Chapter 84: Chapter 84"Why? Why did he call me a lady?" Rose asked Soren, even more confused by the stranger’s words to Soren.

    "You’ll find that the only people walking around with guards are those from good families. He must think you are a lady from a good family and Soren is your guard. There is also the belief that most beautiful women come from noble families. It is not true since you are quite the beauty," Janice said, pinching Rose’s cheek.

    "I see. We should have come without a guard," Rose said as they were going to have everyone misunderstand.

    Janice shook her head as she saw a big problem starting to arise. She knew now why Zayne sent a guard when it was Rose’s turn to come here. "You need a guard, Rose. I am not the only one who sees how pretty you are."

    Janice held Rose’s hand so no one could steal the little flower from her. "I hadn’t thought about how many would act like they have never seen a woman before. We are around the time when many are looking to get married. You might hear of a lot of balls when you travel."

    "Will I? Oh, but I won’t be able to see them. I am not going to the palace. I might just stay in his tent," Rose replied.

    "Not all balls are held at the palace. Those with money hold their own and try to make it better than the ones in the palace. The town might even have little festivals for people like us to go out and dance. That is why we must find you pretty dresses for if the occasion arises. Follow me," Janice said, pulling Rose inside a shop.

    Soren remained a little behind them keeping watch of the men starting to gather. It couldn’t be that all of them wanted to court Rose. She was pretty but were there no other pretty women in town that the men were gathering like this?

    Soren went inside the shop so he could stand by the door. Why did he have such terrible luck to be the one who had to keep these men away from her? If Zayne did like Rose, it was going to be terrible to have to be the one to reveal that men were trying to court her.

    Rose quickly lost interest in the stranger when she saw the piles of dresses in the shop. It didn’t bother her that they were once worn by someone else who no longer cared for the dresses.

    Rose left it to Janice to pick out what was best suited for her as a dress was a dress in Rose’s eyes. As long as it would fit, Rose didn’t care how it looked.

    While Janice spoke to the shop owner, Rose noticed that a few men had gathered outside and were trying to look inside. She stepped back to be out of their sight. It was like being in the brothel all over again as there were men who couldn’t stop staring.

    "You don’t need to act this way," Soren said, annoyed by both Rose and the men outside. It couldn’t be the first time she had gathered this much attention. Why did she always need to act so innocent?

    Rose didn’t hear what Soren said as she was more interested in finding a place to hide while Janice got the dresses for her. She had done nothing yet she was getting attention she did not want. How was she to enjoy her day when the men were being like this?

    "This must be over soon," Rose whispered.

    Nearly two hours later, the trio returned home with all that they set out for.

    Rose sighed in relief, happy to be back home where there weren’t many eyes watching her. She was yet to understand why many blocked her path to hand her a flower or a small gift. She was not a lady and just wanted to walk around the market.

    Rose helped to lift her new dresses and shoes out of the cart and walked to the door. This day had not gone how she wanted but at least she got what she needed. ’When I travel with Zayne, his face will scare them away.’

    Rose knew the trip she was going on would make up for what she experienced today.

    "Back so soon," Finn said after the front door opened. "Let me help you or would you prefer Zayne?"

    "I can lift it by myself. There is more to be brought in," Rose said, placing her things down by the door to then leave to help Janice.

    Zayne walked to the front door just as Rose walked away and Janice walked in. "Did it go well?"

    Janice nervously laughed. "Kind of. Rose experienced having a lot of men trying to court her. Some even mistook her for a lady. She is quite shy so she kept hiding from them. I don’t think she got to enjoy her time out. Excuse me. I need to take this to the kitchen quickly."

    Once Janice got far away, Finn laughed. "You should have gone with her. You might end up losing to some poor unknown man. You are lucky that she shies away when someone is courting her but also unlucky as she runs from you."

    "Do you like your tongue, Finn?" Zayne asked while his gaze was on Rose.

    "Of course I do. I need it for a lot of things," Finn replied.

    "Then stop talking before you lose it," Zayne warned Finn as he walked out the door.

    Zayne went to the cart where Rose was trying to carry more than she could. He looked at Soren making the guard walk away. "Did you find something that made you strong in the market? You cannot carry so much at once. Give it to me."

    "I can carry this. Or not," Rose said, putting it all down as she struggled to lift the crates with vegetables and fresh raw meat.

    Zayne lifted the crates with ease. "Have we not gotten to the point of you asking for help?

    "I thought I could lift them but it is best to make use of your strength. I will carry the last one," Rose said, pulling the small crate off the cart. "Janice will start dinner early so you can Finn can return to your camp before night. She wants to make a big feast for the two of you since you won’t be coming here for a while."

    "She didn’t need to. What was it like in the market?" Zayne asked. Sёarch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "It was... something," Rose concluded. "No matter where I go, men are strange. I feel like I must apologise to Soren for what he had to endure. I do not need a guard to go to the market as I am mistaken for a lady. Do those kinds of women often sneak out and dress up in old clothes?"

    "Ones who want to taste a bit of freedom."

    "I see," Rose replied.

    "You’re going to get a lot of attention without trying to, Rose. Unfortunately, we are at the start of the season when many look to wed and you are a woman clearly not yet married as there is no ring. Did anyone catch your eye?" Zayne asked curious about what she thought about those who approached her.

    Rose shook her head. "I am not interested in any of it."