Episode 15: Hng (1)
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“I heard you went to Catallaman with Mukali.”
“Mn.”
Aristine yawned while nodding her head. This was her first proper outing since her confinement. Even though she mostly drank tea and talked, she felt very tired.
“To do what?”
‘Hm? Didn’t Mukali tell him?’
Aristine tilted her head then she answered.
“To scout.”
“Scout.”
Tarkan mumbled. For some reason, he didn’t like the sound of it.
“A blacksmith, I suppose?”
“Mhm.”
“Is there any blacksmith who will leave Catallaman though?”
It was the dream location for all blacksmiths. There were blacksmiths who belonged to the royal palace, but their skills were inferior to those at the Catallaman forge or Dolten forge.
Naturally, they were mainly in charge of item repairs but that showed how prestigious those blacksmith forges were.
“There was.”
“What?”
“He’ll be mine.”
Aristine couldn’t help but yawn again as she replied.
She was on the bed trying to sleep but Tarkan kept talking to her, so she was responding.
Tarkan didn’t seem particularly tired because he was siting up on the bed, looking down at Aristine.
“He…will be yours?”
“Mn.”
Tarkan wanted to grab Aristine’s shoulders and shake her when she responded so casually. He wanted to know what exactly that meant and what was going on. He also wanted to know what kind of bastard this was.
However, Tarkan couldn’t do anything.
What was there to say?
Although they were married to each other, they were more or less, business partners. It would be strange to ask such a thing.
‘Wait, no.’
Tarkan changed his mind.
As a business partner, he needed to know what kind of basta…no, what kind of employee Aristine was getting. Of course, this current issue was Aristine’s personal business and had nothing to do with Tarkan. But as long as they were politically connected, whatever she did would affect him too.
‘I just need to confirm.’
And he must also let her know that she should not involve personal romantic emotions when dealing with daily business. Otherwise, his partner’s business might go bankrupt.
“I think he’s a weird guy.”
Those words poured cold water on Aristine who was feeling very satisfied about her first recruit.
Aristine’s half-closed eyes flew open, and she looked at Tarkan.
“Why?”
“I can’t see why he’s going to leave the Catallaman forge and come to the royal palace.”
“Incorrect. He’s not coming to the royal palace; he’s coming to me.”
Aristine said firmly.
This was her personal business that had nothing to do with the royal family.
Tarkan raised a brow, seemingly not liking that response for some reason.
“So he’s coming to you.”
“Yes, to me.”
When she reconfirmed, his expression twisted even more. No, twisted wasn’t the right description. The corner of his lips were raised so there was a lazy smile on his face, but somehow, he felt ferocious.
“That’s strange too.”
“Why though?”
Aristine felt offended by Tarkan’s words which were dampening her mood before her business had even fully started.
“Your business hasn’t even started yet.”
“Talent has a way to recognize talent,” Aristine huffed and raised her chin.
“I still think it’s suspicious. Leaving Catallaman to…get involved with your business. Are you sure he’s not interested in something other than the business?”
“What?”
“An employee is an employee, how is he ‘yours’? Did he say that? I’m sure he’s thinking of pulling some weird tricks. You are a married woman.”
Aristine’s mouth fell open in disbelief. Why was he bringing up her marital status?
Tarkan grew somewhat impatient when Aristine fell silent, so he lowered his head. In an instant, the distance between them shortened.
His hair that was like a beast’s mane, flowed towards Aristine. His upper body was positioned over Aristine, who was lying down, as if he was covering her.
Their gazes clashed, inches away, and his lips moved closer to Aristine. He avoided the gentle curve of her cheek and whispered in her ear.
“You married me.”
Aristine rolled her eyes and stared at Tarkan. She didn’t know why this man was suddenly acting like this.
“I know.”
At her curt reply, Tarkan lifted his face slightly from her ear and looked at her.
“It’s only been a few days since we got married, I couldn’t possibly forget.”
The small face below him babbled on, “And do not say such things about Ritlen. You completely misunderstand.”
Tarkan’s eyes clearly turned towards Aristine.
“Misunderstand?”
“Yes, because he didn’t say it. I did.”
“What?”
Tarkan’s face instantly turned sharp.
If anyone else saw this, they would immediately stiffened from the nerves or fall to their knees.
However, Aristine just pushed Tarkan’s face away as if to say she was frustrated.
“Let me get some sleep. The little sleepiness I have is going away because you’re hovering over me.”
Tarkan was pushed away as Aristine wanted.
He was so stunned that he didn’t even think of standing his ground or avoiding her hand.
Even now, he couldn’t believe what just happened.
A soft, fair hand pushed away his face like he was annoying.
“…”
What the hell.
Once Tarkan was sitting up straight, Aristine’s hand fell down. She had really pushed Tarkan’s face away.
This had never happened to him before, so he didn’t know how to take this in.
His complex golden eyes turned to Aristine.
She closed her eyes and was pulling the blanket all the way up as if she was satisfied that the man hovering over her and frustrating her, was gone.
Tarkan could clearly feel her body temperature and weight on the same bed.
‘…Well, forget it.’
Tarkan chuckled and turned away. After which, the problem that he pushed away began creeping up again.
‘So he is called Ritlen.’
His name as a blacksmith was not known, so he probably wasn’t that skilled.
‘Maybe I should have asked Mukali for more details.’
But the situation wasn’t right for that.
Tarkan recalled his encounter with Mukali earlier.
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