Away from the palace, and hours ago, Rohan had not thought it would take him this much time and effort before he would get to Mrs. Bigger, for he had expected he would find the woman exactly where he had thought.
After he had left the Dawson residence, Rohan had made his way to the town market, the same one they had passed on the day they had arrived in Aragonia, when Belle had pointed the elder woman out to him through the carriage window.
Only, when he got there, the stall where fruits had been displayed that day was empty, with morning dew dripping from the canopy covering the space and landing on the hat he wore. He scowled at the damp emptiness, not expecting she wouldn’t be there when the market opened earlier before the rise of the sun.
The other stalls had opened, and only hers remained empty, which meant he would either have to wait and see if she hadn’t yet come, or ask someone about her and when she would open.
Both ideas were unpleasant to him as he thought them over. He had not planned to speak to any human but Claire when he came here. He had come prepared for his meeting with her and had taken the time to make sure nothing would give him away as the so-called vampire duke everyone here seemed to know. His description was no secret to the humans of this land.
Hence, Rohan had dressed in simple attire. He wore a hat over his head to conceal his blue hair and dressed casually in a shirtsleeve and plain trousers, with worn-out boots he had randomly found in the garden house of the Dawson residence. Everything he owned was something that would draw attention with how much it was worth and cost, so he had chosen carefully.
However, despite his efforts to appear common and ordinary, his build and presence still set him apart from the crowd. His aura was one that couldn’t be ignored or brushed off as belonging to an ordinary man.
A tall, intimidating figure with a hat pulled low over his face, dressed all in black, was not something they saw every day in the market. No matter how faded the clothes looked, people could sense he wasn’t just anybody.
When he stood at the empty stall, contemplating who among the humans he would have to question, many had begun to stare at him in curiosity, wondering who he was and what he wanted.
Not wanting to draw too much attention to himself, he walked to the next stall beside the empty one. Fresh vegetables were being sold there, and an elder woman, not as old as the one he was searching for, looked up from where she was sprinkling water over her greens. She peered at him questioningly as he towered over her stall, blocking it from the view of passersby.
"How may I help yah? What would you like to buy, sir?" she asked with a welcoming smile that made the side of her eyes wrinkle. "I got any kind of leaves yah want."
"Do you know where the woman next to—" Rohan began to ask, for he wasn’t here to buy anything and wasn’t going to waste time listening to what she sold.
But noticing a few people watching, Rohan was forced to remain calm and instead looked down at the greens.
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