The House of Zephirre

"Whoops, my bad."

Martin apologized with a wry smile, before studying her cloaked figure with raised eyebrows.

"What I'm trying to say is, it's surprising to see you here roaming around so early in the day. What's the matter? Got anything good for this boss of yours?"

Saying this, he eyed at the box in the girl's arms, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

"You got it right, Boss." Riize dryly coughed, thinking to herself.

She hadn't left for the Demon Realm for weeks, what can she possibly bring out other than the 'idle' goods in her house which she had a hard time selling out?

Although she and Martin had known each other since the day she stepped into the town, there's no such thing as friends or close acquaintances in business. Whoever they are, she would equally strive to extract the most benefits from them if given the chance to.

Thus, she cleared her throat and led him onto the purpose of her arrival with a serious face, "I'm here to offer Boss some antiques, would you like to see?"

In fact, it was pointless for Riize to ask as whether the bald vendor expressed his interest or not, she would still shove her goods into his arms, forcing him to offer her a good price.

"Hmm? Let's see what you got here." Martin received the goods with an amused smile. He placed the package on the table and pulled at the silk tie, unwrapping the box with interest.

"Antique plates?" Martin ran a finger against the surface of the circular shining object, marveling at the meticulous design when a sudden cool sensation pricked at his skin. "These are made of the finest materials. Excellent." He nodded in appreciation.

He then carefully examined every corner of the plates, "No defects spotted. It has been preserved in good condition. However-" Martin smacked his lips, raising his eyes to peer at the girl's minute reaction, "These are no antiques."

"Look! Time has left not a mark on these plates. These are obviously brand new! Where do you get these items from, Little Riize? It was safe to say that you have been scammed!" Martin chuckled, inwardly feeling bad for the young and naive demon, unaware of the demon's true intention.

Embarrassed to be caught this fast, Riize truthfully confessed. "They are gifts from a client." She then scratched her cheek and looked away, "Pookie told me that it'll fetch a higher price if I claim them to be antiques."

And as her last effort to salvage the situation, Riize gave the man a nonchalant thumbs up, feigning her indifference. "Boss, you're very insightful for seeing right through this matter. Good job."

"..."

Martin found himself lost in words. He almost couldn't believe his ears, feeling that it would be better to feed his pity to the dogs than to these two sneaky scammers.

Till the end of the day, the bald vendor still held some favors for the girl and offered her 100 Ethers for each plate, which earned him an unimpressed gaze from the thankless little demon.

"Fine, you win. 120 Ethers, that's all that I can offer. Take it or leave it." Martin coldly harrumphed, raising his chin and folding his arms against his chest in a haughty manner.

"Alright, I understand." Looking at his seemingly unbudgeable stance, Riize merely nodded her head, her hands moving under the vendor's confused eyes to carry the plates back to the box and wrap them up.

"Huh, what are you doing?"

Martin couldn't keep up with the sudden change of movement, watching dumbly as the girl swiftly packed her things and turned her heels around to leave, her voice trailing off as her figure drifted away from the stall.

"I'll leave it for now. If I can't get a better offer later on, I'll come back to you boss."

Martin: "..."

Wait, you can do that too? That crafty demon!

===

After leaving the bald vendor's stall, Riize offered her goods to a lot of stalls, finding to her disappointment that not one had been fooled by her attempt to sell the plates as antiques.

It was a foolish attempt in the first place, and realizing this, Riize suddenly felt the urge to knock some sense into the slime who could only laze around all day in their house, feeding her weird ideas and ordering her around like a boss.

Catching up her breath, Riize sat on a nearby log to take a rest, when she heard some vendors from the nearby stalls embroiling in a sort of heated discussion amongst themselves.

She saw them pointing at a group of trained men dressed in uniformed cloaks, supposedly belonging to the same faction, as they whispered to themselves with hushed voices.

"Hey, have you heard? It is said that the house of Zephirre will be welcoming the new mistress of the house in a month's time."

Riize's slouched back instantly straightened as if all tiredness was instantly washed away by the single mention of that name.

'Kairos and that woman, they… are getting married?'

Hidden behind the devil mask, Riize's face became frighteningly rigid.

The idea of marriage with that man. Not even after the passing of their 10 years of relationship had the man brought up the matter with her. And yet, when it comes to that woman…

Riize's frown turned increasingly ugly, her fingers tightening into stone-hard fists. Spontaneously, her figure shifted closer to not miss a word.

"What? Haven't they just appointed the new head half a month ago? What's with the hurry? I reckon that the young head hasn't even properly stabilized his newly-attained position yet. To think of wedding his lover at this time, wouldn't it be too much of a rush?"

A younger tenant expressed her doubt, to which another more knowledgeable tenant responded whilst shaking his head.

"This is where you get it wrong, Lizzy. It is only thanks to the Ferdinan household that the heir was able to be crowned that soon. Now that the task is done, the heir will be expected to fulfill his own side of the deal by marrying Lady Calis, lest the house gets uneasy with their cooperation."

"Oh, it's the Ferdinan's Lady Calis? But, hasn't the heir kept a demon lover by his side for years? What will be of the demon if he were to bring in another woman, and to be his official wife at that? Won't that cause a bloody massacre?"

The younger tenant named Lizzy questioned with a frown, seemingly expressing her pity for the poor demon. And this invited the knowledgeable tenant's contempt.

"Silly Lizzy, are you worrying about a demon right now? They were unlike us humans, possessing horns that grant them innate powers belonging to that of Ancient Gods. Not even the all-powerful poisonous miasma was able to do a thing to them and yet, here you are, worrying for the likes of them!"

The knowledgeable tenant then sighed, as if expressing his regrets as well.

"Unfortunately, the demon had been dealt with long before the wedding news came to be known. Is it half a year ago? I'm not that sure. It is said that it was the heir himself, Kairos, who had claimed her life, breaking her two demonic horns with his own hands to be kept as his achievement and leaving the demon to die a slow and painful death."

"Nevertheless, that happened a long time ago and it's not as if we can do anything about it anyway." The knowledgeable tenant shrugged. He then clapped his hands, diverting the subject back to their initial topic.

"Now, about the wedding, I heard that the Zephirres just sent their men to hunt for some precious ores from the Demon Realm. The specific types aren't told, but I heard that they're raising their requests to surrounding merchants and tenants as well. What do you say we—"

Saying this, the knowledgeable tenant revealed a crafty smile, his voice turning barely audible as Riize gradually distanced herself away.

She lowered her eyes to the ground beneath her feet, her surroundings morphing to a state of silence as the gears in her mind revolved to think of her next move.

"They're heading to the Demon Realm?" She muttered to herself, dark eyes glinting with ominous lights.

"Wouldn't they need a capable guide for that?"

As a brilliant idea gradually materialized in her mind, her lips curled to form a devious smile.

No matter what, not even in their dreams would she allow that dog pair of a man and a woman to get their happily ever after this easily!