Massage 1
As I opened the door and stepped inside, a wave of stifling heat washed over us first.
The air—thick with the mingled scents of alcohol, perfume, and human bodies—flooded into my lungs.
The parlor was wider than I had expected. Low tables and long couches were scattered throughout, while the walls were draped with red fabric and decorated with the soft glow of candles. Among them moved women who were practically naked. The men watching them with burning eyes were either nursing drinks or already sliding their hands around the waists of women who had drawn close.
Thankfully, no one spared us newcomers a glance. Their attention was utterly consumed by the women in front of them; they acted as if they hadn’t even noticed us enter.
“…….”
I turned my eyes away without thinking. The realization that I had brought Lucrezia and Eleanor to a place like this tightened around my throat again.
Just then, a neatly dressed woman approached from deeper inside. Unlike the others, she wore a modest black outfit with almost no skin exposed. She was likely an employee.
“Are you guests?”
Lucrezia glanced at me. I nodded. She drew the letter Lumencia had given us from her robe and handed it over.
“I was told to deliver this.”
The employee accepted the letter and examined the seal. For the briefest moment, her expression shifted.
“Please wait a moment.”
She bowed politely and disappeared down the inner corridor. We had no choice but to stand near the entrance and wait. While we did, the scene inside the parlor naturally drew my gaze. The half-naked women smiled as they approached the men, brushing fingertips across shoulders, whispering into ears, linking arms with practiced ease. The men rose as if spellbound, and the women led them one by one into the back rooms.
“Kael.”
Eleanor called my name in a tiny voice.
“You’re too tense.”
“I’m not.”
“Liar.”
She tried to sound playfully scolding, but her voice lacked its usual ease. Lucrezia remained silent, scanning the room. Though she kept the hood of her plain robe pulled low, her posture and presence were impossible to conceal.
That was when it happened.
“Oh my?”
A languid voice drifted from the side. I turned to see a woman in thin clothing approaching. She looked at the three of us in turn, then curved her lips into a mischievous smile.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen people walk all the way in here and just stand there like that.”
Lucrezia gave her a brief, wordless glance. The woman narrowed her eyes.
“Hmm…”
She drifted closer to Lucrezia, studied the hood, and laughed softly.
“But isn’t it a little suspicious to come inside a place like this with your hood still up?”
“Please stop coming closer.”
Lucrezia’s voice dropped. The woman, however, seemed to take the warning as a joke. Under normal circumstances Lucrezia would have handled her smoothly, but beneath that calm exterior she was just as tense as I was. Otherwise she would never have allowed the woman to step boldly forward and press herself close as if for an embrace.
“Come on, let me see your face.”
Her hand moved with startling speed.
Whoosh.
Lucrezia’s hood was yanked back. Short golden hair and cold blue eyes appeared in the candlelight. For an instant the clamor around us seemed to dip.
Several gazes that had ignored us before now turned our way. Lucrezia slowly regarded the woman. Her blue eyes had frozen over.
“…….”
The woman finally realized her mistake. Her smile stiffened.
“S-sorry!”
She retreated at once. But several men were already converging on us.
“What? Is she one of the girls here too?”
“Never seen her before.”
“New hire? Why hide someone like that!”
Their stares were shameless. Men who had been fixated on the women in front of them now locked onto Lucrezia alone.
“Hey, staff! Is she booked?”
“How much? Can I have her all night?”
“Who’s the guy next to her? Customer? Bodyguard?”
“If he’s a bodyguard, move. I’ll pay whatever it takes.”
As the men drew nearer I stepped quickly in front of Lucrezia.
“Stand back.”
My words only seemed to provoke them. One man, face flushed with drink and arousal, tried to shove my shoulder roughly.
“Out of the way. This isn’t the place for that kind of attitude.”
“She never said she didn’t want it!”
“We’re just asking the price. Why block us?”
I said nothing more. I caught the nearest man’s wrist and twisted it lightly.
“Aaaagh!”
A scream rang through the parlor. There was no contest between ordinary men and an imperial knight. Another charged in excitement, only to meet the same fate. I stepped forward, seized his arm, broke his balance, and dropped him to the floor.
Thud!
“Ugh!”
“Do not come any closer.”
This time I kept my voice low. Only then did the men freeze. They didn’t retreat entirely, however. Even a step back, they continued to stare—no, devour—Lucrezia with their eyes.
The short golden hair gleaming in the candlelight. The icy blue eyes. The curves of her body that no robe could hide. Everything about her seemed unbearably stimulating to them.
“Damn…”
“She really isn’t one of the girls?”
“Must be reserved for important guests, then.”
Low murmurs spread. At that moment the employee who had taken the letter earlier hurried back from the inner corridor. She took in the men on the floor and the frozen atmosphere without much surprise, only letting out a tiny sigh.
“I apologize for the wait.”
She bowed politely to us, then spoke to the surrounding men in a cold voice.
“These guests are not ordinary customers. Do not approach them again.”
The men withdrew with obvious displeasure, but their eyes never left Lucrezia. After confirming their gazes, the employee stepped closer to us.
“They are waiting inside.”
She gestured carefully toward the corridor.
“This way, please.”
Lucrezia silently replaced her hood. Feeling those unpleasant stares on my back, I followed the employee into the inner corridor with the two women.
“Here it is.”
The room she led us into contained a middle-aged woman seated comfortably. She held a long pipe and exhaled smoke in a relaxed manner.
“Huuu…”
Thin smoke drifted lazily into the air. Her red hair glowed as if aflame, and her purple eyes regarded me with languid ease. Every movement carried an elegance that made her seem almost noble.
“Welcome, dears.”
She looked us over once, then removed the pipe from her lips.
“A letter of introduction from Lumencia…”
Madam gave the letter in her hand a light wave.
“It’s difficult to refuse that woman’s requests, even when she only ever brings me troublesome ones.”
“Are you the owner of this place?”
She gave a small chuckle at my question.
“Everyone simply calls me Madam, so you may do the same.”
The title suited the establishment perfectly. I hesitated, unsure what to say next. Madam laughed first.
“No need to be nervous. I’ve already read the letter.”
“Then… what exactly are we supposed to do here?”
She answered as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“You came to a massage parlor. You receive a massage.”
“Pardon?”
When I asked again in confusion, Madam clapped her hands lightly.
Clap, clap.
The door opened and two men entered. Both were bare-chested, wearing nothing but towels around their waists. One was solidly muscled; the other was noticeably overweight.
My breath caught. Madam pointed at Lucrezia and Eleanor without concern.
“Take care of these two.”
“……”
“Begin with basic massage. Do nothing the guests do not desire.”
The men bowed.
“Understood.”
“And use your discretion. Today’s guests are not ordinary.”
Their eyes flicked toward us for the briefest moment before they bowed again. They reminded me of trained soldiers. Madam then called the female employee who had been standing nearby.
“Guide them to the preparation room.”
“Yes, Madam.”
The woman stepped forward quietly.
“Please come with me. I’ll help you prepare for a comfortable massage.”
At her words, both Lucrezia and Eleanor turned to look at me. I could only move my lips, unsure what to say. Coming here had been a decision we made together. No one had forced us. We could stop anytime. Yet now that the moment had arrived, my chest felt painfully tight.
“Kael.”
Eleanor smiled faintly first. She tried for her usual playful grin, but tension lingered beneath it.
“Don’t make that face.”
Lucrezia spoke softly as well.
“It’s all right, Kael.”
Her voice was calm, yet I could sense the nervousness hidden beneath, just as I had when she first received the letter.
“If you don’t want this, stop immediately.”
They both nodded.
“I know.”
“I will.”
The female employee led them out. The door closed. Only Madam and I remained. She placed the pipe back between her lips and exhaled a long stream of smoke.
“You look like you’re attending a funeral.”
“……”
“As I said, the guests Lumencia sends are always headaches.”
I stared at the closed door, unable to speak. Madam watched me with open amusement for a long while.
“But what about you?”
“Huh?”
Her sudden question left me blinking stupidly. She removed the pipe and studied me with narrowed eyes.
“You came all this way just to sit there blankly by yourself?”
“That’s… I…”
Words failed me. The entire situation had been too abrupt. My mind was already reeling from watching Lucrezia and Eleanor being led away; hearing that I, too, was expected to do something left me speechless. Madam laughed softly at my reaction.
“You have unusual tastes, I hear.”
“……!”
Heat flooded my face. I couldn’t lift my head.
“Lumencia wrote quite a detailed account.”
“That woman really…”
“So you should prepare as well.”
Madam tapped the table lightly with one finger.
“If you came to watch, shouldn’t you get ready to watch?”
I remained silent. Shame rose in my throat. Madam savored my reaction a moment longer, then clapped once.
Clap.
The door opened again. This time a male employee entered. He bowed before me with a neutral expression.
“I will guide you.”
“……”
I glanced at Madam. She shrugged, pipe once more between her lips.
“If you don’t wish to, you may stop here.”
“……”
I bit my lip. I wanted to flee. But running would solve nothing. In the end I stood.
The employee guided me out in silence. The corridor was quieter than expected. The deeper we went, the more the noise from the front was swallowed by thick walls, leaving only the faint echo of footsteps.
Soon we reached a small room. A changing room. The employee opened the door and gestured inside.
“You may undress here.”
“All of it…?”
“Yes.”
I stared at him blankly, but he offered no further explanation. He simply stood by the door, waiting. With a sigh I stepped inside. Once the door closed I was alone in the narrow space. A hanger hung on the wall, and thin sheets and towels were neatly arranged on one side.
I gazed at them for a moment, then slowly removed my clothes. With each layer that fell away, it felt as though my sense of reality peeled away too. The cold air on my skin made me twitch with involuntary arousal. I wrapped a towel around my waist and stepped out. The waiting employee showed no reaction, as if such sights were routine. He bowed calmly.
“This way.”
I gripped the edge of the towel tighter than necessary and followed. The farther we walked, the more the outer clamor faded. A faint fragrance replaced it—something between flowers and medicinal herbs. Before long the employee stopped before a door at the end of the corridor.
“You may enter.”
He opened the door. The room beyond was quieter than I expected.
In the center stood two massage tables partially screened by curtains. A single small chair sat between them, surrounded by neatly arranged bottles, towels, and tools.
Glass vials of oil. Folded towels. A basin of warm water.
The thin curtains were just transparent enough to hint at silhouettes. Not fully concealing, yet not blatantly revealing—an ambiguous distance that somehow made everything more nerve-wracking. I took one step inside and swallowed.
Two beds. The chair placed between them.
I didn’t need an explanation to know who that chair was meant for.
“……”
I stared at it. It looked as though it had been prepared from the very beginning for me to sit and watch everything. In the end I lowered myself onto it. The wooden seat was colder than I expected.
The wait felt strangely long. I kept glancing toward the doors. Two separate entrances on the opposite side. Would they come through different ones…? My mind filled with useless thoughts.
Then I heard faint footsteps beyond the door. I lifted my head reflexively. Two presences.
Lucrezia and Eleanor at last…?
The footsteps drew nearer. My hands clenched unconsciously on my knees. The footsteps stopped outside. A brief silence followed.
Creak.
The door opened slowly. Lucrezia appeared first. She covered her pure white nakedness with a single large towel. The fabric was damp, as though soaked in warm water, and clung to her skin, revealing every line of her body with painful clarity.
The curve from collarbone to shoulder. The swell of her full breasts. The narrow waist and firmly toned thighs. The towel meant to hide her instead became a thin, revealing veil.
“Kael…”
When she saw me sitting there, she breathed my name in a voice far softer and thinner than usual. She quickly lowered her head, avoiding my gaze. The tips of her ears burned crimson.
This was a woman who would not waver on any battlefield. Yet here, in this unfamiliar room, even my single gaze left her at a loss. I could only move my lips, unsure what to say.
“Lucrezia…”
Someone followed her in. It was the muscular man from earlier. He wore only a towel around his waist, yet his manner was excessively polite. He stopped quietly behind her and slowly placed his hands on her shoulders so as not to startle her.
Lucrezia’s body gave the tiniest flinch. The man bowed his head and spoke in a low, gentle tone.
“There is no need to be tense.”
His touch was not rude. It was careful, the touch of a professional assessing a client’s condition.
“If anything feels uncomfortable, please tell me immediately. I will never perform any act you do not desire.”
“…Yes.”
Lucrezia answered softly, but tension still colored her voice. The two remained standing like that for some time. Eleanor had still not appeared. A chill crept down my neck. Had something gone wrong…?
Then I sensed another presence beyond the door. Two more.
It must be Eleanor and the heavyset man from before….
“Trouble again.”
The muscular man frowned, removed his hands from Lucrezia’s shoulders, and strode to the door. He flung it open.
“I told you not to do unnecessary things without the guest’s consent. The guest is waiting.”
“Haa… haat…”
Eleanor’s ragged breathing leaked through.
What kind of joke—?
“Hehe. My apologies, my apologies. Forgive my lateness, sir.”
The heavyset man appeared with a sly smile.
“The lady guest was so tense I offered a little help. Oops, she still hasn’t come out. She must be shy. Allow me to escort her.”
He turned back toward the inner room.
“Please come out slowly, miss. It’s perfectly fine. Everyone feels a little nervous at first.”
I heard Eleanor mutter something quietly beyond the door. A moment later she emerged. The swell of her breasts beneath the wet towel caught my eye first. She was trembling, staggering. When she seemed about to fall forward I rose from my chair without thinking. But two hands shot out faster, seizing her body firmly. At the same time, a disgustingly hot sensation surged from deep inside my chest. I couldn’t tell whether it was rage or arousal.
Squeeze!
“Oops! You must be careful. It seems you’re still quite tense.”
“Haaung…!”
The heavyset man’s hands, under the pretense of steadying her, were openly cupping her breasts over the towel. One hand squeezed around her areola as though milking her. His face was buried deep against her collarbone, savoring the scent of her skin.
“Haat… stop… Kael is watching…”
“Oh dear. I made a mistake while trying to catch you. My deepest apologies.”
Not a trace of remorse showed on his face. Instead, faintly flushed with anticipation, he straightened Eleanor’s body, removed his hands from her chest, and placed his thick palms on her shoulders. Then he looked straight at me.
“Sir. Shall we begin the massage?”