[Edited]

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Catherine then let her crystal blue orbs travel to Doni who tried so hard not to be spoken to by her, nor to look at her. His efforts were for nothing though: "Doni, how come you're all the way down there? Aren't we best buddies?" Even though the female sounded genuine, something seemed off. And you soon found out what exactly seemed off. "How have you been? What about your love life?"

"Still pretending to be straight even though you're actually gay? How pitiful and gross." The red haired girl snickered, still grinning so maliciously. Alright. So what on earth was that comment for? Doni had told you that he was bisexual, so what Catherine said wasn't true. That wasn't even the point! She was starting to cross the line and you would have salis something if it weren't for Camilla speaking up faster. "The hell's your problem?!"

"My problem? Nothing, I just find gays disgusting, that's all." Catherine retorted innocently, pushing your buttons. There was a glass of water next to your still empty plate, so you took it and tried to calm down by drinking a bit of it.

"Well, I don't recall anyone asking for your opinion." Fotula was the one who talked now. Her eyes were just as cold as the tone she spoke in. Not everyone was aware of it, but almost half of the people sitting at this table were homosexuals. Catherine rolled her eyes at the ravenette's comment before looking around, in search for her next prey.

Her eyes landed on the brunet next to you. That's the moment her lips curled into a smirk. "You... I think I've seen you somewhere before. That dark skin of yours is oddly familiar." Catherine said, using her index finger in order to play with her red curls. Her crystal blue orbs then locked with Kai's golden ones. "Now I remember.~ The trafficking incident eight years ago, you're the manwhore from back then!~"

That was it. There was a limit to your patience and you completely lost control over your actions for the following few moments. The next thing you knew was that you were standing, holding your now empty glass of which water you had spilled over Catherine. The red haired female looked at you disgustedly while everyone else was shook by your actions. "That's enough."

"I didn't say anything when you made fun of Doni because I know there's homophobic people like you in this world, but you really crossed the line with Kai." You said, glaring at the red-head who touched her wet clothes with her fingers, pretending to be bothered by the huge stain the water had left on her dress. You placed the glass you held down on the table, and you couldn't believe what Aaron said next: "Y/N, was there really a need to spill that over her? I mean no harm, but that was a little rude-..."

"That was rude?! This bit- woman insults your best friend and calls your comrade a manwhore and you tell me I'm being rude?!" You raised your tone when you attacked the knight next to you verbally. You tried holding back and not calling Catherine all sorts of names in front of everyone. The situation was starting to get really out of hand. "She meant no harm-..."

"Now my clothes are all wet.~" Catherine whined, causing you to laugh at how pathetic she was behaving and how desperately Aaron was trying to defend her. You snapped the moment the dark haired male took her side. "You know what? You're right, I was in the wrong. So why don't you go help your beloved childhood friend out of her wet clothes? Why not sleep with her too while you're at it." After having said that whilst wearing a pained expression on your face, you stomped away from that table and out of the dining hall. You were angry at yourself for having vented out your frustrations like that, especially leaving like this. What a predictable and cliché thing to do.

"Y/N, wait!" Aaron called out, getting up in order to follow you, but he was stopped by none other than Kai who didn't look too pleased. He clearly told him to stay where he was: "I doubt the newbie wants to see you right now." The dark skinned male stood up and left instead, leaving everyone dumbfounded and Catherine with a feeling of satisfaction. Camilla was worried about you of course, but seeing how Kai went after you made her feel like you were in good hands.

You were rushing out of this wretched building you were unfamiliar with, passing by some confused guards. Looking for any kind of exit, you finally found your way out of this castle and ended up in what you assumed was the palace's garden. You headed straight for the nearest tree, cloaking your fist with aura just like Rouen had taught you today. Letting out your anger by punching this poor tree wasn't the smartest thing to do since it belonged to the castle, but you were too upset to even care.

"Newbie..." Kai had finally caught up with you outside and couldn't oversee how gravely you damaged that innocent tree: At one point it was just lying on the ground in the grass. Your hands were a bit bruised due to all the hits you landed on the wood and you stopped in order to pant and catch some air. The dark skinned man made his way over to you in the meantime. "Why are you so mad..?"

"Why? Why aren't you mad?! That hag called you a manwhore!" You exclaimed, turning towards the older in order to face him and not purposely yelling at him. The brunet rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Well, she wasn't exactly wrong."

"Excuse me?! How can you say that?!" You couldn't believe even Kai who had been insulted so harshly was saying that Catherine was right. "Calm down, alright? Let's talk." The golden eyed male suggested and gestured you to sit down in the grass. Once you saw him do the same thing, you imitated him and in-and exhaled deeply, trying to clear your head.

"Now don't get me wrong, I'm not telling you this so that you can pity me, but because I think it's only fair you know just for what kind of person you stood up for." Kai made himself pretty clear before starting any conversations. You nodded and couldn't help but wonder what made him say that.

No one had ever sticked up for Kai. Rouen had always been the only one to support him that way, so when you told that woman off for his sake, it made him a little happy. He felt all warm and fuzzy inside. "That woman was right. It all pretty much started eight years ago and even earlier."

"You've probably noticed by now that I'm not originally from Rota. I actually don't know if I'm even from the Kanto region or not. I barely remember anything from my childhood to begin with." The brunet started, avoiding your gaze as he stared off into the distance. "The human trafficking incident Catherine mentioned happened about ten years ago or so. I was also involved."

"I was an orphan and sold off in the black market in Puleuna kingdom at first. I wasn't the only one; there were a lot of children my age as well. We all got shipped to Grona. They handed us over to multiple facilities in the red light district here." Kai continued, and you were already feeling bad for the man. You had no idea that behind a person with a bit of an attitude was such a tragic past. And it didn't end there. "I was sold to a brothel in which I needed to work. I was thirteen back then, so the employer didn't see why he had to pay me. I became a prostitute without even getting any money out of it and without having a place to go or return to."

"I had no choice but to sleep with all sorts of people. At first it was older women, disgusting ones who felt pleased by having intercourse with a thirteen year old kid. At some point it was too much for me and I eventually became impotent." The dark skinned man told shamelessly. He wasn't ashamed because he had put all that in the past and thought that nothing of it mattered anymore. He was only telling you this because he felt indebted to you. "I was useless with women because I couldn't get erect, so they made me sleep with men instead. I stopped resisting after a year or so and just went with it. I started getting payed around that time as well."

"As for my skin... people have always belittled me because I have darker skin. 'Normal' society thinks of it as horrendous and disgusting. A woman that I met at the brothel who also worked there told me otherwise though: She said I was pretty regardless. She was like a mother to me despite our little gap in age. It was thanks to her that I was able to keep going with all the stress." For a moment you saw Kai smiling at the mention of that certain woman. "But then, Rouen came and saved me. I was fifteen at that time and he was a nineteen year old knight who came to Grona because of a simple mission."

"He offered me to join him and go to Rota with him. I accepted and became a knight and his loyal partner." The golden eyed male seemed to have concluded his story with a sigh. "That's it. Now you know just what kind of filthy person you defended." Your chest hurt at how cruel he was being to himself and you couldn't help but want to console him.

"You're not filthy, you're beautiful. beautiful and very strong." You said, placing your hand on the dark skinned man's cheek by instinct. Gazing straight into his golden orbs, you couldn't help but notice his surprised expression which he soon replaced with a more emotionless one as he chuckled: "Are you sure you should be saying that to me?"

"I didn't intend to flatter you. I just think you're very strong to be the person you are now despite everything that's happened to you." You rolled your eyes at the other's comment, knowing very well that he meant to say that you were flirting even though there was a person you liked and who liked you. "Well, I wouldn't be like this if it weren't for Rouen..."

"Anyways, we should go back to the others, newbie. They're probably being showed to their rooms in the castle right about now." Kai said and stood up, you soon doing the same thing. What the brunet told you about his past wasn't enough to make you forget how upset you were at Catherine and at Aaron for standing up for her. "I'm sorry, but I have no intention to go back to them just yet. And certainly not spend the night in this palace."

"You're so troublesome..." The golden eyed knight groaned. You told him he could go on ahead if he wanted - you were behaving rather immaturely after all - but he refused for some reason, suggesting something else.:"Why don't you come with me? I want to take a look around the village and it's not like I can leave a newbie like you alone."

"I'm fine with that." You retorted, following the man out of the garden and soon enough out of the castle's gates. Kai as well seemed to know his way around here, and was leading you to the place you passed by on your arrival earlier today. You suddenly got a rough idea of where you were going and almost panicked at the knight's carelessness: There were a lot of red placards, street signs, posters... "Hold on, are we really going to the red light district?"

"Yeah. I want to confirm something." The brunet replied rather unfazed as the two of you continued walking through the promenade. Just like you had noticed the first time, there really were a lot of orphans and homeless elderly people on the streets. You were so focused on your surroundings that you almost didn't notice the child that stopped Kai in his tracks. "Hey, mister! Do you want to try out my amazing fortune telling? It's super accurate!"

"Is that so?" The dark skinned male commented, gaining your attention at this point. You looked down at the child. It appeared to be a boy with a bit of a feminine face. He had longer, dark blue hair which he had messily tied in a ponytail. His eyes were golden, just like the ones of Kai. The child's clothes were all damaged while most of his exposed skin was bruised. The boy was very skinny which led you to believe that he was most probably one of the many orphans here.

The child flashed Kai a toothy grin before grabbing his hand, leading him to a carton box which the boy used as his stand. An Eevee was sitting on it and cried happily when the child returned with a new 'customer'. You had obviously followed the two as well. "What's a kid like you doing in the red light district? Can't you preform your magic tricks in the 'normal' part of town?"

"N-No, the fat ladies there chase me away every time..." The child stuttered, sounding a bit intimidated by the dark skinned man's strict voice. Kai noticed he might have scared the little one, so he ended up sighing and tried to act more gentle. "So, what's your name, kid?"

"I don't have one..." Even though the boy made a sad face when saying that, he was quick to get cheered up by the knight standing next to you. "Then we'll have to come up with something we can call you later on. For now, how about you tell my fortune? How much is it?"

"It's one coin for one person! My Eevee will start telling your future to me now!" The blue haired child exclaimed cheerfully, leaning closer to what you assumed was his normal-type Pokémon. Both you and Kai were well aware that Eevee had no psychic powers whatsoever, but the brunet didn't seem to want to crush the orphan's hopes. Neither did you and so both of you simply waited. Kai even seemed to be smiling at the boy.

The scene was quite heartwarming, just what you needed in order to get away from your frustrations. The golden eyed child seemed to be done with his 'prediction' and turned around to face you and Kai again. "My Eevee said to me that you and the pretty lady are going to get married soon! And that you'll have lots of babies!"

Kai couldn't help but snort at how off the boy's assumption was. You chuckled as well even though it was a little embarrassing to be told such things by a kid. "H-Hey why are you laughing?! Me and my Eevee are serious!" The blue haired boy got a bit flustered by your reaction and even blushed out of embarrassment. The dark skinned knight ruffled the child's hair before handing him a small sack of coins. "Alright, kiddo. Thanks, here you go."

"B-But mister, that's a lot of money! I-I don't deserve that much... I actually lied! My Eevee can't see your future..." The golden eyed boy confessed and you couldn't believe how pure this child actually was. For years, society has made people think of orphans as thieves and that all they did was cause trouble and steal. But you were just showed that not all were like that. "You're not supposed to say that to your customers, but well..."

"I know that. Just take the money and go to the normal part of the village. And please don't come to the red light district anymore." Kai said, watching as the child took the sack of coins and his Eevee in his arms. The boy was grinning widely, he was just as bright as the sun itself, and wouldn't stop thanking the older knight. "Actually, before you go: Do you know if there's still a place called Winter Daphne?"

"There is! I can bring you there if you want!" The blue haired boy said and Kai had to think twice wether or not he wanted to accept this boy's help. If he were to bring the orphan along, he could be endangering him due to the sex industry's employers. He knew better than anyone that golden eyes and a feminine face were rare traits and attracted too much attention of those perverted geezers. "Nah, it's fine. We'll find it on our own."

The blue haired boy thanked the two of you again before rushing off. Kai and you then started walking again. Even though it's been many years since he's last been here, the brunet had faint memories of where he needed to go in order to reach this particular destination. "Winter Daphne... is that the name of the brothel you worked at?"

"You're pretty fast at catching on on things." The dark skinned male complimented you. You didn't know why he would want to return to that place after everything that happened until you remembered the mention of the woman he thought of as his mother. Your guess was that he wanted to see if she still worked there.

A few minutes after walking, the two of you stood in front of a building with a big, red sign with the inscription 'Winter Daphne'. Kai turned to face you and said you should wait outside. He didn't want to 'corrupt' you by letting you into such a building. You didn't argue and just did as he asked. Watching as the golden eyed knight made his way inside, you started humming a tune while waiting for him to return.

It didn't take too long for him to come back. "Any luck?" You asked, not able to decipher if Kai was disappointed or not since his face showed little emotion. The small smile he flashed you later was a hint for your question. "I think so. They said she had the morning shift today and is changing and about to go home."

"We might see her if we wait here a little." You said, returning the smile. The older nodded and wasn't against your suggestion. In the end you waited for a bit, and finally a woman exited the brothel. A beautiful one at that: Her curly hair was short and golden. Her eyes were of the same color. The only makeup she had on was the red lipstick that fit her perfectly. Kai spotted her as well and immediately called out to her: "Aramina?"

The blonde woman turned around to the source of the voice, only for her eyelids to flutter wide. "K-Kai?" The woman stuttered silently, soon bringing the palm of her hand to her lips in shock. Once she saw the boy that had grown into such a handsome man smile, she rushed over to him and hugged him tightly. "You can't imagine how glad I am to see you! It's been way too long!"

Unlike when Catherine greeted Aaron and ignored everyone and everything else, this woman - apparently named Aramina - pulled away and glanced over at you, flashing you a warm smile as well. She misunderstood the situation a little, but she wasn't the first one today: "Is that really your-...?"

"It's not like that. We are... Well, we work together." The brunet was unsure about how to name the relationship the two of you shared. He was too shy to call it 'friendship' but he didn't want to call you an acquaintance after how you stood up for him the way you did today. "I see. So you're just friends?"

"That's right. My name is Y/N L/N. It's really nice to meet you." You grinned before Kai could reply or deny anything. He was internally happy you had put it that way and was no longer insecure. The golden eyed woman held her hand out for you to shake as she introduced herself as well. "I'm Aramina Chaves, I'm pleased to meet you too."

"Let's not stand around here. Why don't you two come to my apartment? I can offer you some tea."

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A/N: I noticed that the first version of this story lacked something pretty important: Arguments between the Reader and Aaron. I think that fighting with each other is crucial for a good relationship (not constantly of course), so yeah, there we have it^^

Btw Have I mentioned how much I dislike Hiyori Toono from Free! ? 'cause I sure do ._.

Anyways, thank you guys so much for the 10K reads on this book! <3

The orphan boy:

Aramina Chaves:

Thank you for Reading!