Chapter 361 He Like Her

“You live here?” Anne had thought that the man would be living at a fine inn or a decent cottage but to her surprise it was an old house that did not look in a good condition.

The place was rusty and gave off an odd feeling. He opened the door with an embarrassed face as he nodded.

The insides were no better. The house would not stay for long. It could fall any moment with the weak and old pillars and the color had fallen from the walls.

Though the house was clean, it had minimal furniture and gave off a decaying vibe of decaying.

“I know it is a bit rusty and old. But I got it too cheap to have my own, or I would have been living in an inn for a long time with no place to go if I lost my job.” he said with an embarrassed face.

Many nobles or people with higher posts never accept that they are lacking financially. It is about their image. So, she nodded and did not press the matter. It was already a big thing that he told her such a thing and brought her to his house.

“Because you are someone I like.” the words flashed again in her mind when she shook her head and slapped her cheeks.

What was she even thinking.

“Water?” she raised her head only to meet his eyes. He was bending so that he could give her the glass of water but it brought their faces too closer when she raised her head,

His smell was like rosewood that felt tingling on her face as she looked away.

After taking a deep breath, she picked up the glass of water and drank all in one swig. It made her feel better.

“So.. what happened in the town there?” he asked as he sat beside her when she realized that their body was too close to each other that their thighs almost touched.

“I do not think that it was just an accident looking at the amount of loss by fire. And more than that, only the black market was burnt but the places beside it did not face any loss at all!” he said in a knowing tone when she came out of her foolish thoughts.

Strange! She had never felt like that before. Whenever she looked at the man, her eyes would fall on his lips and a desire to kiss her would bloom further in her heart.

Her body felt warm, too warm for her liking. She felt.. Uneasy.

“Why did it matter? The place was where humans were bought and sold but the council never took action against it.

Now that it was burnt, it should not gain so much attention.” she said as she picked up the parchment and nib from the table.

“If a report is what you need, I will do it now.” with that she started to write the report when his eye flickered under the light of the small lanterns that were reflecting on his face.

“I did not mind to pry on you or hurt your sentiments.” His voice turned grave when she craned her head from the parchment and stared back at him, “I only want to know who was behind it because I was never able to gain the courage to stand against wrong, even if I wanted to.”

“………..”

“I have lost part of family in slavery when we were very poor. I worked hard to be part of the council, hoping I could take my revenge but it was never the case.” he looked away. His voice turned somber and his face was gloomy as if pain and hurt was the only thing he could feel.

“When I became a part of the system I realized that it was rotten to the core. But I am still persisting because it is better to be in power than without it.“ He turned back to look at her. Her eyes were not even blinking when he smiled.

“I am not as strong as you. But you inspire me a lot.” She was surprised when he held her hand and brought it closer to his mouth and kissed, “I know that I have been troubling you from the time I met, but I will still hope that you help me until the end.”

She nodded her head, feeling a bit uneasy at his bold actions. Where did the shy and embarrassed boy go?

Yet her heart beat rose again and heat started to rise on her face. She nodded and then took her hands from his with the excuse of completing the report when he nodded and they both started to write the report seriously.

He did not say anything about her after that, yet whenever she looked at his face, the words kept ringing in her mind.

They both made an excuse that the slaves rebelled. They held the guards captive until they freed all of the slaves and then burnt the building that had tormented them for long.

Since the slaves run away, no one knows where they were. The lord came to know about the fire and went with all his knights to save them.

He had gotten hold of a few guards that were trying to kill the innocents and a few slaves that were not part of the rebel and were injured a lot and left behind.

As a lord he was supporting them and giving them treatment. As a compensation they would be freed from the title of salve so that they could start a fresh life.

The matter was getting investigated further but as the black market is burnt completely, the lord have taken the initiative to close it for forever and abolish the system of slavery that should have been done a long ago.

“From now on, trading of human is illegal and no one is allowed to keep slaves.,” said the man with a smile as he read the whole report and then closed the file when Anne nodded, reflecting the smile back.

“Now that we are done with work! Would you like to have dinner with me or maybe wine?”

…….