"I'm honored you spent a fortune on me. So please, let us proceed as per the ritual." Jerice's hand loosen the lace on her left shoulder in an attempt to take off her clothes.
"Don't be too hasty. I didn't spend that coins just to have my way with you. I did it so that no one else will be able to." Ramius held her hand, stopping her before she could proceed any further.
"I do not understand. Why do you care whom I end up with?" Jerice had a confused expression. Earlier, she was sure he was just playing with her emotions, but now, something was different.
'Let's take a deep breath. This is a golden opportunity, I must not waste it. I'll take things one at a time.' Ramius inhaled deeply and turned his gaze to the maiden before him.
"I do not wish to lay with you. However, since I've spent coins on you, do you mind answering a few of my questions instead?" Ramius walked to the bed as he spoke. He sat at the edge and gestured at the space at his side for her to join him.
Jerice stood unbothered by his invitation. 'He does not want my body? Then why did he spend so much gold coins?'
"If that is what you wish, then I have no reason to object?" Jerice said, standing across from him.
"First question. It is my desire to learn more about you. Can you tell me about yourself? Your birth, and how you ended up as a maid?" 'If I know more about her, I might find a clue and use it to my benefit.'
Jerice had her gaze on him as though lost in thought. She could not understand the thought process of the man. 'I suppose I can do this much, considering what he did for me.'
Jerice began in a low voice, telling the man about her past. Ramius listened with unwavering attention, catching every little detail.
"In the end, I had to flee my uncle's house too. If I had stayed any longer, he would've violated me. The World wasn't kind to me when I had nowhere to turn to. I didn't know what to do. In the end, I ended up working from inn to inn." Once she finished, Jerice looked at the expression of the man but found his face disappointingly blank.
After a while, Ramius spoke.
"I think I understand quite a little. What was yours was taken away from you, and now you have nothing. That brings me to my next question. What about me do you not like? Why did you refuse to be by wife? Based on my analysis, you could easily get back at your relatives with my help, so why refuse?"
Her gaze was unwavering when she spoke.
"Because you were only mocking me. You would later brag to your friends about how I actually fell for your jest. Every noble woman would kill to your betrothed, you and I know there's no way you could actually want me..." Jerice didn't finish when she heard the sudden laughter of the man.
It was a loud melodic sound that made him look like a child. However, she found his action very insulting.
'I knew it, he was only amusing himself. Though I saw this coming, a part of me wanted it to be true, but now, I feel like an idiot.'
Just then, Ramius stopped laughing and stood from the bed with a satisfied look senile.
"I knew I wasn't the problem. I had a chance from the very beginning. The problem was my wrongful execution. Let me tell you something, I only have one friend, and he wouldn't even be interested in such things." Ramius was beside himself with joy. Now that he understood the reason for her rejection, he knew he had a chance.
"What do you mean, sir Ramius?"
"I mean, I wasn't jesting. I meant every word. Now I ask again, do you want to be mine?" Ramius stood directly over her, a head taller than the maid, forcing her to take an unconscious step back.
'He's not playing this time, I can feel it from his tone.' Jerice stared back with a grown.
"But, why me? Wouldn't it harm your status if you take me in?"
"You need not worry, I'm not swayed by public opinion. Your hardworking caught my attention. I would be honored if you would accept my proposal."
With the way to revenge now visibly clear, she did not care anymore if she was making the right decision. Besides, there was nothing more to gain from the inn and she had nothing more to lose.
"I humbly accept your proposal." That was when it happened.
Ramius leaned in and planted his lips on hers.
Jerice was taken aback by his sudden action but didn't pull away.
"I thought you said you did not wish to lay with me?" Jerice said after the man withdrew.
"I wasn't attempting to, I thought that was supposed to happen after someone accepts a proposal." Ramius remembered Orin's words clearly.
"When you get a maiden to say yes, you should plant your lips on hers. It's a ritual to declare ownership," Orin had said with a stern face. A moment of their teen he would never forget.
"And how would you know that?" Ramius had asked with a suspicious look.
"It's obvious, if you do not, another man would take her away, trust me."
The sudden laugh of Jerice brought him back from his train of thoughts.
'Orin you potato brained idiot, did you lie to me?'
"Are you untouched?" Jerice was stunned that such an established man in his mid-twenties had yet to lay with a woman.
"N... no I'm not." Ramius stammered for the first time.
"You do not have to deny it, I can tell by how you planted your lips on mine. This was your first time, was it not?." Jerice smiled in amusement as she watched the Great Strategist lie his way into manhood.
"I'm telling you, that is not the case at all." Ramius defended with a stern look.
"I hear you, kind sir." Jerice teased, deciding not to press further.
Then silence.
Now that they were both in agreement, what was the required next step.
Ramius turned away as if lost in thought, then after a while, he turned to face her.
"Please call me your overseer." Jerice watched him silently, wondering what he was up to.
"I'll be back shortly." She nodded and headed towards the door. As soon and she left, Ramius pumped his fist into the air as tears filled his eyes.
"I beat you, Orin. I can't wait to see the look on your face after you learn this information. But first, I need to resolve the issue with Aeloria, this way, my victory would be more satisfying." Ramius smiled to himself as he visualized the look on Orin's face.
"Greetings, honorable sir." The overseer bowed her head slightly the moment she entered. This was the same man who had spent nine hundred gold coins, she came willing to grovel at his feet if he commanded.
Ramius nodded as he straightened his posture.
"I wanted to bring it to your attention that I've taken Jerice as my betrothed. Prepare the necessary stamps to give her her freedom."
Ramius went straight to the point but frowned when he saw the uneasy look on Jerice's face.
The overseer gave Jerice a look that said, 'you managed to seduce him too, you witch.'
"I'm sorry Lord Ramius, but that won't be possible."
"Oh, tell me more. The only thing I consider impossible is trying to take the platinum-and-gold throne from Lady Nyxelene. I'm curios of what your version of 'impossible' means." Ramius spoke in a tone so cold it made the overseer shift.
"Jerice is under scroll stamps of servitude of a duration of seven years with a wage of a hundred silver coins per week. I'm afraid she has only served for two. As such, it would be a losing deal for the inn should she gain her freedom." The overseer explained as politely as possible.
'I thought it was five years, how did it turn seven. Also, I've served for three years.' Jerice clenched her hand at her back at the unfairness but decided to keep quiet. Though Ramius had declared her his wife, he could change his mind just as quickly. And if that were to happen after she had revealed the unfairness of the deal, she would be kicked out.
"Coins. You call something that can be solved with coins impossible? You have a strange definition of the word." Ramius stole a glance at Jerice and he could immediately tell she was enslaved by the stamp.
"I'm paying a hundred gold coins for each year she has left to serve. A total of five hundred."
"What, but that's more than enough to buy the inn several times over." Jerice spoke at last, though she had decided to remain silent, she refused to let the overseer have her way. Even if she was kicked out, then so be it.
"I'm sorry, but that is still not possible, Jerice is the face of her inn, her absence would greatly affect our sales...."
'So that was why she made the deal in her favor?' Jerice thought. 'Though many people tend to pay extra when I served them, I didn't think she would use that against me.'
"In other words, you are enslaving my wife, is that it?" This time, there was no warmth in his tone.
This was the same man who has led Runevale through the war with Namesh so far. She had yet to hear rumors of his defeat.
In her attempt to keep Jerice as one of the inn's main workers, she had done something she had no idea about.
She had threatened to stand in the way of Ramius's victory against Orin.
"I was short sighted, I will see to it that she is freed immediately." The overseer spoke in trembling voice as she bowed her head, afraid to meet his gaze.