“Exactly one hundred gold coins. Keep this safe.”
The black market merchant counted the gold coins in the pouch, then handed two stalks of Moonlight Grass to His Blackstone.
Although he had come to the black market as soon as he received the news, Moonlight Grass was indeed a hot commodity. By the time His Blackstone arrived, one stalk had already been bought by someone else.
Fortunately, this was still enough for two treatments.
“It’s always a pleasure doing business with someone like you.”
The black market merchant put the pouch into his bosom, then suddenly seemed to remember something and jerked his chin toward the side of the stall.
“Young boss, how about taking that one along too? I can sell it to you cheaper.”
His Blackstone then noticed a girl curled up in the corner next to the stall. Her hands were tied behind her back with rough rope, and her long black hair was disheveled over her shoulders, covering most of her face. She wore only a black coarse cloth dress, and several obvious scrapes could be seen on her arms.
As if sensing His Blackstone’s gaze, the girl slowly raised her head. A pair of dark red eyes peered out from the messy strands of hair, revealing a stubbornness that refused to bow even when backed into a corner.
“What’s the deal with her?”
“I don’t know where she was smuggled from. Someone found her and sold her to me. She doesn’t have any magic power, but she can at least help you with chores. When she grows a bit older…”
“Alright, alright, I’ll take her. How much?”
“Hehe, how about fifty gold coins?”
“Too much. You said it yourself, she has no magic. Thirty!”
“Deal!”
‘Oh well, I still overpaid…’
Because recently the System’s intel was getting more expensive, and he still needed to buy herbs for Ni Wei that little girl, His Blackstone now had to carefully budget every coin in his small treasury.
‘As for why I bought this girl… probably because I was somewhat drawn to her eyes. And having one more helper for Rafina wouldn’t be a bad thing. After all, I’m not paying for her room and board.’
The black market merchant handed the rope binding the girl to His Blackstone, then kicked the girl still curled on the ground.
“Get up quickly!”
The girl glared at the merchant, then stood up with difficulty.
She was taller than His Blackstone had imagined. Although clearly weak, her posture was still straight, as if she had been specially trained.
‘Could she be the destitute daughter of some noble family?’
That thought flashed through His Blackstone’s mind.
“Um… you’d better come with me. It’s much better than staying here.”
He didn’t pull the rope but instead spoke actively to persuade the girl.
The black-haired girl looked at him, hesitated, then nodded.
“Good. Follow me.”
***
Ni Wei crouched in a corner at the black market entrance, breathing heavily.
She had just seen with her own eyes that His Blackstone, after trading with a black market merchant, had actually spent money to buy a girl!
‘As expected! This wicked young master really is no good! During the day he puts on a proper act in front of my sister, but at night he runs out to do this kind of thing! That girl looks really weak. That wicked young master isn’t going to…’
Ni Wei was imagining all kinds of terrifying scenes when suddenly she felt someone pat her head.
“Ah!”
Just as Ni Wei was about to scream, a hand covered her mouth in time.
“What are you doing out here in the middle of the night instead of sleeping in your room?”
His Blackstone’s face appeared before her, smiling a half-smile at her.
“You’re not secretly doing something shameful, are you? Does your sister know?”
Ni Wei’s eyes widened, her face instantly turning crimson.
“Come clean now.”
He let go of his hand.
Ni Wei immediately stepped back two steps, her mind racing.
‘What do I do, what do I do, what do I do? Confront His Blackstone directly? That doesn’t seem right. After all, the final say on this matter is in his hands. On the contrary, as a maid, coming here in the middle of the night is quite suspicious. And if my sister finds out about this tomorrow… the consequences would be too terrible to imagine.’
“I… I…”
“Forget it. Don’t do this again.”
Just as Ni Wei didn’t know how to explain, His Blackstone spoke up.
“Let’s go. We’re going home.”
Ni Wei was stunned, looking at His Blackstone with disbelief in her eyes.
“You’re not going to punish me?”
“I have no such intention.”
“Then… are you going to tell my sister and let her teach me a lesson?”
“No, I won’t tell her.”
His Blackstone reached out and patted his little maid’s head again.
“But tomorrow, in front of Rafina, you’ll have to cooperate with me. Otherwise, I won’t be able to explain it for you.”
“Oh…”
Ni Wei lowered her head.
‘For some reason, even though this wicked young master wanted her to deceive her sister together with him, it didn’t make her feel disgusted. No, no, this must be the wicked young master’s trap!’
“Why are you helping me?”
Seeing that Ni Wei’s tone had regained its usual wariness, His Blackstone felt relieved instead.
“Help you?”
His Blackstone sneered.
“Don’t overthink it. If your sister really finds out about this, knowing her personality, she definitely won’t feel comfortable staying on at the Duke’s Mansion. And I’m quite satisfied with her work, so… you get it.”
‘He seems to have a point?’
Ni Wei stared at His Blackstone skeptically for a few seconds, then finally muttered, “You’d better not be scheming something bad.”
“Think whatever you want.”
His Blackstone shrugged indifferently, turned, and walked toward the Duke’s Mansion. Li Nuo Er and the black-haired girl he had just bought immediately followed his steps. Ni Wei gritted her teeth and quickly followed.
***
“Li Nuo Er, take her to find a place to rest tonight. We’ll talk about everything else tomorrow.”
Back at the Duke’s Mansion, His Blackstone quickly instructed Li Nuo Er to settle the black-haired girl he had just bought.
“Yes, Young Master.”
“As for you, come to my room tonight.”
He pointed at Ni Wei.
“Huh?!?!”
“What ‘huh’? Didn’t I tell you last time? Your condition is quite complicated. To fully cure it, we need to go through multiple courses of treatment.”
His Blackstone shook the Moonlight Grass he had just bought.
“See, I went specifically to buy herbs for you. Since you’re still awake, we might as well start the next course now. This stuff works best when used at night.”
“You went to the black market… to buy this?”
Looking at the Moonlight Grass in his hand, Ni Wei suddenly realized that this wicked young master seemed to have gone to the black market in the middle of the night to help treat her body.
‘No, wait! Then how do you explain the black-haired girl? Hmph, as expected of a wicked young master, still trying to trick me?’
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