The courtesan’s name was Kat. Or at least, that was the only name she was known by.

She was, for all intents and purposes, a beauty who most men would not hesitate to fawn over. As one of the pleasure house’s best, she was highly sought after, but usually a bit more selective about her clientele.

It was rare for her to set her eyes on someone first. But she found the large, silent man at the end of the table to be nearly irresistible.

He had thus far denied the advances of the other courtesans. This only made him even more to her liking.

She waltzed over to him gracefully, her bare feet lightly touching the ground, but creating music as the jewelry around her ankles jingled with every step she took.

Her loose robe framed her bountiful breasts in quite the scandalous light. Judging by her diminutive form, she was entirely human, not a titan-blood. And yet, she looked at Solomon as if she were the larger predator.

She sat down beside him without so much as a sound. When they made eye contact, she lowered her head and bowed.

"Please, allow me to serve the Young Master."

"My hands work quite well already."

"...Of that, I have no doubt, sir. But this is my job, you see. I would be remiss if I did not serve you properly."

Solomon could see the other members of the society watching him. With Clarity, his mental abilities had jumped by extraordinary lengths.

He was hyper-aware of how he was perceived by others. Suspicion was beginning to arise about exactly what kind of man he was.

What young, good-looking man comes inside a pleasure house just to sample the food and wine?

The goal of this entire excursion was to bond and ingratiate himself within their little group. He had to look like he fit in as much as possible.

"...Do what you want. So long as you do not touch me." Solomon sighed as he went back to eating.

His efforts seemed to have been at least somewhat fruitful. The young men who were side-eyeing him before were now laughing and making jokes about his attempt to ’play cool’.

Solomon drank more wine in an attempt to dull his senses. The woman’s flowery perfume turned his stomach something terribly.

"You’re very lucky, young Solomon. There are no outsiders who get to congregate with the society in such... private settings." Archon mused.

Solomon placed a bit of thought into his response before speaking. He tried his best to act according to the guidelines Jiaoying had set in mind. Talking with him had to feel like getting caught in a whirlwind.

"Is it really all that special...?" He unconsciously tapped his chopsticks on the edge of his bowl. "Friends get together for dinner often enough, from what I’m told."

His words seemed to catch the attention of the society’s new president.

"Oh, you judge us too harshly based on a little bit of leisure time. Our activities are not usually so self-indulgent. But we are on break, eh? This is the time when our youth is best utilized."

Solomon nodded, seemingly half interested. "And when you are not being self-indulgent?"

"Oh, we have a little expedition here and there... Iron sharpens Iron, as you know. Each man takes it upon themselves to make sure that none of our brothers fall behind on our pursuit of glory."

"But we unfortunately cannot let you in on any more of our secrets." Archon interrupted with a sly smile. "Not until you join us in your third year." 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"What makes you think I’m going to join you?" Solomon asked innocently as he inserted a morsel of sushi into his mouth.

His simple, harmless question made Archon and Sylas stop eating almost instantly. Solomon seemed not to understand the issue.

However, Solomon suddenly dropped his utensils and bowl, grabbing Kat by the wrist and pulling her hands away from his crotch.

She let out a pained yelp, and the entire table stopped their merriment.

Solomon’s face was painfully neutral, but the claws growing out of his fingertips were utterly unfriendly.

After he threatened to rip the arm from the woman’s socket, she scrambled to the far side of the room, shaking like a leaf and holding her wrist.

Solomon released a deep sigh as he went back to drinking.

"Ugh... And I was having such a nice time before that." He sighed.

Silas and Archon were still stuck on Solomon’s earlier words. Thurgood, however, only wanted to know about the incident that had just occurred.

"What’s the matter with you?? Don’t you know how to treat a woman??"

"I do indeed. These simply aren’t to my liking."

"You know, you’ve been sitting up here with a stick up your ass ever since this dinner started! Do you prefer your women with a little something extra between their legs then?"

Solomon rolled his eyes. "You’re too focused on the physical. As far as I’m concerned, that’s negligible. I only desire a woman with teeth."

One of the other members snorted down the table. "Big guy must’ve never had a good blow-"

Silas held up his hand. The small gesture was all that was needed to silence the entire table.

His eyes sparkled with curiosity as he leaned over the table, his interest piqued.

"I’m very curious. I assume you don’t mean teeth in the literal sense."

Solomon shook his head.

He glanced over his shoulder back to the woman whose wrist he’d just grabbed.

"Did I scare you just now?"

Kat was still trembling like a leaf. Her fear was written clearly across her face.

"Y-Yes..."

"And when you felt that fear, what did you think?"

"I-I... I thought that..." Kat couldn’t answer. Every attempt she made to get her words out ended in failure.

Solomon shook his head as he turned back to the table.

"I have known only three women in my life who were worthy of me. One has already begun her eternal rest. The other two share my bed every night.

If on any occasion I approached one of those women with aggression, they would have bit back at me with everything they had. Their spirits would not allow them to be trampled on.

That is a woman to me. Fearsome, bold, driven, brilliant. Women who are unyielding are the only ones worthy of being called so. All others... are simply thoughtless little dolls."

Solomon stood up abruptly, wiping his mouth before turning toward the door.

"Some men enjoy playing with dolls. But for the rest of us... I can’t imagine anything more boring."