The Scarred Wolf

Chapter 6 Butterfly or Silkworm

-Rose-

Today is the fourth day I’ve been to Madame Pink’s House.

After Emerald and I made the deal, she introduced me to Madame Pink, who warmly greeted me and showed me around the house she runs. The main building has three floors and each floor has twenty rooms. The building is only open to harlots and clients, people like guards or silkworm are not allowed to get in.

Standing in front of the building, Madame Pink turns her head to me before returning her gaze to the splendidly decorated construction.

“You know what place is this?”asks Madame Pink.

“Yes. Emerald told me this is the best brothel in the south.”I nod, wondering which brothel is the best in the north. I decide to keep the question to myself, in case it reminds Madame Pink of her competitors and piss her off.

“We’re the best.”Madame Pink announces with pride in her voice. “As the manager of the house, I need to inform you that we do not offer shelter for free. Not that we’re apathetic, it is because there are numerous homeless wolves and it is beyond my ability to look after all of them.”Madame Pink shrugs, “I can only pick those who have potential to benefit my house.”

“I have that potential. Please take me in.”I say eagerly, hoping to earn myself a place to stay. Right now my injuries haven’t recovered, I would be in great trouble if my wound is infected.

“You do?”Madame Pink asks as she raises her eyebrows at me. “What kind of role would you like to play? A butterfly or a silkworm?”She asks while slowly waving a decorative folding fan in her hand.

“May I know what they are referring to respectively?”I asks.

“Silkworms are ordinary servants in the brothel, like messenger, gardener, chauffeur, embroider…Butterflies are girls whose main job is to dance around the clients and attract potential customers to squander large chunk of money on them…”

“You mean to be the customer’s mistress?”

“That would be a rare case.”Madame Pink shakes her head and further elaborates the differences. “It is a harlot’s great fortune to be one’s mistress, for this means she doesn’t need to serve many men at the same time. She only needs to please one master.”

Madame Pink lets out a sigh, “In most cases, the client won’t buy the harlot, for the price is too high for them to afford. Even if they’re capable of buying the harlot, why will they choose to buy a harlot anyway? After all, numerous well-educated pure ladies are out there for them to pick. So they just come here, get a laid, and leave.”

“Then why so many girls still want to be butterflies?”

“Because butterflies earn much more than the silkworms. Besides the clients would bring them gifts from time to time. Earrings, necklace, jewelries…some girls will be mislead to believe the clients truly love them and will finally marry them one day, freeing them from the burdened life.”Madame Pink scoffs in disdain, “How naive. Girls will learn through pain and ultimately understand the men they deal with are heartless frauds. So I told every girl that work for me, do not get emotional and do not fall in love with the client, or disaster will befall to them.”

I can’t help but shudder as I recall what Hans did to me. Madame Pink notices my reaction and arched her eyebrows. She elegantly flicks the folding fan, using it to lift my chin. She studies my face and whispers, “Pity. I can’t imagine how beautiful this face would look like without the scar…You are one of the naive girls cheated by the man, aren’t you?”

“I was.”I admit and reply coldly, “But I will no longer be.”

“Good for you.”Madame Pink chuckles. She withdraws the fan, pointing to the right, “This way. I have something to show you.”

As we walk through the corridor, Madame Pink leads me to a closed chamber down at the end of the corridor. She uses a key to unlock the door and lights up the candle.The moment the room is illuminated, a large glass displaying board on the wall comes into my sight. Myriads of stones are showcased by rolls.

Emerald, Ruby, Amber, Diamond, Opal, Pearl…I widen my eyes in surprise, and suddenly realize this the source of the harlots’ nicknames.

“Beautiful. Aren’t they?”Madame Pink smiles as she carefully touches the glass.

I nod, not sure if she is talking about the stone or the harlots working for her. As I scan the displaying board, I spot an empty slot, below which there is a tag reading Sapphire.

“Where is Sapphire?”I ask curiously.

"There are many missing stones. Why do you ask about sapphire in particular?"Madame Pink questions.

Because sapphire is my favorite stone and father has one embedded into my pack bracelet. Now the bracelet was gone, just like my father. A surge of sorrow hit me and I have an urge to cry.

Do not cry, Rose. I tell myself. Do not show your vulnerability.

I bite my inner cheek to pull myself together, and force a smile, "I like the color of sapphire."

"Good taste. It matches your eyes."Madame nods and says, "Yet my Sapphire was gone.”

“Gone?”

“Buried six feet under.”Madame Pink says causally. “The girl stole a large sum of money and was trying to escape. The guard was informed and caught her in time. To punish her, they gave her fifty whippings, not expecting the little thief died in the process.”

I shudder and Madame Pink chuckles, “Scare, darling? I had thought a rogue like you was used to the bloody scenes. Speaking of which, how did you become a rogue? Emerald hasn’t told me about your history. She thinks it will be better for you to make the self-introduction.”

“I was cheated by my fiance. Heartbroken, I left the pack.”I offered her a half-truth.

“And the scar?”

“It was merely an accident.”

Madame Pink gives me a suspicious look but lets go of the topic. She asks again, “What about your family? Have you ever considered going back?”

Of course.

As long as I can get the pack bracelet, I will strike back and have Hans Snow imprisoned. Jerk like him should be hanged or at least rot in the jail

Yet I cannot tell Madame Pink about this, So I shrug and fake a smile, “I am an orphan. An unwanted outcast I don’t think my pack members would have me back even if I want to go back. They would see me as disposable trash, which is why I beg you to let me stay.”

“What are your strengths?”Madame Pink asks. “Are you good at serving men?”Before I answered, she added, “You know, normally I wouldn’t give you the opportunity to serve the clients. But Emerald spoke very highly of you and you do possess a curvy body and mysterious aura attracting others to explore…Can you sing? Dance? Flirt?”

“No…”I shake my head.

“What about your techniques in bed? Are you a skillful sucker, rider, screamer?”

“No…I am seventeen and I haven’t had s*x before.”I stammer as my face flushed fiercely.

“Oh, that’s interesting.”Madame Pink mutters as she scans me from my feet to my head. “So you haven’t got your wolf?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re an inexperienced virgin?”

“Yes,”I try very hard to admit the fact and retrieve the calmness in my voice. “But I have experience in other fields!”

‘Hmm, like what?”

“I used to offer advice in the council and fought with them. I am competitive in debating and wrestling…”

“You gave advice and fought with men?”Madame Pink shoots me an incredible look and her hearty laughter interrupts my speech. “Should I appoint you to join the guards then?”She teases me and clears her throat, saying, “I was merely joking, hun. But I am afraid the skills you have are useless here. Emerald had highly recommended you to replace the old poor Sapphire, and I was considering it. But now I have to decline her proposal since you don’t know how to please men. In addition I kind of worry your feisty traits will hurt their fragile ego. The clients only want obedient women submissive to them, not some dominant figures.Thus, I am afraid you haven’t reached the standards to be a butterfly in my house. However, if you would like to be a silkworm, you’re welcome to stay.”

“I’d love to,”I nod eagerly without any hesitation. “I could be a guard if you want me there.”

“No, no, my darling. You’re so cute.”Madame Pink laughs joyfully and starts to wave her fan again. “People will laugh at me if I employed a woman to be the guard of the house. You could do the random chores like other silkworms. The washing, tidying, cooking…I will ask Susana to help you get familiar with your job. She is the leading maid and you shall follow her guidance.”

“I appreciate that.”I say gratefully.

“Another thing for you to know,”Madame Pink closes the folding fan and says, “Do not get yourself into troubles, for no one will come to your rescue. Only the fittest survive.”

Though she mentions it in a playful tone, it doesn’t look like she is joking.

I inhale sharply and Madame Pink smirks. She waves her hand and says, “ If you don’t have other questions, you’re free to go. And please close the door for me when you leave, I need some personal time and space to appreciate my trophy stones.”

I walk to the door, hesitating for a while and eventually stop by the door. Turning around my head, I blurt out the question on my mind, “Is Ruby the one who informed the guard to catch Sapphire?”

Madame Pink arches her eyebrows at me but evades the question. She gives me a mysterious smirk and says, “The sense of achievement can only be obtained when you find out the answer yourself, don’t you think?”

She makes a fair point.

Fully convinced, I nod and leave, deciding to embrace whatever lies ahead.

Considering what I’ve suffered, life can’t be worse, can it?

It turns out that I underestimate the cruelty of the moon goddess, for she isn’t ready yet to free me from suffering.