Commercial District

Just as Raylene had informed them the previous day, Yvonne did not have any classes to attend today.

"How long does it take to reach the commercial district?" Yvonne plopped her chin on the window and looked at the green grass outside.

Right now they were in a carriage that was heading to the commercial district of Amarthea.

"About ten minutes. Move away from the window, you might hurt yourself." Raylene advised when she felt the carriage jerk away as the horses galloped at a high speed.

Yvonne was sitting on one side of the carriage, while Raylene and Howard were on the opposite side.

Rutherford had some official business to attend which was why he was absent from their little family trip.

The entire time her 'brother' stared at her vigilantly as though she would pounce on him like some vicious animal.

'Let's just ignore this brat for now.' She sat up straight but still faced the window.

The scenery changed from the fresh green grass and slowly a few buildings were visible in the distance.

This indicated that they were moving closer to their destination.

A few minutes later, the carriage came to a halt and the door was opened from the outside.

A young woman who looked like she was slightly older than Raylene, stretched her hand inside and helped her to step out.

This woman was Raylene's personal maid whom she had brought with her from her maiden home.

'If I remember correctly, Raylene had called her Paula something.' Yvonne tried to find the name to match the face.

Paula then helped Howard to get down and finally, Raylene herself carried Yvonne in her arms.

"I don't want you to run away like always so I won't be letting you down until we reach the store." She gently tapped on Yvonne's nose and they started walking.

'You just want to carry me around, there's no need to make up such immature stories.' Yvonne rolled her eyes but because she was in Raylene's arms no one noticed her actions.

"We are here!" She heard her mother's joyous exclaims.

'But we just walked a couple of steps! Why couldn't I have walked that on my own?' Yvonne scoffed at her mother's tactics.

As they entered through the door, the wind chime tied to it rang and the attendant inside was alerted of the customer's arrival.

Raylene carried her in and Paula followed after Howard to ensure his safety.

The store that they had entered was a noble's clothing store. 

It had a large number of wooden mannequins that were dressed in various styles of gowns.

'This is just like some boutique from my world. Oh, that one looks like an haute couture dress that I would look great in if only I had my old body back!' She dreamily stared at a violet bodice gown with lace flowing sleeves.

"Does Vonny like that dress?" Raylene noticed the sparkle that was obvious in the little girl's eyes.

Yvonne hurriedly nodded and looked back at the dress.

"What will she do with that dress? Use it as a blanket or a curtain?" Howard's snarky remark made the attendant grimace.

'Disrespectful little runt!' Yvonne and Raylene both glared at the little boy who had a big mouth.

"Please forgive my big brother, Mr. Shopkeeper. He does not understand what fashion is." Yvonne looked back at the middle-aged man and apologized on his behalf.

Raylene looked proud when she heard her impressive words and then looked back at Howard and shook her head.

'She's doing it again! What amnesia!? She obviously knows everything that had happened before!' Howard was fuming when he saw how Yvonne was turning his mother against him.

"Vonny, I was thinking of buying something in the shades of pink. What do you think?" Raylene asked for her opinion and pointed at the three pink gowns that were before them.

'Right! A grown-asswoman wearing such a childish gown is no problem at all.' She was amused to see the choice that her mother had.

"But mommy will look better in that dress." She pointed her stubby little finger at a maroon mature looking gown which was not Raylene's usual style.

"But Madam dislikes such clothes." Paula spoke up for her mistress.

'And who asked for your opinion?' Yvonne blankly stared at her but she did not bother saying anything.

"My Vonny thinks that I would look good in it then I have to get it." Raylene waved her hand and asked Paula to stand down.

Paula bowed her hand and went back to watching over Howard.

"I can wear that dress if you wear the same color as mine." She negotiated with Yvonne.

Yvonne looked at Raylene's dress that would bring out her copper-red hair and then thought of how it would look with her violet mane.

'Uhm… I don't think so.' She thought of how to refuse her mother.

"Mama… I want to wear that one!" She childishly pointed at a deep blue frock that had the least amount of frills and bows.

"What about wearing matching clothes?" Raylene looked disheartened when she saw the other dress that Yvonne had chosen for herself.

Yvonne thought for a while and then turned to the attendant who was standing at the side.

"Mr. Shopkeeper, can you find me a dress which would look like my mother's but in this blue color?" She asked with a soft voice.

"Just a minute." He rushed to the back storeroom in order to not make the little doll wait.

A few seconds later, he was back with a dress which was a miniature version of Raylene's. However, it was a deep midnight blue.

Yvonne was amazed when she saw this new dress because it looked even prettier than the one that she had seen earlier.

"We don't have to wear the same color to match, we can wear the same design with the color that suits us better." She pointed at her blue frock and then at Raylene's maroon gown.

She taught her mother about her fashion sense.

Later they picked out a few other dresses for Yvonne. 

She got to choose whatever pleased her eyes and the credit for this goes to Rutherford who had agreed to let her buy anything she wanted.

An hour or so later, Yvonne and Raylene were finally done with their little shopping spree.

They reached the waiting area where Paula stood and watched over Howard as he sat quietly on the couch.

"Can we go back home now?" He whined when he saw his mother.

This always happened when Raylene dragged him along to the commercial district.

He would just sit at the side and watch how the mother-daughter pair would empty out the entire store in a matter of hours.

Luckily, today they had wrapped things up faster than usual.

This was because Yvonne had complained that she was hungry.

"Not yet. But we can take a little break before we move to the next store." Raylene patted Howard's head and they went back to the carriage.

The clothes that they had bought were placed in a separate carriage that had followed them when they left the St. Claire Mansion.

"What would you like to eat?" She asked her children before they sat inside the carriage.

"I want ice cream!" Howard yelled excitedly when he was given the choice.

"And you?" The mother turned to her younger child.

Howard warily looked at her and waited to see how she would answer.

"Anything is fine." Yvonne gave a brief answer and then smiled at her.

'Huh? What's wrong with her?' Howard was confused when he saw that she had not opposed his choice.

If it had been the previous Yvonne then she would definitely say that she wants something else just to mess with her brother.

But this Yvonne couldn't care less about what a child was craving. She would eat whatever was available as long as it tasted good.

"Ice cream it is!" Raylene signaled Paula who asked the coach driver to take them there.

A few minutes later, they got down before a cafe which had the picture of a large vanilla ice cream with a cherry on top on its front door.

Howard rushed inside and sat by the window so that he could enjoy his ice cream while gazing at the streets on which Knights were passing by.

Yvonne noticed the subtle smile that would appear on his face every time a knight walked by and this made her smile as well.

'He is a child after all. I should try to help him out.' She decided to help him achieve his goals even though he would most probably turn out to be an ungrateful little pain.

While Howard happily ate his share, Yvonne slowly took spoonfuls from her ice cream and glanced at the stores that were around.

'Isn't that the store that Asmodeus had mentioned in the story?' 

She wondered when her eyes fell on a small store at the end of the street.