Epilogue

It was a lovely early morning on a Gannday, Paulin 84th. A corner bakery was running at full tilt, giving off the smell of freshly baked bread. Not far from it, a flower shop was also giving off a lovely flowery dew smell, fighting for the passersby's attention. However, interested people could not partake in flowers because Emelia's Flowery Paradise was unusually closed.

However, it wasn't empty! Two women sat across from one another, sipping dark tea with toffee and marmalade notes that tickled the brain and chased away any sleepiness.

A woman dressed in an expensive red silky dress with white accents was none other than Laura Forway White-Bell, a woman well known for the telltale rag-to-riches story, or more precisely, from being fucked in the ass to now being the one fucking people in their ass. Not with a strap-on, but with power—well, some with a strap-on while dominating them! Forway is the most open-minded place of the four kingdoms after all!

Across her stood one of her underlings, none other than a beautiful curvy woman known for her radiant confident smile and her endless knowledge of flora—except today, a smile was not appearing on her face "—that's when Arukia told me on Princess Eori having something to do with the Sanbi-eye—it would be best to hear straight from the egua's mouth, so I sent the Sanbi operation supporters to catch him." Emelia spoke back with a softer, inward voice. "That's when I discovered he was wearing fake skin, and the guy parading around as Sanbi-eye was, in fact, an old guy who worked for Queen Neferteri in the shadows. I feared what could happen to our supporters, so I requested everyone act swiftly and pull out with whatever they found! Arukia was the only one who didn't comply! She wrote back saying she would only leave after getting PTO from Eiri!" A sniffle came out of her; her tone sounded like a proud mother, “I can’t believe she would be this caring about people! But what about me? What about you?”

"Why?" Laura, with a straight face, sipped her tea.

“We’re her besties!” Blonde-haired Emelia did not follow suit, letting her downcast eyes slowly rest on Laura as she carefully sipped her tea.

Laura placed the tea cup back in the saucer, lightly snapping back with a firm brown, "NO! I don’t care about that! What factors made you pull out of the Sanbi operation?"

Emelia cleaned the forming tears with a cloth, letting her tea grow cold. "Not knowing what Queen Neferteri could or would do. She seemed in great control, and I didn't want to jeopardize the rest of your operations! What if she captured Arukia? Or Jugy? Or Lopyu?"

"I don't want what-ifs. I want facts!" Laura asked, point-blank.

Emelia kept silent, tilting her head forward. "That Arukia is sleeping on the Wozen's nest. I don't want even to think what Queen Neferteri would do to her—"

"What else? That can't be the only thing." Laura kept firmly staring.

"Sanbi-eye was wearing fake skin, and the old guy wearing fake skin named Sinoi is not the only one working for Queen Neferteri." Emelia looked at the ceiling, searching for answers. "Remember when I told you before, Arukia and Jugy worked together trying to find out where Gabiro was going, but they could never trace him after he left the castle gates? The same people could be setting up a trap for us! That's why I told Arukia to be extra careful and not attempt confrontation at all costs."

"So you brought Sinoi for extraction?" Laura sipped her tea, appreciating the aromatic flavors.

Emelia nodded softly. "That's how we found out the hideout! I told Arukia to bring the actual Sanbi-eye, as he directly correlates to the soul explosion on the 14th. Plus whatever journals or Nari Gels' experiments she can find."

"Brain flush Sinoi, and for the other guy, if we suspect anything of interest with his body or soul, we can sell him to a scientist I know. Same for the nari gels." Laura continued the direct speech, "The Sanbi operation was a good income stream despite the hefty initial investment."

Tears formed in Emelia's eyes. "But what if Sinoi doesn't survive it? Not like he's harming us!"

Laura put her tea aside, moved the tea jug aside, and extended her hands towards Emelia. "It is what it is! We protect ourselves first and foremost."

Emelia looked back at the straight-faced Laura, now holding each other's hands atop the table.

"I know you have the best intentions on this, but you acted too soon!" Laura caressed her hands, "I know you want to protect them from harm, but they can defend themselves. They signed the contract to work for me just like they did for you. You trained them just like I trained you. You need to trust them more. Arukia played it smart by asking for PTO first! You should have known that!"

"Except it didn't work! Forway guards showed up at my door back on the 81st! Nearly gave me a heart attack! They were drilling me with questions about Arukia disappearing on her way to meet her parents. They even went looking around the shop!" Emelia cleaned the forming tears again. "They finally eased up when I said she was my secret lover."

"I see." Laura let go of her hands. "Review with Arukia why that happened. Do you remember the guard's name?"

Emelia nodded softly.

"Restart the Sanbi operations, but now hooking on the Sanbi captain instead of Sanbi Castle. Won't be as effective in gathering intel, but we must push ahead, or someone else will fill in the void." Laura spoke firmly as usual, taking a final sip of her tea and standing up. "I imagine they will cast a search quest on her, and likely sanbi-eye too. If the merchandise gets too hot, bury him in the woods and move on."

"Poor guy! What about King Itagiba? Why can't we extract info from the source itself? I know he drunkenly stumbled into our courtesans a few times already!" Emelia smiled for the first time, "He's even spilled some stuff already! It’s right there for the taking!"

"You know the answer to this!" Laura had a slight head tilt, looking a bit disappointed and down at Emelia as she stood up.

Emelia nodded, speaking from memory, reciting word for word verbatim as it was instructed to her a long ago. "We're in the business of gathering and selling information, not making enemies. Black badges always spat with one another, but turn that spat into an actual brawl, and we will get punched down! What about Arukia? She's too hot for Sanbi right now."

"Send her to Sweetlake and have her establish a new operation there. Flatland operation discovered the company behind Fii Water is planning to do some sort of expansion." Laura pushed the chair into the table, leaving it neatly flush against it. "Once the operation is set, Arukia will start to report directly to me."

"Really?" Emelia stood up with bright eyes. "That's an amazing opportunity for her! Thank you, madam!"

"Arukia proved herself capable." Laura nodded. "And so did you for turning the Sanbi operation profitable despite its challenges."