SOE 0024: A Peculier Meeting

Leo walked with Richard down the street, "We don't need to get the horses?" He asked as they walked in the same direction that Ingrid left.

"The place that she works out of isn't too far away," Richard said, "It's a storefront for a chamber of commerce that doesn't exist."

"She sounds like more and more of an interesting woman…" Leo said with a curious tone.

Richard gave him a look, "There are peculiarities surrounding her for sure, young master, but you seem to be more invested in this than necessary. It feels … uncharacteristic of you."

"Is that so?" Leo asked, "I guess I'm just curious about someone interesting."

Richard frowned but didn't say anything further. He continued leading Leo through the streets of the city.

A couple of minutes passed and Leo finally saw the storefront mentioned by Richard, Hermes Chamber of Commerce. "Are you familiar with the term Hermes, Richard?" Leo asked as he stood in front of the store beside his knight guard.

"Never heard of it, Young Master," He said, "There are no mentions of this word anywhere else, and no meaning to this word exists in our books."

"Let's go in," Leo showed a curious expression and walked forward, walking in through the door.

As the bell rang, "Welcome, young master." A beautiful woman with silky black hair that cascaded across her shoulders down to her waist and blood-like crimson eyes greeted Leo. She had on the uniform of a clerk not dissimilar to that of the jewelry store clerk, Levia. However, with her pure-seeming milky-white skin and eyes that seemed to suck one in, this woman looked much more appealing and attractive seemingly without even trying.

"Lady Demeter, I presume?" Leo asked with a smile as he looked at the woman who was looking at him with an almost lazy expression yet exuded waves of seductiveness.

"Yours truly," She gave him a curtsy that made her seem nobler than her identity as a clerk afforded her. Leo, for a second, thought that she might actually have some background. Only for a second though, he knew better after seeing the state of the store.

Leo noticed the woman's eyes going out of focus and kept looking at her with an inquisitive expression. A few seconds later, "Tell me, Demeter," Leo didn't even bother glancing at the wares in the store and only looked at her, "How would you like to follow me?" He asked.

Her eyes seemed to regain focus at his words as she brought her gloved hand to her mouth and gave a light laugh that made Leo feel a tingle in his abdomen, "What do you mean by that, Young Master?" She asked him.

Leo walked toward her counter and pulled back one of the stools before sitting on it, "I heard that you have a mysterious background," Leo said as he glanced at her slender hand that was resting on the counter before looking back into her eyes.

"I'm sure that it's nothing in front of you, Young Master," She said with a smile, giving a fleeting glance to Richard who was quietly standing beside the door, staying focused on her to make sure that she couldn't get the jump on Leo. Richard was confident in his strength that even if she instantly burst out with a hidden weapon, his aura would be able to cover Leo and protect him before she could do anything.

"What kind of stuff do you sell?" Leo asked. He noticed Demeter moving the hand that she had been resting on the counter toward him and extended his hand forward.

"I primarily sell low-grade recovery potions," She said as Leo grasped her fingers in his hand, "These work best for Apprentice and Journeymen grade Aura practitioners."

Leo glanced down and softly traced his thumb over her knuckles, feeling the soft texture of her glove as her hand seemed to give in to his gentle touch, "Do you create these potions yourself?" He asked her.

"You give me too much credit, Young Master," She smiled shyly, "I couldn't possibly come up with the recipes for these potions by myself."

"Pity," Leo said as he pinched the tip of her finger and started pulling the glove off, "I think you would do well as an alchemist."

She didn't resist his action and let him pull the glove off of her hand, revealing her milky white hand, "To each their own, Young Master," She smiled, "I guess I'm just not fated."

Leo smiled at her words, he interlaced his fingers with hers and made her flip her hand over, revealing her palm to him, "Destiny is a fickle bitch," He said, "It can change at any moment."

"Is this my moment, Young Master?" She asked him as he continued toying with her dainty fingers.

"It could be," He answered, "If you want …" He trailed off, letting her decide for herself.

"Could I?" She asked him with a flickering tone, "Could I really?" There was a sense of excitement that was easily discernable in her voice.

Leo chuckled lightly, "I've taken a fancy to you, Demeter," He said nonchalantly, "Follow me back to my duchy."

Demeter looked up and met Leo's eyes for the first time through their entire conversation, she gazed into his ocean blue eyes with her blood red for a whole five seconds as if looking for something before giving him another curtsy, "It would be this humble one's honor, Young Master."

"Good," Leo nodded, finally letting go of her hand that he'd been toying with for the duration of the entire conversation, "Meet me here tomorrow morning." With those words, he got up and exited the store without looking back. He was followed by Richard who had been quietly standing at the corner of the room for the entire duration of the brief conversation.

"Young Master," Richard called to Leo.

"Did you realize something weird, Richard?" Leo asked. Before Richard could reply, he continued, "No one was there to stop us before we entered the store."

"I noticed." Richard nodded.

"With the way that guy from yesterday was acting, I expected her to have an entire entourage of men wrapped around her fingers." Leo said, "None of them were there."

"It's as if she expected us to come," Richard said, "Young Master …" Richard wanted to warn Leo about the woman being a dangerous element.

"I know, Richard," He answered with a cold light in his eyes, "You don't have to worry."