WebNovels

Chapter 9 - Chapter 9

"Oh? Refuse to sell? Then I'll have you brought before the magistrate for selling false wares!" Wythe snarled, brandishing three silver coins as he reached toward the cage.

The boy was near tears. "You're bullying me!"

"Get lost!" Wythe cracked the whip at his waist and swung it toward the boy. "Don't think I won't teach you manners!"

The boy covered his head, expecting the sting of the lash.

But no pain came.

Instead, Wythe screamed in shock, "Who threw that at my eye? Come out!"

A half-eaten pastry had landed squarely on his left eye.

Before he could react, another pastry flew from the crowd and struck his right eye, sticking there with enough force to make Wythe stagger back, nearly falling.

Zyra stepped forward holding the leftover pastries she hadn't eaten. They tasted awful, so she decided to use them as weapons.

"You scoundrel! Mmmph, cough cough cough!" Wythe tried to curse but another pastry flew precisely into his open mouth, lodging at his throat and nearly choking him until he was gasping and tearing up.

"Your rabbits, sell them to me."

Zyra pulled out five silver coins and handed them to the patched-up boy.

The boy's face lit up. "Yes, thank you, madam!"

Ten rabbits total, two per silver coin, the price exact.

Five silver coins were enough to buy his grandmother's life-saving medicine.

When the youth handed over all the rabbits in their cage to Lady Zyra Morwyn, she shook her head and pointed at the one with the red streak on its ear and the dark stripe on its back.

"I only want this one," she declared.

The scruffy rabbit suddenly lifted its head, eyes gleaming like rubies, full of joy. Its tiny mouth opened as if trying to speak.

Zyra gave it a stern look.

The rabbit immediately grew quiet, scratching its long ear obediently and closing its mouth.

The youth was disappointed. "One alone won't cost that much."

"No," Zyra replied coldly and decisively, "it's worth exactly that."

Tears welled up in the boy's eyes. Rich ladies were always so willful!

He badly needed the five silver coins and couldn't refuse.

"Then it shall be as you say, milady. The other nine Snowbell Hares you can consider a gift." Though poor, he was proud and principled, "Snowbell Hare meat is exquisite, and eating it even strengthens one's spirit."

Without waiting for refusal, he shoved the cage into her hands and vanished quickly into the crowd with the silver coins.

Zyra carried the large cage silently, her eyes fixed on the scruffy rabbit, or rather, the Rabbit Hound.

Its expression seemed to say: How did you fall so far? You are a famed great beast, yet here you are locked in a cage for human food.

The Rabbit Hound raised its watery, ruby-red eyes: My liege, I was wrong.

The Hound was the ninth son of the Dragon King.

In youth, it resembled a rabbit, long pointed ears, about a foot in length.

In adulthood, it took on the form of a fierce dog, howling at the sky, savage and even known to prey upon dragons.

Zyra held up five fingers.

Rabbit Hound Σ(⊙▽⊙ "a

\[No! Your Majesty, I'm not worth just five silver coins! I, I, I… can be worth much more!]

If not for the crowd, it could speak freely.

Nowadays, beasts had it hard, making a sound meant a beating from humans. So it could only communicate through soul whispers with Zyra.

\[I am a master cook, no one in the Wilds can match my skills. I can also help you brew simple medicines. Please don't disdain me, make full use of my talents…]

Zyra pressed her temple, annoyed: \[Shut up.]

The Rabbit Hound whimpered (╥╯^╰╥).

Two lost souls, both fallen beasts. The great lady took me home.

Zyra carefully picked the Rabbit Hound from among the Snowbell Hares and placed it on her shoulder, stroking its soft fur.

The little creature immediately revived, twitching its plush long ears and tapping its two white paws in delight.

Meanwhile, the steward Wythe had spit out the pastry stuck in his throat and wiped the dough off his eyes.

"You?!" Wythe hissed in fury, forcing a cruel sneer, "My lady, these Snowbell Hares were the Lady Matron's special request! You dare steal her prized food and ruin her plans? You have a lot of nerve!"

Wythe was worried he wouldn't be able to explain this failure back home.

He did not fear Zyra; the elder branch despised her. As a cousin to the Lady Matron's family, he looked down on Zyra as an unwanted bastard and often bullied her.

Zyra cast a cold glance at Wythe. "Wretched knave, kneel."

Her voice was soft, yet filled with the terrifying authority of a noble.

Wythe froze, struck mentally as if by lightning, sweat pouring, and his legs trembled uncontrollably. In full view of the street, he dropped to his knees.

On the bustling street, many bystanders whispered and pointed, amused by the steward's humiliation. Wythe's face burned with shame.

Instinctively, he tried to rise and reclaim his dignity, but to his horror, his knees felt heavier than iron, as if the very earth had become a magnet, holding him firmly in place, immovable.

"What… what sorcery is this?" he gasped, fear creeping into his voice.

Wythe was a skilled man, a fourth-rank practitioner of the Arcane Orders, and yet, without a single touch from Lady Zyra Morwyn, who lacked even the smallest trace of magical cultivation, he was subdued utterly.

"You are the servant, I am the mistress," Zyra said coldly, casting him a disdainful glance as if looking at refuse. "It is only right that you kneel before me."

Today's incident only confirmed Zyra's suspicions about the Lady Matron of the elder branch.

The original Lady Zyra had a monthly allowance of merely five silver coins.

Meanwhile, the Lady Matron would casually spend five silver coins, or more, on a single meal.

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