Tristan stood outside the door in the thin bathroom slippers, and despite the fact that nobody was there, he couldn’t stop the feeling of humiliation hitting his chest.
He was used to the treatment of royalty in every sense so this was a foreign, unacceptable situation.
For a short while he simply stared at the locked wood, his jaw tightened so hard, as he tried forcing the irritation down where it wouldn’t show.
He tried the reasonable approach first;
"Cora," he called out gently. "I’m ready to talk now but you have to open the door. We can talk properly inside. You don’t expect me to be explaining all of what you want to know from here, do you?"
Her reply came without delay, her tone saying she wasn’t impressed one bit;
"Talk from there. Tell me where the money came from."
Tristan’s fingers curled slightly at his side. Being locked out like a stray dog already grated on his pride. Having to negotiate through a door made it worse. Still, he cleared his throat, and kept his tone controlled and offered the best lie he could form on a short notice.
"The money followed my soul during the transfer, When I entered this body, it came with me." he said.
There was a pause.
Then Cora let out a sharp laugh laced with absolute disbelief.
"That might be the dumbest thing I’ve heard this year. I’m a witch. I’ve studied soul displacement, possession, and residual energy for years. Nothing physical follows a soul across like that. And I was standing right there when you opened your eyes in that bed. Nothing appeared with you. Try again." she spat out.
Tristan exhaled slowly through his nose. He stayed still for a second then he turned his attention inward.
"Lysander." he called inwardly.
The System’s voice answered at once, sounding warm and clearly amused.
"Yes, Darling Host?"
"She’s not buying logic." he stated, gritting his teeth. Admitting that out was doing a number to his pride.
"Of course she isn’t," Lysander replied lightly. "These women are not the court officials you’re used to. You can’t simply out-reason them and walk away the winner."
"You need a different approach. Be provocatively lewd. Even the sharpest woman can be shaken if you aim at the right place."
Tristan’s face tightened it looked hurtful.
"You want me to talk filth through the door." he asked in disbelief.
"Actually, I want you to stop being so refined for a moment and try. Taunt her properly. See what happens." Lysander said.
"If you follow my way, you won’t have much difficult handling those wives of yours." She added confidently.
Tristan gritted his teeth. In his previous life, women had come to him willingly; he had never needed to lower himself to filthy words to get a reaction. However, he was not so rigid that he refused to adapt when the situation demanded it. After all, he had knowledge of what exactly was in discourse here... Adequate knowledge from books.
"Do you need me to help you with the words?" Lysander asked after a moment of his silence.
Tristan shook his head firmly.
"No, I’ll handle it," he said quietly.
Then he stepped closer to the door until he was almost speaking against the wood. When he spoke again, his voice had lost some of its refined smoothness and carried a darker angle;
"Is this how the three of you treated your previous husband? Locking him out the moment one of you felt offended?" he asked.
No answer came, but he could sense she was still listening.
"I find that hard to believe," Tristan continued. "A man living with the three of you... I doubt he tolerated this kind of behavior for long. He must have punished properly you when you got out of line."
There was a faint movement on the other side of the door.
"Punished? What the hell is he saying?" Cora’s voice came out although she had only repeated the word to herself in confusion.
"Yes." Tristan kept his tone very serious yet quiet. "And from the way you’re acting right now, I’m starting to wonder if you’re doing this because you miss it."
Silence stretched for a beat.
He pushed further.
"it seems I would start my own punishment from correcting that mouth of yours first. Stuff it full until you can’t throw insults... until you can barely breathe around my... You know..."
The door was yanked open with sudden force.
Cora appeared at the entrance, her eyes narrowed in raw disgust, and before Tristan could finish the sentence she shoved a thick wad of the remaining cash straight into his mouth.
Tristan felt the taste of the money on his tongue instantly but he cared less because there it was, the door opening...
She stared at him coldly.
"What kind of crude place did you come from to say something like that so casually to me?"
Tristan slowly pulled the money from his mouth, his expression kept flat even as he wiped his lower lip with his thumb. He looked at her directly.
"You didn’t like the idea of being punished?" he asked as if he was discussing the weather.
Cora’s nostrils flared. Anger rose red in her eyes.
"I am nothing like the werewolf, so watch how you talk to me." she snapped.
Tristan’s mouth curved into a slow, intentional smirk.
"So the werewolf likes being punished," he said quietly, "but you don’t." His eyes stayed on hers. "Then what is it you prefer? Being handled gently instead even though you are being mischievous?"
"No, it doesn’t work like that. A mischievous person gets a mischievous punishment..."
For a moment Cora simply stared at him, as if she couldn’t quite believe the words had left his mouth. Disgust and disbelief got mixed together in her expression. Her fingers clenched.
But Instead of answering, she threw the rest of the money at his chest. The bundles hit him lightly and scattered near his feet.
"I am not standing here listening to this nonsense."
She turned on her heel, her wavy hair swinging hard with the movement, and walked away with a quick, angry steps.
Tristan picked up the money and stepped across the entrance before she could change her mind and turned around, then he closed the door behind him firmly.
[Ding!]
[Daily Task Progress: 2/3]
Lysander’s voice followed almost immediately, sounding genuinely pleased.
"Better than I expected, Host. You actually handled that way well. Keep that energy up."
Tristan allowed a small, pleased smile to appear on his face at that but when the image of Cora’s horrified expression replayed in his vision, his smile widened.
She had reacted strongly. That meant there were cracks, even in the sharpest of the three.
He now also knew something useful about Talia. Cora had been helpful to him than she had known. He knew she would be more helpful if he handled her brilliantly.
Okay!
After a few seconds he wiped the smile away and plastered on a remorseful look, then lifted his chin slightly. His voice, when he called out, was very calm again and absolutely carrying remorse.
"Cora... I shouldn’t have-"