First let's state that this shop was more than just fancy and I wouldn't be surprised to hear that even royalty would be coming around here. Then let's move on to all the bling bling glittering accessories around. It was not only the dresses which had them on but the walls were decorated with it as well and the woman who greeted us had tons of it on. For a moment I thought that jewelry might be really cheap and not worth much seeing how much there was. However when I looked at it again, I could definitely see that all the clothes in there, all the dresses and everything else was of high quality which means that there was no way that they were cheap. This shop was definitely one where only aristocrats would visit.

WOW...

I feel soo out of place!

Just wow...

What in the world is this?

Is this normal?

Did people really do things like this?

How are they wearing these gowns?

Aren't they heavy?

"Welcome to my shop. How can I help you?"

While I was still kinda in a daze about all the jewelry and gems and all the expensive stuff used and hung out for display, this woman came over to us to greet us and surprisingly she sounded very polite as well. That should for sure not fool anyone since her eyes were betraying that picture perfect image of a nice shopkeeper. She definitely didn't want us here and believe it or not, I didn't want to be here as well. However we couldn't just do what we wanted at all. There was a reason we were here and there was no way, I would just leave because I wanted to! I needed a dress after all and my first expression was definitely important at that festival.

"We are here to find a suitable dress for her."

"What a cute young lady."

"She is my sister, please treat her with respect."

Treat her with respect he said... wow! As if that woman was gonna do that!

I would personally eat a hat if she will!

I am confident that she will try something on me!

Just look at her!

My kind brother let me down and the first thing I did was step back behind him. I didn't like this but I had to go through it. There were some things in life that were just like that. School was one of them. No one liked going to school. There were subjects that were nice and some which were hellish. Everyone knows that much and everyone has a teacher they love and hate. Well 100 different kinds of people and 100 types of personalities. Some are nice and will make things funny and others just want to give you your personal hell. Whatever it may be, I was always a person who loved to complain but also show what I could do.

However this situation was a bit different. I was just a child and there was really nothing I could do here. It was just me, my brother and this woman in the shop. Now someone tell me, how I was not supposed to start panicking a bit?

"Is this young lady the new lady of the house?"

"Careful."

"I am sorry, sir. She seemed soo lovely just like a Dandelion."

Oh sheesh!

Did she just compare me to a flower or a weed?

Dandelions are officially a weed if I am not wrong....

I wonder if my brother caught that?

The moment I heard her call me a Dandelion, I looked at my brother and he definitely caught the idea behind the sentence. It would have honestly surprised me if he didn't. To be fair, he did warn her earlier and I could tell that he was giving her a final warning with that sharp and dangerous smile of his.

"I hope you serve her to the best of your poor ability."

Nothing was said after this and it took a bit for the lady to actually start moving to one shelf but even then she skipped over some and grabbed a couple of other designs out to show it to us.

"This is the newest arrival which is very popular nowadays."

"Black for a child?"

"Yes, the white patterns on it are giving the young lady more of a lively moment. No matter where she goes, she will be the center of attention with this."

The shopkeeper was right, it was a lovely dress but it was definitely not meant for a very important party. Not to mention that the dress in combination with my hair color would not make me stand out but make me a wallflower. I was sure if I would wear that, that my skin would look more pale. Needless to say that there was also the thing that kids and the other ladies would probably wear something vibrant making me a perfect side attraction and the talk of the party. All in all, this was certainly not the dress for the occasion.

"What else do you have?"

"This dress is imported and as you can see it has a lot of pearls around the waistline to make her figure stand out even more. They say this is a unique dress made by an artist's last breath."

It was beautiful and elegant but there was a catch to it. No matter how I looked at it, the bright red color seemed to look like blood. This was definitely a beautiful dress but for a child, this seemed a bit too much. In my eyes it would make me look greedy which would be the wrong message for sure at the festival. The color was also something that was more than just eye-catching. The duke family was known to be a beast family which had dragon blood. There was no need to add more fuel to the rumors as is already.

"Do you have something more childish?"

"Childish?"

"Yes. I am searching for something that has either light colors or vibrant ones which would look good on her. There should be some accessories but too much as well."

Well my brother definitely had an idea about what he wanted me to wear, as for me... I didn't know what was good or not. However I couldn't help it but walk to the dresses and start to go through them one by one. This was something I always did in a cloth store and then just decide on what I liked and take it out. I wanted to have this feeling of fabric between my fingers and I wanted to check the material for myself.

So I let these two people talk and started looking around till I found a dress. It was a beautiful white, bluish and golden dress with pastel color. Nothing too catchy but fancy enough to still be sold to aristocrats. The materials were light and there was a small ribbon tight around the waist to the back.

In terms of jewelry, there wasn't much on it but there was also no need for any as I could tell that they used some powder made out of shells or even gems to make the hem sparkle and it was just the right thing I was looking for.

"Do you like this one?"

The voice that suddenly came behind my back startled me and I jumped a bit away to see my brother looking down at me. He was smiling softly and pleased as well. That confirmed my thoughts. This was the perfect dress for the evening.

"Yes."

"You have a good idea. This would definitely suit you."

"How much is this?"

"Don't worry about money, Vivi. You are family now."

"Sir, this dress may not be-"

"I will take this one."

"Alright. I will need some measurements in order to make the dress fit her."

"No need for that."

"But Sir, this dress may not suit her waistline or the girl's length."

"There is no need for you to concern yourself with that. I will not let a filthy lowly aristocrat touch my sister."

"... I see."

There was no room for the woman to retaliate at all. If anything, it would have made it worse for her for sure. In addition to it, he seemed quite in the bad mood. She must have shown him some other ridiculous dresses which would give off the wrong message and get me in trouble. It was obvious that this shopkeeper was doing it all on purpose. No way wouldn't she know that the dress was for the moons festival and there was also no way she didn't know who my brother is.

"Alright now that we have settled this, Vivi let's go get some accessories for the dress."

"Do I really need some?"

"Of course!"

"But the dress is all sparkly and shiny already!"

"That might be so but how about a ribbon or a small hair clip to match it? We also need some shoes as well."

"Can't we just get something from here? They also have shoes and accessories."

"We could but I do not want to stay in a dirty place like this. It's a wonder that we could find something fitting for you."

Alright, my brother was definitely angry. He may not show it completely but I could tell it was getting on his nerves how this shopkeeper tried to trick us. If Ryan wouldn't know anything about high society then things would have looked differently. However he was one of the so-called cold flowers even though he was a man. This was the nickname the ladies gave him due to his cold attitude toward anyone who approached him for a dance or a talk. Ryan was just not interested in them so he treated them as if they were not there. As simple as that was the whole situation.

Before I could even say something back or try to persuade my brother to just stay here and get it done with, he picked me off the ground and carried me out. Apparently buying stuff was as simple as putting them on a tab. Besides they would for sure deliver the dress to the duke's caste.

He carried me out without even letting anyone tell him anything else. Not only that but he also refused to let me down till we got to the next shop. It was only there that he let me down so I could look around and in contrast to the other shop, this time, he did let me go look around immediately.

"What can I do for you Sir?"

"She is just going to look around for a bit."

"Alright. If there is anything I can help you with please do not hesitate to call for me.

The attitude was a completely different one to the shopkeeper before. It was a 180 degree change and not only that but he was also not hostile towards us. Customer is customer after all and this one was quite the business man. He may be old but I could tell that he knew what he needed to do and how to treat people the right way.

Like my brother said before, I went to look around and it was quite hard to see all the things since I was quite small to look at the gems on the big shelf. In the end my brother had to pick me up and started walking around.

Each piece of jewelry was unique and had its own spark. It was hard to choose but there was one gem my eyes landed on. It was a feather shaped hairpin that had this ornament which was really beautiful. The color of the gem was a light gold and it turned out that it was a yellow sapphire or also called a pukhraj. It was really beautiful and I think my brother noticed me staring at it because he looked at it and picked it up with one hand while still holding me with the other one.

"We will take this one."

That was all he said and this continued 3 times. All the accessories had the same gem stone and the funny thing was that they all looked similar to each other. I didn't mind that at all. In fact it was the glimmer in the stone and the way that the sun was actually shining on it which made me feel warm. I can't really describe the feeling but I wanted to possess it that much for sure.

My dear brother however saw that I was just looking at the golden gemstones and immediately made the shopkeeper get out all the golden looking gems to just have them packed and delivered to the duchy. It was insane and I wanted to stop him but all he did was a "Shush" and put his hand on my lips so I couldn't tell him much.

Anyways thankfully when we went to get the shoes, he simply asked the shopkeeper and they were cooperative. They had some white ones or blue ones. That was what they suggested to go with the color of the dress and my brother just got both so we could see which would fit better later.

After this tiring day, I was completely out of energy. Normally I wouldn't be this exhausted but I just felt soo tired that I kinda fell asleep for sure since I couldn't really tell when I fell asleep or how I got into the carriage or kinda slept in my brother's arm and lap.

"You can rest a bit more. We still have a way back."

"Mh.... thank you...."

"For what?"

"Everything... "

"You don't have to thank me Vivi."

"Still thank you... please stay with me... from now on...."

I was so tired, I couldn't even think straight. All I mumbled were all my thoughts pure and not filtered at all. My brain was soo tired and I felt my eyes closing itself again but I wanted to let my brother know that I am thankful to them for picking me up in that forest and to actually care for me. I knew very well that I wouldn't have survived that night if my father didn't pick me up right there and then.

"Aww I will always be there for you... so don't worry and just rest."

".... you must.... Survive.... Don't die....please..."

And with that I felt how tightly he was hugging me and finally gave in and fell asleep.