Upon receiving Yuki's response, Kaithenn retrieved a teapot as well as two teacups. Yuki watched as he wrapped his slender fingers around the delicate handle of the teapot. His long hair, tied into a neat ponytail, fell to his side as he poured the steaming tea into the dainty cups. His movements were akin to a gentle dance, each gesture fluid and deliberate
The soft light in the room glowed upon his refined features, his eyes gleaming with a quiet intensity as he concentrated on the task at hand. The tea flowed from the pot's slender spout, filling the cups with a soothing aroma that drifted up to tease senses.
Kaithenn offered Yuki a cup of tea and then sat. It was gyokuro tea. She took a sip of the soothing tea and relaxed.
"Since we are both busy people, I would like to be forthright with you, Ms. Raven," Kaithenn said after downing his own tea. He crossed his legs and sat up while looking directly at Yuki with a deep expression.
Yuki swallowed the tea in her mouth quickly at the sudden change of air. Kaithenn was not intimidating. At least not in Yuki's eyes. Still, Yuki felt as though the kind of air he gave off was deliberate. It was as if he had control of the aura he emitted at every particular time. And now, in that moment, no aura surrounded him. It was as if he was giving her the chance to choose which air he would emit.
Inwardly, Yuki hoped to not get on his bad side; anyone but a man so mysterious. If she could, she was going to be as open as possible to him. She was not interested in knowing what his aura felt like if he was ever in a bad mood. She was not going to risk it!
"Yes?" Yuki asserted as audibly as she could, consenting to his statement earlier.
"Why are you investigating the men of Beicheden?" Kaithenn uttered calmly while staring at Yuki. She stared back at him; she was unfazed as if she had expected the question.
Yuki gazed into her cup, took a sip of her tea and looked back at Kaithenn.
"I am a commoner," Yuki gently placed the tea on the center table.
"I know," Kaithenn stated plainly. He studied the girl attentively. He took notice of how mature she suddenly came off as. She was different from her bashful self.
Of course he knew. The only reason she was there was to clear his doubts. Yuki did not want to imagine what could happen if she lied. Thus, she wanted to know just how much he knew before saying anything else.
"Then does your grace know my true identity?" Yuki mustered all her courage to ask him, her gaze running from all else to his face.
"Let's suppose I know you are commoner only because I happen to know all the citizens that reside in Beicheden. Let's suppose that is as far as I know."
Yuki did not sense any lie in what he said. But she knew by instinct that he knew more than the fact that she was not a noble. She was not sure just how much he knew, but since he allowed her, she would keep Yuki Adlerian out of the mess.
"My mother was a courtesan in the entertainment district. She was not a citizen of Echt. Almost seven years ago, my mother went missing. The brothel manager at the time went missing as well. Every information about who she met that day is missing… three years ago, I found out the day she disappeared was a day she set aside for an exclusive client. He was an old client of hers whose identity no one knew. Like I said, my mother was an elite courtesan, if there was someone who could have a day set aside exclusively for them, the person had to be very powerful. No one in Stolz, your grace, is regarded so highly."
Kaithenn studied the girl with a neutral expression, "What do you suppose happened to your mother?" he asked calmly.
Yuki was surprised. No one ever asked her that. They all assumed her mother ran away and abandoned her. No one asked her what she thought. No one cared about what she thought.
"She died. My mother died." Her calm face morphed into a sad one.
"And why would you think that? You said she disappeared, did you not?"
"My mother was loving and kind. She cherished me dearly and so I know she never abandoned me and ran off on her own. Also, my mother never spoke of her past but I knew it was complicated. She was a foreigner whose origin no one knew. Since she was never seen in Stolz before she became a courtesan, I know her past is not tied to Stolz. Whoever her exclusive client was, knows my mother's origin and probably her death."
"Raven, you still have not told me why you think your mother is dead," Kaithenn leaned forward and stared intently at Yuki.
Yuki was quiet for a moment before she looked pass the duke and into the darkness where he initially stood. "I felt it. Intuition, maybe," Yuki lowered her gaze, she knew she sounded silly for assuming her mother had died based on intuition alone.
She had a strong connection with her mother, it was a feeling that words could never explain. It was a connection that went beyond their parent and child relationship. It was ethereal. When that feeling disappeared out of the blue, Yuki knew something had happened to her mother that was not as simple as her disappearance. Who would believe her if she told them that story?
"I see. It must have been hard on you," Kaithenn straighten his back and watched as the girl looked back at him with a perplexed expression.
Why did he sound like he believed her? Yuki could not hide her amazement as she gawked at the duke.
"So, by concluding that your mother's potential killer and her past was linked to Beicheden, you assumed the masked raven façade?"
Yuki nodded and lowered her head. "I inherited by mother's complexion; it made it easy to assume the guise of a noble woman. That was the only way I could think of to get nobles to notice me and willingly respect me and give me information," she confessed.
"And how long has it been since you became a courtesan?"
"It is almost two years," Yuki responded softly. She could not meet Kaithenn's gaze. She did not try to act confident as her disguise required, because as at that point, her disguise had completely crumbled.
For some reason, when Yuki heard the duke refer to her as a courtesan, Yuki wanted to confess. She wanted to confess that she had never slept with any of her clients or lovers. She wanted to confess that in the two years none of her clients have managed to have their way with her. She wanted to proudly say that she had made a drug that caused her clients to lose consciousness and wander in a realistic erotic dream that they all believed to be the reality of their affairs with her. But truthfully, was that something she was supposed to be proud of? And why did she need to explain herself to him? what would change if she did?
"I will find the truth you seek for you, but in return, I want you to leave everything to me and quit your façade. What say you?" Kaithenn broke into the maiden's thought.
Yuki looked up at Kaithenn with raised brows, widened eyes and with her mouth slightly opened. "Why?" she asked thoughtlessly. Why would he do that? What did he want in return? Was he being truthful?
Kaithenn's lips curved slightly. "Let us believe it is because I am duty-bound."
Yuki's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What do you want in return. Nothing is free in this world, please tell me what you want in return for your help, your grace?"
"Will you grant me what I want should I demand it of you?" Kaithenn asked lazily.
"I will, your grace." Yuki's expression and tone was firm, without a hint of doubt or hesitation.
"Then, till I contact you once more, how about you stay out of trouble and avoid doing anything reckless?"
Yuki gaped at him. Am I a fish in your eyes? She knew he was serious and that was even more annoying than his nonchalance towards the whole issue. He either saw her as a child or a fish, if not, how was he so unfazed about her beauty so much so that he would miss a once in a lifetime opportunity to make her his lover or something along that line.
She knew her way of thinking was off, but that was how all the men had acted up until then. They were willing to give anything to have her. Was she not beautiful enough? In all honesty, Yuki hoped she could have a concrete pay to give him than the abstract payment he wanted. She did not want to owe him anything; anyone but a man so difficult to read.