CH 74

“The juiciest chicken skewers in the whole Empire! Come, swoop in!”

“Milady, here is a necklace that is exactly the same as that worn by Lady Sios. Please take a look.”

“My hot soup will warm your body and mind!”

In the night market, merchants were bustling about, beckoning buyers.

The night market, which I came to for the first time since the time I walked by the hand with my father, was a kind of place. But today I was here for business.

My goal was an oriental goods store.

All sorts of curiosities from the east are on the wide counter.

“If you are looking for something, please, any whim.”

A man in a traditional oriental outfit came up to me and smiled at thirty-two.

I was wearing a magic ring now, and I pretended to be a commoner.

It was the place to go and know. My hair color will shout that I am lady Croft. So it was painfully noticeable.

I took off my hat and said to the merchant:

“I’m looking for an incense burner. Do you have something like that?”

“Of course we have. Here you will find all the items from the countries of the East.”

The man pulled out something similar.

White porcelain with lid and holes.

“I heard this thing… is it burning herbs in it?”

“Yes, yes. A very useful thing. Of course, many commoners… it’s even used by the king’s family,” said the man, opening the lid.

“If you put herbs in there and cover them, the scent comes out through these holes,” the merchant explained to me, pretending to add herbs inside.

Such incense would take advantage of the demand from the nobility, along with perfume.

After talking with Rosaleen, I thought about it and came here.

Tomorrow we need to talk with Jed about importing incense burners from the East.

“I want to buy an incense burner, how much does it cost?”

“40 copper.”

I gave the merchant one silver coin.

“Keep the change.”

One silver was equal to 100 coppers. The merchant widened his eyes at the overly generous wages.

Now he probably suspected that he had previously made a mistake in my status.

“This incense burner is to my liking. I’ll give it to someone important… Please wrap it up so it doesn’t break.”

“Yes. Of course.”

Pretending that he didn’t find what was happening strange, he immediately smiled and carefully put the incense burner in a wooden box.

Taking the box, I instantly regretted not taking the servant with me.

I walked along the street, thinking how to get back to the carriage as soon as possible.

“Get out of the way!”

I froze from a child’s cry.

Turning to the sound, I saw a little girl who was now lying on the ground in front of a sturdy man.

Violets from a basket scattered next to the girl.

“Oh, look over there.”

“What’s happened?”

When all eyes were focused on them, the man shouted loudly:

“What is that supposed to mean?! Dirty my clothes! How are you going to recoup this for me?! Do you even know how much it costs? More precious than your life!”

“Sorry.”

The little girl knelt in front of the screaming man and bowed her head.

She looked about ten years old.

Four or five years older than Carlisle, but still small.

I approached this turbulent scene.

“Excuses, is that all? You ruined my outfit! The little bitch threw herself at my feet!”

From the sharp attacks of the man, the girl squeezed her shoulders even tighter.

“You will answer me for this. Will you trade your body or something…”

“Stop it.”

At that moment, when the man tried to approach the girl, I stood in front of him.

“What, huh?”

The man was dumbfounded by my sudden appearance. But then he fell upon me with an evil laugh.

“Ha! What else can I say, now all kinds of rabble are crawling under my arms!”

The man’s loud voice cut into my ears. I couldn’t bear it without wrinkling my face.

“Honorable sir…”

I glanced at the man and the knights behind him.

His clothes are not made of very expensive brocade, contrary to his tantrums.

I told him, looking straight into his eyes.

“I will refund you the money for the clothes, don’t touch the child anymore.”

I wish I could teach him a lesson, but right now the hype was not handy for me.

To punish him, I had to reveal my identity, and then the whole world would know that I was hiding behind a commoner.

It would be bad if rumors spread that Duke Croft’s daughter was playing dress-up.

I planned to pay him with copper coins, save the child and quietly leave.

“You? Do you know how much it costs? What kind of heresy are you talking about?!”

The man behaved more absurd.

“It seems that these days all trash has completely lost its fear. Do you want to die today?!”

This man turned out to be the roughest of all expectations.

No matter how different the status of commoners and nobles, it was illegal to threaten such a commoner who didn’t commit a sin.

Should I show them my personality?

I seriously thought to do it when I saw these animal eyes sparkling opposite.

It seems that this idiot from the very beginning didn’t want to let go of the small child.

“Your face is not my type, but your body is good for something. Both you and this young bitch, today both understand the difference between our status.”

The man raised his hand to me. At that moment, when I wanted to take off the ring, someone grabbed the man by the wrist.

“And you, by the way, are incredibly lucky. If you touched this woman, you would be hanging on the gallows today.”

Cold, low, and familiar voice.

Raymond.

The hair color was now dark brown.

But the graceful face hasn’t changed.

I immediately recognized him.

And it looks like he knew who I was, too.

He only once saw me like this, but, it seems, he remembered me.

At that moment, Raymond’s gaze rested on me.

He twisted the man’s wrist.

A strange crunch followed by a man’s scream.

“Aahhh! My hand!!!”

The man was now rolling on the ground, holding his broken wrist with his other hand.

The knights grabbed their swords, but Raymond’s men were quicker.

A sharp blade touched their necks. The knights who couldn’t even draw their sword rolled their eyes in fear.

Raymond stepped carefully on the chest of a man rolling on the floor.

“Should I cut off the tongue that makes so much noise?”

The man’s face wrinkled in pain, but he no longer screamed. He seemed to have sensed that the aura around Raymond was unusual.

“Have mercy…”

A man on the ground prayed quietly.

Raymond smiled.

“You reasoned about the difference in statuses. I also want to show you the laws of our Empire. Now you will learn from me that if you stick your paws wherever you get, they can be cut off.”

His tone was light, playful, but his eyes flashed with threat.

As if he would immediately cut off the man’s limb.

The man sensed his mood and shivered.

The moment Raymond tried to pull the sword from its scabbard, I called out to him.

“Ray, stop it.”

After a moment, his movements froze. He stepped over the man and turned to me.