City of Desire: Chapter 263 Grand Ritual of Kama Rakalis I (Patreon)

“Let’s go,” I said to the driver as I took the last look at the ship sailing through the river toward the Owlspring.

I had booked the whole ship to take them; the cost is slightly expensive, seeing the ship, I had booked, but it will be a comfortable journey for them.

Carla will receive them, once they reach the city.

She had been there for three days and will come back a day after tomorrow. She had been regularly making the trips to the merchant state, overseeing the progress of three brothels, while the city’s business keeps me busy.

Soon, the carriage reached the establishment, where there were few carriages in front of it.

Loading and unloading stuff, mostly furniture.

Today is the day the girls will make a debut and we are making the changes in the establishment for it. The seatings aren’t enough to support the new girls. So, instead of adding more chairs and tables, I am changing the whole furniture.

It is expensive, but the establishment could afford it. Especially now, when more girls will bring more money.

“The girls aren’t happy with smaller shifts,” said Margaux as we entered inside.

Caena had already told me about it; many girls had pleaded with her, to have the establishment run at maximum capacity or increase the capacity enough so that their hours would remain the same.

Till yesterday, the girls used to work for nine to twelve hours, but now it would be six hours.

Which is less than half of a normal brothel. Even in the red fragrance next street, the girls work for twelve to sixteen hours, and their workday isn’t consistent.

Everything there is dependent on the demand.

If there is enough demand, they will wake up even a sleeping girl and make her serve patrons. Which is the case for almost all the brothels.

Norman tried to copy the velvet garden, but couldn’t copy them with its originality. If he had, along with the resources and connections he had, the Red Fragrance would have been the best brothel in Greltheaven.

“Six hours are good. It will stop the burnout while giving them ample time to rest and pursue their interests,” I replied, to which Margaux smiled mirthlessly.

Our hourly rate is high enough that fewer hours won’t affect their lifestyle. Not to mention, the gifts, which the establishment doesn’t touch.

“I had told those silly girls that, but the girls are thinking nothing other than money, they will be losing, by working short hours,” she said, with her smile turning mirthful.

Seeing that, I too smiled.

Both of us understood how great the opportunity this is for the girls. If they use their time wisely, in a few months, they will be able to earn more money in fewer hours.

“How are your studies going? I heard quite good things about you from Mage Aldridge,” I said, and her smile turned small, but more genuine.

“They are going well,” she replied, with joy lighting up in her eyes.

Aldridge rarely praises anyone, but he praised Margaux. She could become one of the first people to cast the spell and the time might come sooner than I had imagined.

There is barely any change on the first floor aside from a few art pieces. It is a restaurant; I do not need to make any changes here.

“You can take a leave, you know. Others will be able to handle the work, even if you went out and took a break of a week or two,” I said, and she nearly stopped.

I don’t usually interfere in the personal lives of the girls, but I decided to say the words. In case this is what is holding her back from meeting her daughter.

“I know and I will take it soon,” she replied softly.

The second floor has changed completely, from artwork to furniture, everything is different.

It looks good, but I am more impressed with how they have added 35% more sitting, but one could barely notice that. The tables seemed the same size and the space between them seemed the same, despite not being there.

“The designers have done a good job,” said Margaux, sounding as impressed as I am feeling.

We went to the third floor, where big changes happened, before going to the top floor.

There are no changes on the top floor aside from a single painting. I do not plan to change anything; I wouldn’t have even changed the painting, but it is one Margaux brought from Owlspring last week, and it is very good.

Hun!

I was talking with Margaux when I saw Caena coming with Barb. Like earlier, she was looking happy. So much so that it seemed like, she was having a hard time keeping her expressions straight.

I am also happy, seeing how everything is going. I hope the debut goes great as well.

…

Caena

I am happy, tremendously happy.

Last night, I was able to see the central charm of the grand ritual that I had been imprinting on the establishment for a year.

The resources I spent just to practice that single charm make my eyes water whenever I think about it and that would have been the tip of the iceberg if the miracle hadn’t happened last night.

The hardest part of the grand ritual I am trying to create is a central charm. It is level above the rest. I thought it might take me months or even years of constant practice before I gained the expertise to craft it.

It was supposed to be yet another practice session, but as I started, I got the feeling that today was different. I took the risk and used the real resources, and to my greatest shock, I had succeeded.

It was pure dumb luck.

The central charm is so difficult that I couldn’t craft it again. I do not have enough skills to do it.

The central piece is the last piece of grand ritual, that had remained. I finished with the rest three and a half weeks ago.

When I first started on grand ritual, I thought it would take years to achieve it, but with a constant supply of resources, practice, and finally permission to tap into the 1% of emotions absorbed by the establishment had changed everything.

My current average is eleven charms a day, and that is with the responsibilities I have, which gives me a limited time.

I am going to imprint this piece and complete the grand ritual.

I wish my mother had been here, she would have been proud of me.

Creating the charms had been the easiest part of the grand ritual; the hardest way to design it. Unlike the ritual that had been cast on Remus, the grand ritual I created didn’t have a concrete design.

It is more conceptual, and, through it, one needs to design it.

My mother had achieved it when she was twenty-nine years old. Youngest in our coven in thousands of years. I may not compare to her, but if not for her record, I would be the youngest to achieve that in two thousand years.

“It looks good, doesn’t it? It didn’t feel like we have placed more chairs and tables at all,” said Barb and I couldn’t help, but nod.

It had been a few minutes since they had finished, and it looked like, two floors had been transformed.

“Let’s look at preparations; it is only three hours before we open,” I said to Barb and both of us moved; there were a lot of things for me to do and I need everything to go perfect today.

I need patrons satisfied and feeling lust, and a plan to wear a dress that leans on the scandalous side.

Since I have become a madam, I have been choosing to wear clothes on the conservative side, but today is important and I will need to harness more emotions than I had needed to charge the central charm.

I feel like, I didn’t need to wear a scandalous dress and all. More than half of the patrons lust after me; I will get more than enough emotions from them to charge the central charm.

Still, I couldn’t take any risks, especially not today.

Soon, the three hours passed, and there were only ten minutes before the gates opened.

“Are your floors ready?” I asked four people in front of me. There is Stavad, Barb, Danielle, and Cath. Ashton is responsible for the restaurant, Barb for the top floor, Danielle for the third, and Cath for the second.

“Yes,” they all answered in unison.

“Take charge of your floor,” I ordered, and they all walked toward their floor, aside from Stavad, who was on his floor.

I looked around and saw the tables were perfectly set and servers were waiting for guests to arrive.

I looked at the clock, before turning to the mirror surface by the door, and saw myself. Eudo had really done a wonderful job and also Elese; the dress I am wearing had been personally made by her.

The gown is shimmering black with a deep v-neckline. The same v form on the back, exposing nearly all my backside.

It is not as scandalous as I used to wear, but pretty close.

My make-up is seductive as well; I had asked Eudo to make it more inviting, and he had done a wonderful job.

Soon, the ten minutes passed, and it was time to open the gates.