demeanor seemed to say ‘I will kill anyone who does that again’. Luana could tell that the woman was telling the truth, which brought peace to her mind for a moment. However, any sort of hope had been plucked out from her ever since she was kidnapped by Latea.

Luana was already accustomed to a rough life. Latea and her husband stole her will and passion to live in this world.

But this woman let her go from this dark cave way too easily. It didn’t stop there, she also gave a different life to all the women who worked there.

“Um…Are you acquainted with Baron Aaron?”

“I’m investing in him a little bit.”

Judging by her short answer, Luana concluded that this woman was bothered by too many questions.

Luana was very intuitive, and thanks to that she was very popular in the business before she met Latea. While Latea didn’t know much about Luana because she happened to see Luana and her friends and kidnapped them.

Luana knew that the woman in front of her hated pointless talk. So Luana decided to get to the point.

“What do you want me to do?”

Whether she paid the ransom or not, this woman had released her from Latea’s grip. If even Baron Aaron and the wicked couple were afraid of her, then Luana should listen to her.

And Luana felt obliged to do so. This woman had released her from ‘Latea’s heaven’ and even prepared all kinds of refreshment for her.

Latea thought she’d give her an order right away, but the woman was silent for a moment. There seemed to be a glint of pity in her cold-looking eyes.

‘Do you pity me?’

Luana’s hunch was not wrong. This woman was obviously not used to buying or selling people.

“….How long have you been doing this?”

Sure enough, she asked Luana instead as if she had changed her mind.

“Well, it’s been more than five years and less than ten years.”

She was silent again. Luana picked up her fork and poked at the chocolate cake, chewed it up and rinsed her mouth with tea. She then smiled before saying to the woman.

“Seducing. Is that what you want me to do?”

The blonde woman opened her eyes wide in surprise.