Dannep dropped the bag of coins, letting it fall to the ground suddenly. This surprised Seraphin, who didn't understand why she had done it.
"I don't think you should spend your money on me," Dannep said in a worried tone.
"How could I let the strongest soldier in the kingdom buy clothes for her? Is she crazy? Besides, why was she doing it? When Cythian gave her clothes, it was so she could wear them whenever she wanted—she doesn't want to go back to that place."
"Come on, Dannep, it's obvious why I'm doing this. Every time I've seen you, you've been in your uniform. Maybe others overlook it, but I think you need more clothes."
Dannep couldn't refute Seraphin. In fact, she had brought clothes with her to NN, but she was embarrassed to wear them—they were worn out, dirty, or had gone unused for a long time.
They were the clothes she had back at the church before she started working for Cythian, but even inside the castle she didn't wear them, so it had been two years since she last wore her casual clothes.
"I understand your kindness, Seraphin, but I think you could invest your money better than spending it on me," Dannep replied, trying to make Seraphin drop the idea.
"Nonsense, come on, woman, get in."
Ignoring her response, Seraphin took Dannep's hand and led her into the shop.
Inside, she saw several women looking at the clothes. They were all well-dressed and carried themselves with elegance.
This made Dannep realize that this wasn't a normal clothing store—it was an expensive one.
"Hey, Seraphin, really..." Dannep tried to explain herself, but Seraphin led her down one of the aisles.
"Only three," said the white-haired girl.
"Only three?" Dannep asked, stepping back.
"Yes, I was thinking of buying you the whole store, but since it looks like you'd have a heart attack, I'll buy you three outfits, okay?"
Dannep still had doubts, but it was a better offer than before. She had already realized that Seraphin wasn't going to back down.
"Fine, but only three, then pick them," Dannep said, finally going along with it.
"What? What do you mean, pick them? Come on, Dannep, it's your clothes—take whatever you want."
Dannep swallowed uncomfortably. Her, choose clothes? Since when had she ever chosen clothes?
All the clothes she had stored were things her sisters had left behind after they didn't want them anymore. She didn't know how to choose clothes.
Still, she didn't want to look foolish next to Seraphin, so Dannep put on a proud posture as she looked at the clothes in front of her.
She was copying Cythian. Even though Dannep didn't choose clothes, Cythian always took her shopping.
"Alright, I want a new dress. I'd like to have a white one," was the first thing that came out of her mouth as she walked through the place.
But Dannep wasn't honest about her reasons. Because she had been kidnapped and had used magic, the dress Ilyss had lent her had been ruined. She needed to repay her, but she thought white would suit her better.
Dannep scanned the aisles until she found a dress she liked a lot. She really liked the color white—it was a long, strap dress with a swan design at the bottom.
Dannep imagined Ilyss wearing the dress and thought it would look great on her, so she picked it up.
"Alright, a dress, but you can't make an outfit with just a dress—come on, grab some shoes, and I think that dress would look good with gloves," Seraphin pointed out, clearly happy.
Dannep did as she was told and looked for shoes and gloves that she thought would suit Ilyss.
"Wow, you have a good eye for this. You've got a sense of royalty. How about you pick the other two outfits?"
"Alright, now I want something casual," she said to herself as she looked at the clothes. Since she felt guilty for buying a dress that was actually for Ilyss, Dannep decided to buy the other two outfits for herself.
Even though she wasn't completely sure, she picked a brown shirt with black pants, and a fuchsia shirt to match with a pair of white pants.
Seraphin also decided to buy her two rings and two necklaces to match. Even though they were just two outfits, she still insisted that Dannep buy more than five different pairs of shoes.
She ended up getting her first high heels in her life, along with two pairs of boots and two regular pairs of shoes.
"I think we can pay now," Seraphin said happily as they walked to the counter.
The woman in charge of the shop seemed quite beautiful in Dannep's eyes. She had silver hair, tanned skin, and brown eyes hidden behind glasses.
While Ilyss and Seraphin had a more artistic and ethereal kind of beauty, this woman had a dominant and authentic beauty to her.
After examining the clothes, shoes, and jewelry one by one, the woman finally spoke:
"That will be 30,000 coins."
Dannep's face froze instantly. She had forgotten she was in a luxury store and had picked clothes without thinking about the price.
Before she could say anything, Seraphin placed thirty large coins on the counter. They were elemental coins, each one worth 1,000 gold coins.
"We'll take it," Seraphin said casually, which only made Dannep freeze even more.
"I... I mean... Thank you, yes, but I think..." Dannep stumbled over her words as she tried to explain the situation to Seraphin, but the sound of the receipt being handed over cut her off completely.
"Thank you for your purchase," were the shop owner's words before they both stepped outside.
"See? It was nothing, we just bought some clothes, that's all," Seraphin said as they left.
Dannep stood frozen for a few seconds before processing the situation, but she chose to sigh. With this woman, there was no point.
"Thank you very much," Dannep said, showing a warm smile.
"Of course, that's what I'm here for. Let's go get some sweets."
The two continued their walk through the kingdom while talking. Seraphin didn't let Dannep carry the bags and chose to do it herself.
As they walked, Dannep learned several things about Seraphin, like her favorite color being blue, that she likes attractions, that her favorite food is the sheep soup made in the kingdom of Morilian, and that her favorite animal is rabbits.
Seraphin always had some fun story to tell Dannep, never letting her get bored. Little by little, Dannep felt more at ease with her.
"Alright, we're here. Wait here, I'll go get some cotton candy," Seraphin said as she entered the shop.
Dannep stayed outside as she was told, but her attention was drawn when she saw several children playing music at a fountain.
Dannep listened for a bit and decided to approach them while taking out some coins. Even though she didn't have many, since she had to save for her sister's treatment, she could still do a small act of charity.
"Here you go," she said, dropping two gold coins into the basket.
"Thank you very much!" one of the children said with a smile.
Dannep returned the smile and went back to where she had been, looking through the window to see that Seraphin was still in line.
She decided to enjoy the music, but to her surprise, it suddenly stopped.
"Did they leave?" she wondered, turning her gaze, but what she found was the children talking to a man who then hit them, took their money, and ran off with it.
"Damn it!" Dannep thought as she watched the children run after the man.
Dannep turned her gaze back toward the shop and saw Seraphin busy. She looked around and didn't see any officers either, so, filled with nervousness, she took her wand and ran in the same direction as the children.