Chapter 1.26: The Gold & Red Part 1

A large, gold carriage came to a stop and Leila stepped out of it, parasol in hand. The parasol protected her from the heavy rainfall that had started on their way to town. She got looks from citizens walking by, as they used heavy black umbrellas to shield their silk and leather outfits. Everyone here knew who she was, for better or worse. They lived in four-digit condos and went to balls every weekend. They were the upper middle class and extremely supportive of the royal family and the society they upheld.

Leila hated the sight of them. They looked at her like she was a bug they wanted to squash. But she needed to see the dressmaker, and the woman's store was right in the middle of the area. After her business took off, she bought space to house her booming company. Now, she had hundreds of employees taking on double the amount of customers. They ranged from noble girls who were heading off to boarding school to knights attending their first-ever ceremony.

The teenager knew the woman was a force to be reckoned with, and she had to be ready. One of the five guards her father demanded came with her and walked over.

The man had sandy hair that signaled he was a foreigner to the nobles surrounding them. “Ma’am, would you like to take the carriage further? It’s rather crowded and you shouldn't be on your feet so long.”

She wanted to say yes, but the carriage was too big for the space they had. Just the two of them standing next to one another made it cramped. Plus, she wanted to wait for the confrontation and have some fun. She wanted to see what the rest of this fake world was like. For months they kept her in the manor with little knowledge of what was happening outside. The teenager had to see if these people truly hated her guts or were open to hearing her side. Any allies she could get were a win.

With a shake of her head, she spoke. “No, thank you. I’d like to stop at a few stores and I don’t think the carriage can make it that far.” Seeing the skepticism in his golden eyes, she sighed. “I’m used to long walks don’t worry.”

The guard looked back at the others, and his displeasure deepened. From what Leila managed to overhear on the ride over, he was the leader of these guys. Or at least the leader of the new recruits who weren’t aware of her family’s true dynamic. She couldn’t help but pity them the household really was an abyss. Everyone who entered it and completed the rigorous training, all new employees went through where stuck. The harsh environment warps them.

He put his hands on his hips and leaned his head back, dejected. “I’ll carry you.”

An unamused laugh left Leila’s mouth as she stared at the older man. She looked unimpressed as she watched strangers pass by while observing their exchange. “I’m not a child. I can walk fine on my own two feet.”

“Really?” The other guards had walked over as he questioned her. Both of their attention turned to the shoes she was wearing. A pair of ankle boots that were soaked by a puddle she had previously stepped in. “You can walk in-”

“Yes, I can.” She cut him off and gave the man a look. It made him roll his eyes to her shock.

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Usually, the staff wilted and gave an apology before running off. He was taking her annoyance as if this were a game. The blonde bent down like he was bowing and gestured for her to lead the way. Leila stared at him for what felt like an eternity before leaving. Cleo's memories could be blurry at times, but she had a clear image of where to go. One memory was that of a nice cake shop she wanted to try. The assassin used to eat there as a child with a nanny who had since passed away from old age.

It was one of the few positive memories left untainted by her later experiences. The teenager grew to understand it was a safe space for Cleo. She had been an ordinary person there. No one recognized her as some sheltered noble child. And when she was older, people saw her as the future queen. Leila was sure the positivity of the place was going to be gone. But she wanted to at least go there and feel what the woman had felt. Just thinking about it made her mood change abruptly.

Over time, the craving to feel what Cleo had grown. While she had full control over the body, it still wasn't her own. Both of their minds had become one, and she felt ungrounded. She would remember people who as Leila she'd never met before. And struggle to feel anything Cleo would have felt being reunited with them. They were strangers to her mind, but her beloved friends and family, according to her body. The teen wished things hadn't been made so complicated.

The teenager stopped walking at the sight of the shop. The building was enormous with an area to eat and make desserts yourself. They painted its bricks soft pink on one side and bubblegum on the other. She looked through one of the large windows the shop had and eyed the room. There looked to be a lot of people sitting down at tables, but it wasn't too crowded. She needed to make sure there was plenty of room for the guards to have their own seats. While she found their preference suffocating, it would be childish to leave them out in the rain.

Dripping from the downpour, she turned to look at the blonde from before. "I'd like to stop and buy everyone some lunch."

"Lunch?" One guard with a scraggly beard cried out in surprise. A younger guard standing next to him whacked the back of his head playfully.

The golden-eyed man rolled his eyes at the display. He shifted a bit and put his hands in his pockets. "I doubt a place like this would let the help sit and order."

Leila squinted at him in confusion. "The help? You guys are customers. Of course, they'll let you eat." She wasn't sure what to say. Some shops were concerned about the social status of their customers. But Cleo's memories never showed that for the shop itself.

He shook his head and gestured to the shop window. Both watched as a server stopped carrying her plates to stare at them. “That woman has been giving me the evil eye since you turned away.”

The woman looked at the guard with a small sneer growing on her face. Her gaze shifted to Leila and instantly she put on a pleasant smile.

“Even though we’re your bodyguards, people here consider us servants. We’re like dirt to them, Ma’am.” As he talked, the teenager watched the server go back to work. Her skirts swayed as she chatted with her affluent customers and teased them with a warm grin the entire time. “I don’t think they’ll even let us in.”

Leila pressed her lips firmly together as she pondered. Could Cleo be so oblivious as a child that she ignored the shop's true nature? Or had she mistaken the memories as being positive when it was actually the complete opposite? Whatever the answer was, she needed to push past it. There was no way in hell she'd let some stuck-up nobles push her around. And she wasn't going to waste all her hard work getting the staff to trust her for a cake. She pushed herself away from the window and glared.

"Let's go in any way. If they throw you out, they throw me out. And I have no problem causing a ruckus if that's the case." The jade-eyed woman said as she walked to the door. Her fingers wrapped around its handle one by one and she pulled.