The Law of the Silent Gentleman

Chapter 7 – Mrs Manley

The alchemist wet Giuliano’s hair with water, then poured a bottle of pungent-smelling potion on his head. All scalps and skins that come into contact with the potion are burning hot, almost burning. Giuliano sullenly wondered how the fashionable young people in the city could endure such “torture”? Oh, and perhaps all this torment is “the price to pay for beauty,” as many aristocratic ladies have said.

Enzo pressed the hilt of his sword and leaned his back against the opposite wall, observing the scene leisurely, as if the absent-minded audience had to endure a poor-quality drama because of their face. The alchemist chatted with Enzo while tossing Giuliano’s hair.

“Where are you going?”

“Look for Mrs. Manley.”

“Aha, great plan, you want to hide this kid under Mrs. Manlei’s skirt?”

“For now. Nowhere is safe.”

“It’s too late! All the city gates and piers are under martial law today. The guards are holding wanted warrants to check everyone leaving the city. Ships without a pass are not allowed to leave the port. Anyone with a slight similarity in appearance, age or height will be arrested. I see you can’t get out!”

Enzo crossed his arms and curled his lips to express his disdain. “I have my way.”

“Fufufu, tomorrow I must visit friends from the Black Boatmen’s Guild, and let them pay attention to whether there is your floating corpse in the river…”

“Shut your mouth and get to work, you’re about to pour the potion in his ear.”

The alchemist deliberately poured a large bottle of potion on Giuliano’s head, and then roughly rubbed his hair like an old garment that could not be washed. Giuliano screamed in pain, but the alchemist turned a deaf ear to it, while Enzo looked impatient, as if he felt that the alchemist hadn’t hit hard enough. After several centuries, the alchemist finally dried Giuliano’s hair and held up a mirror in front of him: “Okay! It’s done! Look, how fashionable, the top trending color of Vanessa this year!”

Giuliano in the mirror has messy blue-purple hair, which looks like flowers blooming from a distance. Before he had time to protest the weird color, Enzo pushed the alchemist away: “It’s ok, I’m very satisfied. How much?”

“Ten luces.”

“So expensive?!”

“Anyway, you are dying, so what’s the use of asking for so much money, why don’t you help the poor.”

Enzo silently gouged him out, took out the money bag from his pocket, counted out ten gold coins and handed them to the alchemist, then turned to Giuliano. “You owe me ten more gold coins.”

Giuliano’s heart sank. He had no money to pay back to Enzo, so the assassin must use other methods to get the money back from him, and both of them knew exactly what method it was. The assassin despises his poor skills (it is unreasonable!), and has not touched him for the time being, but sooner or later he will get back the part he deserves.

The alchemist hastily collected the coins into his pocket. “Turn left after going out and enter the second intersection. There is an underground passage in the house at the end, which just leads to Mrs. Manlei.” He groaned, “I didn’t want to tell you, but it’s for me. Secret way, but you are going to die…Hey! Won’t you say goodbye to me!”

Enzo dragged Giuliano quickly away from the “aromatic decoction” and walked into the “secret passage” referred to by the alchemist. Another journey back and forth between the ground and the ground. Every time they return to the ground, the surrounding houses will become cleaner, which means that they are gradually moving away from the poorest and backward areas of the lower city, and are approaching the upper city. Finally, they came to a brightly lit and beautiful building. Red silk and colorful lights are drawn around the building, and loud music streams from the doors and windows, accompanied by the high-pitched laughter of men and women. Numerous scantily clad young women danced to the music. Enzo pulled Giuliano past them and received countless winks and kisses. Giuliano couldn’t resist pulling down the hood to cover his eyes and cheeks, so that he wouldn’t look at the women or let them see his flushed cheeks. He knew who they were—they were prostitutes. That beautiful building was a brothel.

Enzo swaggered, without flinching, as if he was a regular visitor here. Giuliano stared at his feet. White flesh was everywhere, and he didn’t know where to look. After entering the door, a young man with green hair and painted makeup greeted him and bowed to Enzo.

“You haven’t been here for a long time, Mr. Enzo, everyone misses you like crazy.” He smiled obsequiously, “Do you want to meet an ‘old friend’ or a ‘new friend’? We have A few new ladies… and gentlemen, you will be satisfied with their beauty and beauty.”

“Is Mrs. Manley there?”

“Yes, yes. She’s in the office. If you’re looking for her, just go up there.”

Enzo sent the green hair away with a silver coin and went up to the second floor. There are many rooms on the second floor, where prostitutes and guests spend a good night together. Faint gasps and groans came from behind every closed door. Without squinting, Enzo walked forward quickly, aiming at the room at the end of the corridor. He knocked on the door, waited for a moment, and there was a “please come in” from the door.

He pushed open the door and let Giuliano in first. Behind the door was an office, with bookshelves around it and a large walnut desk in the center, flanked by tall piles of paper. A middle-aged woman is writing a book at her desk. Enzo closed the door. The woman raised her head, raised her eyebrows, put down the quill in her hand, and quietly closed the booklet she had just written.

“Enzo! What a rare visitor, I haven’t seen you for a long time.” The woman got up and opened her arms. Enzo stepped forward to hug and kiss her. “What brought you here? Oh, don’t tell me, let me guess, it must be a whirlwind named ‘Sacon’, right?” She turned her bright black eyes to Giuliano. The young man subconsciously wanted to cover his face, but Enzo stopped him.

“This is Mrs. Manley. She is a silent lady, one of our kind.”

“She ‘was’ a silent lady, my dear Enzo.” Mrs. Manley corrected him with a smile. Giuliano bowed nervously to Mrs. Manley, who lifted her skirt and nodded slightly. Mrs. Manlei wore heavy makeup, and her age was guessed to be in her thirties, or maybe even older. The age of a woman is an eternal mystery to Giuliano, especially a mysterious woman like Mrs. Manley. As she lowered her skirt, Giuliano noticed some stiffness in her left hand, where she seemed unable to bend her thumb. But she wore lace gloves, so she couldn’t see if she was actually disabled.

“You are always so well-informed.” Enzo held his wife’s hand, but his expression was not very friendly, “I think the news of the Sacon family’s treason has spread throughout the city overnight. Then, Why did the Sakon family treason? And what specific crime did they commit?”

“I don’t know about that. It’s just that I have never seen such a method used to deal with traitors. The last time I heard about such a massacre was a family vendetta in the city-state of Dorothenia. After all, if it wasn’t for a family vendetta, Why do you want to kill the whole family?”

Giuliano asked eagerly: “You mean, treason is just an excuse, but it’s actually a vendetta between the Boniwell family and our family?”

Mrs. Manlei raised her finger and tapped her lips: “Shh, young man, I didn’t say anything, so don’t make wild guesses, someone may deliberately mislead you to guess in that direction, but the truth is not the case at all .”

“So what’s going on?”

Enzo signaled him to shut up. “Mrs. Manlei, I would like to entrust this young man with you for a while.”

“Storage? I have guards and nobles coming and going here every day. It may not be a safe place. I bet that the young guest will not be found in the city within ten days, and the city guards will forcibly search all of them.” A brothel.”

“I don’t want you to hide him for a long time.” Enzo said with a complicated expression, “I want you to train him.”

“…Training what?”

“You are a brothel here, what else can you train?”

All that a brothel can train is the skill of pleasing clients. Giuliano stared at Enzo in surprise. Did he take some strange medicine by mistake in the alchemist’s shop, which made his brain go bad?

“What do you mean?” cried Giuliano. “You’re selling me to a brothel?”

Enzo glanced at him impatiently: “No.”

“You are going to sell me to a brothel!” Giuliano was furious, “I trust you so much, you treat me like this! You might as well hand me over to the city guard!”

The assassin rolled his eyes at the sky. “Mrs. Manley, can we have a private chat for a while?”

“Of course. Go ahead. I’m in the next room.” Mrs. Manley left the office swayingly, leaving Giuliano and Enzo alone.

“You’re out of your mind! You’re crazy!” Giuliano yelled at Enzo as soon as she left.

“Keep scolding, anyway, you’re not the only one saying that.” The assassin folded his arms and leaned on Mrs. Manlei’s desk.

“How could you sell me to a brothel!”

“I don’t.”

“Then why did you let the brothel train me?”

The assassin’s ears hurt from the young man’s noise. He rubbed his forehead and sighed, “Because your skills are poor.”

“what-?”

“Look at those girls under Mrs. Manley.” Enzo waved his hand casually, “Do you know what the best of them are called? ‘Duchess’. People call them that. I don’t know how many people come from far away When I came to Vanessa, I just wanted to see the beauty of the ‘Duchess’. I don’t know how many people have lost their homes and spent a lot of money just to spend the night with the ‘Duchess’. Do you have the charm of the ‘Duchess’? No.”

The assassin slapped the table. Giuliano was taken aback.

“You want me to investigate the truth and kill the enemy, do you know what that means? It means that this task is so **** difficult, and I might die. If you have the charm of ‘Duchess’, I would rather go with you You slept one night and died for you. But alas, you didn’t. So there are only two choices in front of you: Either become a ‘Duchess’…”

“I’d rather die!” Giuliano said. “What’s the alternative?”

“Another one… I won’t help you out, but I’ll train you—as a quiet gentleman would—and then you’ll get your revenge. There’s a price to pay, of course, so I’ll put up with you for now. The clumsy tricks are done.”

How could he say these words without changing his face! Giuliano was trembling all over, and really wanted to rush out the door. Enzo asked him to sacrifice his body in order to learn the art of assassination, so that one day he could kill his enemies and avenge his parents? Then we have to wait until the Year of the Monkey!

But…but other than that, there is no other way. He couldn’t just walk out the door and wait for the city guards to catch him, could he? That way, at dawn tomorrow, his head will hang on the city gate for passers-by to close. Fernando and Boniwell’s web of intrigue was never woven overnight, nor did his revenge need to be rushed for a while. He can hone his skills and kill his enemies, which can solve his hatred better than hiring a killer.

“Okay!” He raised his head and looked at Enzo, his emerald eyes burst into a firm light, “That’s it! Just do as you say! I am willing to learn from you, and one day I will kill them with my own hands !”

The assassin was silent, but there was a look of approval in his eyes. He opened the door and called Mrs. Manley’s name. After a while, the figure of Madam Niao Na returned to the office.

“Are you finished talking?” Mrs. Manlei smiled, “Do you want to keep this young guest?”

“No.” The assassin replied leisurely, “You know I was joking just now.”

“What?” Giuliano was startled.

“Of course I know, dear Enzo, when you are joking, your eyes are always very pretty.”

Why didn’t I see it. Giuliano said in his heart.

“Actually, the purpose of my coming is to ask you to write a letter of recommendation for me.”

“What letter of recommendation?”

“A letter of recommendation to the Black Boatmen’s Guild. Their guild has always been closed, and without a credible introducer, I’m afraid they won’t help me.”

“Ah…” Madam nodded understandingly, “I understand what you mean. But, my dear, you know that I will never give my kindness to others for no reason.”

“How much do you want?”

“I’m not short of money.”

Mrs. Manley took Enzo’s arm and looked outside the door. Enzo and his wife went out together knowingly, and before leaving, he did not forget to take care of Giuliano: “Stay here, we will be back in a while.”

Giuliano found a sofa and sat down. Within a few minutes, he heard the lingering voices of men and women making love from the next room. He blushed and quickly covered his ears to prevent those groans from reaching his ears. He could tell that the people next door must be Enzo and Mrs. Manlei. The price that the rich lady demanded… was of course the young assassin’s body. In the world of the reticents, is body trading such a common practice? Or, it was because of him that Enzo was willing to sacrifice himself to Mrs. Manlei?

…Enzo said they would be “back in a moment,” but Giuliano waited for nearly an hour before Enzo returned to the office. Giuliano was afraid that he would run out naked, but luckily he was fully dressed. But his face was reddish, his expression looked very lazy, and his hair was loose. When he looked at Giuliano, his eyes were full of strange expressions, and his whole body exuded strong male hormones. Giuliano was so afraid that the flirtatious men and women outside would immediately give up their knees and collapse into his arms when they saw him. Who wouldn’t? Even Giuliano himself had a feeling of urgency. If Enzo hugged him now and whispered something in his ear, he would definitely not even have the strength to walk.

“Where’s Mrs. Manley?” the young man asked with mixed feelings.

“She is resting.” Enzo calmly greeted Giuliano to go out.

“Have you got a letter of recommendation?”

“got it.”

“that’s it?”

“what?”

“You slept with Mrs. Manlei once, and she was willing to help you? That’s it?”

Enzo looked at him lazily. “Because I am highly skilled.”

After finishing speaking, he smiled to himself, not knowing whether it was elation, or reminiscing about the lingering time spent with Mrs. Manlei just now. This was the first time Giuliano saw Enzo smile without irony. He had such a good-looking smile that Giuliano couldn’t help staring. Even with just one face, this person can live a life without worrying about food and clothing. Why does he have to cover up his face and live a precarious life? Was there some reason that forced him to embark on this dark path, but he could never turn back?