Carla climbed down the stairs with a heavy box in her hand, staring at the things that lay there; she couldn't help but feel happy about it.
When she took the last step, she found all the ladies sitting in the now slightly expanded common hall, with better furniture than before.
They looked comfortable, with everyone having a seat, unlike before when they needed to sit on each other's lap; not to mention, the new furniture was more comforting.
Everyone is sitting in a common room, including the teens, who will not work, till they reach eighteen.
"Is that?" asked Ina with clear hesitation and hope, "Yes, your earnings from the last night," Carla replied and put the wooden box on the table before sitting in the chair behind it.
Everyone quieted down with their eyes focused on the wooden box, especially the pouches, wanting to drill their gazes inside them.
"I will now distribute the money," she said as she looked at all the women who were looking at the box eagerly.
"Though I will not share how much you have earned with everyone, that will be at your discretion," she added before taking out the first brown leather pouch from the box; she did not even look at the pouch she took to know who belongs to; she did not have the moment she touched it, she knew it belongs to Margaux.
It is due to her new skill which she has got today from her new class that had changed. Her 'Harlot' class had changed to 'Madam,' and now she had a new skill, True Salary, which let her instantly calculate how much money every girl had made and who it belonged to.
The change of class was quite surprising, she had thought it would take at least a month, but it had happened in a single day.
Maybe it was because of how deeply she was involved in the establishment; she had been here even before the first brick was laid and had been involved in nearly every process.
There is also Remus, who she thinks is the most responsible for such a quick change in her class.
"Margaux, this is yours," she said; Margaux, who was sitting not far away from her, got up from her spot and took the pouch and pink envelope attached to it with slightly shaking hands under the gazes of every woman.
"Open it," asked Brenna in anticipation.
"Brenna!" admonished Carla instantly, "What? Everybody here wants to know how much we have made," she replied defensively while looking at the girls, all of whom nodded, seeing that she couldn't help but sigh.
Even if she stops them now, they will ask each other later.
"You don't have to," said Carla, "It is fine; I am sure today everyone will show how much they have earned?" said Margaux before she opened the pouch with shaking hands.
She inserted a fair hand inside and took out the coin, and it was not the blue crown that came out, but violet imperial, which is equal to hundred crowns.
The imperial surprised the girls, but that was just the beginning; she took out another imperial, and then another, and then another.
In front of the shocked eyes of every woman, twelve imperials came out, one after another, before the crowns began to appear.
"T…twelve hundred and six crowns. In my village, this is more than enough for one to live comfortably for a year," said Myanna in a shaking voice.
Every woman is shocked seeing the money and why they wouldn't be; what they are holding would take them months to earn in their past brothel, and here they have earned it in a day.
"Is this a dream?" asked Mina, not daring to believe what she was seeing, "Not a dream, my dear," Carla replied, and silence descended into the room as the girls watched money on the table with different thoughts running through their minds.
"What is in the envelope," asked Margaux; "Consider it a receipt; it had details of your commissions and the gifts; there are also some details about the patrons that gave you the gifts," she replied.
The receipt was Remus's idea; he wants girls to have a clear idea of how much they are making. The information about the patron was her's.
Through her years in the business, she learned that it always pays to know the patron who pays well.
Rip!
Margaux gently tore open the envelope by the pouch and took out the paper, and began to read it. "As Master Silver had promised, there is 10% of your commission, and the rest is the gifts your patrons have left you; the house did not touch them."
"Let me look," said Ina, and Margaux handed her the envelope; she still hadn't come out of shock. She is happy seeing her friend earning good money; Margaux needs it more than anyone else here.
"Only 24% earned through hours, while the rest are gifts," said Ina reading the envelope. The commission is 10% which is huge already, and even if Remus had paid only the commission, they would still be happy as they made pennies in their old brothel compared to this.
Still, Remus had hinted he would increase the commission in the future. If she was reading him right, then he seemed quite uncomfortable with the commission, which simply confused her.
"Big sister Carla, where is our salary, or is it just for sis Margaux only?" asked Cath humorously.
"I have something for everyone here," she said and started calling names and handling salaries; the pouches began to empty up at a visible pace till the whole box got emptied in less than a minute.
All the girls are looking at their salaries; not all have earned the same; some earned more, some less. Margaux is one of the highest, the second highest.
Ina is the highest earner; there is a difference of one hundred and forty crowns between her and Margaux.
It is not surprising Margaux and Ina have always been the best; both have their strengths. Even in the previous brothel, they were one of the highest earners, though they barely got any share of that earnings, and it would be the same here if not for the Remus.
She wished Lola hadn't left; she had asked tens of times to ask Remus to take her back inside, and she had even asked for her, but Remus had said she had lost her chance.
Sigh!
She sighed her depressing thoughts away and focused on the girls in front of her.
Everyone had made good money; the lowest was three hundred and thirty-five crowns, while the highest was thirteen hundred and eighty.
The girls who earned less are a little sad seeing some of their peers earning more than double them, but they are still happy with the huge amount, and I am sure they will now focus more on their lessons and serving the clients; money is a great motivator.
"B.. the big sister, can't we work?" asked Gloria hesitantly.
Carla turned to the young girl, who was sitting with the other girls of her age.
"No, you all will not work till you turn eighteen," she said and could see the disappointment clouding the young girl's faces; seeing that, she and a few other girls couldn't help but sigh.
The withering circumstances and enough money could make one do anything and could even make this profession seem alluring.
"You are the most fortunate girls; learn everything from the teachers, and we are teaching you; it will help you a lot in the future, not only in advancing your class and getting better skills but also in leveling up faster," said Carla.
"I do not tell you the importance of that, will I?" she asked, to that, the young girls shook their heads in better moods.
"Good, learn with all everything you can, and you all will earn more money than you have ever dreamed," she said, which put smiles on girls' faces.
She talked with the girls for a few minutes before she got up to leave when a question came to her.
"This is temporary, isn't it, till the prince is in the city?" asked Margaux, and immediately eyes of every woman in the room focused on her on her again.
She could understand the question as she herself asked not long ago. So, she turned to the girls with a bright smile on her face.
"Not necessarily," she replied.
"Master Remus said that with the trade starting with merchant cities; it will bring out a huge influx of wealth to the city, which will prosper the business, including ours,"
"I am leaving for the port with Master Remus right now to watch the first ships from merchant cities," she said and walked out of the basement a few minutes later.
She did not know if what she said would come true, but she wished it would. These girls suffered a lot in their life, and they deserved some happiness.