Chapter 137: Misunderstanding III
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Mira stood slightly to one side, shoulders straight, hands clasped calmly, eyes clear. She did not look frightened, but she looked ready, the way a person looked when they had chosen a road and had accepted that it would not be gentle.
The twins stood together.
Vera and Vela.
They moved like a paired rhythm. Same posture, different expression.
One watched the gate like it was an enemy. The other watched Sekhmet like he was a storm she had decided to stand inside.
Their clothes were simple for now, but they wore them like people who had once been noble and were refusing to forget it.
The gate had not opened yet.
The guards had not fully recognized the situation.
It was still that brief moment before a house decided whether to welcome you or question you.
Then the gate cracked open.
A servant stepped out.
His eyes widened when he saw the number of women behind Sekhmet.
His brain visibly struggled to count.
Then his gaze slid toward Auri, the too-calm assistant who looked like she could kill a man with a polite bow.
The servant swallowed and hurried back inside, because he was not paid enough for this kind of emotional math.
A moment later, the main doors opened.
Lily stepped out first.
She had clearly been waiting, and now she was pretending she was not.
Elena followed behind her, composed, hands folded, eyes reading everything in one glance.
Bat Bat tried to push past Elena, but Elena held her gently by the shoulder like a prison guard restraining a small criminal.
Bat Bat’s eyes locked onto Sekhmet instantly.
Her face lit up.
She sprinted.
"Master," Bat Bat shouted, voice echoing in the courtyard.
Sekhmet caught her smoothly, because he had learned that Bat Bat was essentially a projectile with feelings.
Bat Bat hugged his thumb like it was her favorite possession.
"You back," she announced. Then she sniffed the air and narrowed her eyes. "Master smell like paper."
Sekhmet did not respond to that.
Because Bat Bat was not wrong.
Lily’s gaze moved past Bat Bat.
It landed on Mira.
Then the twins.
Then back to Mira.
Then back to the twins.
Lily’s expression froze in the kind of stillness that meant a storm was forming behind her eyes.
Elena’s eyes narrowed slightly, but she did not react emotionally. Elena was too old and too tired for dramatic jealousy. She simply analyzed.
Who are they. Why are they here. Are they dangerous. Are they disrespectful. Are they going to make extra work for the servants.
Bat Bat, however, reacted instantly.
She pointed at the twins.
"Two," Bat Bat declared.
Then she pointed at Mira.
"Three."
Then she pointed at Lily.
"Four."
Then she pointed at Auri.
"Five."
Then she pointed at the maids behind the doorway, because Bat Bat believed counting was now a weapon.
"Six. Seven. Eight."
Bat Bat turned to Sekhmet and nodded seriously.
"Master," Bat Bat said, "master collect girls like food."
Lily choked.
One of the maids made a sound like she was trying to swallow a laugh and her own tongue at the same time.
Elena’s lips twitched faintly.
Sekhmet stared at Bat Bat with quiet disbelief.
"Bat Bat," he said, voice flat, "stop counting."
Bat Bat blinked.
"No," Bat Bat replied confidently. "Counting is education. Lily teach."
Lily’s face turned slightly pink.
Elena’s eyes slid toward Lily.
Lily lifted her chin like she was not embarrassed.
Then Lily stepped forward, gaze sharp, voice controlled but trembling at the edges.
"Sekhmet," Lily said. "Explain."
Sekhmet’s mind moved quickly.
He could not tell her the truth.
He could not tell her about vampire conversion.
He could not tell her about the system note.
He could not tell her that these girls were not just staff, but potential kin, potential blood-bound loyalty that could shake the city if revealed.
So he chose the clean lie. The believable lie.
"I went to the Contract Market for business," Sekhmet said. "I needed help."
Lily’s eyes flicked to Mira.
Mira bowed slightly, polite and steady.
"My name is Mira," she said. "I am an administrative candidate. I signed a bonded retainer contract."
Lily’s gaze shifted to the twins.
Vera and Vela stepped forward together.
Their eyes met Lily’s.
Vera spoke first.
"I am Vera," she said.
Vela followed immediately.
"I am Vela," she said.
Then, in a voice too calm for the words she was saying, Vera added.
"We are his concubines."
Silence fell like a dropped blade.
Lily froze so hard it looked like her soul had stepped out of her body for a moment to process what it had just heard.
One of the maids inhaled sharply like she had been slapped.
Bat Bat’s eyes widened in delight, because Bat Bat loved drama the way other creatures loved food.
"Elena," Bat Bat whispered loudly, "what is concubines."
Elena’s eyes snapped to Bat Bat.
Bat Bat instantly pretended she was invisible.
Sekhmet’s head turned slowly toward the twins.
His expression stayed controlled, but his eyes narrowed slightly, because the twins had just said the exact thing Lily did not want to hear, with perfect timing and no mercy.
Vela’s gaze remained steady, almost stubborn.
Vera’s mouth was set in a hard line, as if she dared anyone to mock them for clinging to the last demand they thought would protect them.
Lily’s face finally moved.
It did not soften.
It did not calm.
It cracked.
"What," Lily said, voice tight. "What did she say."
Sekhmet exhaled slowly.
He kept his voice calm, because if he matched Lily’s storm, the house would become a battlefield.
"It was contract structure," Sekhmet said. "The only way to secure them under the market’s terms. I did not come home to show off women. I came home to stabilize the business and protect the house."
Lily’s eyes glistened.
Not with weakness.
With anger and pain mixed together so tightly they became sharp.
"You went to the Contract Market," Lily said, "and returned with three women. And you tell me it is business."