It had been over thirty minutes since the girls had entered Jennifer's room, but they still hadn't found the blueprint map.
"This is pointless!" Jia exhaled, getting restless as she searched the bookshelf.
"Have patience, Jia," Zarah said, looking through the bedside table's drawer.
"I am the epitome of patience," Jia retorted, opening the books to check inside the folds of the pages.
Iris snorted at that, "And I am the Madam's secret child," she said sarcastically, looking through Jennifer's wardrobe.
Jia's eyes widened as she stared at Iris in shock before asking, "Wait, you are?"
Iris laughed at that.
Zarah shook her head in exasperation, "Jia, if Iris was really the Madam's child, then she wouldn't be treated like the rest of us," she said with a sigh.
"If I tell you I am a chicken, do I become one?" Iris teased Jia.
Jia grumbled something under her breath, before returning to searching.
Iris just smiled smugly, flicking her hair over her shoulder dramatically, before going through the wardrobe contents again.
Zarah sighed shaking her head.
At that moment, her eyes caught something sticking out from under the mattress.
Zarah furrowed her brows, then pulled the object out from under the bed.
It was a file.
Not just any file, but the financial ledger.
'So, that's where Miss Jennifer keeps the important documents,' Zarah thought.
"Iris! Jia!" Zarah called out to the other two girls, "Come here, I think I have found it," she said, lifting the mattress and turning it over with effort.
Jia and Iris, who had come over to the bed exchanged a glance with each other, as they looked at the dozens of documents that had been laying buried under the mattress.
Zarah handed the financial ledger over to Jia. Jia opened the ledger, going through the pages.
"Damn," Iris muttered, looking at the ledger from over Jia's shoulder, "Who knew Miss Jennifer was embezzling the brothel's funds?" she asked, shock laced in her tone.
"That isn't our goal," Zarah said finding the blueprint map inside one of the other files.
She held the map up with a sense of victory, "We got it, the map."
Iris sighed with relief, "Now," she looked over Jennifer's room, "All we gotta do is arrange the room like before," she said with a tired exhale.
Zarah stood up patting Iris's back, "There, there, it's okay child," she said teasingly.
Iris gave Zarah a pointed look and went to playfully hit Zarah's shoulder, but she dodged and hid behind Jia.
Jia shielded Zarah, a playful smile gracing her lips, "Let's not beat our captain up, Iris," she joked, a gleam of hope shimmering in her eyes at having found the map.
After a bit of back and forth, the three girls started tidying Jennifer's room.
It was past 1 am.
The night was quiet, except for the occasional tick of the clock.
Zarah, Iris and Jia sat in a circle in a corner on the living room floor, the blueprint map spread out in front of them.
"So beside the herbal flower bed there's a small hole in the wall," Iris pointed at the map.
"Then that's a good openi-" Jia began with hope.
Zarah cut Jia off before she could finish, "No that's a trap," she said firmly, pointing at the area on the map, "Can't you tell? Why would such a weakness in the structure of the brothel be visible at first glance?" she asked, looking over at the other two girls.
Iris's eyes widened with realization, "It wouldn't be, unless they want us to find it," she said with a shaking voice.
Jia's heart thummed with dread at that, "Does that mean they know we are trying to escape?" she asked with fear laced in her tone.
Zarah shook her head.
Her own heart was racing with adrenaline.
"This area is a trap for those who may try to escape," Zarah said tapping her finger on the map again.
Iris nodded, "So, we have to find another weakness in the structure," her tone was glum.
Jia sighed, "I wonder if there's really any weakness," she said lowly.
"Of course there is," a voice said from behind them.
All three of them froze up, their hearts racing rapidly as they turned around and saw Halley.
The room seemed to shrink around them, the air suddenly too heavy to breathe.
Jia practically paled and turned even whiter.
Iris jumped back a couple steps, her heart almost jumping out of her ribcage.
Zarah's blood rushed through her veins, her fingers clenching into fists as her nails dug into her palms, as she tried to calm herself.
"Then what is the weakness?" Zarah asked taking a deep breath and gathering her nerves.
Jia let out a shock gasp.
Iris looked at Zarah like she had gone mad, "Zar, what are you doing?" she asked, her tone scandalized.
Halley smiled at them calmly before she crouched down to sit beside them.
She pointed at a wall on the blueprint, "Right here," she said, "That wall may be tall but there's a secret path behind the bushes covering it, that path leads into the forest and if you manage to navigate across it, you will find guards of the Northern Duchy nearby."
Halley looked up at Jia, "They're looking for you," she said with an unreadable expression.
Jia's expression saddened, she remembered her parents, the Duchy, the people there. She missed home. Tears welled up in her eyes, she looked down at the floor going quiet.
Iris and Zarah exchanged hesitant glances, before Zarah went over to Jia and gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze.
Iris gave Jia a reassuring look.
Jia smiled softly at Iris, then looked at Zarah giving her a faint nod to signal that she was okay.
Then Iris turned towards Halley and asked her with a deep breath, "Why are you helping us?"
The old lady simply gave a knowing smile, "Because I think you girls can succeed, after all you got the map successfully," she said before shrugging, "Most get caught before they find the map."
"So, you want us to escape?" Zarah asked, raising an eyebrow suspiciously.
Halley shook her head laughing before she said, "There were many things I wanted and never had. Let me help you have yours."
The three younger girls understood what Halley meant.
They didn't say anything more and took her help, they discussed the safest escape routes that entire night.
They planned to execute their plan during the annual Spring festival, which was held in the village at the end of Spring every year.
The girls from the brothel were allowed to attend if accompanied by guards, so the number of guards in the brothel would be less and that would be the perfect time to escape.
The festival was in one week.
Zarah had only one week to convince the other girls to escape as well but she had to be careful.
Some of them were really desperate for the Madam's approval and may end up betraying them.