17 Chance Encounter (1/2)
”GOOD job,” Tilly said to Blake while looking at the broken wheel of the carriage they were using a few minutes ago.
[My father will probably get mad at me but I have to do this.]
Earlier, she asked the coachman to stop the carriage and pretended that her hips hurt from sitting for too long. When they got off the carriage, she asked Blake to cut the back wheel.
Then, she used her communication stone to call a nearby carriage rental. The communication stone was a ruby stone embedded in her dangling left earring. She used it like a wireless earphone. After talking to the owner, she asked the coachman to pick up the carriage and gave him a bag of gold to pay for it.
Anyway, she knew that there was a carriage rental near the premise of the royal palace. If she didn't know that, she wouldn't ask Blake to cut the carriage's wheel. She still had to show up at the princess' afternoon tea party after all.
”Lady Prescott, why are you doing this?” Blake asked in a curious voice. ”Pardon me but do you not want to attend Her Royal Highness' tea party?”
”That's not it,” she denied while shaking her head. ”I just need to create a little detour. I can't be late without a proper reason so I asked you do this. I apologize if my order violated your code of conduct.”
He looked flustered by her apology. ”My lady, you didn't have to apologize to me. I'm just a mere servant.”
”You're Kiho's precious friend and the dependable vice-captain of the Black Serpent Knights,” she told him. ”Sir Blake, I'd like it if you don't think too little of yourself again.”
When she vowed to herself that she would treasure Kiho in this lifetime, she also decided to take care of his friends and family. The captain was an orphan but she knew that he treated the Black Serpent Knights like his family even though some of the members were afraid of him. Thus, she felt the need to look after them like a big sister.
Plus, it wasn't hard to do because the people around Kiho were all good to her.
”Thank you for your kind words, my lady,” Blake said with a bow. ”I promise to keep that in mind.”
She was actually surprised that he used a more polite tone now.
[Did I earn his respect?]
Wow, that was a feat. In her past life, she remembered Blake would always look at her with contempt.
[Ah, I'm slowly but surely changing my fate by simply being a decent human being.]
”Rise, Sir Blake,” she said. When he stood up straight and looked at her with respect, she smiled at him. ”Would you mind walking me to the Sky Plaza?”
Blake gave her a small smile before he bowed again. ”It's an honor to accompany you, Lady Prescott.”
She just smiled at that before she started to walk towards the Sky Plaza. It was just a few meters away from the Majestic Forest– a manmade woods built to protect the royal palace. Only people with invitations or summons from the royal family could pass the Majestic Forest.
[The security around the palace is really tight.]
Anyone who was headed to the forest would inevitably pass by the Sky Plaza first. It was the heart and the upscale area of the Royal Capital.
The Sky Plaza also boasted 'Aristo'– the shopping district for the higher nobles. Well, there wasn't a written rule that said only higher nobles could shop there. But the prices of the products sold in that area were so high that the lower nobles couldn't afford them.
[Oh, our jewelry shop is in Aristo.]
The jewelry shop that her father owned was called Prescott's Choice. Their shop was famous for its jewelries embedded with spirit tones. Those spirit stones had variety of functions. They could be used as a communication device, a voice and video recorder, and also for taking pictures like how a camera would work.
The spirit stones in their shop came from the mountain that their family owned. And yes, they had their own mining company.
[No wonder our family is so rich.]
”Move!”
Tilly was surprised when a young boy suddenly came out of the dark alley on her right side. He child even pushed her out of his way. If Blake didn't catch her, she would have stumbled on the ground. Unfortunately, the boy who pushed her tripped and fell flat face.
Tilly gasped and was about to run towards the boy when Blake stopped her.
”Lady Prescott, please stay here,” Blake said and pulled away from her. ”I'll check on the young boy first.”
She nodded because she didn't want to get in the way of his duty.
Blake got down on one knee to face the child who just got up while holding his bleeding chin.
[Oh, that looks painful.]
But she had to say that the young boy looks suspicious. The child was wearing a black beret hat and a black cloak, too. But under the cloak, she could see that he was wearing commoners' clothes. His shoes also looked too big for him.
[No wonder why he tripped.]
Tilly was about to walk towards the boy but she stopped when she found several rolling red marbles on the ground. The marbles came from the child's pouch that fell from his pocket.
She bent down to pick the marbles that rolled towards her shoes.
”Don't touch it!”
She was surprised when the boy screamed at the top of his lungs. Instead of letting go of the red marbles, she only held them tighter in her hand. It was reflex.
The young boy stood up right away and looked at her with a shocked look on his face. Even though fresh blood was dripping from the wound on his chin, it looked like he was worried about her instead. ”Big sister, are your hands okay? Did they get burn?”
Tilly opened her hand where he held the three red marbles that she picked. Her palm wasn't burned or anything so she looked turned to the boy with a knotted forehead. ”My hands are fine. Are these marbles flammable or something?”
The young boy's eyes widened in shock. ”Why aren't you burned?”
Her eyes also widened. ”D-Do you want me to burn?”
The child was about to run towards her but Blake grabbed him by the collar. ”Let go!” the boy snarled at the knight. ”I need to make sure that big sister is safe!”
”She's not your ”big sister,”” Blake told the child strictly. ”Mind your manners and call her 'Lady Prescott,' brat.”