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0.88% The Devil's Betrothed / Chapter 7: One Condition

Chương 7: One Condition

No matter what, crying over spilled milk was useless. She quickly controlled her expression and scoffed, "Fair maiden? Young Master, you insult me. This commoner might be younger, and thus, smaller compared to a handsome man like you, but I am a proper man!"

'Proper man?' Arlan almost burst into laughter. 'Does she take me for a fool? When I fell on her, I clearly felt—'

"Young Master, please spare my life!" Her voice cut through his thoughts. "I beg you to let go of me."

Arlan almost forgot he still had her pinned with a knife on her throat.

"What if you run?" he asked, not budging.

"Umm, Young Master, we can talk through this, can't we? This is the first time we have seen each other, and we have no deep grudges. Why will I run? Seems like you have mistaken me for someone else."

Arlan raised a brow, wanting to see what shenanigan she came up with. "Do you think so?"

Her lips trembled nervously but she maintained the subservient smile on her face. "Of course, or else, why would a respected noble like you follow a lowly being like me? You look like a distinguished young master of a noble family while I am a good-for-nothing son of humble birth who mingles in the slums."

'Son?'

A smirk on Arlan's lips widened at her blatant lie.

Getting no response from the man in front of her, the young woman squirmed. In the end, Arlan relented and took a step back, causing her to let out a sigh of relief.

Her eyes on the knife in his hand, she awkwardly rubbed her throat, a part of her reeling from having the blade against her skin.

From now on, she would act like a normal person!

Thinking about how proud nobles are, she put on a meek expression, imitating how servants would talk to their masters, her tone servile.

"This…I-I apologize for hurting you, Young Master. I mistakenly thought I was being followed by a thief who saw me selling herbs and wanted to steal the coins I earned."

"Me, a thief?"

"My bad for not thinking clearly before attacking you. It was a terrible mistake, but I believe that Young Master has a benevolent heart and will not hold me liable for such a silly misunderstanding. I am sure your time is precious, and I shall not waste it. I shall take my leave…"

'Not so fast, Shortie.'

Arlan would not let her slip away easily. He observed her pretty face. Since she wanted to pretend as a man, he would happily play along with her.

"I feel we are destined to meet like this, young man." He put a friendly arm over her shoulder, causing her to stiffen. He pretended not to notice her discomfort. "The more I look at you, the more you remind me of my younger brother. Alas, I miss him badly! Since you are done selling your herbs, how about you spend some time with me?"

"T-Time with you?" she said nervously, her eyes shaking. "Young Master, this lowly commoner dare not!"

Her mind was screaming, 'There is no way I will spend time with a brat like you!'

As if reading her thoughts, Arlan chuckled inwardly. He tightened his arm around her shoulder, acting like they were a pair of old brothers who had not seen each other for years.

"To mark our new brotherhood, how about a drink in a tavern, young man?"

Cold sweat appeared at the back of her neck. "D-Drink? I don't drink…"

He raised a questioning brow as he turned his face to look at her. "What kind of man doesn't drink?"

She gulped, her panic rising.

'The longer I stay by his side, the higher the chance he recognizes it was me who stabbed him yesterday. What if he cuts off my limbs? Worse, what if he sends me to prison after cutting off my limbs? I cannot afford to get caught.'

"I-I…mean, I do not drink during the day," she smoothly lied. "As a mere herb collector, it is hard to make ends meet. Every second of labor counts to feed my family. It is not wise to waste myself with drinks."

"One drink won't make you go wasted. Besides, I will pay for our drinks."

"C-Can we keep it for some other day? Today, I really have an important business to attend to. I still need to sell more herbs."

Arlan thought for a moment and finally decided to let her go but… "On one condition."

She sighed in relief, but did not lower her guard. "What condition?"

"I will follow you to see how you do your business."

Air was stuck in her throat. A sense of incredulity sprung up, but she could not show it on her face.

"A noble brat—I mean, young master like you, it does not suit a person of your status to wander in the marketplace and—"

"Even nobility needs to know how things work in the market. For our businesses to flourish, understanding the needs of our customers is a must. You seem like a smart and reliable young man. I look forward to learning from you, brother."

"B-But…"

Arlan narrowed his eyes on her. "How about I hire you as my guide? Don't you have to feed your family? You will not refuse additional income, right? Or do you wish me to alert the city guards about you attacking a noble in broad daylight?"

Playing with the knife in his hand, Arlan let out a deliberate sigh.

"I am truly unlucky. I am yet to find the attacker who stabbed me yesterday, and yet today someone held a knife against my neck," Arlan said, before pursing his lips as if in thought. "That reminds me, this knife looks familiar…"

She immediately grabbed that knife. "Young Master, this is a common knife used by herb collectors."

As she safely tucked the knife back in her belt, she offered him what she believed was a manly smile, but to Arlan, it looked like a naughty smile of a young lady.

"Let this guide show you how he does business."


next chapter

Chương 8: Scum Of A Shopkeeper

Oriana felt emboldened at the thought of him not recognizing her.

Why would she refuse such an easy job? As long as she satisfies the whims of this bored nobleman for an hour or two, she could probably earn enough to not head to the city for the next few days.

As she walked to lead their way, Arlan stopped her. "Wait!"

She almost missed a step, but as she faced him, her anxious expression turned into a smiling one. "Yes, Young Master?"

"You are yet to tell me your name," he replied and watched her give out a sigh of relief.

"Ah, my name? It's Oriana—Orian! My name is Orian!"

"Orian," Arlan repeated. "Silly name."

Oriana narrowed her eyes at him, but seeing his innocent face, unaware how offensive his reaction was, she stomped at her growing irritation.

'Oriana' was the name her grandfather gave her. This noble brat dared—

"If you find my name silly, you can call me Ian if you like, Young Master."

She was inwardly gagged at her own words, but with the threat of the city guards looming over her, together with the allure of the pay he promised, she was forced to keep a humble smile on her face.

"Uhm, may I ask how I should address you, Young Master?"

Arlan clearly saw the displeasure in her eyes, and it was admirable how she held her temper in. This kind of talent, she would be useful in the future. He could not help but grin inwardly.

"Call me Arlan," he answered.

'Arlan? Doesn't ring a bell. Is he not a local noble? Maybe he is some hidden illegitimate child—'

Realizing she had enough unnecessary trouble as it is, she kept her thoughts to herself.

"Such an elegant name befitting a noble like you, Young Master Arlan!"

If Arlan did not know better, he would have thought this woman called Oriana was a genuine bootlicker.

"So, Oriana—ah! Orian, shall we get going?"

Leaving the deserted alley, the pair returned to the market once more. Oriana did her role as guide seriously—she introduced the market of Jerusha to him from the perspective of a commoner. She also briefly explained the common dangers of collecting herbs, allowing him to see her in a new light, sharing a few stories of her being chased by wild animals.

Observant and adaptable, not to mention quick to think on her feet.

They stopped at the main square, leading to the other districts of the marketplace. It was pretty crowded.

"Young Master, do you see that line of shops? The first up to the third street from here, they are mostly shops that sell medicinal ingredients. The apothecaries and large shops do not buy from unaffiliated collectors like me since they have regular herb suppliers. We will go to the smaller shops to sell."

With his adorable teacher acting so serious, Arlan could only behave like an obedient student, listening attentively to her explanations

Just as she looked over her shoulder, she almost bumped into the bulky man coming from the other direction.

"Watch out!" Arlan pulled her back.

His grabbing her hand startled her, and by the time she recovered, she was pressed against his strong muscular chest. She hurried to push him away.

"Don't you have eyes at the back of your head?" she heard him say in discontent as he let her go. "You even noticed me following you."

Oriana felt the urge to hit him—this and that was different! Still, realizing he protected her, she scratched her cheek.

"Apologies, Young Master. I will be careful. And thank you for helping me."

The bulky man was carrying a crate of goods. If she bumped into him, an injury was the least of her concerns—she would also be forced to pay for any damages on those goods.

His serious gaze stuck at her apologetic face. "This is how you work in this crowded market? Not paying attention to where you are going and then getting hurt?"

"It was a silly mistake. This is the first time this has happened. I will be careful—"

The more Oriana spoke, the more she felt something was wrong.

'Wait, why am I apologizing? Why is he mad in the first place? What's with this noble brat? Even my grandpa doesn't raise his voice at me like this.'

Arlan lightly shook his head, surprising even himself at how displeased he was.

As he scanned the crowd for that bulky man, Arlan's gaze caught a familiar face. His guardian knight, Imbert, was making his way towards him. It appeared Imbert had sent that spy back to the Wimark Estate with Rafal and he had been searching for his liege for some time.

Arlan gave him a discreet hand signal, which made Imbert stop in his tracks.

The knight wondered what the Crown Prince was up to and found a pretty-looking young man accompanying his liege. His hawk-like gaze observed the young man, but he did not recognize him.

A new acquaintance of the prince?

Though Imbert didn't approach Arlan, as a responsible knight sworn to protect him, he followed them but maintained an appropriate distance, far enough to not be noticed but near enough to respond to the prince's orders.

"...this is the Starry Night Herbal Shop," Oriana said, unaware of the silent exchange. "I am acquainted with the son of the shopkeeper, and he always pays a decent price—"

As they went near the entrance of one shop, Oriana heard sounds of argument coming from inside.

The shopkeeper himself was manning the counter, and he was arguing with a man. From the conversation, it looked like the shopkeeper was trying to take advantage of the poor man who was there to sell the herbs.

Oriana tsked. "How unlucky. Did the shopkeeper change work shifts with his son?"

The man looked like he was in urgent need of coins and had to unwillingly sell those herbs at a lower price than he expected.

Recalling how she too once suffered from similar injustice, Oriana could not stand by.

"That scum of a shopkeeper. How dare he bully that poor fellow? Does he not know how dangerous our line of work is?" Oriana mumbled before rubbing her chin. She then turned towards her companion.

Seeing her expression turn shrewd, Arlan felt something fun awaits the shopkeeper.

"Watch carefully how I do business, Young Master."


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