Chapter 72

“There she is,” Tomichii said as I walked into the room, trying not to look as flustered as I felt.

I smiled and slipped into the offered arm, letting him pull me into a hug while I smiled at the room of people. There were four investors, as Tomichii and Kioshi had promised, but no sign of Kioshi himself.

Tomichii introduced all the men, although I recognised a couple of them from a previous party I’d been at. One where Bernice had done her best to embarrass me before I was unveiled.

This time all the eyes were on me and I was the only courtesan in the room. I tried to smile and asked the two I recognised if they were doing well, wracking my brains for something they might have said the last time so I could ask them about it again. This seemed to do the trick and immediately I was surrounded by the four men.

I was offered drinks, small items of food and generally conversed with for the next few minutes, everyone making it clear they were only there for me. I used the opportunity to pra