The fancy carriage with purple roses and gold ornaments arrived at a quiet district. The district had lots of fancy houses decorated in colorful ornaments. Some have an oriental taste to it, with red lanterns and gold dragon statues, while some fits the atmosphere of the kingdom better, with classic white sculptures decorating the gate entrance, marble columns and tiles, and big stone doors.
The carriage made a turn to the part that has a more oriental feel to it. It made its way inside a big red gate with red lanterns as decoration. The houses here are mostly decorated in the color of red and gold. Alexandra could see beautiful women sweeping the entrance of some of the houses, but beside them there was no activity in the streets, it was awfully quiet.
"It gets more lively at night" commented Garnet, seeing Alexandra's wandering green eyes staring at the window. The older woman was used to the scene, her eyes looking bored behind those fancy feathered fans of hers. Is that so, thought Alexandra. Well it is called the red light district for a reason, guess it won't be bustling in the afternoon.
The carriage kept moving until it stopped at the end of the road. There is a small waterway with a fancy golden bridge placed to cross it. A huge building stood behind the bridge with purple and gold ornaments decorating the walls and roof. The garden in front has roses blooming which are purple in color. The entrance of the building does not have any windows, only two large black wooden doors with a golden handle. Above the doors there is a sign saying "Purple Rose" in black letters.
Alexandra made her way inside with Madam Garnet. The older woman introduced the layout of the building briefly before moving towards her own quarters. Another woman that was tending to the garden up front took Alexandra to the room that will be hers from now on, it was located in the third floor.
"So what's your name again?" asked the young woman. She had dark blue eyes and curly blonde hair. Judging from her appearance, she should be similar in age with her. "Alex" answered Alexandra. She decided to not introduce herself as Alexandra from now on. She pondered on the way here for a while to come up with a new name because of seven's words. But after thinking for a while, she thought the least expected would be less suspicious, a name that is similar to her old might be less suspicious since people will expect a drastic change instead. Beside, Alex kinda sounds like a man's name instead of a woman's right?
"Do you know where to buy hair dye?" asked Alexandra to the young woman. "What color do you want? We actually have some dye here since it's common for newcomers like yourself to want a change in appearance" answered her. "By the way, I'm Catherine. Nice to meet you Alex" the young woman introduces herself with a smile. Alexandra wondered if that was her real name or not.
Catherine took Alexandra to look at the establishment's storage room, it has a lot of hair dye collections. After looking at all the colors, Alex decided to dye her hair black. Catherine took her to the empty room located at the end of a hallway in the third floor and introduced it as her room. She went away for a bit before returning with a few pieces of clothing. Madam has instructed the woman to lend Alex some pieces of clothing before she can go out to buy some. The woman has also given Alex 100 golds to buy her daily necessities, which of course will be added to her debt for her to pay back. Alexandra felt grateful for the Madam, but she dreads thinking how long will it take for her to repay back the 600 golds.
After Catherine went back, Alex took the pair of scissors and cut her long hair. Her hair was long enough to reach her bottom. The nobles have a tendency to wear intricate hairstyles consisting of braids so it's common practice for all the women to have long hair. Now that she is no longer a noble, she will cut it short. She cut the whole of it to leave a bob cut. She went to the showers and dyed it black. She looked in the mirror and noticed that she looks completely different now. Even she had trouble recognizing who she is now.
Catherine lent her some makeup tools as well. As workers of the establishment, all the workers must wear perfect makeup at night and entertain the audience. Alex suddenly felt nervous not knowing what she had gotten herself into. She had never been involved with men before and had no experience. She became worried about what she had to do as no one explained anything to her. She was about to put her makeup on when she heard knocks on the door.
"Alex, it's me Catherine" says the familiar voice from outside the door. "Come in" answered Alexandra to her. The woman came in wearing a different set of clothes that showed her lines. The dress is made out of purple satin and falls right under her knees. The upper part had two thin strings holding it up which tied themselves together behind her neck. She had a long piece of red silk that looped behind her, linking her two arms.
"Eh what are you wearing? You should get changed soon, it's almost 8" said the woman. Alex had a confused look on her face not knowing which dress she should change into.
"Eh I haven't told you yet have I? I am so stupid!" the woman slapped her forehead and looked for the right dress out of the pile of clothes she gave earlier. "Wear this one!" said Catherine handing over a piece of purple dress in the same hue. It's also made of satin but has a different style from Catherine's. It has a V neck with short sleeves and is fairly long.
"I got you 5 dresses here. You can rotate them however you like but wear one each night, got it?" said Catherine. Alexandra nodded and got back to doing her makeup. Catherine waited until she's finished and walked downstairs with her.
"Catherine, what kind of work do I have to do?" asked Alexandra. Truthfully, she was nervous thinking of what she had to do in an establishment of the red light district. All kinds of stuff filled her head and she felt her cheeks turning hot in response, she was ashamed of her own thoughts.
"Oh you don't know? We are a massage parlour" answered Catherine. Massage parlour? Alex was confused. "What kind of massage?" asked Alex again, her head wondered in all different directions.
The blonde haired girl laughed. She seemed amused by her behavior. Alex seemed cold and aloof and speak only so many words, but her red cheeks right now showed that she's a pure maiden inside. What got her into the red light district, thought Catherine. She thought back of her first days coming here, she had a completely different reaction from Alex back then.
"Don't worry. Not those kinds of naughty massage" she answered while still laughing. "We had a secret technique that will get your internal energy rolling smoothly. When it does, your whole body will feel lighter and all tension will disappear. The soldiers love it" she explained to Alex.
It made sense now. She heard the establishment had some secret technique that can speed up the body's recovery process and had many military officers and soldiers visiting every day, but she never thought that it's actually a massage.
"For today you don't have to give any massage. You will be helping us accompany the guests in the singing and waiting area. Just talk to them and hand the drinks they want. It's easy" said Catherine.
"Also, Madam has instructed me to teach you how to perform the massage. She expected you to learn it after 3 days. I will start to teach you at noon tomorrow, okay? Look around the place today and take in the atmosphere first" said the blonde woman smiling at her.
They had reached the first floor and Alex could see a lot of women being busy here. Some are busy in the bar while some go back and forth between the rooms. There are also some who are chattering with each other. They all wear a purple dress with a masquerade mask hiding their eyes. Catherine handed her a silver mask to wear as well.
"Welcome to purple rose," said Catherine.