Detour

Instead of walking into the rough market, instead Aliana took a different path in the market and ended up in a whole new area.

'A vip Market??'

Immediately they walked through the path there was a stark difference between where they were now and where they were coming from. For one the market was considerably more quiet and the noise from the other part of the market ended just as they stepped through the path.

'Noise cancellation tech.'

It didn't take much skill to know that people in this part of the market were wealthy. Some of them were flamboyantly dressed and adorned with all manner of jewelleries crowning them from head to toe, they had their servants doing the job of carrying around whatever they bought.

Some of them wore simple clothing but on closer inspection you would notice that although simple it was made of a very expensive material, at least it looked expensive.

And there were them... People probably believed they were servants sent by high ranking clans, after all that was not uncommon.

Luck bit into his unnaturally large apple allowing the juice to slowly seep into his mouth, its flesh was incredibly sweet, and he chewed slowly to appreciate the taste. It was not actually too far off from a normal apple in texture, but it tasted far better.

While Aliana and Sarah transversed the market picking up whatever they needed Luck simply bit large chunks off his apple and enjoyed it delightfully. Being a child was truly wonderful!

At some point sadly Aliana let him down and then picked up a reluctant Chari.

'I guess it's his turn.'

Luck was not very happy to leave the perfect soft spot he had been enjoying all through the day but he resisted his childish urge to protest.

After a while, something happened. A slim young girl hurriedly walked up to them while they were in a stall. Aliana sighed deeply as she watched the girl approach.

Luck recognised her immediately he saw her, she was one of the castle maids.

Although she kept her composure she was still heavily breathing which meant that she had hurried to meet up with them. The fact that she recognised Aliana meant that she had shown her face beforehand.

'She really thought this through didn't she?'

The girl walked close to Aliana and whispered in a barely audible voice:

"My Lady, they have noticed your absence in the estate."

Aliana's smile froze on her face.

"Is that so.. heh, how long now?"

The girl fidgeted as if afraid to answer. Then eventually squeaked out the answer:

"O-one hour now."

Aliana paled, she was probably going to get an earful when she got back.

"Oh my Lord! You were supposed to find me the moment I- we don't have time for this. Sarah, take them around a bit and then come straight home."

Sadly their day with Aliana had come to an end.

"Make sure you don't spend too much time out!" Aliana said as she handed over the children.

Aliana hurriedly left, leaving the girl who delivered the information with them as a second caretaker. She was being cautious but no serious crime ever happened this close to the estate. The area around was relatively safe.

They spent the rest of the day gathering the rest of the materials and doing some sightseeing before they were finally done.

But throughout their trip Sarah was acting jittery and lost.

Sometimes Luck would ask her questions only to find out that she was lost in thought so he eventually left her alone.

'Everyone has their own problems I guess.'

Then something strange happened.

Sarah and the new addition each held one bag filled with the things they had bought in one hand and to the hand of one of the children in the other.

They were now done shopping and the twins as well as their two caretakers were on their way home walking through one of the sparsely populated streets.

Suddenly Sarah stopped walking.

'Heh? Wait! Don't tell me a classic betrayal/kidnap scene is about to unfold right now.'

Besides him Chari adjusted his stance.

After a few seconds she turned to the twins and with a pleading look on her face she said:

"Can I please ask for a favour?"

The two boys looked at each other and back at her.

"What is this about?"

Luck asked, still slightly wary.

"Well." Sarah rubbed her elbow with one hand and then ruffled her hair a bit.

'Why is she so nervous?'

"I want to quickly see a friend."

'Oh, so that is what this is about.'

It didn't take much for everything to click in Luck's mind. She wants to see her boyfriend doesn't she?

"It won't be long! I promise! Just a quick hi and we'll be right on our way back I promise!"

It was a little strange watching a young woman like her beg them, it was easy to forget that at the end of the day they were heirs of the moon clan.

But that aside, they had no real reason to go with her plan… but then again who was he to get in the way of young love?

Luck looked at Chari trying to get what he was thinking by reading his face. Apparently he didn't care if they agreed or not.

"Don't take too much time."

The other girl who was probably in her late teens was about to protest but after hearing Luck decided against it. And just like that they changed routes and were now on their way to see Sara's so called 'Friend.'

"So Sara, who is this your boyfriend?"

Luck turned to look at her, they were walking through a road that appeared to be made out of stone hammered into the ground.

Sarah scoffed, and then nervously laughed.

"Pfft, he's not my boyfriend."

"Of course he's not, so what does he do?"

"He used to be a travelling merchant but now he finally has a store so he doesn't have to travel much. Nowadays I think he sells mostly fabric and… oh yeah and gold."

"Gold? Sounds like he's pretty stacked. Nice catch Sarah!"

"Nice catch." The girl escorting them repeated.

Sarah's face took a shade of red.

"Jane! Don't join him in teasing me!"

Chari, although with them was in a world of his own, he was observing every street and individual that walked past them, gathering as much information as he could while the others idly chatted.

It didn't take long before they arrived at the man's house. It was a simple apartment, nothing too spectacular about it but still pretty decent.

Leaving them at the frontage, Sarah walked towards the door and knocked. After a few minutes of waiting without a response as if noticing something her posture changed and she let herself in, only to come out shortly after.

Her hands were shaking, covered in blood.

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[A/N]

I'm writing this here since some of you probably don't notice the regular Authors note, sometimes it's easy to scroll past.

Upload schedule will be 10-11 chapters a week. Note that this will increase to 14 chapters a week soon, that is 2 chapters per day (I want to have enough in my stockpile first). Thanks for reading!