So She Gambles, So What?

The brothel was a riot of sound, scent, and sin.

Perfumed air clung thick to the skin, mingling with the sharp tang of alcohol and the lingering smoke of illicit substances.

The warm glow of lanterns flickered against the velvet-lined walls, casting long, teasing shadows over the establishment's patrons, men and women alike, draped in silk and indulgence.

Laughter rang from every corner, from the tables where men gambled away their dignity to the balconies where courtesans lounged, watching the scene unfold with lazy amusement.

Coins clinked, dice rolled, and fortunes were made and lost in the span of heartbeats.

Calix, whose cloak concealed most of his face, looked utterly scandalized. Mariella, though partially veiled in her hood, seemed… intrigued.

And at the center of it all, in the thick of vice and debauchery, was a man who hadn't even been there moments ago, because he had just become.