Chapter 8 Preparations

"Don't hit my mother. It's not her fault her business went under. She'll pay you back when she has your money! Leave her alone!" Aurelia continued screaming, her loud voice attracting the attention of nearby people.

Gritting his teeth, the man roughly shoved her the ground and hurriedly left before more people saw what he looked like.

It was a joyous day, after all. If warriors saw him causing trouble on such a joyful day, he'd be spending the rest of the day in prison.

As soon as he left, some people nearby helped them up.

"Hera, i had no idea you have a daughter." An elderly woman in front of a stall said to the middle-aged woman in surprise, her eyes pinned on Aurelia.

Aurelia sniffled, her face slightly lowered and eyes frantically darting around the place.

She suddenly grabbed a cup filled with rum from a passing child and moved it to her mouth.

While it seemed like she drank it, she actually emptied it all over her body, with just a small amount touching her tongue.

Handing the cup back to the kid, she grinned drunkenly.

"Where did you get it? Is it free?"

The boy nodded and pointed at a direction.

However, just as she was about to rush towards it, Hera dragged her back, smiling faintly at the elderly woman.

"It's too much shame to tell people I have a daughter who is a drunk. Thank you for your help. We'll be on our way now."

Then she dragged Aurelia along with her to a somewhat empty street, away from all the noise and said pointedly.

"Hey, I know you're not a drunk. Are you one of the many people my husband borrowed from or are you just looking for who to scam?"

With her face turned away from her, Aurelia dipped her hand into the bag of money Damien had given her, counting out 150 coins from it.

"Starting today, I'm your drunkard daughter who can't seem to let go of her drinking habits."

"You just have to find me every three days for two weeks in the market and town square. Exaggeratedly beat me a little and drag me away with you."

The woman quickly shook her head.

"Young lady, I don't know what it is you plan to do, but I bet it's shady and I refuse to be a part of.."

Aurelia chuckled softly, abruptly cutting her off.

"That was a secret gambling den, wasn't it? Given how that elderly woman spoke to you, you must be a regular there."

"Once a habit has latched onto you, it becomes difficult to get rid of especially when you have no money."

"The man from earlier also knows that. So in a few days, he'll come to find you and beat you up even more than he did today."

"Do this simple thing for me and pay off your debt to that man. Then you can gamble without worries until you have enough money to pay off your remaining debt."

Hera gritted her teeth, recalling the humiliation she had just gone through and raised her eyes to meet Aurelia's back again.

She was already a gambler. If she became a gambler with debts, it'd be harder for her to reclaim her tanished image later on.

"Where do I find you?"

"Just come everyday by noon. I'll make you find me." Aurelia replied, tearing a part of her dress to contain the coins she had counted out. "This is 150 coins for the two weeks. Once it's over, I'll need your help with one more thing and complete your payment with 200 coins."

Hera curiously asked, taking the bag of coins. "What thing?"

But Aurelia ignored her, turned around and began walking away.

"Don't be a brat and tell me what it is! I may be willing to do some things for money, but there are a whole lot of other things I wouldn't do!" Hera naturally yelled after her in righteous indignation.

However, Aurelia still ignored her and turned into a corner leading to the market square.

Just like she promised Hera, for the next two weeks, she was pretty well-known amongst the people as a drunkard and thus, easy to find.

She went with anyone who had anything intoxicating and stayed with them until the wee hours of morning.

Because she hung out with drunkards all the time, she heard very juicy gossips.

On the last night of her act as a drunkard, she sat with the middle-aged men she had made acquaintance with over the course of the two weeks.

With her hair covering her face, her hands trembled slightly as she poured them a drink.

"People say that drunkards are cowards, but they're the cowards for refusing to fulfill they're heart's desire. Don't you agree with me, kiddo?"

She dropped the gourd on the table, the reflection of the moon making her eyes appear yellow as she glanced up at him.

"I-I don't know, sire. I just drink because I find it sweet."

The men were silent for a moment as they stared at her blankly, making her wonder if she had gone out of character with that answer.

She was just about to rephrase her answer when they suddenly burst into a loud laughter, patting her on the shoulder as they did.

"Is that so? You're the real drunkard amongst us!"

"We drink to escape our problems, you drink because you can. Talk of a young and free soul who knows how to live life!"

"Talking about young and free, the alpha's residence is said to be recruiting more maids."

"Eh?"

"Remember they were using the labors of those filthy rogues before those two darn rogues decided to come for them."

"You're right. I remember."

"I hear they've been recruiting for over a week now."

"Those people in our alpha's residence, always so strict with their procedures. I'm sure they've turned away hundreds of thousands of young women in the past one week."

"Too bad I don't remember if I have a daughter. I'd have recommended that she tries it out. You never know who they decide to choose."

At this, one of the men suddenly turned to her.

"Kiddo, aren't you a female? Why don't you try out to be one of the maids? Since you drink because you can, surely you will be able to do the job?"

Another person nodded in agreement.

"Yes! Try hard to get the job so you can buy drinks for these old men of yours one of these days."

Aurelia picked up the gourd to fill their cups again, saying in a low voice, "I've never thought of that before. Since you say so, I'll certainly try it out."

They patted her on the shoulder again.

"You should be able to pass. You only have one parent. I hear they take pity on people like you and employ you the most."

"Luna Carmen is too kind. Because she grew up without a mother, she knows just how difficult it is to be raised by a single parent. So kiddo, try it out one of these… kiddo?"

"She was sitting here just now. Where did she go?"

Aurelia walked through the market square until she found a wall with a poster calling for people to work at the alpha's residence.

She tore it off the wall and took it with her.

For the next three weeks, no one saw her outside.

While Hera went around telling people her daughter decided to turn over a new leaf, she spent the time preparing for the possible questions she'd be asked during the interview.

Once the three weeks were over, she went to the hair salon for a haircut.

Half-way through her hair, a sudden noise arose outside and some of the salon girls went out to see what was going on.

The salon owner paused for a moment to ask them, "What is the ruckus about?"

"It's a senior maid from the alpha's residence. She's coming to have a haircut here."

"Oh, really! I've never had one of those in my salon. Hurry and clean up this mess. Do you know what she is called?"

"I heard the junior maid with her call her Lydia."