CHAPTER 204: GOING TO TOWN

After his talk with Sophie, Riven decided he was going to rest for today, no going out and no talking about any of the issues that were on the ground. He simply allowed himself to fall asleep, and for the first time in a while, he actually slept properly.

When the sun was out the next day, its rays bathed Riven’s face. His eyes flickered open. He let out a yawn and pushed up from the bed, stretching his hands.

"Damn, it’s been a while since I’ve actually rested this good," Riven muttered. He got up and looked at his mirror without his shirt.

He hadn’t paid attention to himself in a while, but he was really ripped. His lean muscles looked right and well-carved. He admired his body for a few seconds until the door suddenly opened and Sophie walked in.

Riven jumped in fright, covering his body with his hands. "Knock before you enter!" he yelled. She looked at him, a water bowl with some hot water in her hand.

She looked at his body, scanning it from head to toe. "Maybe you should lock your door then," she spoke.

"Fair, but still, knock," he said.

She didn’t respond and simply walked into the bathroom to set his bath. When she was done, she walked out.

"Go take a bath. You and I are going to town for some shopping," she said.

"Huh? Shopping? Why would I do that? I haven’t even gotten the opportunity to find out what’s happened here. And when does only one or two people go shopping for the manor? Don’t we get food delivered?" Riven asked.

"We do, but we have so many guests that your father wants me to get some special ingredients for dinner today, and I told him that you will be following me for the day.

He didn’t understand, but I told him you need to take your mind off all the issues for now," Sophie said, explaining what she did.

"Wait, what? Why would you even do that? Come on, Sophie," he complained, but she simply waved her hand.

"Your father has said it, so you’ll have to do it. Or do you want to disobey him?" she asked.

"No, that’s not what I’m saying. But at least let me see my mum," Riven said.

"We’ll see her before we leave. She is helping me adjust the list of what we need to buy after all. Now go and bathe. I’ll ready some clothes for you," she said. Riven wanted to complain even more, but she pointed at the bathroom and gave him a do not say another word look.

Riven hung his hands and head low and walked toward the bathroom. He walked inside. After he was in, she walked to his wardrobe and opened it. She picked out a simple white shirt and black trousers, laying them on the bed for him.

Riven, on the other hand, slipped into his tub. The warm water relaxed his muscles. He sunk in until only his head was outside the water. He looked to the side and spotted a pink bar of soap, very different from what he was used to.

He picked up the soap bar and sniffed it. It smelt of flowers, much like the inside of the room.

"Seems someone really did invent scented soaps. That’s pretty nice," Riven said and then used it to bathe.

A few minutes later, he was outside dressed. He stepped out of his room and saw Sophie waiting for him. She looked at his dressing, he had worn the shirt loosely and without care.

She grabbed him by the trouser and pulled him close. She immediately started tucking in his shirt into his trousers.

"You are the son of the Baron. You should try to look like it at the very least," she said while dressing him.

Unknown to them, someone was hidden behind a wall a small distance away, watching them. It was Liana.

She watched the whole scene, a look of confusion and anger on her face. She gripped the wall hard, and that caused her to slip. She fell but quickly rushed behind the wall.

Riven and Sophie looked in that direction but saw no one, so he decided to check. But as he got close to there, Noel walked out.

"Oh, it was you, Noel," Riven said.

Noel glanced from the side of his eyes and saw Liana giving him a death stare. If he spoke, she would kill him.

"Yeah, it was me," he said, trying to sound convincing. "So what are you two doing?" he asked.

"I’m about to take young master to the town for some shopping," Sophie said. She grabbed Riven by the arm. "Forgive me, Master Noel, we have to go," she said as she pulled Riven, leaving Noel standing there.

They had barely left when Liana grabbed Noel by the ear and started pulling him.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch," he kept crying in pain as she dragged him. She took him to the spot she was given and threw him inside. She closed the door, staring at him with killer eyes.

Suddenly, the door opened. Mia and Sofia walked in.

"What are you two doing here?" Liana asked.

"We saw you dragging him here, so we wanted to find out what was wrong," Mia said.

"Whatever," Liana responded, then looked at Noel.

"Don’t lie to us. Who is the maid?" she asked.

"Uhm, the one with Riven? She is Sophie. The both of them are pretty close. She is one of the only few people that he actually listens to.

I don’t know how their relationship came to be, but she looks out for him, and he likes being around her," Noel spilled without holding back.

The faces on all three girls changed into one of anger.

"He is frolicking with another lady when he has the three of us?" Mia said.

"How greedy can that brat be?" Liana asked.

"Kill him, kill her, kill them," Sofia muttered under her breath in repeat.

Noel watched in horror, feeling bad for Riven in his heart.