After the priest came Pearl found themself sitting in an empty ballroom that looks as if it was made to host large-scale parties. They were never able to attend any at the ale Rouges manor but this place looks as if it hasn’t been used in years. It is currently just a big empty room with a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling with what looks like hundreds of small crystals hanging from it. They don’t know why they were told to sit here; they just know that when they asked Silver why, he ordered them to stay until he comes back. They don’t think that it was intentionally said as an order but he definitely made it one.

It takes about thirty minutes before Silver comes back with an outfit and a maid trailing behind. “I’ve brought a maid that I am going to assign to you. Lilliana Rue, please take care of Mx. Frost as if they are my equal in this house.”

“Yes, my lord von Stein. It would be my greatest honor.” Lilliana bows to Silver and takes the dress from his hand.

“Please help them get ready. I want them to experience the first day of the festival.” He smiles and pats Pearl’s head and heads off.

“Mx. let me help you get dressed and style your hair.”

Pearl gets up out of the chair and carefully undresses and Lilliana slides the new outfit over their head. It is a beautiful dress that starts out yellow-orangeish and slowly transitions into deep violet. They are in awe as the dress glitters in the light of the sun that seeps through the ballroom balcony window. “It looks amazing.”

“Master ordered the dress and had it quickly made and delivered by the city's top seamstress.”

This whole thing seems so very surreal to Pearl. They were never treated like this at their foster parents' house. In fact, they only seemed to tolerate them there but that doesn’t mean that they absolutely didn’t care about them. “It looks like the night sky before the sun has fully set.”

“That was master’s request. To ‘encapsulate the stars in the sky and make it as radiant as the sunset.’” Lilliana says as she quotes what he told the seamstress. She scoots the chair away from the wall and gestures for Pearl to sit there. “The master has been happier these past few days after bringing you home. We were worried that the war completely froze over everything that he could feel. However, you seemed to have saved him.” She slips some shoes on them that seem to sparkle as much as the dress that they are wearing.

“I haven’t done anything.” Their reply was blunt. They didn’t know him during the war but he still seems like he can be rather cold at times.

As Lilliana combs through their hair, a couple of other maids show up and curtsy in their presence. “Mx. Frost, Lady Ruby ale Ruoge is here to see you should we escort her to you?” Pearl gives them a nod and the two walk off. After a few minutes, they return. “Lady Ruby ale Rouge has arrived, Mx. Frost.” Just like that, they walk off again.

“Pearl! I was worried when you didn’t show back to class on Friday. Then I was told that you weren’t living in the dorm that you were supposed to be in. Don’t scare me like that.” She grabs their hand once Lilliana finishes up her work. “I would have hated myself if something happened to you. You are my only sibling after all.”

“Sorry, Ruby. I would have come yesterday but I was a little preoccupied.” They tell Ruby not really sure how to explain that Silver was teaching them about swordsmanship all day. They loved their lesson on it. The way that they hit their target made them feel so free. Not to mention that the lightness of the rapier made it easy to move around with. They felt very agile.

“Do you know why Mom and Dad got a refund for your schooling? Is something going on?”

“No, not at all. I’m just getting training from a high priest of Nuriel. I met her yesterday, she is really nice.” Silver made the priest, Gwendolyn Cristian, vow to not tell anyone about what they still think of as a curse. Gwendolyn says that that is just something that their mind is telling them and it is not true.

“You are blessed by Nuriel? We could be a duo to bring peace and life to everyone! Think about it. It could be fun and we will always be able to be together.”

“I’m not really just blessed by Nuriel.” They say with a small quiet voice. They aren’t sure if they should continue the thought but like she said, she is her sister. "If I tell you this you have to promise not to tell anyone. It can't in any way get to the Depraysie family."

"I won't tell anyone. I still never told Mother that you snuck into my debut as a maid so I wouldn't be alone."

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They smile, give them a hug, and whisper in her ear. "I was blessed by all the gods." They move back and start to cry. "I feel bad. I feel like I've failed in some way. Not even a purification ritual can ease my sorrow on this. This feels more like a curse than a blessing."

"Pearl. It is not a curse." She pulls them back in and holds them tightly. "Hey, you get to go to the festival of light this year. It comes to our country once every five years and people from all over Lethua come over to celebrate. We can finally go out and have fun." She grabs their hand and leads them to the front door.

Silver is waiting there for them with his broad sword on his back and hands Pearl their rapier. "Put this on your waist. You never know if you might need it."

Their eyes light up and they give him a huge smile. "Okay!" They attach it to a satchel on their waist that they have their wand hidden away in.

"Can't you just use magic? Why would you need that? Can you use it?"

"My wand is distinguishable by the royal family. It could be dangerous for me to carry it out in the open. I'm not that good at using it right now but Silver, I mean Duke von Stein can help keep us safe if need be."

"Well, okay. Let's go."

The event is pretty uneventful for Silver for the most part. But he does enjoy watching Pearl have fun. They are currently playing a game where they try to toss some light metal rings onto a beer bottle. After Pearl throws their last ring they turn around and look at him.

"Silver, do you want to try? It's fun! Although, I only got one out of five rings on."

"Do I get something if I win?" He doesn't really expect anything, he just wants to tease them some.

They gesture for him to bend down to lower his head. "Do you want to order me tonight?"

Does he want to? That would be a yes. Could he do it even if he didn't have permission? Also yes. He just doesn't like the idea of making them do something that they don't want to do. Maybe he could just tell them to kiss him. That seems harmless enough. "Okay. Hand me the silver from my pouch."

They let a huge grin slip on their face. They hand him a coin from his bag and he hands it to the man at the stand. The man sets down five metal rings and Silver picks one of them up. He feels the weight of the metal in his hand and can feel how it will fly. He tosses them one by one and each one makes it on the bottle in the back of the stand.

Pearl wraps their arms around him and leans into his shoulders. "You're really good Silver."

"Would you like to give your partner a prize? I'm sure that they would look good in one of these." The man behind the counter says. He looks at them and sees one with fake amethyst in the shape of a moon that looks like it is holding onto a pearl that looks as if it represents the sun.

He picks it up and clasps it around Pearl’s neck. “This really makes your eyes shine. I’ll get you one with a real pearl and amethyst.” He whispers in their ear.

"This one is pretty enough. Thank you, Silver."

"Nonsense, you deserve things that shine as bright as you." He places a kiss on their head and leads them over to the stand where Ruby is.

The stand that she is at sells a bunch of fruits covered in chocolate. She is contemplating on what to buy. She always loves the cherries but the strawberries and apples look good too.

"Lady Ruby, are you having trouble deciding?"

She turns around in surprise. "Duke? Oh, yeah, I know I want to get a bag of cherries but I don't know if I also want to get the strawberries or apples. Pearl has never had them before and I wanted her to try some."

Silver walks up to the stand and places some Silver coins on the counter. "Is this enough for three bags of cherries and strawberries, as well as three apples?"

The merchant counts the coins. This will probably be the biggest sale that he has all day. 5 Silver is more than enough. The prices would come up to two Silver and three Copper. "Yeah, let me get your change."

He starts to get out seven copper and two silver but Silver stops him. "I don't need the change. Please just keep it."

"Thank you, sir." The extra money will help him be set for a few extra days. This means the world to the old merchant.

"You didn't have to do that, Duke von Stein. I could have bought them myself."

Silver looks at Ruby and then straight ahead as they start walking. "Well, you are Pearl’s sister and you wanted to get them for Pearl too. How about we go and get some lunch while we are at the food stalls."

“But this is lunch!” Ruby says as she bites into the chocolate apple.

“No, it’s not. Let’s go.” Silver walks off with Pearl following behind as they grab Ruby’s hand.

The passing of time seemed to go by way too fast for Pearl. They get to be with their best friend and sister, Ruby as well as spend time with Silver. He mostly kept his distance from the two since he was mostly just there to help make sure that nothing happens to Pearl. With their eyes, they would be a huge target for the royal family. Although, they are who the family is looking for. He is glad that they can’t order him to kill Pearl. He doesn’t know who the god is that blessed the contract on Pearl’s side but if it was Suriel then the consequence of breaking the contract is death.

As the sun starts to set Ruby starts to head off home. “Oh, Pearl, you need to see the final night of the festival! It is so beautiful. You should definitely watch it with the Duke. I’m sure that you two would love watching the fireworks together.” She hugs Pearl and heads off to the ale Rouge estate.