To His Hell and Back
Chapter 103: Silver Tongued Courtez

Chapter 103: Silver Tongued Courtez

Far beyond the castle walls, beheld in the shadows of Devon’s underbelly, stood a brothel. Unlike the rest of its industry, the Brother called ’Goddess’ Mercy’ was always a lavished den of silk and sin.

Once, its marbled walls had been the exclusive playground of nobles, a place where whispered secrets and indulgent pleasures mingled with the scent of perfume, opium, and candle wax. The missus of the place, the woman who had controlled the women and the entire guests were better known as Lady Ursula.

She was once a famous courtesan herself until a day came where she decided to build her own empire. Her success have always been evident in the silk draped corridors and jeweled chandeliers, a place that had never ran out of patrons.

But times had changed.

Ever since the late human King was killed by the new vampire Crown Prince, the guests who began to visit their doorsteps have changed. The guests now weren’t only seeking for the pleasure of flesh but something far more intoxicating- deadly and dangerous.

Those guests are the creature of nighttime, the Vampires.

Their numbers had multiplied and their appearance to the brothel had increased more than Ursula could handle. It had even transformed her empire, the brothel’s purpose from selling sexual and seduction into something worse called survival.

Each encounter with the vampires were no less than a gamble. Some of them would be loved by the vampires so much so that they would gift the women here with gifts and wealth more than they could imagine but there were also many who couldn’t succeed and had instead died in their bed, their blood sucked dry by their guests.

Although Ursula despised the idea of mixing with the vampires, their pays were no joke and she couldn’t always refuse them. With time that changed her methods and morals need to also come to a change.

Having no choice, Ursula had to look away from the women’s death, prioritizing those who was alive to learn how to not offend the vampires and use their seduction to instead make them addicted. It was difficult at first but Ursula and the women had adapted to the vampires’ presence, knowing what to do and what to not do.

Though like tonight there was still new victims of the vampires who were offended by the women, leaving a blood wake in one of the bedrooms.

Seeing the scene, Ursula pursed her lips tight and demanded to her men, "Clean up everything, keep this news between us and make sure the authorities doesn’t hear any of this."

If they found out, the girl’s death could spark an investigation. And if the vampires failed to bribe the authorities well enough, the culprit might even be apprehended, or perhaps locked away like any common criminal.

But Ursula couldn’t allow that risk.

If word spread that her brothel was a place that turned away or reported vampires, her most lucrative patrons would vanish overnight. They would see it as a betrayal, an insult. No vampire would dare return, and without them, her empire would crumble.

No, silence was the price of survival.

And Ursula was not a woman who let her business fail.

"Damn it and she’s still new," Ursula muttered, hating the idea of throwing out new girls when she was still freshly bought and haven’t paid the amount that Ursula had used to buy her.

"Again?" A melodious voice came from her left side. Walking lazily on the wooden floor was a beautiful woman with the long curled brown hair that had settled on her left shoulders. Her lips that held a magnetic smile was painted red with a round mole on the bottom of her left lip. She was staring at the entire scene as if it couldn’t faze her, the graceful air she held hadn’t only seduced her patrons but also Ursula at times who would always see her face and thought of how lucky she was for buying Courtez before anyone else did.

"Courtez," said Ursula huffing as she crossed her arms and placing it above her bosom, "Can’t you teach a thing or two to the girls here? The vampires always treat you well, they don’t even dare to take a bite out of your neck yet you have always been their best pick."

"Hm," Courtez hummed thoughtfully, tilting her head. "And why should I teach them? Everyone here is just trying to survive. If I share my tricks, won’t my patrons turn away from me?"

Ursula frowned. She didn’t like the answer, but she couldn’t force Courtez to comply. The brothel had never been a place of mercy, sentiment had no place in its walls.

Here, the weak were devoured.

And Ursula had no use for the weak.

Ursula brushed the concern aside with a wave of her hand. "We’re running out of girls this week. I have delayed this for long but now I have no choice but to bring her in. I know you’ve tried to help her, but I can’t afford to feed mouths that don’t work."

Courtez remained still, tapping her elbow in thoughtful pause before fixing Ursula with an unreadable gaze. She knew who Ursula was talking about. It was the young human girl whose younger sister had begged her to protect. It was odd, Courtez herself always and only prioritize her safety but perhaps seeing Arabella’s desperation, she decided to take care of Ariel.

The girl was stubborn of course and didn’t want to sell her body, allowing her to never be touched by any men in the brothel, quite a feat considering she had been here for more than two months now and still survive without having to serve the guests.

Ursula knows sooner or later Ariel have to serve a man in the brothel, she couldn’t live here without doing so but she was also aware that Arabella wish that her sister wouldn’t have to do what the rest of the women here had done to survive.

Then, with a smirk, she said, "I don’t think you’re very clever, Ursula."

The madam stiffened. She had spent years commanding respect, her authority rarely questioned, least of all by the girls under her roof. And yet, Courtez, so bold, so infuriatingly fearless— never cowered. She had almost seemed like someone who would instead take over the entire building and run it to a success.

Ursula itched to remind her of her place. To slap that insolence right off her face.

But she didn’t.

Not that she didn’t want to but because she couldn’t. All this because Courtez wasn’t just another girl. She was their star, the most desired, the most profitable. The face that kept the brothel’s coffers full.

So instead, she clenched her jaw as Courtez continued, her voice dripping with amusement.

"That girl," she mused, "she’s prettier than me. A little slow, a little stupid, but there’s something about her... I’ve never seen anything like it. Even the vampires-" She leaned in, voice dropping to a near whisper. "Even they go silent in her presence. Haven’t you seen how every vampires who saw her glimpse would stop what they were doing and come still just to stare at her face? She’s magnetic, simply one of a kind."

Ursula raised her eyebrows, "Being pretty doesn’t make you last here."

"I agree," Courtez whispered, her voice smooth as silk, "but she’s different."

She leaned in, her lips curling into a knowing smile as she slipped a hand into her bodice and pulled out a small stack of golden coins. Tilting them under the dim light, she let them glint, the shimmer catching Ursula’s sharp eyes who were wide upon the glittering coins that could feed the entire brothel for months.

Ursula’s breath hitched ever so slightly.

Courtez smirked. She had her attention now.

"Look at this," she purred, rolling a coin between her fingers, "was given to me by patrons who only wanted a glimpse of her." She let the words sink in for a brief pause before adding, "Only one damn glimpse, Ursula."

The madam’s wide eyes flicked from the coins back to Courtez, calculating.

"You, more than anyone, should understand," Courtez continued, her voice a velvety whisper. "Vampires don’t crave what they can easily have. They hunger for the unattainable, the untouchable. They want a beauty like Ariel, one they can never truly claim but will desire forever."

She let the final words settle between them, watching as Ursula’s fingers twitched. The madam was ruthless when it came to business, but even she knew when something, someone, was worth more than mere survival.

And Courtez had just dangled temptation right in front of her.