She arrived at a newly opened Chinese brothel that had just come to town the previous night. From the decadent clash of red, gold, silver, and black that made up the décor — the colors of the Raven's crest — Ruby knew immediately this had Draven written all over it. The liveliness, the indulgence, the undercurrent of danger disguised beneath elegance.
Although they'd only opened yesterday, the people inside moved with an expert grace. Professionals. That meant only one thing — this operation had been running in secret for a long time. Draven had simply turned a blind eye, allowing the filth beneath the surface to crawl into daylight, all for the sake of his little game.
But Draven… he'd actually dared to bring Alexander here. Just to rile her up.
That was more dangerous than she'd thought. Rose must have sensed her energy fading — her power dropping at an alarming rate since she sealed it for the mission. Though Ruby knew the weakness came from her own spell, Rose had likely begged Draven to hasten her return to the throne. Because if even her twin could feel that power drain… then soon, others in the Mafia world would too.
And that would be catastrophic.
The Mafia world had a single, iron law — do not harm the innocent for personal gain. Ever since the Ravens rose and reshaped the underworld with their unrelenting order — and especially since the rise of the Red Crescent with her unfathomable power — no one dared defy that code.
It was Ruby's presence that kept that fragile order intact.
Her existence alone was the silent boundary that restrained monsters from tearing the world apart. If word spread that the Red Crescent was weakening, chaos would be inevitable. Every hungry, power-starved fool who had ever coveted the throne would strike at once.
Ruby shoved the thought aside, fixing her expression into weary desperation before stepping into the brothel. She made sure to look shabby, small, and harmless — part of Draven's little scheme. She'd play along… for now.
The air was thick with incense and sin. The supervisor, a woman cloaked in fake elegance and real cruelty, stood by the entrance. Her job was clear — to find dying roses (poor but beautiful girls), make them bloom again (turn them into commodities), and then sell their petals for profit while feeding them lies about freedom.
Each girl was promised a "scholarship" to Heliera — a golden ticket to a better life. In truth, they were bound to the brothel forever, their bodies and futures signed away. Defectors didn't get second chances. Their families were erased.
A perfect trap.
So this was the cause of Ashen's headache. He'd been flooded with scholarship approvals from this fake foundation, powerless to reject them since he wasn't the real sponsor. He'd tried to warn the girls, whispering fragments of truth — but by the time they got the letter, their fates were already sealed.
And Draven had the audacity to let this run under my territory.
Ruby's jaw clenched. Whoever was behind this little empire of deceit had spat on everything the Ravens stood for — on her name. She would handle them personally. And when she did, she wouldn't kill them quickly.
She approached the supervisor, her posture frail but her eyes cold. "I… I got a letter," Ruby said softly, holding out a folded paper. "A scholarship to Heliera. They said I should come here to thank the boss."
The woman sneered. "You? Thank the boss? You'd taint his eyes just by breathing the same air. You're not worthy of seeing him."
Ruby didn't move. Her smile was empty.
The woman chuckled. "He already knows all the girls are coming. No one dares defy the Ravens."
That sentence snapped something deep inside Ruby. The Ravens? She had just used that name to justify her filth.
Ruby's blood boiled. She'd been called many things — devil, queen, monster — and wore them all with pride. But using her crest to enslave innocents? That, she would never forgive.
Without a word, Ruby allowed herself to be shoved into the back house reserved for courtesans. A dimly lit space filled with trembling beauty — rows of pretty girls forced into silk and paint, their eyes hollow, their movements mechanical. Every one of them bound by invisible chains — fear, debt, and family.
And Ruby? She stood among them silently, her expression unreadable.
But deep within, the storm had already begun to rise.
Although none of the girls wanted to be here, they didn't seem pleased when they heard a newcomer was arriving — someone who'd supposedly been chosen to take their long-dreamed place as Orion, the highest-ranked courtesan.
They had been trapped in this twisted game far longer than Ruby — some for years — all resigned to their fates. The only thing keeping them breathing was the flicker of hope that maybe one day they would become Orion.
If they were already trash, then at least they wanted to be the most polished trash in the dumpster.
That dream shattered the moment Ruby walked in — a pretty rose, plucked overnight, and suddenly destined to bloom above them all.
So of course, they hated her.
Of course, they would plot against her.
They weren't going to make this easy.
Before Ruby could even speak, rough hands dragged her to a corner. Fingers tore at her shabby clothing, stripping her bare in front of them. She didn't fight back — she didn't even flinch — but the quiet in her eyes was more dangerous than any blade.
Their gazes lingered, greedy, over the perfect curve of her figure — a sculpted silhouette with a flat stomach and smooth lines that could drive men mad. Even beneath the faint scars that marred her skin, there was a strange, lethal grace about her — beauty forged in war and blood. Her skin glowed faintly in the dim light, flawless, soft, untouchable.
Ruby scoffed inwardly. Even in disguise, they dare defile me with their eyes?
They had looked at what no one was permitted to see — the body of the Red Crescent herself.
And they would pay for it.
In blood.
The thought pleased her more than it should have. Her lips curved into a faint smirk, though she quickly hid it beneath a mask of indifference.
Moments later, they dragged her to the bath — a large wooden tub filled with milky, fragrant water and scattered rose petals. The air smelled of sweetness and deceit.
The maids muttered under their breath, clearly irritated at the special treatment the "new girl" was getting. Still, they scrubbed her feet carefully, their hands trembling slightly as they massaged her skin.
Ruby sat there silently, letting them think she was weak — letting them believe they were in control.
If only they knew the devil they were bathing.
She got dressed in a red robe with golden patterns and led to the madam of the brothel.
The madam's eyes gleamed the instant Ruby stepped in — the kind of gleam that only comes from smelling money.
And Ruby knew that look well.
To the woman, she wasn't a person — she was a gold mine wrapped in silk.
An Orion-level beauty meant fortune beyond measure. Not just men willing to pay for her body — but nobles, royals, even warlords who'd pay for just a glimpse.
A new day was dawning for the madam, and Ruby was her sunrise.
Meanwhile, Ruby's gaze flickered across the room, quietly mapping every detail. The heavy red curtains, the blend of gold and black tones, the subtle markings carved into the walls — symbols of the Raven's crest.
Draven.
She could feel his handiwork in every corner — the order behind the chaos, the discipline beneath the sin.
He had turned this brothel into a mask for something bigger. He's been watching me, she thought grimly. Or worse, helping me — his own twisted way.
The madam's syrupy voice pulled her back.
"Be a good girl," she said, tilting her chin up with one manicured nail. "Serve men well, and this will be the beginning of a beautiful life. But if you disobey… this will be the beginning of your hell."
Ruby smiled faintly, dangerous calm in her voice. "And what happened to the last Orion?"
At once, the woman stiffened. The room felt heavier.
Her tone softened, though her eyes darted around nervously. "The walls have ears, sweetheart. Don't ever mention her again."
Seeing the shadow of grief flicker in Ruby's eyes, the madam misread it.
"She was my best courtesan," she said, sighing dramatically. "I made her Orion because I thought even if she was being sold, at least she'd bring fortune. Maybe find love — though that's forbidden, of course."
Ruby tilted her head. "Forbidden?"
"Oh yes," the woman chuckled bitterly. "A courtesan may entertain love, but an Orion? Never. If she dares fall for someone… she must kill that feeling, or both of them die. And refusing an important client?" Her voice turned cold. "That's a crime that ends families."
She smiled again — a smile as false as painted silk. "Be smart, darling. You remind me too much of her."
And with that, she left.
Ruby's smirk returned, faint but razor-sharp.
Rising to Orion on the first day? That was a death wish. She'd draw attention too quickly — unless she'd been here from the start.
Ruby's gaze sharpened to cold steel. "The walls have ears? Then let them listen."
So she formed a plan. A dangerous one.
To make it work, she'd have to lock away the last of her power — the twenty percent still left in her — and rewrite reality itself. Once she did that, she would become truly human. Ordinary. Vulnerable.
Exactly what her enemies wanted.
But if she could win the favor of a royal, she could survive long enough to complete her mission.
A damsel in distress, she thought bitterly. Disgusting… but necessary.
The maids sneered in jealousy but dared not speak.
When the maids returned, they completed her dressing making sure the gold patterns danced along the hem perfectly. The dullness she had worn earlier vanished — in its place bloomed something divine. She looked like a goddess carved from fire and silk, ready to make every man tremble beneath her gaze.
The maids sneered in jealousy but dared not speak.
Ruby closed her eyes.
The air around her froze.
With one whispered incantation, every memory inside the brothel twisted. To all who had ever stepped foot here, she had always been the Orion. The true star of the house.
When the spell ended, her power drained completely.
Her aura vanished — sealed within her until the mission ended or madness claimed her.
Time resumed.
The maids blinked in confusion, then instantly dropped to their knees.
"Orion," they greeted in unison. "Your VIP awaits."
Ruby gave a faint nod, painting her lips with crimson.
She rose gracefully, her black curls gathered into an intricate ponytail threaded with gold, a thin veil covering her mouth. Only her eyes — sharp, endless black — gleamed beneath the dim light.
Let the show begin, she thought.
She stepped behind the red curtain, where a small boy sat by a qin, his lifeless eyes fixed on the strings. Too young to be this broken. Ruby's fists clenched, but she remained silent. Her own plan had trapped her — she couldn't act, not yet.
She saw Alex's silhouette through the light red curtains but quickly shook it off as she could never believe he would visit a brothel
Ruby arched her body, bending low, her movement fluid and otherworldly. Her jeweled hair ornaments chimed softly as she struck her first pose — elegant, commanding.
And when the curtains dropped their gazes met
And then, she saw him, at the front table sat a man, unfazed staring at her through his once golden pupils that had now become deep black, he didn't even flinch at the sight of her yet her entire being froze for him and her belief crumbled to pieces. He wasn't the Alexander she once knew, now he was total stranger.
His eyes should have been blue — sealed by the spell — but now they were black.
Empty.
Alexander.
He looked utterly unmoved.
And beside him, with arms wrapped around him possessively, sat Jessica, glowing with pride — desperate for him to look at no one else.
Ruby's smirk faltered.
But only for a second.
Because the real performance had just begun.
She raised the sword. The melody began.
Her dance was a storm. Every movement sharp, graceful, trembling with fury.
She performed the Sword Dance of Luòyáng — a dance of vengeance and loss. Yet, she wielded no weapon in sight… until, midway through, she drew her hidden blade.
Each strike cut through the air like a scream muffled in silk.
The male audience cheered happily all lusting for her body — except for one man.
Alex.
His gaze, cold and empty, locked with hers. The sight of him unfazed by her was a blade between her ribs.
And Jessica — clung tightly to his arm again, smiling, whispering in his ear.
Ruby's body moved, but her heart shattered with each turn.
Then, something flickered in Alex's mind — a memory, uninvited.
Snow.
A little girl in crimson robes, golden eyes blazing as she pouted at a boy in white.
"You went to play with her again?" she'd asked, voice trembling.
The boy — him — had knelt in the snow, pleading, promising never to do it again.
She'd frowned, lifted her wooden sword, and performed the dance — graceful, angry, divine.
When she stopped, the blade rested on his neck.
"Do that again and I'll leave forever."
He'd raised three fingers, swearing it on his life.
The girl smiled — a smile bright enough to melt the snow.
And now, years later, that same blade was pointed at him once more.
The final note struck. Ruby's sword hovered mid-air, trembling as she fought back tears. Alex's eyes widened, confusion and something dangerously close to recognition flickering within them.
She bowed deeply.
The curtain dropped.
Behind it, Ruby tossed the sword aside and exhaled shakily. The fire in her chest refused to die.
---
Her fellow courtesan — a striking woman with sorrowful eyes — slipped inside Ruby's chamber.
"You danced like you wanted to kill someone," she said softly.
Ruby said nothing.
"I know what happened to your sister," the woman whispered, lowering her voice. "Since she came, you smiled. When she left for Heliera, that smile vanished."
Ruby's breath caught. "What killed her?"
Silence. The woman hesitated, lips trembling.
Then, she broke. "It was… Alex's cousin. And his brother. Jessica and Tony."
Ruby's world tilted. Her pulse went numb.
For a long moment, she just sat there — eyes hollow, heart screaming.
By dusk, the bell rang — signaling the end of Orion's night. Ruby's carriage was already waiting.
When she returned to Heliera, the corridors were dark and silent. She stepped into her dorm, exhaustion pressing on her bones.
Harley sat by the window, tears streaking her face. She startled when Ruby spoke.
"Harl…"
Harley wiped her face fast, forcing a smile. "You're back."
Ruby saw through it instantly. Without a word, she wrapped her arms around Harley's trembling form, letting her cry against her shoulder until the sobs faded.
Then came the sound of footsteps — the others returning.
Panic flashed across Harley's face. "Pretend you're asleep," she whispered quickly, pushing Ruby onto the bed and covering her with a blanket.
Ruby caught sight of the pillow Harley had placed under the sheets earlier — a decoy. She'd been covering for Ruby's absence all night.
The door opened.
Miccah, Sage, and the others entered.
Harley greeted them with forced cheer, a book in hand. "You're back! I was just… studying."
Miccah rolled her eyes. "You? Studying at midnight?"
Sage didn't answer. Her gaze flicked from Harley's red eyes to Ruby's still form. Something didn't add up — she'd lost track of Ruby's aura hours ago, and now it was… gone.
Completely gone.
But she said nothing. Not yet.
As the others drifted off to sleep, Sage sat awake in the dark — eyes fixed on the sleeping pair.
Her mind whispered a single thought.
*"Ruby and Harley — the twin secret keepers."*
And in the silence of that night, three hearts beat — one burdened by vengeance, one by guilt, and one by suspicion.
The storm had only just begun.