144: Chapter 144: Girls' Caravans from Various Regions Enter the City! On the Eve of Entering the Fortress!

Two days passed in a blur of noise and restlessness for the people of Gino City.

On every major road leading to Gino City, carriages flowed in an endless stream.

Caravans from the five northern provinces and even more distant regions poured into the city day and night.

The carriages were not carrying cargo, but young maidens, each harboring their own hidden thoughts.

Some came from higher academies, some were from fallen scholar families, some had been the apple of their parents' eyes in commoner families, and others were from small towns or the countryside...

The City Guard had received strict orders to let these caravans pass without exception, even dispatching extra personnel to major intersections to direct traffic and prevent congestion.

The gates of Gino City had never been opened so frequently for carriages filled with maidens.

The soldiers guarding the city widened their eyes as they watched the carriages drive in.

Through the occasionally lifted curtains, one could catch fleeting glimpses of the maidens' faces.

Some were delicate, some bright and beautiful, others cold and aloof...

The most prestigious hotels in the city had been fully booked by City Hall under the guise of official business a week ago, suspending service to the public.

At this moment, carriages and horses gathered in front of these hotels, and servants bustled about.

Managers and employees of various merchant guilds were rushing about, shouting to arrange check-ins, verify lists, and distribute room numbers.

...

Golden Oak Hotel.

Inside a private suite.

Helena sat alone at the desk by the window.

Before her lay open the book she had brought from the academy, "Commentary on the Imperial Commercial Code."

But her mind was not on the text.

The window was cracked open, letting in fresh air, which helped clear her head, slightly dazed from the long journey and the unfamiliar environment.

From Frostwind City to Gino City, she had spent most of the days of travel in silence.

The other women in the carriage had initially tried to strike up a conversation, but after her polite yet distant responses, they had gradually fallen quiet.

They looked at her with complex expressions.

There was curiosity, barely perceptible comparison, and a subtle pressure in the face of an S-rank.

Helena could feel those gazes lingering on her face and body, assessing her competitiveness.

This made her very uncomfortable, as if she had become a commodity waiting to be sold.

Even though this was exactly the purpose of her trip...

After checking into the Golden Oak, her treatment was significantly better than others.

A private suite, daily hot water, exquisite meals, and even a taciturn middle-aged maid specifically at her beck and call.

These were things she had never experienced before.

The merchant guild staff were becoming increasingly polite to her, the eagerness in their eyes almost overflowing.

All of this reminded her of her value, and the intangible expectations and pressure that came with it.

In the courtyard below, the chirping laughter of maidens could be heard, mixed with comments about the rooms, the food, and even each other's clothing.

Helena frowned slightly and closed the window crack, shutting out the noise.

She did not need, nor was she good at, this kind of social interaction.

Her goal was very clear.

Get the prize money and heal her brother.

Of course, she had signed the contract and knew the price of being chosen by The Count.

Equivalent exchange; for a top student from a higher academy like her, it was not hard to understand.

So, what she needed to do was to achieve a higher ranking and sell herself for a better price.

She lowered her head and gently stroked the edge of the page.

She had once firmly believed—

Knowledge could change destiny.

But now, it seemed to have become an additional skill that could be priced in this transaction.

This realization brought a trace of bitterness to her heart.

But thinking of her brother Aidan lying on the bed, that bitterness was suppressed by an even firmer determination.

"No matter what, I will make it to the end," she whispered to herself.

She opened her book box, took out the notes on etiquette, and began to memorize them again.

Even if the road ahead was unknown, even if the means were not what she wished for, she would face the upcoming, destiny-defining scrutiny with the fullest preparation.

...

Silver Moon Hotel,

In a standard guest room.

The four-person room was slightly crowded, and the air was mixed with the scents of different women's perfumes.

Four maidens were chatting excitedly in low voices.

They compared the clothes and jewelry they had brought, guessed at The Count's appearance and preferences, and their words were full of longing and anxiety about the future.

Next door to the maidens was the private room belonging to the S-rank, Cecilia.

Cecilia sat on the edge of the bed, quietly listening to the discussions of the maidens next door, quickly gathering information.

She understood the general situation of other participants from the maidens' conversations and judged the threat they posed to her mission.

She also used their naive and romantic fantasies about The Count to outline a certain public image that the target she was about to approach might possess.

Her extraordinary intuition was quietly at work at this moment.

She could feel the various complex emotions permeating this hotel.

For example, the merchant guild personnel moving back and forth were superficially enthusiastic, but their eyes carried assessment and evaluation.

Around the outskirts of the hotel, there seemed to be eyes from more than one party lingering.

"Intelligence gathering... approaching Count Golden Flame... suspected Perfect-grade Breathing Method..."

Cecilia silently recited the mission objectives in her heart.

Her brother Calvin's and the client's instructions echoed in her ears.

She knew she had to be careful, even more careful.

That Count Golden Flame, who could rise directly from a country baron, was by no means an easy person to deal with.

Her advantage lay in her disguised identity, which was still clean, and even more in her innate, keen intuition.

"I must first figure out the rules here and observe the movements of other strong competitors..."

Cecilia quickly formulated a preliminary plan.

She stood up, pushed the door open, and walked out, her figure blending into the slightly dim light of the hotel corridor as she began to execute the mission codenamed Gray Falcon's Eye.

...

Besides Helena and Cecilia, the other four S-rank women were also in different corners of Gino City.

One S-rank woman from a fallen northern bureaucratic family, Isabel Godfrey, was settled in the quietest suite of the Still Lake Residence.

She was about eighteen, blonde and blue-eyed, with an elegant temperament tinged with an lingering melancholy.

She was fluent in the languages of the three northern countries and well-versed in aristocratic etiquette and diplomatic rhetoric; at that moment, she was facing a full-length mirror, repeatedly practicing the most appropriate smile and demeanor.

Her goal was to become the lady official by The Count's side in charge of documents and external relations, thereby reviving her family's reputation and escaping a life of living under others' roofs.

Her eyes were calm and her goals clear.

Another S-rank, Sophia.

She came from a mixed-race settlement on the border between the Kalunda Tribal Alliance and the Empire, possessing rare purple hair and violet eyes.

Her home tribe regarded her as an anomaly and sold her to a border merchant guild for fifty gold.

The border merchant guild, which was searching for beauties of all kinds, considered her a treasure and brought her directly to Gino City to trade for money.

She seemed somewhat unaccustomed to the hustle and bustle of the city, spending more time alone in her room, gazing at the sky through the window, and humming ancient tribal ballads.

There were two more S-ranks.

One was Melissa, a genius commoner girl from an eastern imperial commercial port, proficient in mathematics and financial management.

The other was Catherine, the illegitimate daughter of a dispossessed Viscount in the north, who was skilled in music and painting, and had received a good education in literature and history.

They were all properly settled.

These six S-ranks had not yet formally appeared.

But in some small circles, they had already stirred up countless speculations and comparisons.

As for the large number of other ranked maidens, they formed the base of this beauty pageant.

They lived in various hotels, feeling excitement, anxiety, curiosity, unease, inferiority, ambition...

Some seized the last moments to practice in small mirrors how to smile more sweetly.

Some exchanged inside information heard from unknown sources or speculated about The Count's preferences.

Others huddled alone in corners, weeping silently, feeling fear for an unknown fate, or missing their families far away.

In the hotel corridors and corners of the restaurants, groups of two or three maidens could be seen everywhere.

They sized each other up, with exchanges of goodwill in their eyes, as well as calm comparison and assessment.

Low-voiced discussions rose and fell like the tide:

"I heard the first batch is going to the castle tomorrow? I'm so nervous..."

"Did you see the Golden Oak? I heard several S-ranks are staying there. I'm so curious what they look like..."

"Hey, is this dress of mine too plain? Will it not catch The Count's eye?"

"Don't think about it. I heard The Count values talent very much, and those S-ranks are all very capable."

"Talent? Then what if I can only cook?"

"Who knows... take it one step at a time. Anyway, travel and board are all covered, so even if we aren't chosen, we've at least seen the world."

"That's true, but since we're here, who doesn't want to stay?"

"That's The Count's manor... plenty of food and drink, and a generous reward to leave for the family, much better than the stingy baron in my hometown."

"That's true too."