Goldrune Mall is- as the name might suggest, - a chain that's mainly owned by my family.

We do have shareholders like Tequi- who have shares on businesses across Everlast anyways, - but mainly, the mall is owned solely by the Everlast family, and between us siblings, we get shares, with the least important ones having forced to split a 15% share to themselves- which is still pretty big, even if they get like, 0.30% each, - while me and the “main” children such as Adamantite, Bismuth, Amber, Byzanthine, and Pearl get to have a piece of Dad's share, netting us what? 9% Each?

It’s a pretty big income that we were born into honestly, and it’s mainly why Amber can just sit back and do whatever the hell she wants without getting married.

Before I decided to ask for Amber's help and start a business of my own, it was this particular share that allowed me to pay for my weekly runs on the Flora and Fauna territories. Granted, I did have a lot of savings from all the years I spent training and nothing else so all in all- things have always been smooth for me when it comes to providing the citizens of Everlast aid.

Anyhow, despite partially owning this place- not one of the guards or even the personnel bothered with trying to go near me and say something like, ‘come with us, your highness, as we have prepared an entire array of servants to aid you,’ - which is a good thing really, I don't want to ruin the experience of the regular folk just because my presence here made it so that the mall is now centered around my person.

I mean, the guards are staring at me- like they’re really hyperfocused on me but I assume that’s because of my purposefully badly done disguise instead of my status as a princess, which, by Everlast law, I should be protected at all cost. (Not that I needed it.)

And speaking of disguises, I’m actually planning on changing out of my current outfit and into a less attention-grabby one since it probably won’t take people long to realize who I really am if they keep their eyes on me at all times, and this disguise kind of does that- anyways, once that happens… eesh, I don’t think I can be bothered to explain just how bad that sort of thing can get.

Seriously, newspapers exist in this world, and not to mention the tech here is actually pretty good despite the world’s mainly fantastical aesthetic, if people recognize who I am, there’s going to be a picture of me in the news tomorrow morning so with that being said, I headed for the nearest fashion store with Mindy in tow.

Once I got in, I looked around the place; cream colored walls, white tiles for a floor, a coffee-brown ceiling with circular, yellow lights that were bright enough to light everything up but also not hurt the eyes, and racks upon racks filled with clothes- the standard sight when it comes to clothing stores really.

The clerks and other… you know, the girls that stand in front of a particular spot so that shoppers can ask them for help? Yeah, those guys- anyways, they blinked when they saw me but since the guard let me pass, they didn’t really do anything and simply kept eyeing me, so I walked around and tried to find a coat that fit my height as well as a standard set of civilian clothing so that I can change out of my uniform.

So I found a coat and it’s this beautiful thing made of wool and light brown in color, it looked and felt like bear fur and it was also big enough that it didn’t just hide my everything from the neck down, it also made me look like some type of woods witch… which I think was what the designer was going for to begin with.

I was about to wrap it around my hand when one of the salesperson- hah! Found the word! - came near me and said, “I’ll carry that for you miss,”

I eyed the girl before slowly handing her the coat, okay, fine, you think I look suspicious- which I am, I admit as much, but I’ll still make you swallow your feelings once I pull out my credit card.

With my new carrier in tow, I started walking around the shop for a set of day-to-day wear, I turned to Mindy as we got out one of the aisles, “aren’t you gonna pick something?” I asked and she stared up at me, “you’ve been awfully silent,” I said, I mean, I get it, she’s feeling shy and is thinking that I’ll pick things for her but the silence is getting unnerving, “it’s fine to talk you know?”

“Well… uhm-” she bit her lip, “can I just get money as payment?”

“Hm? Sure, why not?” I said to her, it’s not that big of a deal, “I’m not the type to force you to buy you clothes,” what’s even up with that anyways? Seriously, if someone is asking for money then just give it to them, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with doing it, “We’ll go by the nearest pin out and I’ll withdraw the money,”

She looked down and bowed, “thank you,”

“You’re welcome,” I smiled at her.

I quickly bought all the stuff I needed and after paying for all of it- and realizing that salespersons have practiced stone faces because she didn’t even blink or react when I pulled out my credit card, I guess that’s just what happens when you work in retail, disappointing really, - I brought my stuff into the changing room so that I can get out of this goddess forsaken uniform and into a proper disguise.

“How much do you need?” I asked the girl standing outside the door, whose feet were visible from the gap on the bottom, her feet moved in uncertainty and Mindy oddly didn’t answer so I asked again, “Mindy?”

“Uhm… 500 is enough,”

So 1,500 it is then- I silently thought as I hummed in response, “okay,” I replied, and then silence…

… okay, how do I do small talk?

“So, what do you usually do in your free time?” This is a good topic right? Yeah, this is good, I nodded at myself for a job well done at finding a topic, Mindy though didn’t say anything so as I threw on a pair of linen slacks, I decided to start things first, “for me I usually just train, and learn too I guess,”

“I-I sometimes like to do handweaving?” She replied uncertainly.

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“Neat,” I said, “you don’t stitch?”

“I do,” she answered, “sew as well but handweaving I find is the most relaxing hobby that I could do,” Mindy sounded like she was smiling, “I like to re-create the flowers that I find in my travels and put them into handkerchiefs,”

Wait- I thought handweaving is that thing with baskets? “What’s handweaving again?”

“Sewing in smaller scales,” came her answer, “I think… if you want a clearer example it’s when… someone puts a blank handkerchief on a ring and then stitches a design on it,”

Right, sewing, guess those terms are interchangeable, “neat,” I said as I threw on my brown coat over my black and white plaid shirt. “I’m done,” I finished my disguise by rolling a scarf around the bottom half of my face, covering it.

I got out of the changing room and raised my gloved hand at Mindy, “come on,” I said, voice muffled, “let’s go,”

She grabbed my gloves and I dragged her away from the dressing room- so the plan is, I’ll go to the nearest pin out, give Mindy the money that I owed her, then I’d have to go to a postal office to send my stuff back to the school.

Then I’d go to Horizon and eat that sweet, sweet Rosein Stake all by my lonesome.

It’s gonna be great!

I did those things as quickly as I could and as I waved at Mindy’s carriage as it drove away, my eyes scanned the street around me for a blue and white building, which didn’t take me long to find so I made my move and proceeded to send my stuff back to Pledge Academy, the people manning the office were surprised that it was me- though they didn’t really look like it, - and once my identity got confirmed, I sent my stuff before going on my way to eat a delicious stake.

I went out to the street, called for a Basilisk carriage, and that was when I noticed a slightly familiar figure on the corner- it couldn’t be him, right?

…

“She’s currently waiting for a Basilisk Carriage,” the man paid to tail one of the city’s most influential princess said as he eyed the woman adorning a light brown coat that covered her entire body from head to toe.

Body language is an important thing in his work and the way she covered herself prevented him from reading anything substantial but from the way the target’s body was tilted, the investigator could tell that she had one hand on her hips, and from the way she bobbed in place, he also concluded that she was tapping her foot impatiently.

His Employer, the man on the other end of the message scroll, was silent even when the investigator told him that the carriage was now starting to go near, that silence kept going until the carriage started moving away, afterwards his employer said, “follow after her,”

And so he did.

He called for a carriage of his own and what came was a relatively cheap carriage pulled by a pair of stallions, “where will it be lad?” The coachman asked.

“I’m not sure, go forward for now and I’ll give you directions on where I feel like going,” he replied as he made himself comfortable on the seat.

“Aye,” no more questions were asked as the coachman flipped his hat and whipped his horses, they started moving and he looked out the window, subtly eyeing the high-class vehicle that the princess had taken.

It went left, and so would he, “go left,”

He was starting to get a picture of where the princess wanted to go after the second turn- they were heading for the Southwestern Edge and there could only be one place someone of her class would want to go to on this particular side of the city, “I think I’m feeling Horizon today, can you take me there?”

“Aye,” the coachman nodded and with another whip, his horses galloped and they were out of the general direction that Basilisk Carriages usually take, due to their much slower speed, they took a detour to one of the crowded streets and it took him a while before he reached the restaurant.

Well, no matter, his guess had been right and as he stepped off the carriage, he could already see the princess sitting on the second floor, her beautiful form highlighted by the mesmerizing orange light of the setting sun casting itself across her body and lighting up the edge of her silhouette- which was stuck in a thinking man’s pose, her chin propped against her fist as she remained unmoving even as the servers and waitresses around her rushed about.

Moving forward, he scanned everything he could, rarely does he go to the district where the rich often go, and as expected of a well funded establishment, the streets and sidewalks around Horizon were clean, spotless from dirt, and had multiple armed men patrolling the area.

The place reeked of money and looked expensive but he knew he had enough for one of the restaurant’s smaller meals, he wouldn’t be full because of it, but observation comes first.

His client wanted to know more about the princess and her potentially meeting up with someone in the restaurant is something that he didn’t want to miss.

“Hello,” he bowed to the receptionist who smiled at him in return, “does Mr. Crust have a table in reserve on the second floor?” Well, he had the money to pay for the meal but the seating here is often… hard to get and his client did say to use everything at his disposal didn’t he?

Nodding, the receptionist replied, “can you please wait for a moment?” A call was made and soon, confirmation, the receptionist turned to him again, “yes, yes he does,” she smiled up at him before nodding to a server standing to her right, “please follow him,”

“Thank you,” with one last charming smile, he followed after the server who led him to the second floor of the restaurant, where he then proceeded to be met with the biggest surprise of his life- and no, it wasn’t just because he saw what might as well be a rare sight, the princess wearing an immaculate black dress fit for a dinner, which according to everyone who knew her, she rarely ever did.

The dress clung to her body and showed off her curves, and even without showing skin, the princess somehow managed to look alluring.

His surprise- as much as he hated to admit it, - didn’t have anything to do with his target’s chosen get up of a black dress, black opera gloves, and gleaming black accessories- the most eye catching of which being the metal rose on her hair, near her ear, - but instead, his surprise came from the fact that such a beautiful girl is waving him to come forward.

Every. Single. Eye. Was. On. Him.

“Finally! You came!” The princess said, voice excited as though she was meeting someone important, “come! I’ve been waiting for you!”

The gazes turned harsher and even the server, who had been all smiles for him just now turned to him with a barely hidden scowl, “do you want me to cancel your reservation sir?” He said, tone apathetic.

“No- no,” he wanted to run away and through a moment of clarity, realized what he had just said, “I mean, yes, please do so,”

Well, good news, his employer didn’t have to waste one of the seats that he’s reserved in this place but on the other hand… how did the princess know about him? Well- it’s probably not that right? She’s just mistaking him for someone else-

“Well, what are you waiting for?” She was still all smiles as she gestured for him to come and again, all eyes were on him.

Left with no other choice, he played along and moved over to the princess’ table, he pulled on the seat and once comfortable, complimented her choice of wear, which he genuinely thought was a- “lovely dress,”

“Thank you, thank you,” she said, smiling a bit, “but this is a gown, it isn’t obvious because I’m currently sitting- wait, it’s the same isn’t it?” She giggled and he did his best to control himself, “well, anyhow, I bought this as I rode here in preparation for this, like it?”

“I did say it was lovely,” he smiled- what preparation?

“You’re right, you’re right,” the princess nodded and waved at a waitress.

She came forward and gave him an ugly look that quickly turned into a smile once she faced the princess, “can I take your orders?”

“Yep!” His target replied quickly, “I want two plates of Rosein Stakes please,”

“Of course, your majesty,” she bowed and left.

“Hope you like it, it’s very good,” Neophyte turned to him, “anyhow, Basilisk Carriages are faster than horse based ones so it’s expected that I managed to change before you arrived,” she hummed and started tapping the table while he looked around, everyone is listening in to their conversation and whispers were breaking out, the princess clearly didn’t mind so what’s her game here- to root him out? Well, he had plenty of disguises and faces at the ready so he didn’t mind…

The princess spoke, “I know that you usually give written files on everyone but I want to hear you say it this time,”

He nodded, “what do you want to hear?” Play-along-play-along-play-along- he silently chanted.

“I never knew that one of my father’s brothers was out to get me,” she said while eyeing the table he was supposed to go to, “did you know that there’s a series of signs that can be shown on the counter on who’s table is going to be which?”

He shook his head, “really?”

“Yeah, it’s an entire mini-game and everything, and sometimes, the signs indicate an important person, you know, a special guest, a boss, that sort of thing?” The princess only smiled at his confused expression, “anyways, so, one of my father’s brothers is out to get me, talk about him,”