Tyrant's Obsession With The Heiress-Chapter 77: A Devil Attempting To Be Polite

When Lady Karina accused him of being responsible for the ruin of her dress, Orpheus' jaw ticked dangerously. He'd only been trying to help by ensuring that the people would sign their marks onto her parchment, so why was she upset with him?

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He wasn't the one to blame if the people were cowardly and rushed forward like cattle after he encouraged them to sign up for the lady's offer. Although it was quite satisfying to see them panicked and scared, it nearly made his lips twitch into a smirk.

Nevertheless, Orpheus did nothing more than eye the lady's gown where it was ruined and turned his back on her without a word.'

"Make a neat line," he ordered, making his way back along the crowd of frightened people. "No pushing and rushing for you all will be able to make your mark soon enough."

Lady Karina sighed heavily, watching him treat the patrons like a herd of cattle, before settling back down and reclaiming what remained of her inkwell.

The first man who signed up was shaking so much with fear that his "X" came out as two wriggly lines that could hardly be recognised as an alphabet.

And so the process carried into the next morning, leaving Lady Karina exhausted and sleep rolling in her eyes. In little time, she had managed to hire forty-eight men and sixteen women, ten of whom were magic-capable.

Their instructions were to arrive at Moonveil in two days and she promised them that they would be compensated in full by the end of the harvest.

By the time Lady Karina finished signing up the last woman, the tavern was empty for all had left. They had no desire to remain in the presence of the Black Frost Demon, who watched them like a hawk, his eyes not even blinking for a second the entire time.

Orpheus stood several feet away, watching Lady Karina intensely as Lyall covered the front door and the two remaining knights covered the rear entrance.

When the ink on the lady's parchment was properly sanded, he approached the table.

"Is all satisfactory, my lady?" He questioned, his eyes trailing over to where her dress was ruined once more.

Lady Karina nodded, carefully closing the lid on her box. "I believe so. There were more people that signed on than I hoped for."

He could see she was still quite sullen about her dress, considering that by now she would usually make some witty remark about his barbaric behaviour from earlier.

Orpheus' eyes followed the graceful movements of her lovely hands as she carefully rolled up the parchment. It was strange that no matter what she did, she did it so beautifully that it was near impossible to tear his gaze away from her.

"Shall I have a meal brought for you, my lady?" He asked politely, rather unusually, but he suspected he'd rather tread carefully since she must have been fuming on the inside about her dress.

Lady Karina blinked in thought. "I suppose so. Are there any such refreshments in this place?"

Orpheus was already turning for the barback. "We shall find out soon enough."

"Orpheus," she called out in a surprisingly gentle tone that made him stop. When he looked at her, she arched her brow at him. "Nicely, please. People respond favourably if you are polite."

Orpheus exhaled sharply; she saw it but she smiled sweetly and all the bluster went out of him. He still couldn't understand why this lady got under his skin so easily, sometimes in a way that he liked and sometimes in a way that made him want to punish her in his arms.

He winked at her charmingly, another unusual gesture, before turning once again for the barback.

The innkeeper was a burly man with a red face and thick legs. He and his wife were still quite panicked regardless of how polite Orpheus' request was, which wasn't entirely terrible considering he'd never tried to be polite in his entire life.

It was his first try at it and that had to count for something.

Leaving the two knights posted at the door, Orpheus and Lyall sat down with Lady Karina and enjoyed boiled apples and a large slab of seasoned and roasted meat. The innkeeper served the men ale but the lady wasn't fond of its taste, so the man offered her boiled water with rose petals and cranberries.

She was content with her beverage and stuffed with the food, leaning back in her chair as Orpheus and his second-in-command finished off what was left of the slab of meat.

It was no surprise that the two of them had such beastly appetites, but it was even stranger that they seemed to maintain some manners in front of her.

Orpheus licked off his fingers, his gaze moving over her. In fact, he'd done nothing but stare at her throughout the entire meal since his eyes kept being drawn to the big black stains on her gown.

"I believe we should find a tailor to repair your gown," he said, pointing to the mess. "Perhaps there would be a seamstress in the town. I will ask the innkeeper."

Lady Karina dragged her fingers over the dried blotches. "This is beyond repair so I will have to dispose of it." The usual glimmer in her eyes had dulled.

Orpheus thought on the matter for a moment before making a decision. "Then perhaps we should purchase you material for a new garment to replace this one while we are still here."

Lady Karina's eyes lit up again. She was never one to refuse an opportunity to shop; such occasions were few and far between since she always had her hands occupied with managing Moonveil and the beast sanctuary.

"Well, if it is coming out of your coin pouch, then you'll hear no objections from me, my lord," she answered with a closed-eyed smile.

Lyall hadn't said a word till that moment but once he was done picking pieces of meat out of his teeth, he glanced at her.

"You should select only the finest and most exotic material, my lady," he commented, encouraging her. "I'm certain a gown of the quality you are wearing should be replaced with one of equal quality, if not better."