"Good morning, Nella. Are you out to do some shopping?" The owner of the amber eyes greeted her. The woman with the calm voice was familiar to her and the occasional skinship between them was more like a tease to show off their closeness to each other. As they both agreed to behave this way, Arianell felt no repulse.
"Good day to you, Mrs Beatrice. Are you also out for a morning walk?"
The woman in her late 20s was the teacher at the small school for the poor in Deneb and also Arianell's first 'friend'. The official education system in the west was close to none, and the residents of Deneb were mostly illiterate, as few nobles present in the city would educate their children at home with private tutors. Only after Beatrice's years of insistent, the provisional school was created.
The teacher position was an official job requested by the royal family, so a small salary was provided. Even so, teaching all the children of various ages in the village was too much work for one person alone. Upon learning that Arianell could read and write and was even educated in history and math, Beatrice spared no energy to recruit her into the school.
Arianell accepted an offer to teach twice a week and introduced herself as 'Nella'. Her money pouch was shrinking day by day, so to have a bit more would be welcomed. But most importantly, the job came up with an entry pass, so she no longer had to pay a fee for entering the city.
Beatrice smiled sweetly. She liked this girl from the first moment they met. She was young, but not easily flustered, and could deal with old and young with ease. Her face was exceptionally beautiful, but she didn't use it to her advantage. Ask anyone at the marketplace and they will be able to point out her other characteristics, rather than just a pretty appearance.
Two women walked together around the marketplace. As she expected, people come to get their daily gossip dose. The same goes for Beatrice, who called their morning meetings an inevitable life lesson.
But today, their morning walk was disturbed by many women decorating themselves, as they discussed some new hot topics. The usually grey city was now full of colour, as many girls and young women at marriageable ages showed off their best clothes.
"Is there some kind of event?" Arianell asked, as her eyes were hurt by the shining palette. They just passed by one of the groups and the high-pitched enthusiastic scream was almost unbearable, and they had to cover their ears with their hands.
"Mihail Samar, the heir to Samar merchants will come… The girls are thrilled as he is supposed to be good-looking. And single." Beatrice moved her glasses with a light smug smile.
For Arianell, the highly coveted bachelor was not interesting news, but the crowd before her stopped completely. It was impossible to move ahead, so she waited with others as the merchant's carts entered the city.
People in the procession dressed in exotic clothes were not from Alviraz. Unlike the pale, almost greyish and unhealthy skin of westerners due to the lack of vitamins, the newcomers were dark-skinned, like a cup of chocolate diluted with a lot of milk.
"The Samar group is from Southern islands," Beatrice explained as she watched a curious expression on Arianell's face. "All of the islanders have dark skin, almost black eyes, and hair, unlike us in Alviraz with various colour combinations."
"Southern islands are quite far away. What are they doing here?"
"Profits, what else? The battlefield has become active again, more killings mean more demon's corpses and more possibly found treasures. The merchants will station here, hoping to strike the deals. However,…" Beatrice lowered her voice. "The Samars are desperate this time. The madam of the group seems to have an incurable disease, only the miraculous herb found in demons' bodies can save her. It's no secret anyway, they have advertised anywhere that they would buy the medicine at the highest price."
"What kind of medicine?"
"I don't know… Maybe the legendary one, that can save you from certain death."
"Such a thing exists?"
"Probably… You can find all kinds of weirdness in a demon's body."
Beatrice then soon lost interest in the procession, as the young heir wasn't to her fancy. She said she was looking for someone older than her, possibly a brave soldier with a granted pension, so the rich merchant's heir was like a baby to her. In fact, being close to 30 and still not married would be scoffed upon in society. But in the west, people don't care about decorum.
Arianell felt a little sting in her consciousness, as technically she was even older than Beatrice. She doesn't care about the possible romance, but she couldn't look away from the exotic sight.
Everything about the islanders was different. As a person who travelled a lot in her past life, she has still yet to come and visit countries in the Middle East and Africa. She was immersed in studying their accessories when she felt a gaze on her.
The man on the horseback was watching her intensively. With one look she could tell he was different from the rest.
Is he the rumoured leader?
He was dressed differently than the kingdom's young masters, but one could still tell that his clothes were made from luxurious fabrics.
Not to lie, he was handsome. But why was he watching her? He wouldn't look away even when his stalking gaze was discovered.
Arianell felt uncomfortable. She pointed out her chin challenging him to stop.
The man let out a chuckle, then clearly mouthed a few words to her.
YOU. ARE. RUDE.
Arianell instantly felt her cheeks on fire. She must be red as a radish.
RUDE?! How dare he say that to her?
Her anger was boiling up, but the march of carts already moved forward. All she could do was curse the back of the man silently.