The Mask Of The Monster - Chapter 108

(From Ella’s Perspective)

“What are you doing here, Alessandro’s daughter?” the red-haired guy asked.

“Jasper,” I muttered. “So, you come here too.”

‘Yeah, right now, I just had to meet him, dammit!’

I just came here today for the first time and I had to meet him? If there was some kind of god, then were they playing a joke on me? Even the devil must be sighing seeing my bad luck.

“At a place like this…,” he grumbled and grabbed my hand, pulling me with him.

“Hey, why are you touching my hand without my permission? It’s sexual harassment in a way, you know?” I muttered, slapping at his hand continuously. It did not matter if he worked with my father or not. If someone messed with me, even if it was god, they would be my enemy.

He was much stronger than I was. Even if I tried, I could not get away from him. “Let me go,” I said. In a brothel, a single girl and a slightly dangerous-looking man pulling her- it could mean only one thing normally.

As a girl, formerly watching crime videos on YouTube, I could not just go with him. Since he was not letting me go, there was only one option left- ‘Force him to let me go’.

I kicked him on his knee and the moment he lost his posture slightly, I punched him on the chest with as much strength I could muster. And I kept hitting him wherever and as much as I could.

“Really? Stop it,” he said, groaning in pain. The look he gave me- I almost felt bad for him. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Saving myself from a potential criminal,” I said.

“A potential criminal? Me?”

“Yes?”

“I was saving you, for fuck’s sake!”

“That way? It looked like you were forcing me. That mouth of yours- is that for decoration only? And that throat of yours- are you able to talk because you can utter nonsense only? Use your voice first. How the hell was I supposed to know that you were trying to save me? You were a stranger.”

“I even went to your house.”

“That makes you even more suspicious since it looked like you were trying to provoke me with the sense- ‘You know me, so you can come anywhere with me’.”

“Do I look that type of person to you?”

‘No, you don’t. That’s even more suspicious.’

“You see, I am gonna leave now,” I said, started walking the other way, but he grabbed my hand again.

“For real? Seriously, just quit it…”

“Stop talking for a moment,” he said. He managed to stand up somehow, but it looked like he was still in pain a bit. “I am telling you. This place is dangerous. Don’t wander around on your own. Trust me, just for a moment.”

“I won’t!”

“Lord Valentino!” I jerked up and looked behind, hearing a girly sharp voice. Judging by her attire, it seemed she was a prostitute.

“Valentino?” I repeated. “Valentino Trenton?”

“I am sorry, darling. But I will stay with this girl tonight,” he said, pointing at me with his eyes.

“That’s too bad. I was going to try out a new position. Anyway, come to me tomorrow night, then,” she said.

“Of course. You’re the one who can satisfy me after all,” he said with a smile.

“Seriously?” I grumbled. “But that aside, you’re Valentino? Room number fifteen?”

“You even know the name I use here, though we met only one time and that’s also this morning. And now you even know my room number here? Now it’s more reason for us to have a little chat,” he said.

“Yes, yes, now you can take me to room number fifteen? I got something you might want to know,” I said. “Wait, let me get my friend…”

“What friend? It’s a secret…”

“I am sorry, but you don’t actually think that I will go to a private room with you alone, do you?” I grumbled. I waited there with him, though I heard him hiss under his breath a few times. Perhaps he was even cursing me in his head.

“Ella! Gosh, I was looking for you,” Jed exclaimed. “Are you alright? I thought you would go meet me in the middle, but… What the… Isn’t he that silver-eyed guy from the morning? What’s he doing here?”

“He is the one I was looking for coincidentally,” I said. “So, I am gonna talk to him. Come with me.”

Jed nodded and followed us, but Jasper did not look so good about it. It did not matter as long as I got what I wanted. Jasper took us to room number fifteen. It was just like the other rooms from the outside. There was nothing special. But as I looked inside, I could not believe what I was seeing.

“… Do you use all of them?” I asked, almost silently.

“Yes,” Jasper nodded. “Interested?”

“Not really,” I said, glancing at the BDSM toys. I had no idea that these kinds of things were in this world. I had never seen them before right in front of me. They were kinda scary. Perhaps I felt like that because I was not into this kind of thing.

“It’s not for kids anyway,” he grumbled. I wanted to yell right into his ear that I was not a kid. I was an adult, at least, in my world. Besides, how could he call an eighteen-year-old girl kid when his world looked at girls as women the moment they started having menstruation? “Anyway, now tell me why you are here. And how do you know the name that I use outside? It’s not like your father mentioned it or something.”

“Well, do you know Rosaire?”

“Rosaire?” his pupil dilated in surprise as he muttered the name. “How do you know her? Ah, I know now. You worked in the palace and saw her there. Right?”

“Yes, that’s right,” I gave a nod. “Where is she?”

“Why?”

“Answer me quickly if you want to find out about something more.”

“She is missing. No one knows what happened to her,” he said.

“Remember, more than a month ago, you guys planned to attack the king?” I asked.

“How do you know about that?”

“That time, the king’s exclusive shifters were planning to attack L… the beast. You were going to take the opportunity to try to defeat the king. But you failed. Because the king already knew about your plan.”

“The king failed to kill the beast as well.”

‘Of course. I warned Leandro beforehand after all.’

“Why don’t you just say you failed?” I grumbled. “Anyway, so, you don’t know where Rosaire is?”

“No,” he replied.

“Well, she is dead.”

“… She is dead?”

“Yes. She was killed, perhaps by the king,” I said. “I was there that night. I heard crying coming from the dungeon, so I went there and that’s when I saw her.”

“Why didn’t you help her then?”

“I tried… But I could not move her. And she was stabbed,” I said. “She died before I could do anything.”

“Well, that’s sad.”

“Sad, my ass! You don’t sound sad at all!”

It did not look like he had lost someone working for him. He was kind of chill about it as if he had lost a screw that he could replace with another one.

“Rosaire wanted me to come and find Valentino Trenton in room number fifteen of Aurora. But I didn’t know it was you. You’re Jasper only, I thought.”

“Jasper is what I am known as outside this place, you see,” he chuckled. “I am the owner of Aurora.”

‘I guessed so judging by the way people look at you.’

“Your father doesn’t want to get involved from the front now and it’s because of you. He thinks that if our enemies find out that you are his daughter, they will want to harm you to get to him. In his absence, I work as the head. My real name is Jasper and Valentino Trenton is just a mask to go by.”

“I see…”

“Is that why you came here?”

“Yes,” I nodded.

He laughed suddenly. “You’re really something… You know why Rosaire wanted you to meet me?”

“Why?”

“Because she saw potential in you,” he said. “The people here work with death in mind. They don’t mind dying as long as in the long run, we win. She wanted you to meet me so I take you so you can work with us.”

[Well, I wonder if any of you guessed that she saw Jasper. Anyway, perhaps he is shady or not, who knows? Let’s see what happens next then.. So, keep on reading and supporting little Ella, too handsome Leandro. Also, don’t forget about our always cautious Jed, Dad Alessandro, sus or not red haired Jasper aka Valentino Trenton, sus or not King and Leandro’s brother Nicklaus, definitely sus the king’s father]