Free Web NovelChapter 39: 39: Humiliation
They went to the Marovain shop close to ten in the morning.
The merchant square of Gravehold was already busy. Carriages moved along the stone road, workers carried boxes, shop assistants opened their doors, and merchants spoke in polite voices that were still full of greed. The Marovain branch shop stood at the center of the square like it owned the street. It was three floors high, with polished dark wood, wide glass windows, and a silver coin mark above the entrance. Even the guards standing near the door looked cleaner and better paid than most guards in the city.
Lucard walked ahead as usual.
Jenny walked behind him with Jake beside her. Peter followed them with his sword at his waist. His wounds still hurt, but he forced himself to stand straight. Jenny had told him to stay at the inn and rest, but Peter refused. After House Ravencroft, he did not want Lucard, Jenny, and Jake to enter another powerful house’s territory without a knight nearby. Even if he was injured, he still wanted to be useful.
Jake looked up at the shop and whispered, "I will try to sell them my precious shoes."
Jenny lowered her voice. "Do not say things like that inside."
Jake nodded quickly. But inside his mind he really wanted to do that.
Lucard heard him and said, "Maybe... after I am done. I will help you with that. Until then keep quiet."
Jenny looked at Lucard. "Don’t encourage him. Nobody wants his shoes."
Lucard did not answer. He pushed open the door and entered.
Inside the shop, everything was clean and expensive. The first floor was full of fine clothes, cloaks, belts, boots, gloves, and noble accessories. The shop workers moved between customers with polite smiles. Some noble women were looking at fabric. A merchant was arguing softly over a price with a clerk. A young man from a minor noble family was trying on a cloak in front of a mirror and looking at himself as if the cloak had promoted him to duke.
Lucard did not stop on the first floor.
They went to the second floor, then to the third.
The third floor was quieter. There were fewer customers here. The goods were also different. Some shelves had sealed boxes. Some glass cases held old rings, broken relics, carved bones, small monster cores, old coins, and strange objects covered in protective cloth. There were also private rooms with thick curtains. This floor was clearly not only for buying clothes. This was where House Marovain bought and sold things that needed quieter conversations.
Lucard walked to one of the staff members standing near a counter.
She was a young woman wearing the shop uniform, but her attitude was not like the workers on the lower floors. Her dress was neat, her hair was tied with a silver ribbon, and she looked at Lucard’s group with a gaze that quickly judged their value. When her eyes moved over Jenny, she became a little more careful because Jenny still looked like a noble lady. But when her eyes moved to Peter’s injured state and Jake’s nervous face, her expression became less respectful.
Lucard stopped in front of her.
"I want to meet the shop manager," he said. "I am here to sell something."
The staff woman looked him up and down. She didn’t think Lucard could have something worth buying.
"What are you selling? Your life!"
Lucard didn’t react, instead he said "Bring the manager." But he was very angry at her. freewebnσvel.cѳm
Her smile became colder. "The manager does not meet every person who claims to sell something. You need to tell me first. If it is worth his time, I will inform him."
Jenny noticed the woman’s tone and stepped forward.
"We came with something important. Please inform the manager."
The staff woman looked at Jenny and gave a small look down smile that did not reach her eyes. "Hey lady, everyone who comes here says the same thing. Some bring broken rings and call them royal relics. Some bring old bones and call them dragon remains. Some even bring rusty knives and claim they were used by saints. I need to know what it is before I disturb the manager. Stop wasting my time and tell me what you have."
Jenny became silent after that.
The woman continued, "If you are here to sell your body then you are in the wrong place."
Lucard looked at her. He wanted to slap her so hard but he controlled himself. He needed to meet the manager or someone important. Until then he won’t cause any problems.
He said, "You do not have the ability to understand it. Go bring your manager."
The staff woman’s face stiffened.
Jenny’s eyes widened slightly. She knew Lucard had said it because the woman was being rude, but saying that inside a Marovain shop was not a small thing. Peter’s hand moved slightly toward his sword, not to draw it, but out of instinct. Jake looked from Lucard to the staff woman and whispered, "That sounds bad."
The woman’s smile disappeared.
"Wait here," she said through clenched teeth.
She turned and walked toward the manager’s private room near the back of the third floor.
Inside the room, the branch manager was sitting behind a large desk. His name was Galen. He was a middle aged man with a round face, thin mustache, and clothes that were too expensive for his body to carry with dignity. He was checking a small ledger when the staff woman entered.
Her attitude changed the moment she entered the room.
She walked closer to the desk and softened her voice. "Manager Galen, there is someone outside. A young man came to sell something. He is very rude. He insulted me in front of customers."
Manager Galen looked up.
He was annoyed at first, but when he saw her expression, his face softened in a different way. This staff woman was not only a worker under him. The two of them had a private relationship. She wanted a promotion, better pay, and more power on the third floor. Galen kept her close because she knew how to please him, flatter him, and make him feel like a great man. In truth, both used each other, but Galen liked to believe he was the one in control.
"What did he say?" Galen asked. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
"He said I do not have the ability to understand what he is selling," she said, lowering her eyes in a way that made her look wronged. "I only asked the proper question as a staff member of House Marovain."
Galen’s pride was touched.
