The Red Ribbon {Kaz Brekker X Reader}

The Red Ribbon

~ Y/N ~

*7 years ago*

Jakob Hertzoon's house smells of new money and a big ego. If I am being completely honest I am not sure how he obtained either of those things. Whenever I see him sitting at his desk in his lavish office, he never seems to be doing anything productive. For someone with such a big name, his current state of being seems to be...how do I put this...lazy.

I guess that's how things work in Ketterdam. Pay someone to pay someone to pay someone to do your work for you. That's why I am at Jakob's house. I need money. It's not like I want this job necessarily, I am only 10, but my mother insists that I try to start earning some Kruge at a young age to get a feel for hard work. She says it builds character, but I know that the real reason I am standing on this expensive carpet right now is because we are saving up to get my father out of Hellgate, and my mother isn't fluent enough in Kerch to get a solid job here.

My parents and I came to Kerch a few months ago from Novyi-Zem. My father heard of great opportunities in Ketterdam. Some nights, he would get up and leave to go somewhere holding a bag of Kruge and come back before sunrise empty-handed. A gambler. And a poor one indeed. A month or two passed and suddenly he was bringing home a bruised cheekbone or bloody nose accompanied by empty pockets that held our savings just hours before. Things took a turn for the worse, he messed with the wrong people, and he got locked in Hellgate.

Now me and my mother are low on Kruge, stuck in a new city. At night, it is almost as if a part of the city wakes up while everyone falls asleep. From what I hear, it's called the Barrel. Crawling with gangs and violence. I have no doubt that the Barrel is where my father would spend his midnights wasting our money that I now have to earn back. I make a mental note to myself to never step foot in that part of the city.

Thankfully, I am working far away from the Barrel on Zelvarstraat. It is a very beautiful neighborhood. There are cherry blossoms that line the street, and when the spring breeze blows, little petals fall off and drop into the canal. I could watch them all day. But for now, I have some Kruge to earn.

The routine is simple. Every day at noon, I come to Jakob's house, go up the stairs and knock on his office door. Once he opens it and realizes that I am here, he gives me a job to do for the day. I am expecting to be told to run errands at the marketplace for the fifth day in a row. It is an easy task, so I don't mind. As long as I get paid, which I do everyday without fail.

I knock three sturdy times on Jakob's office door. From the corner of my eye, I see the cherry blossoms outside of the window. Jakob opens his office door and grins. He must be in a good mood today. I give a slight smile back and he motions for me to step into his office and have a seat. I oblige and as soon as I step through the doorway, the cherry blossoms in my peripheral vision disappear. The chair in front of his desk is stiff and uncomfortable.

"How are you doing today, Miss Y/N?" Jakob asks me. Always the same question everyday.

"I am doing fine. How about yourself?" I give the same reply everyday.

"Phenomenal, actually," He replies.
Hm. So he really must be in a good mood today. "I've got a new job for us. I've been waiting for the perfect time to start it. And now that you've been showing up here on time everyday for about a month, I think that you are ready for the job."

A new job. For us. Us. Jakob never helps me on my jobs. They are all made for one person. What could this possibly be?

"This sounds great. What do I need to do get started?" I ask. Jakob grins at me again just like he did when he opened his office door.