33: Cost Of Sharing The Night

Cost Of Sharing The Night

"Lady in black?" Arlan brushed past his gaze by Oriana for a split second and noticed how she was internally panicking. "The only lady I see is this cute little lady sitting on my lap, this little lady who weighs like a cotton ball." He lightly pinched her nose to which Rayjin giggled.  2

"I am not that light, Uncle. Mother says I am so heavy now that she cannot lift me anymore."

"Your mother is weak after giving birth to your little brother. You better not let her carry you," he warned sweetly. 

"I won't," Rayjin said and looked back at Oriana. She innocently pointed her finger at her.

"I was talking about that lady."

'Little girl, stop please!' Oriana felt her palms turn sweaty. 

Arlan grinned inwardly at Oriana's reaction and asked his niece, "Why do you call that boy a lady?"

"Boy?" Rayjin tilted her head as if confused. "That can't be. She is pretty. My tutor told me only ladies can be pretty. Boys are supposed to be handsome."

"Pretty?" Arlan scoffed. "Other than you, I see no one pretty here."

Though Oriana felt relieved that Arlan did not seem to take Rayjin's words seriously, a part of her felt pissed at his last statement. 

'Is this young master blind? My face is so pretty that even as a nobleman, you keep sticking to my side like annoying glue. I may be a commoner but I doubt there's many nobles who can match my appearance,' she sighed inwardly, 'every woman in this world wakes up the next day with the thought of looking pretty while I wake up with the thought of hiding my beauty. You can not understand the pain of being heavenly beautiful and then trying to hide it, you brat. Never mind, this guy must have never seen true beauty, can't blame him.'

"Then that mister…?" Rayjin looked at Oriana in confusion.

"Ah, he is just feminine-looking guy. Don't mind him."

"Umm, alright," Rayjin agreed and then opened that small silk pouch she was holding in her hand. "I got something for you uncle. Open your mouth and say, 'ah!'"

"What is it?"

"My favorite candies, of course! Grandma snuck them for me without my nanny knowing," she snickered mischievously. She pulled out one candied fruit and held it in front of Arlan's mouth which he ate gladly. 

"Umm, it's indeed tasty," Arlan said while enjoying its taste. 

Rayjin cheered, "Here comes the second one, Uncle. Say, 'ah!'"

Oriana who was observing them could not help but sigh. 'One moment he's a devil, the next second he's like an angel. Changes his color like a chameleon.'

Rayjin stepped down from Arlan's lap and gave a candy to Imbert, which the knight graciously accepted. To Oriana's surprise, Rayjin offered one candy to her as well. 

"This is for you. Say, 'ah!'"

Oriana was taken aback. This was the last thing she expected a child from a noble family to do. 

When she was a child and came across noble kids, she didn't have much good experience with them and it only made them think all noble kids are nothing but pieces of flesh and bones with rotten brains. They were selfish and arrogant. They loved taking things from others. No noble had been kind to a commoner like her. 

"For me?" Oriana asked to make sure.

"Hmm," the girl nodded. "Don't you like candies?"

How could Oriana say 'no' to that adorable pout?

Arlan signaled the hesitating Oriana to accept it. Rayjin placed the candy on Oriana's outstretched hand.

"Thank you, Young Lady." 

Oriana didn't know why but she felt emotional inside for some reason. Maybe the warmth of a good family and good life which Rayjin was fortunate to get. 

It was envy.

The little girl inside Oriana still longed for someone to pamper and take care of her, a person who will treat her as a girl, not a boy. 

"Why aren't you eating…umm…Mister?" Rayjin asked. 

"Orian," she smiled. "You can call me Orian, Young Lady."

"Mister Orian, eat it or it will turn sticky in your hand."

Oriana nodded and ate it. "Mm-mmm. It's really good!" She praised out loud to make the little girl happy, but she could not deny that it was the best candy she had ever tasted. 

A servant came and whispered something to Rayjin's nanny. "Young Lady, the Duchess said your little brother is awake now. Let us pay the Young Master a visit before he falls asleep again."

"Little Ryan is awake! Hah, then time for his big sister to play with him. I have to go, Uncle!" Ryajin said, bouncing away from Arlan with the energy of a hurricane. 

"You should. Once I finish my work, I will come see you siblings."

"Alright! Bye, Uncle!" the girl said and walked towards her nanny. She waved her hand, "Bye, Imbert. Bye, Orian."

In response, Oriana bowed to her.

As they were left alone, Arlan finally got a chance to continue their talk, "So where were we—"

"My knife!" Oriana exclaimed even before Arlan could think about resuming their talk, "Young Master was supposed to give me back my knife."

Seeing her panic, Arlan didn't stretch the topic. "Imbert."

His knight put a familiar ivory knife on the table in front of Oriana. Beside it was a small pouch. 

"There," Arlan said, "your knife and payment for being my guide that day."

Oriana picked the two items without hesitation. The pouch felt heavy. When she opened it,  she found it full of silver coins, not a single  copper inside. 

At least a hundred silver coins! It could cover her grandfather's medicine expenses for half a year!

"Y-Young Master, isn't it too much for being a guide?" 

Not like she didn't want it, but she felt scared wondering why Arlan was being unnecessarily generous. 

"Too much? I even think it's too little! You forget what kind of exceptional person you served." Arlan arrogantly raised a brow. "If I weren't worried you'd be overwhelmed into tears, I would have given you gold. A few silvers already hurt my pride and image."

'Gold, my ass!' she sneered inside. 'I dare you to really give me gold!' 

She heard him continue, "Half of that is to cover the cost of sharing the last night with me."

Cough! Cough! 

His words, the way he said it, terrified her. 

'Why does he sound like we did something? We didn't—' 

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