Fair Trade

It was a masterpiece that was several times better than the Egg Benedict Chloe made.

Sei’s eyes lit up as she licked her lips.  But the problem was that her mouth couldn’t open wide. While she was nibbling on her food like an ant, Guilio kept staring at her and snapped his fingers. Then she heard a familiar voice from the kitchen, followed by a fragrant smell.

Then Lorenzo, wearing an apron, put down a bowl of stew in front of Sei with a smile on his face.

“Mr. Lorenzo… did you really make this?”

“I told the guy I brought as a chef to make food, but he was high on drugs.  So, I showed off some of my skills.  Come on, eat quickly and tell me how it is.”

Drugs? Then now that chef…

She looked at Giulio in disbelief. Raising his shoulder lightly, he placed a chunk of meat into his mouth and confirmed it wasn’t poisonous.

There’s nothing I can do about it.

“Tha-thank you for the meal.”

Under Lorenzo’s burdensome gaze, Sei took a bite of the savory cream stew.

‘Oh My God…’

She made the decision to elevate her opinion of Lorenzo even higher. As soon as she put a spoonful of stew in her mouth, the flavour and creamy taste spread throughout her mouth. The beef, which had been sliced into little pieces, was also dripping with exquisite juices. Still, she didn’t want to admit the taste to him.

‘With this much skill, you could earn a lot of money without having to get your hands dirtied with blood….’

At the sight of Sei, who devoured the stew without saying anything, Lorenzo smiled brilliantly to the point where the corner of his lips almost tore apart.

“Heh, you still have your little pride. Anyway, is it delicious?”

After gathering all the leftovers and putting them in her mouth, she chewed the food well and raised her thumbs up.  There was a completely different atmosphere from yesterday. The gaze on her own neck stinged the entire time she ate, but Sei wore a deep-necked gown as if to show off her neck.

Before the surprise from Lorenzo’s other talents, a former mixed martial arts fighter, could fade, Giulio brought a small envelope.

In front of the moderately shaded outdoor pergola, wild grass-like flowers were in full bloom under the wheat-like golden sunshine, which was unique to southern France. Sei looked at Giulio who was sitting face to face with an expressionless face. He then held out an envelope to her and then lit a cigarette.

“Get ready. You have to go somewhere and get back. There will be a substitute for Valentin. You just have to deliver this to him. Of course, under the radar.”

Rubbing her cheek with the back of her hand, she shook the pale yellow envelope.

There was a card inside. However, there was no seal on the envelope.

“Can I see what it is?”

“There is a card. It is a hotel room key. If you deliver this as it is, he will hand it over to the real dealer. Since my account has been hacked once, I can’t trust anyone.”

Having said that, he handed out another note. It was his newly opened account.  After memorizing the number by saying it out loud a few times, she brought the paper near the cigarette Guilio had lit.

The paper quickly turned into ashes in the raging fire.

After brushing off the ashes from her body, Sei pulled down the sunglasses she had worn over her head and got up.

“Okay, I’ll take a look at it while I’m out. I don’t think it’s going to be that dangerous.”

Guilio grabbed Sei’s wrist as she passed by. He tilted his head and inhaled his cigarette deeply. Pointing to the anklet hanging on her ankle, he asked, “Do you know what that means?”

“Seeing that it was put with lots of love, it must be a couple bracelet, right?”

“It signifies confinement, bondage, and eternal love. Also obsession. Are you dating someone?”

Wow, he doesn’t seem like the type to be interested in this at all…. How does he know so much about this?

Sei couldn’t say that she was just wearing it on her ankle because she knew it was a bracelet that couldn’t be loosened without a specific screwdriver.

“Well, yesterday was my birthday. Can’t I get some nice meaningful gifts?”

“Your birthday?”

His eyes narrowed. Of course it was a fake birthday, but Sei decided to respond carefully.

“Can’t I have a birthday even though I am an orphan? I celebrate the day I was abandoned as my birthday.”

It didn’t really matter to her how much Guilio knew about her. To him, she had always remained as a shrewd orphan who was hungry for affection. Because that was the condition which connected her with Guilio.