Getting out of the boutique was a bit of a struggle of its own.

"Sir Gradral, why won't you open the door?" I asked, looking up at him. "What are we waiting for?"

His hand which was still on the door handle, didn't budge. "There seems to be...a complication."

I furrowed my eyebrows, confused. "What's happened now?"

"It seems that the carriage from the palace has attracted quite a crowd outside. Many people are excited to see the princess so close to her -um-coming of age," he said. I noticed that Sir Gradral was clearly tense, a nerve on his forehead popping out.

"It's fine. I'll just wait by the door. It'd be best if you go out alone and diffuse the crowd." I said, shoo'ing him out.

My eyes still on him, I plopped myself down on the wooden bench. Sir Gradral sighed and pushed the door back slowly which let out a loud creak. In came a large gust of wind and dust which ruffled my hair. Along with the sound of wind came in a distant sound of cheering probably from the large crowd outside. The cheers soon died out and gradually transmuted to groans of explicit disappointment. The people must have been waiting for me, but after realizing that Sir Gradral was unaccompanied they must surely be disgruntled. I mean, I understood that. If I lived as a subject to such a bewitching princess who rarely seemed to exit the palace, I'd be lining up to take a look at her as well.

Though I wasn't sure if these people wanted to check out my beauty or notice any changes in me as I was so close to the Big Day. The Big Day, huh? Reynard's words came to mind. Gosh, I haven't thought about him for days, as if he completely escaped my mind for that period. If memory serves right, he told me that once I turn 17, I'll receive some sort of divine powers that no one knows of. Meaning that I'll be the first to uncover them. Of course, pondering upon this did make me giddy with excitement. Were these divine powers sort of like super powers, like in those modern time action movies? What kind of powers might they be? Because I'm totally up for it if it's something like flying or the gift of invisibility. I'd totally love that.

On the other hand, he said that I'll be killed upon turning 18. Hell, if that's how my end is going to be, I don't want this divine power. O' Great Priestess -or whatever- grant me the humble offering of a long, luxurious life. I was too unfortunate to have died previously as Seonhee Lim at such an early age. Come to think of it, how did I die? I realized that I hadn't paid much mind to the matter but now that I had a chance to properly think about it, what happened back then? That headache wasn't definitely enough to have me transmigrated to a whole different world. Was it something in the medicine the nurse gave me? It was the last thing I ever tasted from my world and I remember it tasting very bitter with a subtle hint of sourness. But what kind of god did that nurse have to be to come up with a medicine that could transmigrate a normal human like me to a freaking fictional world? Like... hello?

Sighing, I crossed my leg over the other and fanned out my dress to avoid any creasing.

"Where's that man, Your Highness?" Fleur called out from behind the counter which startled me. She hadn't spoken for so long that I hadn't even noticed her disappearance. "It seems that I need a hand with something."

"In need of some muscle?" I asked, half joking.

"Well, yes," Fleur rose up, looking at me, her face colored with surprise. "Why has he gone and left you? Not that I mind your presence one bit."

"Oh just..." I featured towards the door. "He went out to make way for me. Too many people outside."

Realization appeared on her white, powdered face. "Ah, now I see." Aaand she went back down behind the counter. I was bored so I stood up and approached the said counter, my feet not making a sound as they hit against the blue-tiled floor.

"What is it that you are doing?" I asked, leaning over the counter.

Fleur who was in a crouched position and who had been rummaging through a box looked up at me, her moustache hair twitching. She was clearly startled. Before I could get a good look inside the box, she shut it close with both hands with commendable efficiency and wheezed as she stood up. "Yes?" She asked as she composed herself and brushed through her hair. I noticed that the large peacock ornament on her head was tilted ever so slightly. Oh, how I longed to touch it. "What is the matter?"

"Mind showing me what's in that box?" Clearly, I didn't care for others' boundaries. Seon, you fool.

"Ah..." Fleur faltered as she looked down at the mentioned box and then back up at me again. "It's nothing. Nothing to worry about, Babita. Would you mind trying this bracelet on for me?" She was definitely changing the subject. Guess I shouldn't pry about it much further.

"Sure."

She handed me an absolutely beautiful chain bracelet. It seemed to have been linked at equal intervals with some sort of green stones cut in circular perfection. It reminded me of the wallpaper I had picked this morning; lovely and pleasing to the eye. If my guess was correct, these stones were either emerald or jade.

"Jades, these are," Fleur sighed as she helped click the bracelet around my wrist. "And very precious these are, too. This bracelet alone could pay for one family's expenses for couple years or more."

"Then why give it to me?" I asked, closely inspecting the glossy gems.

"Just because." She sighed again. I noticed that she sighed a lot. I wonder why? "They match the color of your eyes, so I thought it'll suit you more than me. My boring ol' brown eyes won't bring out it's proper beauty. And who knows," she paused to smile, "this might perhaps bring you good luck in your coming future."

Luck, huh? I learned back in high school that Jade stones were often associated with good luck and happiness. Both of which I so desperately needed. I thanked Fleur for the generous gift. After that we both just awkwardly stood around, not having any other topic to speak of. I hoped that Sir Gradral would come back quickly.

"So, um...Fleur," I began. "Why is your store so empty today? Didn't you say you were a special-grade dressmaker?" The boutique should have been swarming with customers this close to the ceremony.

"Oh," she said, looking rather dazed. "Of course I closed it down for your arrival. I made sure to get every customer out so that you could browse through the garments in peace. I'm sure that's just customary behavior for the members of the Royal Family."

"So you're saying that someone else from the palace has also visited before me?" I hadn't thought that this location would be a hotspot for the Royals.

"Oh yes, certainly," she said, thinking. "Lady Virak came to get dresses for herself in person quite a lot of times. So did Lady Naradras."

Who was that? I knew that Lady Virak was actually referring to Christabel, but who was this Lady Neredras she spoke of? It seemed that I couldn't pin-point it.

Fleur continued. "Lady Virak is a regular customer. In fact she got her dress for the ceremony from here a week or two ago."

"Yeah?" I said, distracted by the large peacock up above her. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be made of some sort of stone and fabric. The spreaded feathers of the peacock were embedded with visible, semi precious stones of colors varying from blue to green. Though it was too large to balance on one's head, it looked very lovely. "What kind of dress did she choose for such a salient upcoming occasion?" According to my thinking, it'd probably be some cute, bubbly attire, with a lot of pink and blue. Like cotton candy.

"I think it was a white dress," she said. "A very unusual choice indeed. But might I say, it looked superb on her. Absolutely enchanting."

A white dress? It really was a strange choice.

I looked around the boutique, hoping to see quite a large collection of white dresses but astonishingly, none but two or three caught my eye. Ah, so people here preferred multicolored, flamboyant garments. Interesting. That's right, I hadn't seen even a single, proper white dress since the day I arrived.

"Your Highness!" Sir Gradral crashed open the door. Both-Fleur and I snapped our necks around to the door, startled to see Sir Gradral huffing and puffing, sweating profusely. "It's clear now. Let us get going."

"Sure..." What had happened out there? Sir Gradral looked so ragged, nothing like his usual, composed self.

Anyways, I waved goodbye to Fleur and trailed off along with Sir Gradral into the bright, afternoon sun.