He chuckled softly at Narlie's question but chose to ignore it. Instead of answering, he said calmly;
"Let's go home. The journey would be rough but I promise to look out for you."
His statement had been quite simple to someone like him, and yet, it moved mountains in Narlie's heart. No one had ever promised to look out for her, even her own father had treated her badly, put her in all sorts of danger, despite being the one to bring her to this world and yet, this man promised to look out for her.
Is he still the rumoured alpha devil? She stared at the man who waited for her response to what he had said earlier and when he got her simple nod, he looked away.
However, his focus was on her a hundred percent.
"I'm sure you've also heard rumours about me, am I correct?"
Narlie tried to act calm, but her act of defiance betrayed her because he could clearly see the nervous expression on her face.
He would have said; "You do not believe it, do you?" But since she actually thinks of him as the devil, he would as well, assure her that she wasn't assuming things.
"I won't hurt you okay. We are now mates so I should indulge you."
He looked outside the window of the carriage enjoying the darkness and full moon that hung above the sky. He slowly turned and his face was illuminated by the pale moonlit color.
"I am a merchant of Venice and we hire women for induction. These women aren't slaves, but you know the mind of people, so bias."
Narlie tried to understand but she couldn't make any sense at all. At least, she understands that he doesn't bring in ladies as slaves. But how does that explain him, being rumoured as a devil?
Narlie did not dig into the issue, not because she wasn't interested, but for the fact that she is only meeting him for the very first time. The both of them needed time for a measure of trust to develop between them.
Narlie focused on the beautiful design on the window sill and her fingers traced it softly while her husband stared at her actions with a calm expression on his face.
"Do you like designs?"
She turned sharply. "Huh? Oh, yeah… I just feel that this design has a unique and artistic appeal to it."
The man tilted his head to the side and with a wolfish grin on his face, he asked. "How so?"
Narlie liked that wild smile on his face, the way it highlighted his gorgeous jawline. She looked away, stopping herself from becoming too invested.
"The combination of colors, typography, and layout all come together to create a really distinctive and captivating visual identity." She said her hands were still running upon the design on the window sill.
He nodded in approval. "You still have your sense of fashion. Every woman does."
They were about to sit back and enjoy the silence that followed not until the carriage trembled and the two horses, whining loudly at the impending danger.
"Your highness, as usual the vampires have blocked the path forward. They are demanding a travel tax." The rider shouted and the man opened his eyes. Those liquid pools with a mesmerising spark of gold stirred something up within Narlie's heart.
She turned to him.
"Is that trouble?"
He stared for a while and responded with a glassy, "mm."
He lingered for a while and turned towards her. "Come out with me."