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."