The Useless Duke's Daughter Saves the World

♧ [V1 || Chapter 17] ♧

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The sound of children's laughter filled the streets, and the sweet scent of caramel permeated the air. The town's atmosphere was bustling with activity and I was basking in all its excitement. Finally arriving at the scene, the footman parked the carriage right beside an empty spot and rushed to open my carriage door.

Meanwhile, Sir Klein went to tie up his horse at an open stable. It was nearby from where we were so he told us to wait while he went to do so .

As I took the footman's hand to step off the carriage, Marise quickly pulled my hood up to cover my hair. Ah! I had almost forgotten that I was supposed to be incognito while I was here. A duke's daughter is nothing short of a walking target, a hundred thousand— no, possibly a million, diamonds worth of ransom.

Not to mention, Evangeline wasn't just anyone, she was someone well known in high society.

"My lady, you have to be careful," Sir Klein appeared from out of nowhere. He quickly stepped in front of me to cover my appearance from any straying eyes. Luckily, the streets we were in was more or less deserted so no one actually caught a glimpse of me before my hood was pulled up.

I scratched my cheek sheepishly and gave an apologetic smile. Walking around with the two of them by my side, this time much more careful with my actions, I couldn't help but have a constant grin plastered on my face. All around me, I saw wooden stalls lined with fantastical wares and delicious food.

A florist over there!

A cosmetic shop over here!

A stall selling pastries the shaped of ducklings?

Oh my! This was going to be a great day of shopping!

"Aren't you forgetting what you came here for?" a rough cough interrupted my awe. My straw-weaved sling bag rustled with movement before a tiny feathery head popped up, and Nova was looking at me with a scowl.

"Eh— right, of course, I remember," I looked away. His face bore the expression of someone disbelieving in my words.

Ugh. Fine! After we get your stupid bird feed, I'm gonna enjoy myself around the marketplace. I don't care how much you complain!

"Marise, where do we find the bamboo seeds?"

"Over in the import store, my lady"

The four of us, with Nova safely hidden in my bag, made our way to the store according to Marise's directions. Both Marise and I wore a cloak over our heads, while Sir Klein wore his knight armor and a blue cape. The townsfolk consisted mainly of commoners who all turned their eyes away whenever they saw him walking past. I'm not sure whether it's because he's clearly a knight, thus having a higher ranking than them, or because of his stern expression ever plastered on his face. Maybe it was even both.

"What's this?" I stopped in front of a particular shop. It was on the way to the import store and caught my wandering eye. It looked a little rundown; the wooden sign was close to falling apart, the windows were tinted black and cracked at some parts, and not to mention it had a gloomy aura around it. If I didn't know better, I would have thought that it was an abandoned shop.

"That's not a place for my lady to step foot in. Let's be on our—"

"It's an alchemy store"

"SIR KLEIN!"

Sir Klein cut off Marise's words. Good ol' straight-to-the-point Dmitri Klein. You can always count on him to tell you truth whenever you ask for it, provided you're not an enemy, of course. I let out a small laugh, watching Marise's eyes roll in anger.