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24. Beggar Siblings – Money Earned by Lena

The war between the two families has ended.

Both families, equally strong, suffered serious damage without ever reaching a conclusion.

They reached an agreement.

The Berza Family decided to completely withdraw from the slave business, while the Korolla Family agreed to refrain from engaging in arms trading.

It was a moment where they reaffirmed each other’s strength and recognition.

In the meantime, Leo rose to the position of a respected assault captain within the Korolla Family.

Leo’s swordsmanship was rare in the world of thugs. There were nearly no thugs who could stand up to him one-on-one; in fact, thugs with that level of skill typically avoided the thug life altogether. With such talent, becoming a mercenary would yield more money, so there was no need to cling to the underworld.

But Leo didn’t mind.

He was quite satisfied with where he was now.

His pockets jingled with dozens of silver coins. This was the money he had saved up over time.

As he hurried along, Leo pondered what he could buy for his little sister.

Since becoming an assault captain, his pay had increased and his working hours changed. He no longer needed to sleep at the thug’s hideout.

And now,

‘I can finally ask the family to protect my sister.’

He was considering bringing Lena into the family. The family would never betray their own, so he no longer had to hide Lena at the shoe store.

With the fierce battles behind them, he could now seriously search for a suitable husband for Lena. For future scenarios, he should also look for connections related to the prince.

During this period, he had participated in meetings with the captains and gained valuable information. The Rauno Family was also an information broker. That was the reason they always maintained a neutral position.

‘I should have joined the Rauno Family from the start.’

Had he done that, he would have known much more by now.

However, he didn’t feel too disappointed. Thanks to not being overly ambitious from the beginning, this scenario had progressed steadily.

Leo headed eagerly toward Leather Street.

“Lena! Big brother is here~.”

He also greeted Kasia cheerfully. Although there had been an odd vibe before, he found that even pleasant now. It was because he had garnered some goodwill through his achievements.

‘She’s a bit odd, but a decent girl.’

Once he married off Lena, the ending would unfold, and he wondered if, in that case, this Leo would end up meeting Kasia after the conclusion? He started to think along those lines.

“Brother! Come in.”

Upon entering the room, Lena was hiding something behind her back.

Seeing Lena after nearly a month made him happy. His younger sister had grown prettier in that time. There seemed to be a subtle charm about her, and her voice had a hint of yearning.

Lena looked at her brother with expectant eyes.

‘He’ll love this!’

Lena had been waiting for him to arrive to surprise him.

“Brother, look at this.”

Leo received the small box Lena presented.

The box felt heavier than it looked.

Lena laughed joyfully, pleased to see her brother’s surprise as he opened the box. It was filled with gold coins.

Leo stared at the coins in a daze.

His brain felt like it had stopped.

“Where did all this…?”

“It’s the money I earned! With this, we could buy a really nice house!”

Leo gazed at Lena in shock.

As the box fell from his hands, it shattered, scattering gold coins everywhere, and at the same time an achievement notification popped up.

[ Achievement: Pimp – The income from the prostitutes you manage increases. ]

“You… you!! No way!”

“Why?”

“What have you done?!”

As Leo shouted, Lena stammered in panic.

“I-I just earned some money…”

“What exactly did you do?! Kasia!!”

– Bang!

Leo burst through the door as if smashing it, rushing outside.

“Brother! What’s wrong?”

“Kasia!!”

Seeing Kasia lazily turning away from the table, Leo gritted his teeth.

“You! What did you make Lena do?! Answer me quickly!”

“Brother! Why are you so upset!”

Seeing Leo angry for the first time, Lena leaned against the door, unable to decide what to do, her face crumpled in distress.

“What did I make her do? I just told her about a way to earn money.”

“What’s that?!”

Lena found her brother’s rage baffling. Was what she had done really that bad?

“What’s wrong with that? What’s wrong with selling your body?”

“Is that something you can even say?! Ugh, something so filthy for my sister…!”

Shame washed over Lena.

All this time, Kasia had gently encouraged her, teaching her.

This isn’t a bad thing.

It’s simply a ‘job’ that satisfies men. There’s someone who needs it, so you help provide ‘services’ in exchange for payment…

Yet, every time she worked, Lena’s heart screamed that something was wrong. This is not okay.

Lena tried to ignore that scream and believed Kasia’s words. This was the only thing she could do and

It was definitely, absolutely not wrong.

But was it really not wrong?

As Lena’s hands turned pale and trembled, Leo grabbed Kasia by the collar, pulling her up from the table.

A dagger was suddenly in his hand.

“Brother!! What are you doing? Kasia hasn’t done anything wrong!”

“Get out of the way!”

Lena rushed in to intervene, but she got pushed aside by Leo’s swinging arm and landed on her backside.

Tears began to flow down her cheeks.

The scattered gold coins rolled toward them, and one landed at Leo’s feet.

How could she have earned this money!

Something welled up fiercely in her chest.

“You filthy woman! You make her do something like that? Did I ask you to sell her off to a brothel?!”

Leo shook Kasia by the neck. Her slender body flailed wildly.

“Gah… ugh…”

Kasia tried to free herself from his grip, but his brute strength remained unfazed, only a few drops of blood forming where her nails had scratched him.

“It wasn’t her who sold me!”

Lena screamed, her voice piercing.

“I went! It was me! I did it!”

Leo, still holding Kasia, turned back, his eyes bloodshot with rage. Even with his face twisted in a monstrous way, Lena saw the truth.

He was about to cry at any moment.

“Why are you crying, brother?! Why are you crying!”

At the sight, Lena’s anger twisted inside her, and she shouted furiously.

“What’s so wrong with it?! What’s so filthy about it?! What do you know, brother?! Damn it! This is bullshit!”

Lena echoed the words that other girls at the brothel often spat out.

Her brother looked even more shocked.

His face held an expression of disbelief, almost as if something catastrophic had happened to him.

“Why are you looking at me like that! I haven’t done anything wrong! I’m not a filthy woman…! I’m not…!”

The surge of emotions inside her turned into stubbornness.

“I hate you, brother!”

Lena then stormed out of the place.

Leo, still dazed, threw Kasia aside and dashed after Lena.

“Lena! Lena!”

His sister was already running far away.

Her pretty face revealed to all. Crying.

“Lena! Don’t go! I was wrong! Come back!”

Leo rushed to catch up with Lena, but a hulking man blocked his path.

“What the hell is this? Is this your personal space? Why are you shouting like that? What the hell is wrong with you? Get lost before I shove a knife in you, you’re going to regret it.”

Lena’s retreating figure disappeared behind Oberg’s massive frame.

“Get out of the way! Before I kill you!”

“What? Is this guy out of his mind?”

“Get out of the way now!”

Leo swung his dagger.

But Oberg easily dodged and growled.

“Seriously…”

As Oberg played a small flute, thugs from the Rauno Family swarmed in from all directions.

“Drop the knife. I won’t even give you a warning if it wasn’t for Kasia.”

Surrounded by four thugs, Leo had lost all rationality and ignored Oberg’s warning, letting loose with the dagger.

If he had two swords, he would have killed them all, but all Leo held was a short dagger, making it impossible to take on so many at once.

“Profit… great.”

Ultimately, Leo dropped the dagger to the ground.

If he dies here, he wouldn’t be able to find Lena.

Oberg held him back and headed toward the shoe store.

“Kasia. What’s going on here?”

Kasia, caught tightly and rubbing her bruised neck, spoke while trying to gesture without Oberg noticing.

“I guess he got angry when I introduced his little sister to some work.”

“…Really? The girl that just ran off was his sister? Did you hide her here?”

“I’m sorry, sir. They looked like they were suffering. Let us handle our problems; could you please step aside for a moment?”

“…Huh. If you start causing trouble like this again, I’ll really kill you. There won’t be any Korolla Family or anything else then.”

Oberg, as if he understood the situation, released Leo and took the thugs away.

Kasia stared at Leo, who was seething with rage.

“Why are you angry?”

“Seriously… am I not allowed to be angry? Where did Lena go?”

He realized it was pointless to try and catch up with Lena; he needed to find out where she had gone.

“She probably went back to work.”

Hearing her dismissive tone infuriated him.

“Why did you introduce her to something like that?”

“She said she wanted to help you.”

“Really?! Is that a reason to make her do something like that?”

“What’s wrong with selling your body?”

Kasia’s hazy eyes sharpened, her voice heavy with anger and resentment.

“I started this job to save my sick father. I was just as young as Lena back then. That was all I could do, or else my dad would have died.”

Kasia began to boil with emotion, and Leo was momentarily taken aback by her unfamiliar intensity.

“I did my best. In the end… my father couldn’t fight the illness and committed suicide. Hah! I should have just not given him the medicine. At least the suffering would have been shorter.”

“…Your circumstances don’t concern me. What about Lena? Did she really need money that badly?”

Kasia scoffed.

“What a liar, ferreting out what she did. Lena probably thought you would die from a stab wound!”

Leo’s patience finally snapped.

“Damn it! Shut up! Just tell me where Lena went!”

“The sixth alley across the southern gate. It may be too late already though.”

“Too late for what?”

“She’s probably signing a contract by now.”

“What contract?”

“I don’t know, but it’s likely a contract to meet nobles for several years. Lena’s pretty, after all.”

“This damned woman!”

Leo couldn’t contain his rage, looking for a dagger, but found none.

With nothing else to do, he grabbed Kasia by hand and threw her onto the bed, climbing on top to choke her.

Kasia struggled, flailing her skinny limbs.

At that moment, everything around began to fade away.

[Lena’s final job has been decided.]

[Thank you for playing the Lena Nurturing Game.]

[Lena de Yeriel]

[Final Job: High-Class Courtesan]

[Marriage Partner: Unmarried]

[Leo de Yeriel]

[Final Job: Brothel Manager, Thug]

[Ending for the Beggar Siblings: Red-Light District]

– Born in Rutina Castle, Lena had an unhappy childhood. Being led by the hands of others, she and Leo were hidden in a wide field, and when she opened her eyes, the field was… (omitted) …Lena began working at the brothel with Kasia’s help. After having a big fight with Leo, Lena signed a contract with the brothel and met numerous nobles, but didn’t become anyone’s mistress. Instead, she grew into a hidden figure manipulating nobles amidst the war. However, after getting too entangled in politics, she caught the eye of Count Hermann Forte, who had just returned from fighting off an invasion of the Austin Kingdom. Lena was murdered by the knights sent by Count Forte. –

– Born in Rutina Castle, Leo had an unhappy childhood. Being led by the hands of others, he and Lena… (omitted) … Leo quickly quit his job after rising to the position of assault captain in the Korolla Family. He stayed at the brothel where his sister worked and protected Lena, but ultimately died fighting the knights who came to kill her. –

A picture of Lena lying seductively on a bed flashed in his mind.

Her exposed legs carved elegant curves, and she extended her hand with hypnotizing eyes, luring beyond the picture frame.

Leo was struck dumb, lost in shock.

My sister has changed so drastically.

It felt as if dozens of serpents were coiling around. At the same time, it seemed she was innocently beckoning men to her bed.

It’s my fault.

I turned my sister into a monster.

The talent running in Lena’s blood blossomed disturbingly. A beautifully twisted flower, consuming everything that comes near.

Leo’s mind became a scream as it faded away, and Minseo emerged front and center.

Minseo felt his chest tighten at the sight of Lena.

Fortunately, Lena’s image was almost disappearing now.

He tried hard to forget the image.

There was so much information he needed to see right now. When Lena had died of illness last time, he couldn’t read the text for his grief.

He needed to read it now.

Minseo composed himself and joined the disappearing text.

First, the family name of Lena and Leo, Yeriel.

This was the family name of the Conrad royal house. Since both had ‘de’ in their names, they seemed to be of royal blood with a claim to the throne.

And both were said to have been born in Rutina Castle, which was the capital of the Conrad Kingdom.

‘Were they chased out over succession issues?’

There was no doubt about it. Someone had rescued the prince and princess, and young Lena and Leo had likely lived a meager existence as beggars.

The text gradually faded upwards. Minseo hurriedly read through the story of Lena and Leo.

Count Hermann Forte had killed Lena. That swordmaster seemed to have repelled the invasion of the Austin Kingdom… The difficulty of the engagement scenario had just increased.

With war imminent, the risk of dying rose.

Yet, without fail, he would repay the debt for killing Lena.

Minseo read through the text, which was rising slowly, desperately.

Once he had obtained everything he could, the emotions he had suppressed surged forth.

“Kasia! That damned woman!”

She ruined everything.

Lena’s comfortable life, and my plans to gather information about the prince slowly!

Before he could unleash his anger completely, words appeared in the air.

[You have failed to clear the Lena Nurturing Game.]

[Leo, Lena’s achievements surpass yours. For a brief period, Lena held sway over the political realm of the Belita Kingdom. Because of that achievement, Lena’s {Seduction} ability is partially inherited by Leo.]

[Restarting now.]