After Oriana ran away from her neighbors, she felt relieved at escaping that predicament. There was no way that the older woman would not discover she was a girl while taking her measurement, and exposing such a secret would only end up with Gwen asking uncomfortable questions.
Still, deep in her heart, she felt apologetic towards the older woman. Oriana preferred wearing dark clothes as they would minimize her chances of catching people's eyes. Gwen would only make her nice clothes she would never end up wearing.
'What a kind family…'
Holding onto her new pair of boots, a smile lingered on her face.
"Let's finish making medicine first."
She resumed her work and after concocting her grandfather's medicine, she began preparing herbal remedies for her fellow villagers who would often come to her to be treated for minor things like headaches, fevers or animal bites.
Within their little village composed mostly of hunters, Orian was the only herbalist, an existence loved and respected by the poor villagers who could not afford the luxury of apothecaries and physicians.
She never asked for payment, but as a show of gratitude, the villagers would bring her things like fruits, vegetables or spare meat from their hunts.
After she finished packing the medicines, she was ready to leave.
"I need to get these medicines to Aunt Lora first. She can't come to get it due to her sprained ankle." She then hoisted the sackcloth bag over her shoulder. "Next stop would be Uncle Joseph for his stomach ache."
After she left home, she threaded the footpath in between the other wooden cabins and small huts built on the sides. Oriana casually greeted the little children playing with a mud ball before entering a small thatched house where a woman a year or two older than Gwen was sitting on the chair while sewing clothes.
"Aunt Lora, I brought your medicines!" Oriana went to her and handed her over the small pouch. "There is also an ointment that you can apply on your ankle to lessen the swelling. It will be fine soon."
The woman smiled at the cheerful young boy.
"Thank you, Orian." She accepted it and pointed her towards one basket placed on the table in the corner. "Since you are here, why don't you eat? These are fresh jujubes your uncle brought this morning."
"Jujube?" Oriana got excited but then controlled herself. She needed to remind herself she was pretending to be a boy and she could not drool over these berries like girls do. "I mean, that's good, uhh, great."
The woman chuckled as she saw how Oriana controlled herself. It was an open secret among the villagers that not only does Orian the Herbalist have a sweet tooth, he also loves snacking on jujubes.
"Eat as much as you want. I know you like them. You can even bring some back with you if you want."
"No, it's fine—"
"Eating berries won't make you less of a man."
Oriana no longer refused and walked towards the basket, her eyes glittering at the sight of the tiny red fruits so small they were treated as wild berries. She loved them fresh and chewy, but also liked them dried as a candy. She could not wait to get her hands on them and stuffed handfuls in the pockets of her jacket.
"Thank you, Aunt Lora. Let me know once you finish this batch of medicine," she said and left with a little skip on her steps. Lora could not help but find the young lad adorable.
After she gave medicines to others, Orian decided to return home. In her arms, she was holding several loaves of bread and some common herbs the villagers stumbled upon while they were in the forest.
'Once I return home, I will divide the jujube—half I will turn into dried candy I can eat when outside, the rest I will eat today.'
She was craving to taste her favorite berries. As if triggered by her thoughts, she could feel the sweet and sour taste of those small round red berries on her tongue.
Being impatient, she pulled a few berries out of her pocket and started to eat as she walked.
"See how this guy is enjoying berries like a little girl."
A group of boys ranging from age thirteen to sixteen laughed at Oriana, making her frown.
'These boors are picking on me again?'
She turned her head to look at them. Due to her delicate frame and pretty face, Orian had been pretending to be a lad yet to hit puberty, meaning she belonged to the same age range as these little punks.
"What, little girl? Whatcha glarin' at?" The boys laughed again, jeering at her.
"He should have been born a girl but god made a mistake."
Oriana ignored them and walked ahead as it was nothing new for her to get teased for looking like a girl.
'Well, I am a girl so not my fault I look like one, you stupid buffoons.'
Seeing her ignoring them, one boy hurried towards her and blocked her way.
"Don't go, don't go. We are about to head out to log some trees, you know, build a new shed for Old Ben. Why don't you help us carry wood and build up your muscles?"
"Not interested."
"Don't be like that—"
Oriana simply looked at him, stepping to the side as he was about to grab her shoulder.
She knew he was not really inviting her—he was merely messing with her. Fighting him was not her goal, and she didn't really want these vermin to touch her. She would prefer to stay away from this bunch of troublemaking oafs, even if it was only for the sake of their hardworking parents.
"We are not done talking, Orian!" the boy said.
"What do you want, Frank?" she asked coldly.
Frank, the oldest boy and the leader of their group, stared at her face for a moment and then smirked. "Tsk. What, you gonna tattle and have my old man yell at me again?"
A freckled boy came to them. "Hey, we are not bothering you. We just want to ask you a secret of your beauty for Frank's sister. Your skin is not even tanned. How can you be prettier than girls? Do you drink beauty potions on a daily basis?"
As if on cue, the boys laughed again. Oriana was getting pissed at obvious teasing but had to control. "Good genes are the secret and I pity your sister for not having them."
"Good genes?" Frank chuckled. "Look at you, you're fifteen, right? And I still don't see any sign of you growing a beard. My brother, who is of your age, already looks like a grown man."
Oriana had no patience listening to this crap again. Before coming to this place, she had heard the same remarks in the other villages and towns as well. Not like she could really grow a beard and mustache. That was why she always kept her age young.
"Are you done?" She asked and stepped aside to make her way past him but he blocked her way again and this time grabbed her arm, causing the gifts from the villagers to fall on the ground.
Anger boiled inside her the moment and—
"Ahh!!!"
His hand was twisted behind his back, and even before he could get over that pain, he was flipped on the ground by the frail-looking Oriana.
"Girly Frankie," Oriana sneered. "Looks like the one who needs to build up muscles is you, not me."
"Ahh…you…" the boy was in pain.
"Hey, Orian, you punk!" The other boys got over their shock and they lunged towards her but…
Swish!
Swish!
Arrows landed in front of them, sticking on the ground and blocking their way.
Everyone looked at the tall muscular guy who was standing some distance away,glaring at them in warning.
"Luke, don't meddle in this. This skinny herbalist hurt Frank first!" one boy from the group yelled.
Luke ignored him and looked at Oriana. "Don't you want to go hunting?" His voice was firm and commanding.
'Hunt?' Oriana looked at him in surprise, but then understood. "Ah, I was coming to you after I dropped stuff at home, but these people kept pestering me."
"Let's go, or we'll be late," he told her while helping her pick the bread and herbs on the ground.
However, the group of boys stormed towards the more imposing Luke. Though they were younger and not as strong as Luke, they were brave with their number advantage of eight versus two.
"Luke, he hurt our friend. You cannot take him away without letting him pay for it," one of the boys said.
Luke didn't even turn to look at them, as he spoke in a low, deep voice.
"Do you dare stop me?"
Among the young men in the village, Luke was initially criticized by his peers because of his withdrawn nature, prompting others to think he was just a uselessly big idiot who could barely speak. However, this perception changed in a matter of days. Not only did Luke have the strength of a bear, he was also a great archer. He and his father would barely receive injuries but always bring back lots of prey in their hunts.
He was not like Frank and his friends who loved wasting time and troubling others, causing the adults of the village to always compare Luke with his peers, further aggravating the boys' anger towards him. However, Luke only focused on his own things and paid no attention to them.
Just like Oriana, he helped those in need and stayed away from nuisance. He hardly had any friends his age in this village as he was different from them.
Provoked by Luke's attitude, Frank shouted, "Luke, why are you poking your nose into others' business, huh? Don't tell me you are like those filthy nobles who like pretty-looking boys?"
"What the—" Oriana cursed under her breath as she turned around, intending to squash Frank's ugly face with a kick, but Luke held her hand to stop her.
"Ignore them."
Oriana glared at them but didn't want to go against Luke's word. Luke was the only friend of her age she had in this village.
Just as they turned to leave, the other freckled boy shouted, "Hey, Orian, why stick with that bear? I can introduce you to some nobles. Trust me, a night with them will earn more than you earn from selling herbs."
This time, even before Oriana could react, Luke had turned around and punched the other boy in the face. The freckled boy crumpled in pain on the ground.
"Luke, you bastard!" the boy cursed.
The muscles on Luke's arms weren't for decoration. He never idled around but worked hard which made his body stronger than his peers.
Luke glared down at the others. "Anyone else?"
Seeing their friend's bloody nose, the rest of the boys backed away and no one dared come forward. There was something in him which made them wary of him.
Oriana was stunned. Luke often acted like an old man who weathered many storms, and she had never seen him losing his temper ever in the past three months since they met. His unsociable nature was enough for others to stay out of his way, but today, even she felt somewhat frightened of him.
Unable to deal with Luke, Frank and his friends could only glare at Oriana.
Luke returned to her side and instructed, "Let's go."
Just as they took steps forward, Frank shouted, "You will pay for this, Orian. I will make you pay!"
"Who is making who pay?!" one of the grandmothers nearby began to rebuke with a broom in hand. "You better scram back—"
One after another, the neighbors began to appear. With the fuss they caused, it was impossible for those in their village to not hear Frank causing trouble. The thing was, those in the village were the elderly, the women and the children, who were mostly the beneficiaries of Orian's herbal remedies.
Luke was about to turn back as well, but Oriana held his hand to stop him. "Don't. Let's just go."
She didn't want to cause more trouble for Luke. She would disappear from this village soon, but that was not the case for Luke and his family. She could not let Luke suffer because of her and be targeted by these boys.
Luke looked at the small calloused hands grabbing his large ones, and then looked at that pretty begging face. He sighed and freed his hand from hers before walking ahead. Oriana felt relieved.
To escape the nagging of the adults, Frank and his boys also went about their way and left the village, not without glaring at the direction of Oriana's cabin.
"That Luke is so protective of that Orian. What's going on between them?"
------
With the lead from the spy, Arlan began issuing instructions to his knights to coordinate with Duke Wimark's men.
Though the men under him were elites, they were few in numbers; coordination with the territory lord would yield the most efficient and accurate investigation results.
Returning to the mansion, Arlan went to see the Duke, but he was informed that his brother-in-law was speaking with his vassals regarding matters of the estate. The Crown Prince was led by the butler to the Duke's lavish study and entertained him with high-quality tea.
It did not take long before Duke Rhys Wimark entered, an exhausted look on his face.
"You look worried, Duke Rhys," Arlan commented.
Rhys sat opposite him, "I got to know about the use of those wild rats. I assume you know best the things that worry me."
Arlan didn't deny it and went straight to the point. "Merchant Fionn, I heard he is a close friend of yours."
"As the territory lord of the north, I have dealings with all sorts of merchants who have benefits to offer, but as you have mentioned him, I have something for Your Highness."
The personal aide of the Duke received a signal from his master and brought one log book from the stack placed in one of the shelves.
"This is the record tracking what Merchant Fionn has been doing these days."
"I worry about your friendships, Duke Rhys," Arlan commented as he looked into the log book.
"There are no permanent friends or permanent enemies, only permanent interests, Your Highness."
Arlan flipped through the latest accounts. "The record is quite comprehensive. Are these provided by a high noble from the south?"
"Most came from Duke Maxil, the territory lord of Selve himself. He was concerned about the sudden influx of banned herbs arriving via ships in his port city, and he asked me to coordinate with him to find out where the smuggled goods were headed. We lost track of the herbs, but the traces show they are being imported in large quantities. Duke Maxil and I are waiting to catch Fionn red-handed in their next shipment."
Arlan closed the log book.
"I will take over the investigation, Duke Rhys."
"Since the royal family wishes to deal with this affair, then I look forward to the outcome," the Duke said with a knowing smile on his lips. He was aware of the way Arlan worked—the Crown Prince never liked to waste time. He would not hesitate to shed blood to wrap up things faster.
The Duke handed over some more information to Arlan.
"Fionn is sitting in Selve. To get him, it is most effective that we first meet this man who is said to be his right hand and takes care of the land route of the smuggled goods. You are fortunate, Your Highness. He happened to have arrived in Jerusha a few days ago, the merchant named Oisin."
Arlan went through the documents, "After dealing with this Oisin, I will deal with Fionn in Selve."
The Duke of Wimark recalled, "I remember Your Highness also happens to be heading to Selve to receive the guests from Megaris. Fionn would never be suspicious of your arrival to the South."
After discussing few more things with the Duke, Arlan left for the further investigation. His senses were telling him that more blood was going to spill today.
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