Bride To His Darkness
Chapter 187: A Bowl Of Beef Stew

Chapter 187: A Bowl Of Beef Stew

Inside the guest room, the air was heavy with the scent of burning woods and spice, whilst Cassian already had the fireplace set, illuminating the exquisite room with a brilliant orange-yellowish light. His attention was instantly diverted to the door that slid open the next minute, revealing Ivan who was all dressed up into something more comfy and simple. His crimson orbs glanced at Cassian who eyed him confusedly, and strangely, they both emitted the same amount of arrogance presently. Ivan couldn’t remember the last time someone had looked at him with such guts, but, however, he always overlooked the ones of this particular stranger for no valid reasons at all.

In the end, they both sat in front of the wooden table with a paper and quill resting on the surface. Dipping the quill into an ink bottle, Ivan laid out a drafty map of the village before explaining the strategy he had come up with to Cassian. The matter was indeed a crucial one, and Cassian gave the vampire King his listening ears before nodding his head in understanding. In order to gain more information from the subjects of Fernwood, they’ll have to make them speak without making their intentions too obvious, and Ivan’s present plan seemed to be the best.

"The first phase of our plan begins tonight." Cassian murmured, and Ivan nodded his head in agreement before circling a certain star on the map he drew. A calculative smile curved his lips as he placed a dot at the top of the star, signaling where their first phase for tonight will begin. Cassian’s gaze lingered on the star mark briefly, and when he lifted his Amber-brown eyes to look at His Majesty, the vampire’s eyes glinted ominously before saying.

"Let’s head out for dinner." And he rose to his feet to grab his coat.

—-

"This is beautiful!" Samantha whispered in awe while peering out through the opened window. She had been busy drying her hair with a towel when the lit-up view of the village caught her eyes, and she had been deeply enthralled by it that she was presently standing before the window, gazing out with pure fascination. It felt inexplicably overwhelming to be in her hometown again... except everything felt different than what she remembered of it, almost as if she had stumbled into a foreign land, and it made her hope that their home hadn’t been demolished yet.

With different thoughts running through her mind, Samantha was snapped back to reality when Alain reached her side. Gazing at his somber face, the little boy rubbed his belly, indicating he was hungry, and Samantha crouched down to his level. She had been wondering why he remained so suspiciously calm since they got here, and now she knew why. It made her feel slightly upset with herself that she hadn’t noticed the reason for his change a lot sooner.

"Come, let’s go see if the innkeeper can arrange something for everyone, okay?" Holding Alain’s hand in her own grip, she led him towards the door, but the moment she opened it, her feet involuntarily halted at the sight of Ivan and sir Cassian who stood at her doorstep. Her awed eyes traveled between the two handsome gentlemen who looked prepared to step out tonight, but what she didn’t expect was for Ivan to snap his fingers at her face, breaking her from a dazed trance.

"I’m sorry, am I missing something?" Samantha asked with evident bewilderment.

Alain had reached for his Father’s side, and when he tugged gently at his pants to gain his attention, he ended up being lifted by his Father who knew the reason for his son’s current dilemma and clinginess. He ran his fingers into Alain’s soft fluffy hair, but the boy simply had his small hands wrapped around his Father’s neck, hugging him, and Cassian knew this trick a little too well.

"Someone’s battery finally died." Cassian commented on his son’s unusual quiet state before glancing at Samantha’s inquiring gaze. "We’re having dinner outside. You should get ready."

"Oh! In that case you came just in time then. I was on my way to meet the Innkeeper.... Give me a minute." Closing the door, Samantha immediately changed her dress into something more casual for tonight, whilst braiding her hair and letting it rest on the left side of her shoulder. When she returned to meet the two gentlemen, they stepped out of the inn together.

The night air was seemingly cold, and Samantha felt grateful she had copied the two men and grabbed her own coat in order to keep warm. She walked beside Ivan who kept stealing glances in her direction, and he didn’t fail to notice how she kept observing everything they passed with a seemingly curious gaze. Cassian’s eyes scrutinized the people who walked past them on the street, his attention shifting to the night vendors who had their lanterns brightly lit.

Alain, whose eyes also studied the street, pulled back to look at his Father. "Don’t they have guards?" He asked in a whisper, a cute gesture that had Cassian arching an eyebrow at his son. "Guards keep the villages in our home safe. This village isn’t safe then."

"Hmmm.... You are right." Cassian responded to his son who had figured out the first suspicious clue. He glanced at Ivan who took it into consideration, as he too wasn’t oblivious to the absence of guards in the street. Finally, they arrived at a modest-looking tavern just around the corner, and there were less people who occupied this particular shop, making it the best place for them to have their dinner and also gain some valid information.

They took their seat on a vacant table, and the table ahead of them consisted of two men who were half-drunk. Ivan had been meaning to switch seats, but the conversation that began between the two men made him change his mind. The waiter approached their table, and Ivan made the orders before the waiter left to prepare their meal.

"Fernwood is slowly starting to become nothing but a joke!" One of the men uttered to his companion, "it won’t be long before those councils start taking our women and children, turning them into slaves and who knows if they’ve already begun? Illegal slave trading doesn’t sound like a new thing in Fernwood anymore. I heard the same thing happened to the late Mr Dufort’s daughter." He scoffed while reaching for another bottle, but his companion who was more sober snatched the bottle from him and admonished.

"You’re going to get yourself in big trouble if you keep talking like that. You only got released yesterday, don’t turn your wife to a widow because of those councils."

"What do you want me to do? I worked hard to make those resources for my family and what did they do? They took it all away with the excuse of not paying my full tax. My family is starving! I visited the council’s office to regain what was taken away from me but I got locked up and beaten unfairly. Sometimes I wonder if His Majesty even receives our letters or if he truly doesn’t care if we die like the council had said!"

"There are people here, mind your tongue!" His companion, who understood his friend’s grief at the current moment, tried to make him stay quiet before he ended up in even bigger trouble, but he shook his head, refusing to hold his tongue.

"No, if His Majesty doesn’t handle this, if he doesn’t care if we live or die then he doesn’t deserve to be called King! We have tried in many ways to reach him, some of our people have lost their hope on anything positive happening, so allow me to pour out my frustration." He sighed wearily, as if he had gotten exhausted.

Samantha, who listened to the things the man had to say, could feel her hands ball under the table, but when she stood up so she could defend Ivan, he swiftly grabbed her wrist, his blue eyes indicating she should sit down. Unable to refuse his command, Samantha sat down quietly, and she could hear Cassian hum his disappointment, but it wasn’t directed to the people.

"They are in bad shape, I wonder how long this has been going?" Cassian whispered to Ivan, and Samantha exhaled through her lips before answering.

"The village councils have always been notorious since the day they were assigned to this village. There’s nothing good to write about them, but it seems they’ve gotten worse with no king’s vacant." She tsked, "but it’s not completely fair that they have to blame His Majesty, it’s not like he was aware of it and chose to ignore it."

"But they are not wrong." Ivan opposed Samantha on that note, "because you see the number six doesn’t mean everyone else can see it as six, others can see it as nine, but both perspectives are not wrong. You being aware of my situation doesn’t mean that they are aware of it. If we place ourselves in their shoes, I don’t believe we would have acted any different." He asserted, folding his arms while leaning back against his seat, and Samantha couldn’t refute since he was right.

The waiter finally returned with their meal as he placed them on the table in front of them, and when they picked up their spoon so they could start eating, they heard him say. "A bowl of beef stew costs ten pennies."

As if planned, their spoons froze mid-air, and Samantha gazed at the waiter who dared to say a bowl of beef stew costs ten! They all dropped their spoons in unison, and Samantha’s pupils widened the more she remembered the costs.

"How is that even possible?" Ivan was the first to express his query, to Samantha’s unexpected surprise. "A bowl of beef stew should cost five pennies at its highest, not ten. Are we buying gold?"

"Not at all," the waiter shook his head truthfully, "it’s just... products have gotten really expensive in Fernwood so the price for a bowl of beef stew has been increased. I see that you are new here, and I do apologize if you’re not aware of this."

"Expensive or robbing? What’s the economic rate in this place? I agree with my friend here, there is absolutely no way we’re buying this for ten pennies." Cassian stated with finality, and Samantha, who hadn’t seen this reaction coming was momentarily dazed by the two of them. They were arguing with the waiter despite knowing they had more than enough gold coins in their possession to buy Fernwood as a whole– including the people within it, but they are.... Fighting over ten pennies?

She is the only one who has that right!

"Not at all," the troubled waiter shook his head, "things are really difficult in Fernwood, I just–"

"You can leave." Ivan suddenly dismissed him, "it’s not like we have a choice."

"But–"

"To be clear, it’s only for the sake of this child." Ivan pointed at Alain who had been observing, "we would be heartless to make him go hungry, you can leave us. We will pay."

When the waiter, who felt relieved that they had chosen to stay, finally left, Cassian and Ivan exchanged knowing glances.