14 Clashing Hues

Nicholas glared at the woman in front of him who happens to be his wife. The celebrated beauty sought after by the ton and worshiped by some is looking at him with an unreadable expression.

He was feeling furious and disappointed. Furious because the chit dared to cause a ruckus in the midst of his land, disrupting the usual relaxing time of the locals by dishing physical punishment and unsettling the barony. And, disappointed because he has to house this entitled woman against his will in the meantime.

The conveyance would be available in the morning and he would not disturb the rightful rest of his people if it is not a matter of urgency. Damnation. He didn't not expect all of these.

"Unhand me, you brute," Astrid hissed at him, resembling a snarling cat at that moment. Nevertheless, he did not let go of her wayward hand. If he considers himself well of mind, he won't let go of it, not when he can clearly see her struggling to escape his hold, ready to land another slap on his face. He learned.

"Are you alright, Sora?" She turned to ask the dark-haired woman behind him, her eyes definitely rebellious. He knew everyone in this room and Sora was the sole person who doesn't give a wits end about nobility. She treated everyone equal and the same, him included. She was borderline disrespectful with him. It was pure luck that he arrived in time. If he was even late for a fraction of a second, then all hell would break loose. It would be a violent meeting between these two women.

"I am well, my lord. I could not say the same with Corie," She gave Astrid a demeaning glare.

"Is she your mistress?"

The gasps all over the silent floor made him fidget uncomfortably in his position. His eyes turned to slits and landed on Astrid once more. He was about to answer her when Sora beat him to it.

"I want to be his mistress, who wouldn't? He's the best man in the land, and it's not like you'll have him," The straightforward woman did not even flinch upon saying it and instead curled her eyebrow in provocation.

"I see, you certainly don't possess the delicate taste a man born with noble blood should have. Typical, you are a commoner after all, that much is evident," The smirk Astrid bestowed him was meant to be scathingly insulting but it was lost on him.

"If you're the epitome of peerage, my lady, then they failed. You're nothing but a raging abuser clothed in fancy clothes and riches," Sora matched Astrid's demeaning words, taking steps towards the latter.

"Commoners have better morals, my lady. I bet my innocence that you've already serviced half of the nobility's population," Sora pouted.

"You want to know the difference between you and the tavern ladies? Besides being the only way they know how to survive, they have the common sense to take payments while you do it for free. I don't know which is worse. You're nothing but a rich whore. Your pedigree's hypocrisy is beyond me," Sora added.

"Sora," He warned. She might have said much more than expected because Astrid's face turned beet red. Angry red. Sora has her reasons for being this way but it doesn't mean she could just insult anyone in this outright manner. Anything bad could happen to her. It happened to her brother before.

"How dare you," The quiver in Astrid's voice could be heard by everyone. It was uttered slowly, and hatefully.

"Ah, a typical aristocratic retort. You'll be surprised at the number of people who would take the dare, dear Baroness," Sora's sarcastic remarks, putting emphasis on the word 'typical'.

Pause.

"You hear what I said, my lady. I meant all of it. I could not wait more for your marriage to end," Sora hummed, giving Astrid a coy smile. A smile implying a lot more than an appropriate, decent acquaintance.

Nicholas being the center of it was mortified. There's a lot more going on when women fight. Unlike the gentlemen's quick fisticuffs to settle all accounts in one round.

"Sora, enough," He warned. His eyes made a quick perusal of the room, and he was sure that his ears were burning with embarrassment when he saw the smirk some of the men in the tavern were wearing. They were looking at him like he is the luckiest man on the land with women fighting over him, when in all honesty it was quite the opposite. At this moment, he hated how the inn had its own tavern.

Slap.

Damnation.

He got preoccupied with what was happening around him and his thoughts that he forgot that the Baroness loves violence. In the short time that he met her, he concluded that Astrid indeed loved raising her hands recklessly.

"Hell, no," He mumbled and was just in time to stop Sora from launching herself at Astrid. The slap was strong enough to make Sora's bottom lip bleed.

He grabbed the Baroness' waist and placed her behind his back. Sora was gnashing her teeth in anger, eyes morbid. They have been working for years now and he knows how lethal her punches were.

"Sora, calm down," It was a poor attempt at calming the bleeding woman but he tried.

The crowd were now mumbling their bets, the fear caused by Astrid earlier in their midst was long forgotten.

"Step aside, my lord," Sora snarled.

It was unbecoming of a Baron, and not that it mattered, but he shook his head in quick succession, denying the request like a child would when someone tries to take their toy.

If something bad happened to Astrid, it's possible that Sora wouldn't escape the Archduke's anger. The good old man might have disowned her only daughter but it doesn't mean he would stay still when his daughter was taken advantage of or hurt in any way.

The barony would also suffer from it. After all, Astrid is still the King's niece.

"Ow," He exclaimed when he felt a sudden impact to his skull. It was not strong enough to knock him out cold, however, it was enough to cause a resonating pain inside his skull.

Turning his body sideways, he glared at the Baroness with her fist close, still high in the air. She has this raging look like a lioness ready to defend its honour.

"You heard your illiterate whore, husband. Step aside,``said the Baroness while glaring at Sora. Not even minding him the slightest.

"It's better than an aristocrat lightskirt who services the gentry," Sora retaliated.

"Rather than a daft whore pining for someone else's husband?" Astrid hissed.

"Better than giving your body for free, my lady. I'd gladly wait for your husband," Sora mockingly replied.

"Enough!" He hollered.

His voice thundered all over the modest inn, silencing the ruckus. The spectators flinched in silence. He doesn't usually insert his authority over his people, but if he does, it would be because of severe importance.

It is a rarity.

But, he could not help thinking that this might not be an option in the long run. It might no longer be a rarity in the near future and he does not like how it sounds.

His eyes landed on the old woman a couple of feet away from them. Eyes full of worry with her fidgeting hands on her midsection. He chose to address her first. "Corie, tend to your bruises and please tend to Sora as well," He tried to soften his tone so as not to agitate the old woman more.

"Aye, my lord," Corie uttered. Arman, Corie's husband, was consoling her, gently rubbing her tense shoulder.

Their first meeting with their master's mistress was a disaster. He has no idea how he's going to mend it. It would not matter in the future but it would be nice not to give the citizens reasons to doubt the Barony.

The silence echoing in the inn was surprising for him. It was nice to know that the Baroness would listen to him.

"Shut up," Astrid snapped.

Or not.

Astrid pushed him to the side but it did nothing to his weight. He was tall and heavy enough to disregard her lousy attempt at pushing him.

"Filthy, wretched humans! You all deserve to be disciplined in the most horrible ways. You all dare to disrespect an Archduke's daughter, a King's niece!? I'll have you all decapitated--"

Astrid was blabbering her revenge to the frozen crowd, a nonsense thing to do so he bent down a little and swept her off of her feet, literally.

Pause.

"Put me down, bastard!" She screeched, hitting his back with her tiny fist. It's humiliating to be carried around like a sack of flour, nevertheless, he thinks the Baroness needs a little humiliation sometimes.

"Unfortunately, I'm no bastard, Princess. Keep that mouth close if you don't want to be humiliated even further," He warned, striding out of the inn in the most dignified manner.

"Put me down this instant!" Astrid continued screaming her orders but he choose to ignore it.

He was already mortified at her display back in the manor and over what happened just a moment ago. He had no idea how the Baroness even found the inn by herself. It was a thought that niggles the back of his mind.

Now, the crowd behind them were hooting in laughter, making him feel all sorts of embarrassment at once.

"My lord, what's happened? Is the Baroness, all right?"

His head snapped to the side, a little farther to the left where his horse, Raven, was lousy tied to a wooden post. There was Mario and in his hands was a set of fine knitted blankets made of wool. Mario, on the other hand, was staring at the squirming Astrid slung on his shoulder.

"You can go home, Mario. I'll take charge of the Baroness," He told the confused farmer. He is assuming, now, that Mario was the one who led Astrid to the inn. It would explain his disappearance from the scene in the manor hours before.

"Aye, my lord. Please, take this blanket for the Baroness. My missus made it last winter and it's a fine piece, and a fine piece should suit such a fine beauty," Mario said, beaming wholeheartedly.

"I don't need it--" Astrid started and he cut her off by slapping her bottom as discreetly as he could. He heard her squeak in surprise.

"I'll take that. Thank you, Mario. Winona has good knitting skills. Tell her we're sincerely grateful for her gift," He spoke, taking the blanket from the good farmer. Winona was truly well-known in the Barony for her exquisite knitting.

"I will, my lord," Mario scampered away from them with a little hop on his steps, not even giving the slung Royal on his shoulder another backward glance.

"How dare you!" Astrid's quivering voice.

The words were heard and was followed by a stinging pain. The impetuous woman had just bit his back!