"An Archbishop, a chief justice, coming here to eat, drink, and be merry, and also **. You tell me this is a common occurrence?"
"Hey, how can you call it **? It sounds so unpleasant. The kingdom's revered officials, the clergy guiding lost lambs—can such matters be called prostitution? They're merely learning foreign languages."
"Right, and while they're learning, they just happen to sort things out for you, don't they?"
Fafnir's voice grew colder. She had encountered plenty of behind-the-scenes dealings, had seen her share of money-for-power trades and official corruption, and she immediately understood what was going on. She also realized what kind of place this glittering architectural complex really was—a marketplace where money and beauty bought power, a black hole that trampled law and ethics without restraint.
