The sudden commotion in the courtyard pulled Gangubai’s attention away from the mirror.

She had been calmly applying her lipstick, carefully tracing the red across her lips, when the shouting started below. It spread through the house like fire through dry leaves. One by one, doors opened along the upper balcony as the other girls leaned out to watch the spectacle.

Gangubai stepped outside as well, resting her arms against the railing.

Earlier that afternoon, Sheela had been bragging loudly about a new “purchase”. Something expensive. Something rare. The kind of prize she expected to bring wealthy clients running.

Gangubai hadn’t paid much attention then.

Now she understood.

In the courtyard below, Sheela was dragging someone through the entrance.

A boy.

An omega — unmistakably so.

Gangubai’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Male omegas were rare enough already. Seeing one here, in a place like this… that was something else entirely.

The young omega struggled against Sheela’s grip, trying to pull away, calling desperately for someone who clearly wasn’t coming. His voice echoed against the courtyard walls, raw with panic.

Some of the girls laughed.

Others simply watched.

Gangubai did neither.

Instead, she leaned a little further over the railing, observing.

There was something painfully familiar in the way he fought. Not violent — just desperate. The kind of resistance that came from someone who still believed this could all be a terrible mistake.

It reminded her too much of the day she had arrived.

“Enough, boy! I paid a fortune for you!” Sheela snapped impatiently.

With a rough shove, she pushed him into one of the rooms and slammed the door shut, the lock clicking loudly behind him.

For hours the sounds continued.

Shouting.

Pounding against the door.

Desperate pleas that slowly lost their strength.

Eventually…

Silence.

Gangubai remained at the balcony long after the others had lost interest.

She knew that silence.

—

Four days later, Sheela finally forced the omega to appear.

The preparation room buzzed with its usual evening routine — powder in the air, laughter that sounded too loud to be genuine, the faint scent of perfume trying to hide the smell of smoke and sweat.

The new omega sat in the corner.

Quiet.

Too quiet.

His eyes were red from crying, his posture stiff with humiliation as he awkwardly tried to apply blush to his cheeks with unsteady hands. The brush trembled slightly every time it touched his skin.

Gangubai watched him from across the room.

The way he sat. The way his shoulders curved inward. The quiet, defeated way he avoided looking at anyone.

Not broken.

Not yet.

But close.

And beneath all of it… something else.

Pride.

The kind that came from someone who had once belonged somewhere very different from this place.

Interesting.

Gangubai rose from her seat and crossed the room slowly, ignoring the curious glances from the others.

When she reached him, she crouched down in front of the omega.

Without a word, she gently took the lipstick from his hand.

He didn’t resist.

Gangubai tilted his chin slightly and began fixing the uneven makeup with calm, practiced movements. The brush of her fingers was steady, precise — the kind of touch that came from experience rather than kindness.

For a moment, she wondered if she had looked just as miserable the first time she had been forced to stand in the street.

Perhaps she had.

Her voice, when she finally spoke, was quiet but firm.

“First time is always the hardest.”

She finished correcting the lipstick, studying his expression carefully as if trying to read a story written between the lines.

Then her eyes met his.

“…Tell me, omega.”

A small pause.

“Who betrayed you?”