Tavern

A foul-tempered Oriana was waiting for Arlan outside the tavern.

It's been more than half an hour since she arrived at their promised meeting place.

Earlier, she found herself a table on a nice corner inside, intending to snack while waiting for the noble brat to arrive, but she had to witness useless drunkards talking trash and being rude to the female servers.

The strong stench of alcohol and their rowdy laughter were suffocating. One drunkard even invited her, 'the poor little boy in the corner' to join their table.

Not to mention running through the dangerous forest to reach the city as fast as she could, she had also been disgusted twice by the scenes inside the tavern. No wonder Oriana was in an extremely foul mood.

Adding insult to injury, that brat was still nowhere to be seen!

'That brat didn't forget, did he?'

She decided to wait outside, unless she ended up in a brawl.

At that moment, Arlan had reached the tavern, but since he was riding a horse, he headed for the stables on the side and simply passed by the entrance. From a distance, he saw Oriana standing outside, idly kicking rocks.

'That knife is really important to her."

Just as Arlan and Imbert dismounted, a man on horseback found them.

"Greetings, Your Highness. Greetings, Commander."

If Luke and Rina were here, they would have recognized the newcomer— he was the same suspicious man who was asking about Orian.

"What did you find, Kerry?" Imbert asked the knight disguised as a mercenary.

"Orian the Herbalist—he is a fifteen-year-old commoner who lives in a nameless village at the eastern outskirts of the forest near the town of Gerona. He mainly sells herbs for a living, but he also treats the illnesses of his fellow villagers, though they compensate him with basic goods. He is an orphan living with his relatives since he was a kid," the knight informed them. "and that relative's daughter is betrothed to him."

Arlan raised an eyebrow at the result of the knight's initial investigation.

'Betrothed? She even managed to fool my knight. Does that mean she has been disguised as a man for so long, perhaps only her family knew her real gender?' A smirk appeared on his lips widened. 'Why, things are turning out to be so interesting all of a sudden.'

"...that is basically the lad's background. Any more instructions, Your Highness?" the knight asked. "Shall I trace his whereabouts for the past months as well? From my understanding, they migrated from another town—"

"You don't have to look into it anymore," Arlan replied. "You did well, Kerry. You may go."

After dismissing the other knight, Imbert stepped into the shadows, effortlessly blending into the crowd. "I will be around, Your Highness."

Arlan simply walked ahead as he knew he didn't need to tell his knight what to do. After being his guardian knight for so long, Imbert knew his role was to stay in the background unless ordered otherwise.

Meanwhile, Oriana was close to the end of her patience.

"Where is that noble brat? He said to meet here at the same time! These arrogant nobles have no value for other's time—"

She started to pace here and there, still kicking at random pebbles on the ground.

"Once I get my knife from him, I swear I am not gonna see that swine ever again!"

She stopped and stomped her feet. "That brat, once I see him—"

"What do you plan on doing, hmm?"

A person was standing behind her, whispering into her ear, without her sensing his presence. Startled, she jumped and almost elbowed the other person, but at the nick of time, she recognized his voice.

It's that good-for-nothing arrogant noble, that brat she wished she could stab for a third time, Arlan!

However, as Oriana turned around to face the tall, handsome man, a smile like blooming flowers graced her face, not a trace of her real thoughts visible.

"Young Master, your honorable self came right on time!"

Arlan found her switch so funny, it took effort to keep his mouth from twitching., "I heard you calling me a brat."

"Who? You? You misunderstand, Young Master, ah, that, there is someone who just annoyed me so I was cursing him. Apologies for letting your esteemed self hear such crass words unworthy of your reputation."

"Who is this unfortunate brat and what did he do to get cursed by you?" he asked with interest.

'Who else? It's you, you annoying lord of a noble.' Despite those thoughts, that bright smile on her face did not change. "Just some nobody. We don't have to talk about him. I was waiting for you and you are here just in time. Then, can Young Master give me back my—"

"Alright then. Let's go inside," Arlan interrupted her and took a step forward.

"Wait, Young Master. Can you first return my—"

He looked at her over his shoulder. "Didn't we agree on drinking?"

"Did we?" she asked and looked towards the tavern. "It is crowded tonight with lowly commoners. It might not be suitable for an esteemed noble like Young Master to be surrounded by those noisy drunkards."

"Noisy? They sound like they're having fun. I think the lively atmosphere is perfect," Arlan countered, "and looking at you, I am sure you are more comfortable surrounded by your fellow commoners. Don't worry. I am here to experience the small joys of a commoner. You look like you love to drink, and I happen to love drinking as well."

'Huh? Do I look like a drunkard? Is this guy blind or what?'

"Don't worry, don't worry." Arlan even patted her shoulder in a brotherly way. "I will pay for everything you drink and eat. This young master is not stingy."

He turned to go inside the tavern.

"You have coins for booze, but not to pay me for yesterday?" Oriana gritted her teeth. 'Men sure are wasteful, degenerated creatures.'

Seeing her not moving, Arlan looked over his shoulder once more. "Aren't you going to lead the way for me?"

"Ah, yes." She went ahead and led the way for this trash of a noble who she wanted to get rid of as soon as possible. 'It's fine. This is just once. I can bear with it for a while.'