RISE OF EROS

This time their activity was much more intense, so they both fell on the bed breathing heavily. They lay side by side trying to catch their breath.

After recovering for a while, they got up and went to the bathroom to wash themselves, as they were drenched in sweat and other fluids. By the time they left the room the sun was setting and the red light district was beginning to liven up.

Soon evening came and the customers began to arrive. The dance room was now open to the public and everyone was curious about the new attraction, so it had many visitors.

The dancers played their part as they should. The customers were delighted with the new attraction because they had never experienced anything like the erotic dances that they could see here.

Oliver had taken the security of the dance room very seriously, as it was different from the room that the other courtesans attended. Here the interaction of the customers with the girls was much more suggestive and it would not be unusual for a customer to want to get a little too clever.

However, the four guards that Oliver posted in the dance room served as a deterrent and all the customers behaved themselves. Most of them were just enjoying the alcohol and the dancing of the girls on stage.

This was very common, even when the dance room did not exist. If there was one thing that the Heavenly Palace still failed to do, it was to attract high-status customers, most of them were ordinary citizens with a little more money to spend.

Fortunately, there were some wealthy merchants who used the services of the private dance booths and the room service of the courtesans, both in the dance room and in the main hall, where Sonia commanded the other courtesans.

Certainly, the Heavenly Palace earned good profits from these merchants, but they were not high-profile clients, just a bit wealthy compared to the clients Andrew wanted to attract.

The night went on smoothly and everything seemed to be lively. The red light district was regaining its vibrancy every day and the suffering of the businessmen in the area was beginning to subside.

As Andrew was relaxing in the office in the company of Helena and Aki, he was interrupted by Fluffy's voice, "Master, you should go see Carolina", the sudden comment alarmed Andrew, as he thought Carolina had suffered an accident.

"Did something happen?" asked Andrew worried, to which Fluffy answered, "I don't know if something happened, but the girl received an ability and it's possible that she overexerted herself, you should watch her so she doesn't overdo it, nothing good comes out of it."

Only after Fluffy warned him did he notice that Carolina was still locked in the lab, she hadn't even attended dinner, and therefore, she hadn't eaten.

Andrew hit his head as he overlooked this. He couldn't believe how careless he had been and quickly got up and walked briskly to the lab to see Carolina.

When he entered the lab, he could see Carolina sitting at the desk writing something. Around her was a large stack of papers with notes on the theory of how to refine the four recipes Andrew had taught her.

Andrew picked up some of the papers that were on the floor and read them superficially and couldn't help but be surprised because they were incredibly detailed.

Carolina was in her own world writing with great skill and speed, but as Andrew looked at her, he could only feel annoyed because he could tell that Carolina had expended a great deal of energy and was on the verge of collapse.

Annoyed he approached her and decisively snatched the pen she was writing with. Carolina upon feeling her writing instrument being snatched away from her, turned around in annoyance, ready to reprimand the aggressor, but froze when she saw Andrew's angry expression.

"Do you intend to starve and tire yourself to death?" asked Andrew in a strict and annoyed tone. At that moment Carolina came to her senses and felt all the accumulated tiredness, not to mention she finally noticed the emptiness in her stomach.

Puzzled by the sudden feeling of tiredness and hunger, she asked, "What time is it?" Andrew couldn't believe that Carolina asked that question, as it proved to him that Carolina hadn't realized she had been in the lab for many hours.

Exasperated Andrew let out a heavy sigh and replied, "We opened a couple of hours ago." Hearing Andrew's response, Carolina understood that she had been immersed in her practice for over 6 hours.

Embarrassed she apologized, "Sorry, I really hadn't noticed the passage of time." Andrew, upon seeing her repentant, immediately dismissed what he thought had happened.

Since he was aware that Carolina felt useless, Andrew thought that having been given her new ability, she was overexerting herself to feel useful again, but apparently this was not the case.

Discovering this, Andrew became concerned and asked Fluffy, "What's wrong?", but Fluffy didn't answer him right away. Andrew did not press him, as he knew that Fluffy must be thinking.

Several seconds passed and Andrew was still waiting for Fluffy. Carolina did not interrupt him because she knew he must be talking to his divine beast. All the bearers of the seals granted by Andrew, knew of the existence of Fluffy, although none could see or hear him, so they knew that when Andrew was silent as now it was because he was talking to him.

After a few minutes, Fluffy finally spoke, "Master, I'm not entirely sure, but I think Carolina's ability could make her go into a state of extreme concentration and that's why she gets lost in her subject of study."

"Is it dangerous? Is there any way to keep her from overdoing it?" asked Andrew still nervous and Fluffy replied, "I don't think it's dangerous as long as someone brings her out of that state before she dies of hunger and exhaustion."

After a pause, Fluffy continued speaking, "As for controlling this, it should be possible, it's just that Carolina is still inexperienced in controlling her ability, that's why she tends to dive too much."

"I advise that for the time being you keep an eye on her so she doesn't overdo it while she masters her skill," Fluffy finished. Andrew understood everything and looked at Carolina.

"Caro, apparently your little mastery of the skill you obtained, makes you go into a state of total concentration, which makes you forget about everything else. It's not necessarily dangerous, but you need to control it, so from now on I will interrupt you every so often at least to eat and rest," Andrew explained.

Carolina understood instantly and although she wanted to progress as fast as possible, she also knew that she couldn't neglect her vital needs, just to study, that would only do her more harm than good, so she accepted Andrew's proposal.

They both left the lab and went to the office where they met with Helena and Aki. "Aki, my love, can you go to the kitchen and ask them to prepare something for Caro?" asked Andrew and Aki disappeared into the shadows.

Carolina sat down on one of the sofas in the office and as she felt the comfortable seat, tiredness hit her. The hunger was no less, in fact, that was the only thing that didn't allow her to fall asleep on the spot.