“Wait, wait! Stop the carriage!” I yelled, slamming the door with my hand. The horseman ordered for our entourage to halt because of me and I got down of the carriage immediately after it stopped.

“Jael! Jael! Where are you going?” Kai called from behind. I whirled around, trying to find L in the midst of this huge crowded street. He’s the only one with the black hoodie; he should be easy to spot – there, gotcha. He was walking amongst the crowd, his head bobbing up and down visibly.

I maneuvered my way through the crowd, mumbling ‘excuse me’ whenever I accidentally hit somebody and just one time the person scolded me back. I should be offended but that offence was pushed aside when I was just a few feet away from L.

“L!” I yelled, grabbing his shoulder and pulled him back. His hoodie fell off his head and instead of L, it was somebody else that I didn’t recognized. He looked at me quizzically and shoved me away rudely.

“I’m sorry, I must’ve got the wrong person.”

“Jael! Jael!” Kai finally caught up to me along with the soldiers. “What do you think you’re doing running off like that? Did you hurt yourself?” He eyes softened, raising his hand to touch my shoulder but stopped midway, after remembering his position as my cousin again. “Right, are you done exploring? We have to go.”

“Y-yea, let’s go.” Kai pulled me away but I can’t seemed to turn back once more just to see if L was really there. It must’ve been just a figment of my imagination. L shouldn’t be here. He can’t. It’s impossible for him to be here.

Instead of going back up the carriage, Kai made a detour around it and we proceeded into the street markets. Noises exploded from everywhere; people yelling for customers to buy their stuff; kids shouting and screaming at the top of their lungs; acrobatics play are being held just in the middle of the street. Everything was an eye-opener for modern me and I have to get used to this.

Nobody walks around with their communicator, busy texting away; nobody listens to music with their earpieces. It’s really amazing to be able to witness this. A kid crashed onto me accidentally, his entire chocolate paste cream smeared onto my dress. With his really bright blue hair and hazel eyes, he looked into my eyes and apologized. “I’m really sorry, Miss.”

“It’s okay, sweetie,” I said, passing him some Estrovian coins. “Here, take it and buy another one.”

He beamed, showing a set of white baby teeth that has yet to be dropped. “Thank you!” he said and kissed me on my cheek before heading off to his friends, boasting about what he’d just received.

“I didn’t expect you’d do that. I thought you’d just scream and kick the child away for dirtying your dress.” Kai said, flicking his gaze to my dress and then back up to me.

“If you’re not going to find me some cloth to clean it, then shut your trap.” I snapped, fumbling around my dress, feeling for any available hanky. Giving up, I bend forward and used the hem of my sleeve to wipe away the cream.

“Don’t do that.” Kai’s hand shot out, holding onto my wrist. He took out his own handkerchief and wiped the cream away instead. “Which lady doesn’t carry her own hanky?”

“Definitely me.” I replied, smiling. This made me remember that time when we first had our training class. Apparently he learnt well from me. Not bad, Kai.

Kai snorted, wrinkling his nose. “Yea, right.” Nobody seemed to care about us – probably cause the soldiers were guarding us tightly and closely. But it felt better this way. Safer. When he’s done with my dress, we continued down the street and turned into the corner then into a shop named “The Best Tailor”.

The exterior looked run-down, the sign was hanging dangerously like it was about to fall any moment and cobwebs blocked our entrance. Kyungsoo had to clear them all before we can proceed in.

Inside was much more – no, it was a totally different image from what I’d imagined. The floor was marbled and it spilled all the way to the end of the shop. On my left, hundreds of ladies were busy doing clothes and on my right, there are not one, but nearly fifty dressing rooms for customers to use. And just right in front of me stood ten staff, bowing low.

“Welcome, your highness and Lady Jael. How can we help you?” The first woman came forward. She’s most probably the manager.

“Call old Dank here. You girls measure her sizes. I want old Dank to customize her clothes.” Kai instructed coolly. I swear I could hear all the girls screaming in silence as they watched us.

“As you wish, your highness. Lady Jael, would you come with me?” she turned to me and smiled graciously. I followed her into a room and a couple of them took my measurements swiftly and professionally. When I was done, Kai came in with Dank, the town’s best tailor.

He was around Kyungsoo’s height, a little shorter and very, very old. Nearly in his eighties if I’m not wrong. He wasn’t even in his Estrovian form – probably too weak to even shift. Kai had to support his elbow as he trudged into the room, offering me a weak and toothless smile.

“Lady Jael! What an honour!” Old Dank took my hand and shook it. His faded black irises looked more greyish now as he looked at me. He furrowed his brows. “You look like Thia…”

“Thia?” I repeated. “Who’s Thia?”
 

“Thia the Queen! You mean you don’t know who’s the Queen?” Old Dank exclaimed, shocked. However, his assistant held him back and laughed.

“No, lord Dank. Queen Thia has passed away long ago. Now it’s Queen Ito.” She said patiently and then looked at me apologetically. “I’m sorry but lord Dank has trouble accepting the fact that Queen Thia died eighteen years ago… But honestly, you really look like her…”

Kai stepped in between us, gently pushing the weird assistant back. “Lady Jael is indeed the late Queen Thia’s daughter. Now please start making all the necessary dresses, gowns and whatever horse riding clothes while we proceed back to the Palace.”

Wait… So my mother’s name is Thia? Beautiful.

“Jael are you listening?” Kai snapped.

“Oh yes, of course. So we can go now?” I asked and Kai nodded, holding onto my wrist and pulling me out. Behind, I saw old Dank coughing badly. His assistant was helping him up. “Are you sure it’s fine leaving him alone? He looked really sick.”

“Yea. Don’t worry. He’ll live. He’s a tough guy.” Kai uttered as we exited the shop. The hot air hit our faces immediately when we left and I felt cranky again.

“Hey,” I nudged Kai. “Wanna give a more detailed tour around this Town for this cousin?” I my lips and patted my stomach. “I’m hungry.”

Kai chuckled, an eye smile formed on his face. He tipped his head forward and did a little bow, placing his hands in front of his stomach. “As you wish, Lady Jael.”