66: Scared Of Himself

Scared Of Himself

Meanwhile, her roommate was not as unaffected as Oriana thought.1

Luke found it difficult to sleep next to her. It was even worse than when they were inside the wagon. At least there, there were other people sharing the same space. But tonight…

Though he had his back facing her, Oriana's body was close enough to make him feel different. It was as if her presence was spreading inside the room. Maybe it was his imagination, but he could smell that mild scent from her body, the same scent he noticed when she was freshly bathed. 

Hours crawled by slowly, but he could not sleep. Finally, Luke could no longer bear it and turned around. Though the wick from the lamp was no longer lit, moonlight illuminated the room, the pale light seeping through a gap in the curtains. 

Luke could clearly see the figure of the young man sleeping next to him. 

His gaze observed her beautiful face that was facing him. He felt like he could stare at this face for hours and never get tired of it. As if his hand had its own mind, it moved towards her face, wanting to caress that soft and fair cheek of hers, but he stopped midway. 

Luke looked at his hand in disbelief and pulled it back, tucking it under the blanket. 

'What am I doing? I must be going crazy.' 

Feeling frustrated at himself, Luke stood up and went out of the room. He looked around the drawing room and made his way towards the lone armchair. He had to sleep as far as he could from Oriana. It was safer that way, for both him and his friend.

It was the first time in his life Luke felt scared of himself.

—

The next morning, when Oriana woke up, the sun was already out. 

'Did I sleep that long?' 

The space beside her was empty, the sheets properly folded and set aside. After a lazy stretch, she too fixed her bedding before exiting the room. The house was silent as well She wandered outside, only to find Ena tending to a small part of the yard where she had planted carrots. 

"Good morning, Orian. Did you sleep well??" the woman smiled at her. 

"Good morning." Oriana smiled back and looked around. "I don't see Luke and Ken."

"They left for work about an hour ago. Luke wanted them to leave early."

"Huh? That guy is sure obsessed with work. No wonder his mother is worried about him," she mumbled. 

"Did you say something?" Ena asked. 

"Ah, nothing."

"Well, your food is on the table. Don't go to work without eating. A growing boy like you should eat a lot before starting your day."

"Thanks, Ena. I will wash myself up first." 

Oriana was about to walk towards the well to fetch water when Ena informed her. 

"There is no need to get water. Luke kept enough water for you in the washroom."

Oriana could not be happier than this. This early in the morning, she didn't wish to do hard labor. She hurried inside the house. When she closed the door of the washroom, she found there was a bolt fixed on the edge of the doorway. She felt shocked and touched at the same time. 

'Seems like Luke did it. How thoughtful. That guy is not as cold as he pretends to be.'

After having a satisfying bath and filling herself with delicious food, Oriana bid Ena goodbye and headed towards the merchant district between the inner and outer city. 

The marketplace was large, the streets and alleys complicated, and though she went to the area where the herb shops were generally located, it still covered several streets. It would take her time to go through them all. 

'Waye's Herb Store'

She started to walk from one end of the street to the other, searching through the shops with name boards, but after walking past a number of streets, she found none that says 'Waye's Herb Store'. There were smaller shops with no markers, and guessing the store she's looking for was among them, one by one she began asking the shopkeepers and workers if they knew this particular shop named 'Waye's Herb Store'. 

"I have not heard this name around here, lad. This may be the general area for herbs and medicinal ingredients, but the rent in this street is expensive. There are some smaller shops opening in miscellaneous parts of the market for a cheaper price. I'm afraid you will have to scour the entire market."

"Are you sure the name is right, boy? Because I have never heard this shop's name."

"If you last heard of this shop two years ago , then the shop might have closed down."

"Maybe they had changed the shop name, but if it's recent, I should have at least heard about this name."

"It must be a tiny shop, that is why I have never heard of it."

Oriana continued to get such replies the entire day and there was no clue about this shop.

"I have not searched even a third of the market yet. I will test my luck again tomorrow," she sighed and noticed that the sky was beginning to turn dark. Her steps weighed by disappointment, she turned around to return to Ken's house. 

Ken happened to have arrived  at almost the same time as her. Just as she walked past the fence, the man was washing mud off his feet next to the well. 

"Welcome back, Orian! How was it? Did you find the shop?"

"Not yet," she replied with a sigh and started removing her boots. 

"Don't worry. You will find it if it's there. I will try to ask around as well."

"Thank you, Ken."

After the three of them had their evening meal, Oriana offered to wash the dirty dishes, giving the couple time to relax. 

"...and so, when I measured the wardrobe room his daughter wanted, it would be the size of our house. Can you imagine? The amount of mahogany wood needed for the dressers alone —"

Though Ken was as chatty as usual, his manner of storytelling as riveting as a bard, Oriana felt a strange sense of emptiness after not seeing a certain cold guy for an entire day. She could not help but inquire about him. 

"How was the first day of work for Luke?"

"Fantastic, of course," Ken beamed. "My cousin is a skilled man and he can easily adapt to any situation. He worked well and the master builder even praised how he could execute instructions given to him really well."

"That's good to know," she said and mumbled under her breath, "Iceberg didn't even wake me before leaving in the morning."

Afterwards, Oriana retired to the guest room. As she spread her mat on the cold floor , she glanced at the empty place next to her. 

'Did I do something wrong to him? Why does it feel like he's mad at me?' She pursed her lips. 'It's not like he will honestly answer if I ask. Maybe when he returns in a few days, I can guess it from his behavior if he is truly upset with me.'

She lightly massaged her legs before blowing out the light from the lamp and turning in for the night. "I hope by tomorrow I can find that herb shop…"

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