The Devil's Betrothed novel Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Where Were You?

When Oriana left the inn, she was sobered up enough to take full control of her body. She had asked an errand boy for a glass of water before departing. Though she suffered from a slight headache, she could walk with no trouble anymore.

To go back to her village, she chose to take a detour, worried that Arlan’s interest in the ’pretty boy’ entailed having his men follow her home.

As it was quite early in the morning, the marketplace was yet to become crowded. The shop owners and storekeepers were busy opening their businesses, and at most, servants were sweeping the storefronts.

Oriana found herself slowing down when she found a group of suspicious people lingering on the alley in front of her.

She was about to avoid them and circle around them, but she changed her mind when she recognized one of them. It was a fellow herb collector whose name she forgot, but they were passing acquaintances. That man once helped her acquire a rare herb she needed for her Grandpa’s medicinal concoctions.

’Why is he with shady people? Could he be in trouble?’

They were whispering among themselves. When she saw them leaving, Oriana decided to follow them against her better judgment. She told herself she would call for help and not personally intervene if that herb collector was indeed being maltreated.

The group of men reached the rear of what appeared to be a small inn and entered the backdoor. Tiptoeing, Oriana approached the rear of the inn, searching for a nook or cranny that could hide her slender figure.

She found one and peeked at the situation inside. Though she could not see their faces clearly, she heard those men talking to a man who seemed to be their leader.

"Is it true that Oisin was murdered?"

"Yes, master. Their entire faction is annihilated. Everyone, even those not present in their hideout, was killed. There was no witness and the city guards merely did a cursory investigation before closing the case."

’Killed? Oisin...?’ Oriana tried to remember. ’Isn’t that the scary pig who is into smuggling goods? Who did he clash with to get killed?’

The leader then signaled another man to stay, while he dismissed the rest.

"What should we do now, Ron?" the leader asked the man next to him. Compared to earlier, he was speaking more formally, as if the man called Ron was not a subordinate but a person with a similar status to him. "Our next order was supposedly transfering that batch Oisin will be bringing from Selve. Without him, Master Finn has no one to coordinate with to bring a huge batch of black nightshade. Can you find a suitable replacement? We need a merchant whose ship will pass by Azures Island in two weeks.

The name of herb made her widen her eyes. ’’Black nightshade! the one I need to treat grandpa?’

’Finally, I am hearing news about it! The reason we moved near to Jerusha is precisely because the black market in this border city is flourishing!’

The more Oriana listened, the less her excitement grew.

They were no longer selling black nightshade!