RISE OF EROS

When Carolina and Oliver were about to go out to buy the materials requested by Andrew, Hector, the chef from the Heavenly Palace, came out of the kitchen and when he saw Carolina he smiled and handed her a list of food items.

Despite it being a new menu, Andrew had not asked them to create a whole new line, what he wanted was for 2-3 new dishes to be introduced to make the gathering feel special and unique to the guests.

Although it was true that only Alfi had hired the services of the Heavenly Palace and therefore they have no knowledge of the dishes served here, being young people of high social status it would not be unusual for them to find out somewhere and that is why Andrew wanted everything to be special.

Carolina took the list and left. Her first stop was Candice's store, Cherry Blossom. This store is in charge of providing the Heavenly Palace with food and liquor, not to mention that Carolina knows about Andrew's plans, so she would not change suppliers for now.

Although Carolina knew of her husband's plans to want to be friends with Candice, she did not force her into the store by asking for Candice, she simply carried out her transactions as normal.

Carolina and Oliver approached the counter as normal and handed the list made by Hector to the seller, while they asked for a recommendation for good quality liquor, but not very expensive, however, as soon as they had entered the store, the information about them was revealed to Candice.

On the top floor of the establishment, Candice was evaluating how to proceed. To date it had been difficult to get detailed information from the Heavenly Palace, thanks to Oliver's strict guard, so upon learning that Oliver was not there, he gave her an opportunity for her spies to sneak in.

However, not everything was without risk. Even if Oliver wasn't around, she didn't know if Andrew had another strong guardian, not to mention that if she was found out, the possible association they had talked about would be impossible.

Candice is a businesswoman, so she values anything that could make her money and although she didn't know if partnering with Andrew would bring her income, the mere history of the rejuvenating cream made her doubt her.

Although she was frustrated by not knowing the other party she was negotiating with, Candice, decided not to send spies to the Heavenly Palace. Not only for the above reasons, but her instinct told her not to make the Heavenly Palace her enemy.

She didn't know where that feeling came from, but it was so strong that she didn't dare to ignore it. After Carolina decided on one of the wines suggested by the vendor, she handed over the order, along with the delivery address, and after paying, she left with Oliver.

Unlike Carolina, Oliver did notice that one of the store's employees ran inside the store as soon as he saw them, so he knew that he was going to report Candice, but he didn't worry, but he did keep on guard.

He was clear that when he was in the Heavenly Palace, security was difficult to evade and that those interested in sneaking in there had a hard time, therefore, seeing him away, many might want to infiltrate, but he was calm because the Heavenly Palace was not so unprotected as others thought.

It turns out that after several days of good nutrition and rest, Aki recovered her physical condition and vigor. If it weren't for the hideous scar on her face, she could pose as a courtesan on the level of Helena and Sonia.

The girl was small in stature and her chest was quite flat, but her fleshy legs, small waist, and big, firm, and shapely ass were really tempting, even Andrew wanted to touch it every time he saw her.

However, that is not the point. The reason Oliver had the little assassin in mind, was the fact that while her combat strength was not close to his, her perception was impressive and it would be hard to get past her vigilance and specializing in sneak attacks, the infiltrate would suffer.

Leaving those thoughts in the back of his head, Oliver followed Carolina to a sewing shop, where they bought large amounts of fabric and thread and due to the large amount, she also requested that they be delivered directly to the Heavenly Palace.

Having finished all the shopping, they started on their way back. The sun was already setting when they entered the red light district and suddenly Oliver grabbed Carolina's arm and pulled her back and without hesitating he drew his katana.

At first, Carolina wanted to complain about Oliver's sudden jerk, but seeing that he had drawn the sword and was on guard, her expression changed. Under a cold and serious expression, Carolina was a little scared, because she immediately understood that someone was attacking them.

In the shadows of a nearby alley, three men armed with short swords hid trying to ambush Carolina and Oliver, but upon seeing Oliver's movement, they were surprised, never expecting to be detected.

These men were called slave catchers. In a few words, they were dedicated to capturing beautiful girls to sell them as slaves, and for some time they had set their sights on Carolina since the area where the Heavenly Palace was located was on the periphery of the red light district and finding beauties like Carolina there was not normal.

Being objective in that area, there was no woman more beautiful than Carolina, but since she went out, little of the Heavenly Palace was not so well known. Even with the number of people visiting the Heavenly Palace, rumors of her beauty hadn't spread and it was because she wore ordinary clothes and no makeup that she normally went unnoticed.

That was a method of defense that Carolina had adopted. During the day when only the members of the Heavenly Palace were in the establishment, she would dress up and look beautiful, mainly to show off in front of her husband, even though she would not admit it.

On the other hand, when it was working hours she would put on simple clothes, she would remove her makeup, and even mess up her hair a bit, to hide her beauty. Until now it had worked, but to her bad luck when they went out today, Carolina was careless and didn't "fix" herself, so she was seen by these men by mere chance.

The three hidden slave catchers discussed in whispers whether they should attack or leave, and in the end their greed got the best of them. Their logic was not wrong, there was only one guard and there were three of them, besides, not capturing a beauty like Carolina was a sin for them.

With that settled, they stepped out of the alley and with drawn swords and sinister smiles said, "Leave the girl and you can live." Carolina trembled in fright upon hearing that she was the target, but Oliver was as calm and serene as the surface of a lake on a windless day.

Oliver used his blessing to evaluate the three men and noted that they weren't powerful at all. At best, they were as strong as one of the Heavenly Palace's guard slaves, so they were no threat to him.

Seeing that Oliver remained silent, not wanting to back down, the three attackers became annoyed. Their annoyance was obvious, as they could be seen on their necks as the veins bulged, but before they could speak again, Oliver moved.

The men were taken by surprise. Oliver's speed was no joke, in seconds he was in front of one of them, and without hesitation, he pierced through the chest of one of the men. The man was stupefied, in a few seconds his hands lost strength and he dropped his sword and the light left his eyes, he had died.

His companions took a few seconds to assimilate what had happened and that was fatal, as it gave Oliver time to withdraw his katana and attack the next one with a diagonal cut that practically divided the man in two.

The last survivor was scared to see his comrades die and was preparing to flee, he did not want to face Oliver, because he knew that he had no chance of victory, but turning his back on an expert and powerful warrior like Oliver was a mistake.

In seconds he caught up with the man but did not kill him, instead, he hit the legs causing him to fall to the ground. The man quickly rolled to the ground and tried to get up, but Oliver's katana landed on his neck, immobilizing him.

Defenseless, the man wanted to beg for his life, but the words would not come out of his mouth and his eyes were already shedding tears of panic. When he mustered up what little courage he had left and was going to speak, Oliver drew his katana back and with a sharp kick to the head knocked him unconscious.

Oliver took his belt and tied the man's hands and loaded him on his shoulder like a potato bundle and returning to Carolina said, "We should speed up Miss Carolina, it's not safe at night."

Although Carolina did not understand why Oliver had decided to take the attacker alive, she did not ask and just nodded her head and followed Oliver back to the Heavenly Palace, still with a little fear inside her.