Thanks for the chapter! This series can be disturbing but it always lands the tension and romance well.
"When I was a child I killed someone."
As if that's going to bother Aki who apparently
used to chop up bodies and prep them for disposal. Rare job experience that Marie was too shaken to register at the time. "The other side" that Yokiri and Shirohebi (the short snake-themed implied sex worker) are also from is downright organized crime, not just a sex industry. Aki's slavery was/is part of an economy.
I'm looking forward to Aki's

"okay? nbd" response leading into actually learning her background and breaking Marie's illusions about her.