34 The Necklace And The Pin

-Charm's POV-

The next day at Gran-gran's house, I woke up from the sound of the roosters in her backyard. For once, I was happy to have a peaceful rest with nothing to worry about.

I started to get up from my slumber and sat straight in this comfy bed that Gran-gran provided for me and Aurora. Speaking of this girl, I turned to my right and saw her still sleeping.

After some stretchings I made, I carefully fixed the side of the bed where I slept on and went out of the bedroom afterwards. With a few walks, I reached the balcony in no time and felt the morning breeze all around me.

Ahhh.. I miss waking up like this.

"Good morning Charm."

I paused for a moment when I both saw Lance and Lucas holding an axe and were busy chopping some woods. Not to mention that both of them are...err..topless.

Feeling awkward around topless guys, I quickly looked down to hide my face heavily tainted with red.

"G-good morning." I greeted both of them, stuttering in the process.

"W-why are you up this early...chopping woods and all of that?" I quickly added, still my eyes are glued on the ground.

"Both of them offered their help to chop these woods themselves instead of sending these to the market and have to pay for someone to cut them for me. What sweet gentlemen they are."

My head swiftly turned towards Gran-gran who's currently standing behind me with a sweet smile plastered on her face. I quickly went near to her and gave her a good morning kiss, just like the good ol' days.

"We're happy to be of any assistance to you Gran!" Lance said with full of energy as he continued to chop some woods.

"Really? I needed to teach you earlier how to do this right earlier, from someone who was luckily born with a golden spoon fed on his mouth." Lucas chimed in, which made Lance pause for a bit and glared at this guy.

"What did you just say?!" Lance's face turned sour as he looked at Lucas over here.

"Quit it you two. It's too early for you to have a fight at this hour." I decided to meddle with them to prevent things from getting out of hand.

"Sorry." both of them said in unison before continuing their work.

There was a moment of silence after that before Gran-gran chose to speak once again.

"I can see that both of you have special feelings for my child over here."

I think all of us right here froze as we heard Gran-gran's statement just now. And as if on cue, the three of us looked at her in disbelief.

"See? I was right." Gran-gran declared happily.

After that, there was again another round of awkward silence around here… until Aurora showed up with her still messy hair and droopy eyes.

"Good morning guys--" Then her eyes went round all of a sudden as she looked at each one of us avoiding gazes at each other. "Is it just me or I can sense the atmosphere getting awkward around here?"

Oh my gosh I've never been grateful for Aurora's presence before! And so I quickly went towards her and held her arms, like I was clinging to my life.

"Gran-gran, can we have a girls' bonding with Aurora over here? We talked last night to go to the plaza and roam around the booths first thing in the morning." I said while plastering a nervous smile to everyone.

"We did?" I swiftly looked at Aurora and gave her a 'help-me-over-here' look. Thank goodness she must have gotten it since she quickly smiled to everyone as well.

"Y..eah. We did." she played along..

"Of course you can, my child. I'm sure booths are already up at this hour.in the plaza." Gran-gran smilingly agreed.

"Wait, let me fix myself first." Aurora said before dashing inside the house. I have to go inside as well since I have to get my sling bag where I have put all of our money.

After a few minutes, Aurora was finally done fixing herself and me getting my sling bag. We waved first to everyone before we headed outside the gate of Gran-gran's house.

"Have fun!" we heard Gran-gran cheerfully said.

Meanwhile…

"I want to go with Charm. I guess you can take care of this yourself Lucas." I heard Lance murmured to Lucas before we completely left the house. That earned him a smack in his head from the lad in front of him.

"Shut up and help me here!" Lucas replied, looking agitated.

I slightly covered my mouth with my right hand and secretly chuckled at that scene.

"Is there something wrong?" Aurora noticed so I quickly acted normal

"N-nothing at all…"

***

"Wow! Look at all these pretty festival lanterns! I haven't seen a festival lantern until now."

Aurora's eyes almost sparkled as she looked at the surroundings. I can't believe it. First thing in the morning, the residents of this village are already busy decorating the streets with festival lanterns. Some residents are also busy with decorating their respective booths for the upcoming festival. And many people, like us, are already swarming the plaza.

Well, like my friend here, it also feels like my first time seeing these lanterns after five years had passed. The last time that I've been here was when I was still a kid.

"Let's go over there!" I snapped out of my thoughts when I felt Aurora pulling me towards a store that she would like to visit.

Several sparkling jewelries greeted us as we arrived in front of the store. By that time, Aurora had stopped dragging me and took her time scrutinizing these jewelries.

"Wow! That necklace looks pretty!" Aurora pointed at a silver necklace with a crescent moon pendant.

"Can we buy it, pretty please?" She almost flashed her big round puppy-like eyes as she pleaded with me. I almost laughed at her.

I simply smiled. "Yes, we can. We have received a lot of gold from the duke of Belmont City before we left his palace last time, so I think we have enough money to buy what we want."

Upon agreeing, I saw Aurora's eyes immediately sparkled and waved her hands in the air like a kid.

"Yehey! You're the best Charm!" she cheerfully exclaimed.

Then she suddenly paused when I heard her make a side comment afterwards. "Good thing that grumpy tiger is not here with us today."

"You know I can still hear what you're saying over here, right?" I asked in a flat tone while giving her a bored look. That made her jump from her place and went towards me afterwards.

"Let's go buy that necklace!"

We entered the said jewelry store and quickly looked for the owner or the saleslady here. Soon enough, a tall lady who looked like she was in her 20's with brown hair that was tied in a one sided braid went to greet us with her friendly smile.

"Hello there. My name's Lin, the store owner. How can I help you?" The girl who just introduced herself as Lin slightly bowed to us.

"Hi Lin! We would like to buy that crescent moon necklace please." Aurora replied enthusiastically while pointing at the said necklace in the display window.

Me and Aurora were suddenly shocked by Lin's reaction as she saw what Aurora pointed at. We both saw her eyes widened and her mouth almost gaped as she looked at the mentioned necklace. She quickly dashed off towards it and got the necklace out of the display window.

"I'm sorry but there was a mistake made here. This necklace is definitely not for sale. But we have other pretty necklaces also." she said, which caused my companion over here to frown.

"Oh come on! I really like that necklace.That's all I want!" Aurora groaned and folded her arms to her chest like a five year old kid.

"May I ask why that necklace is not for sale, Lin?" I politely asked for Aurora to stop whining over here.

There was a moment of silence as Lin looked at the said necklace in her hands. Then a few seconds after, I heard her heaved out a sigh and turned to look at us once again.

"This necklace contains a curse. That whoever wears it is also near to his or her death." Lin seriously explained, with eyes almost bulging as she looked at us, but my retarded friend over here chose to laugh at her statement which earned her a smack on her head from me.

"I'm sorry, but I don't believe in things such as curses or any kinds of superstitious beliefs. I still want that necklace whatever happens." Aurora said despite Lin's warning.

In the end, the store owner can't do anything but to sell the crescent moon necklace to my friend. As Aurora paid for the necklace, I took my time to roam around the store. And there… in a far end corner, I saw a silver hair pin with small red rubies attached to it displayed over there. The rays of sunlight made it even sparklier. Without having second thoughts, I went towards it and turned again to face Lin.

"How much for this pin?" I asked as I showed her the mentioned pin.

I saw her face lit up upon seeing it. O..kay? I think it's a good sign, I guess?

"You have picked the right pin darling.That pin is a lucky charm for a girl who's looking for someone to marry." My eyes widened at what I just heard.

What the heck?! Marriage?!

"That would be 2 gold coins for the pin." Lin added.

"Forget it. I'm not thinking about marrying someone yet." I said as I returned the pin to its place.

"But Charm--" Aurora chimed in but then I cut her off.

"Have you paid for the necklace? Then let's go." I didn't wait for her to respond and immediately left the store.

After a few seconds of waiting, Aurora finally left the said store and greeted me with a mischievous smile. Wait a minute… I know that smile.

"TADAH!" She opened her palms and showed me the pin from earlier. My eyes widened at the sight of it.

"I bought it for you. It was from the excess money you gave to me earlier." she quickly added when I remained silent.

"You're welcome!" she said as she forcefully took my right hand and placed the pin on my right palm.Afterwards, she immediately fled from my sight.

A smile curved up on my lips as I looked at the said pin.

"Aurora, you silly girl…"

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