Laras stared at the man in front of her, and he stared right back. “So, what do you want?” Laras got straight to the point.
The man smiled. “I just wanted to chat,” he replied briefly.
Laras sighed. “I don’t know who you are,” she said irritably.
“Oh, sorry. That was rude of me. My name is Arya. Nice to meet you,” the man replied.
Laras was silent for a moment. “Just Arya, huh?” she remarked without looking away from him.
“Yeah, just Arya, if you—”
“I’m new here, Arya. I haven’t been here long. This is my first day, okay? I won’t be able to entertain you,” Laras cut in. She wasn’t particularly interested in learning more about the man in front of her, either. Laras’s instincts warned her to be careful around Arya. She simply followed her instincts.
“New here, huh?” Arya said, then fell silent for quite a while.
“Yeah,” Laras replied lazily. She glanced around. Almost every glass had begun filling with drinks. Seeing that, Laras took the initiative to pour a drink into Arya’s cup.
“I never said I wanted a drink,” Arya said.
“I never said you had to drink it. I just wanted to pour it. It’s up to me what I do, isn’t it, my lord?” Laras replied with a forced smile.
Arya smiled faintly. “All right. Thank you,” he said. But before his hand could reach his glass, Laras pulled it out of his reach.
“When did I ever say this was for you, Lord Arya? Why are you so confident?” Laras teased with a mischievous smile.
Arya chuckled. What Laras was doing to him was something new. His shoulders began to relax, and he tried to unwind while enjoying the entertainment in front of him.
“Isn’t it common knowledge that the glass you poured is mine?” Arya said, teasing Laras back with a mischievous smile.
Laras smiled. For some reason, this was entertaining her, too. And of course, what woman in the world wouldn’t be amused if a handsome man tried to flirt with her?
“True. This is a refreshing kind of entertainment,” Laras thought, then handed Arya his glass.
Laras’s first day working as a third-tier entertainer hadn’t been so bad. As the visitors gradually left and chose second-tier entertainers, Arya remained seated with her, which relieved Laras. To be honest, she was a little afraid of having to switch to serving another guest. Negative thoughts surfaced whenever visitors who had initially been sitting down approached the establishment’s managers to choose one of the second-tier entertainers. Laras was afraid that once Arya left, she would have to serve another guest who might overstep his bounds with her. She simply didn’t want to experience trauma on the first day she had awakened in this world.
The following night, just like the first, there was another musical performance. That night, Laras was once again a silver-tray bearer.
“Are you going to accompany that guest again?” Intan, one of the second-tier entertainers assigned to look after and train Laras that week, suddenly approached her.
Intan was one of the second-tier entertainers who used the macanan game—a chess-like game in which two main roles, tigers and humans, or commoners, chased and defended themselves across a tiger board—to entertain the guests who chose her.
“I don’t treat guests differently, Miss Intan,” Laras replied with a smile.
Intan stroked the game board she always used to entertain her guests. “You have talent, Laras. Prove that talent is useful so you can choose your own guests,” Intan said, then smiled sweetly at Laras.
Laras could only fall silent. She had known Intan for just two days, but she had already learned a great deal from her. Intan also often gave the other entertainers genuine encouragement and words of motivation.
“Thank you, Miss Intan,” Laras said softly, but Intan heard her.
“Oh, right. Where’s your shawl? Remember this well: never take off your shawl when there are guests around,” Intan said seriously. Not wanting to argue with Intan about her reasons, Laras immediately put on her shawl. Seeing Laras comply, Intan smiled at once.
“This is your second night, right? If you’re comfortable with that guest, make sure no one takes him away from you,” Intan said before joining the other second-tier entertainers.
Intan’s statement startled Laras a little. As far as Laras knew, only first-tier entertainers had the right to decide who their guests were. Even second-tier entertainers couldn’t refuse a guest if he met the qualifications, let alone third-tier entertainers. They truly weren’t allowed to choose their guests—but naturally, they were still under the protection of the second-tier entertainers.
The event got underway, but the opening performance was given by a different first-tier entertainer than the one from the previous night. There were also different second-tier entertainers. Laras didn’t know much about how they were selected, but the purpose seemed clear: to create a different atmosphere at every event.
Now it was Laras’s turn to enter the room with the other silver-tray bearers.
“Hey, what’s your name?” Laras was startled. As she set down the drinks and snacks for her first guest, he immediately caught hold of her hand.
“L—”
“Laras!” Before Laras could answer the guest’s question, Arya called her name loudly, drawing the attention of the guests and entertainers in the entertainment room.
The guest holding Laras’s hand turned toward the source of the voice. Arya was glaring sharply in that direction, his gaze shifting between Laras and the guest. The guest quickly released his grip.
“I’m Laras, my lord. It’s a pleasure to serve you,” Laras said sweetly.
“Oh, right. Just continue with your work,” the guest said, looking frightened. Laras nodded with a polite smile. She served the next guest, who happened to be Arya.
“Good evening, Lord Arya. I hope you have a pleasant night,” Laras said.
“Hmm. We’ll see,” Arya replied, rubbing his temple.
Laras looked at Arya. “Is there anything I can do for you, my lord?” she asked, thanking him for helping her earlier.
Arya looked at Laras. The worried expression on her face was so amusing that he laughed softly without realizing it.
Hearing Arya laugh brought Laras’s mood down. “Well, if my lord is feeling perfectly fine, then this beautiful lady will take her leave,” Laras said, her annoyance clear in her voice.
Arya chuckled. Somehow, he felt calmer after that brief conversation with Laras. “Forgive me, Laras. Could you sit for a moment? Come on, let’s talk,” Arya asked.
“All right, if my lord insists,” Laras said haughtily. Arya merely smiled as he watched Laras pour him a drink.
“So, is this drink mine, beautiful lady?” Arya asked, teasing her slightly.
Laras smiled. She liked the way Arya treated her. “Of course, my lord. Isn’t it common knowledge that this cup belongs to you?” Laras replied with a mischievous smile. Arya laughed. His mind cleared the moment he began talking with Laras.
Laras told him about her daily life. She kept chattering without pause while Arya simply listened.
“Why did you stop?” Arya asked.
“Are you bored?” Laras asked, since Arya looked sleepy.
“Not really. I haven’t slept in three days,” Arya replied, trying to keep Laras from getting the wrong idea.
Laras glanced at Arya. She had no idea what kind of work he did that kept him awake and made the guests here afraid of him. Yes, Laras realized that every move Arya made was a sensitive matter to the other guests. That alone was enough of a clue that Arya held a fairly prominent status.
Laras fell silent for a moment, thinking of something that might capture Arya’s attention. “My lord, do you know something interesting?” Laras asked mysteriously.
“What is it?” Arya asked in return.
“Something that makes our beloved Arcapura a valuable kingdom,” Laras said.
Laras smiled as she stared intently at Arya. She shifted to sit beside him, which startled Arya slightly.
Seeing Arya’s reaction, Laras laughed softly. “So he really is an innocent man,” she thought, then sat beside Arya while keeping her distance. “Do you know how pitiful you are?” Laras said.
Arya furrowed his brow and, unlike usual, didn’t respond to her remark.
“Do you know, when I woke up yesterday, I was bothered by a pungent smell? It was so strong that it filled my room. At the time, I thought it was something normal that happened every day, but it isn’t happening tonight,” Laras said, recalling her first day there.
“What do you mean?” Arya asked, growing curious.
Laras smiled faintly. She was glad Arya was beginning to enjoy himself. “A pungent spice scent appearing at only one particular time means someone was carrying a very large amount of spices—so much that the smell became overpowering,” Laras said as she poured more into Arya’s glass, which still had half a drink left.
Arya looked at his glass, now full again. Rather than argue about Laras’s strange behavior, he chose to focus on her story.
“My handsome Lord Arya, do you know the beauty of spices?” Laras asked.
“The beauty of spices?” Arya echoed as he accepted the drink Laras offered him.
“Exactly. Arcapura is a kingdom with land like a diamond mine. Three highly valuable diamonds that everyone covets are located here. In your opinion, why did I smell such a strong scent in my room when I woke up, even though this place is far from the spice merchants?” Laras said, recalling the layout of the entertainment district as it had been described in the novel.
Arya fell silent. Meanwhile, Laras continued pouring drinks whenever she noticed empty space in Arya’s glass.
“Not everyone considers that aroma pleasant. That’s why there’s an unwritten rule against spice merchants selling near the entertainment district. We’re afraid our honored guests might be disturbed,” Laras said as she gave Arya another drink.
Arya held back the drink Laras offered him. “Enough,” he said.
Laras checked how much of the drink she was carrying remained. “Hmm, no. Three more glasses and you’ll be done,” she said.
“I’m already quite drunk,” Arya said. And sure enough, when Laras looked closely, Arya was already fairly drunk.
“You have a unique way of getting drunk, Arya,” Laras remarked without realizing she had dropped the formal language. Arya laughed softly when he heard it.
“I think I should leave,” Arya said.
Laras caught hold of Arya’s clothes. “Wait, don’t go. If you leave, I’ll have to move to another table,” she said. Hearing that, Arya immediately returned to his seat.
Laras noticed how attentive Arya was and smiled. “Hey, Arya. I don’t know what you want, but remember this. They’re doing it out in the open, and they must also think that sooner or later, someone will guess what they’re doing because this is a place where every kind of darkness takes place. So try to think of what makes them brave enough to do it here,” Laras explained in a soft voice, using a casual tone.