Karen immediately scoffed, waving her fan aggressively in clear irritation. "Don't get all sentimental on me, Bast. This has absolutely nothing to do with kindness. It's pure business loss calculation."Karen leveled him with an arrogant stare. "The rumors about the 'cursed' sickness ruining Cea's skin have already spread among our regular male clients. If I stubbornly kept her working, absolutely none of those bastards in this city would dare lay a finger on her out of sheer terror of catching it. She'd just sleep and eat for free in my house without generating a single copper coin. Freeing her and throwing her out was the most logical financial decision to cut Ivy's losses."Hearing her explanation purposefully wrapped in an aura of cruelty, Bast merely cracked a slanted smile. He was fully aware that there was a significant flaw in the madam's logic.Medically speaking, Bast knew the deadly Syphilis bacteria inside Cea's body had already died off completely, eradicated by his high-

"What report?" Sergius shifted his weight slowly. He was still trying to obey the physician's strict orders to minimize his movements following yesterday's heart attack.However, he had clearly already violated the primary rule: no working. As proof, Sergius had spent the last few hours sitting in his private study, reviewing a stack of reports from Cyrl, his loyal assistant."Reports from the Health Division. They're waiting for your stamp of approval before we dispatch them to the Locknu Palace today," Cyrl explained, pointing at the stack of folders Sergius had already approved. Only one folder remained, and Sergius's work for the day would finally be complete."A new physician?" Sergius reached for the leather-bound folder with renewed interest. "It's been a long time since anyone registered for the medical exam