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Eileen wondered why that song was being sung while staring directly at her.
Blinking in confusion, she turned to Cesare.
He was smiling as if he found it amusing.
He put an arm around her waist.
"Come here.
Or we'll collide."
He pulled Eileen close to him and led her inside, passing through the crowd.
As they headed into a corridor behind thick curtains, Malena's voice became barely audible.
The corridor was narrow, and they had to walk pressed close to each other.
Leading her along, Cesare asked unhurriedly:
"An acquaintance?"
Eileen made an effort not to close her eyes and replied, "Oh, no."
Malena performed under a pseudonym and never spoke of her work; obviously, she had reasons to hide it.
Eileen tried to lie to protect Malena's secret, but she didn't know if she succeeded.
Cesare glanced at her and smirked.
Without asking anything further, he continued on his way.
On either side of the corridor were doors.
Occasionally, strange groans drifted from behind them.
Eileen was curious about what was happening there, but she didn't dare ask.
How long did they walk through the increasingly labyrinthine corridors, following Cesare?
Suddenly he stopped and, turning around, gave her one last chance.
"Are you sure you want to see him?"
If she had asked to send her father home, he would have done so.
But Eileen wanted to see everything with her own eyes.
She knew her father was involved in something unseemly, but she had never seen it up close.
However, this time, Eileen could no longer endure it.
Hadn't he nearly sold her abroad?
She was determined to see for herself what he was doing and finally put an end to it.
"Yes."
After her firm answer, Cesare led her further.
The corridors became even more convoluted.
Just as Eileen thought she would surely have gotten lost alone, Cesare stopped.
Without giving her time to prepare, he abruptly threw open a door.
Eileen flinched and froze.
The room was decorated with semi-transparent red curtains hanging from ceiling to floor.
Several comfortable sofas stood there, each already occupied.
Naked men and women were caressing each other.
Eileen stared numbly at the intertwined bodies, covering her mouth and nose with her hand.
"Ugh..."
A stifling aroma hung in the air, like a burnt herb mixture.
It seemed as if even the air had become murky.
A single breath made her head spin.
Trembling, she looked at Cesare, and he silently nodded toward the back of the room.
Eileen took a step forward.
She tried not to look around, looking only ahead.
Sounds drifted from behind the red curtains.
Between heavy breaths and the sound of sliding skin, coarse profanities slipped through.
Eileen reached out and grabbed a curtain.
After a brief hesitation, she pulled it back anyway.
Her father was there.
Atop a woman.
"Ha-ah, I'm coming soon...
Huff...
You didn't slip something into my drink, did you?"
Her father, his face flushed, was giggling while moving his hips.
Eileen stood like a statue, but he didn't even seem to notice her gaze and continued breathing heavily.
Physical revulsion rose to her throat.
But not a sound escaped her half-open mouth.
Her mother's scream rang in her ears.
She had screamed that her father smelled of women's perfume, that he hadn't shared her bed, not knowing where he was leaving his seed.
Her mother's rage left Eileen deaf.
Then a hand reached from behind.
Fingers in a leather glove slowly pried her hand from the curtain she was clutching tightly.
The red fabric fell smoothly, concealing her father.
"Eileen."
"..."
She didn't answer, only breathing spasmodically.
Cesare turned her around and lifted her into his arms.
Eileen pressed herself against him, curling into a ball.
With trembling fingers, she clutched his clothes.
Cesare, adjusting her in his arms, let out a short sigh, grabbed the red curtain, and yanked it.
Throwing the roughly torn fabric to the floor, he stepped inside, took a water carafe from a table, and poured it over her father's head.
"Ugh!"
Her father jerked like a fish suddenly doused with water.
The woman beneath him screamed and hurried to get away.
Other couples busy with love sensed something was wrong and began to leave quietly.
"What the—huff!" her father began to curse, but seeing Cesare, he froze like stone.
"I didn't know that after selling your daughter, you were amusing yourself with your own business here, Baron."
In his aristocratic speech, refined words were interspersed with coarse ones.
Both the father and Eileen only realized a moment later that Cesare had cursed.
Her father immediately fell to his knees.
Cesare looked down at the trembling, naked middle-aged man who had bowed his head.
When his eyes narrowed, Eileen hastily grabbed his arm.
Cesare raised an eyebrow and tapped the tip of his boot against her father's head.
*Tap, tap.* Like a child playing with an insect, he said quietly:
"Behave yourself, all right?
I've been quite impulsive lately.
I might accidentally cut off your head."
A suppressed sob broke from her father.
He seemed afraid that Cesare truly would behead him, and only sniveled.
"This is your last chance, Baron Elodd."
Cesare turned away without waiting for an answer.
There was no need.
In any case, her father would obey without question.
Eileen left her father's sobbing behind, her eyes squeezed tightly shut.
Burying her face in Cesare's broad chest, she just breathed, over and over again.
While he walked, opened the door, and walked again, she kept her eyes closed.
Her mother's voice in her head rang so loudly it was unbearable.
*Click*—the door closed.
Cesare wanted to seat her on a soft sofa, but Eileen wouldn't let go.
Or rather, she couldn't let go.
She was still clutching him convulsively.
Cesare sat down, holding her in his arms.
Eileen moved her parched lips.
"I’m sorry."
The words, full of belated regret, escaped in a weak whisper.
"I should have... listened to your words..."
She had thought she could boldly be angry at her father.
But the worst she had imagined was catching him playing cards.
She knew her father liked women, but seeing it for herself, her head went empty.
In the end, she couldn't even get properly angry; she had frozen and needed Cesare's help.
Eileen pressed closer to him and whispered:
"I am truly sorry."
Cesare didn't answer.
He only hugged her silently.
Thanks to this, Eileen could hide in his embrace and calm down.
Until her mother's voice in her ears went completely silent.