Chapter 33: Cute Stuff!!!
"Hap!"
A head taller than the rest hopped over Esme's.
"Hap!"
Landing, it hopped again like a rabbit; a red rabbit.
Hilda's eyes ran across the hill as they approached the bottom. She kept a close lookout just in case he had come along.
Her invisible mixture of bunny and cat ears, perhaps even dog ears, flapped with gusto as she sighed with immense relief at his missing presence.
'Phew! He didn't come!'
A hand patted hers while she was gripping Esme's shoulders, "Can you let go now, Hilda?"
"Eh?" Hilda's head cutely tilted to the side-
And in front of her was the greeting of the menacing hazel eyes, Lily's eyes.
"Yes, Miss!"
Promptly stepping away, she thumped her chest in salute.
"Good girl." While Lily did call her a good girl:
'Oh no.'
Those eyes weren't going to forgive her any time soon.
-----
The road leading to the main gates of the palace was long but peaceful.
Trotting along in a short line, the carriages of each Duchy contained one successor and a maid, except for two.
Alora's carriage was lacking its maid at the moment.
Why?
Bec-
"Stop looking out the window, he's not coming."
"Are you sure? Really sure?!" Hilda worriedly stared out the window; she didn't spare Yulei a glance, even though she was intruding upon their space.
Sighing, "Yes, Hilda, I'm sure."
Yulei shook her head with honest confusion, "Why are you so evasive of him anyway? What has he done to you?"
"A lot!" Hilda's response was immediate.
"He's done too much!"
Hilda glared at Yulei with wide eyes, "He's bad!"
"...Sure." Yulei gave up on questioning her any more than she had already.
The remainder of the journey consisted of a certain redhead's manic whispering in the background.
Meanwhile, in another carriage, a certain masked girl was having a nice and peaceful ride.
-----
Bustling roads.
Shopping streets that are filled to the brim with the latest fashion stores.
And a collection of patisseries, bakeries and more, preparing the most delightful desserts for passing ladies.
Relentless rows of carriages trotted through the centre, a mixture of wagons containing goods imported from the outskirts of the Domain for stores to consume, two-story carriages for simple transport of people and the occasional carriage carrying those of a higher class.
A flourishing society bathed in neat architecture, packed with not-so-well-hidden wealth.
The small group of powerful successors seemed to blend in perfectly with the rest of the citizens. Other than a couple of curious glances or journalists taking pictures with outdated cameras, they didn't receive much attention.
But only Alora found it odd.
The others, Esme, Yulei, Hilda, Jill, and Vanessa, seemed to accept this norm.
A norm of no guards, free movement around the city, and no swarms of mobs hounding them with intrigue.
If this had been Earth, if a celebrity appeared on the streets like this;
No, forget a celebrity, if a President, a Prime Minister, or any famous leader were to appear in public, it would require a contingent of many guards, special forces scouting the area and a pre-planned route.
Hundreds, if not thousands, would surround them.
...But not here.
For some reason, a reason Alora struggled to wrap her head around, they were treated normally, like any other person.
And that-
'Is suspicious.'
Behind the mask, her face tightened with a flurry of emotion.
It boosted her weariness, forming many new thoughts and suspicions around the Domain of Light.
On the other hand, the rest of the group was walking ahead, lively conversation bursting between them. Technically, everyone was walking except Yulei in her wheelchair.
Hilda and Vanessa were leading the pack onwards and had differing takes on what they should do. Hilda wanted to visit a place called 'Journey's End', a famous cafe known for its incredible pancakes.
While Vanessa:
"No! Jill, you also have to tell her no. We've been to Journey's End a hundred times already! We have to go to Sparkles! Their new outfits are adorable~" She focused on convincing the other group members instead of shoving her opinion down their throats.
The two, Hilda and Vanessa, might seem surprisingly similar, but one of them, a certain redhead, was many times more aggressive than the other.
Thus, due to her persuasive efforts, with special mention to the redhead who turned the entire group's opinions against her, they decided upon 'Sparkles'.
Downcast, Hilda fizzled toward the back of the pack.
She naturally ended up beside the muttering Alora.
Pouting, she resisted the urge to take out her frustrations on the little dummy. The little dummy wouldn't stop talking to herself, saying weird things like 'I know.' 'Stop it.' 'Shut up.' and more.
Lily's and Esme's stern eyes bore holes in the back of Hilda's head, warning her not to do anything stupid.
"I get it already..." Poking the ground with her foot, she sniffed the tantelizing aroma wafting out of Journey's End as they passed by it.
Her gaze lingered with longing emotions while drool dripped from her mouth.
Not to mention, Yulei had slowed down her maid's pace of pushing the wheelchair to end up beside Hilda.
Both of them stared at the store with remorse over their oh-so-pitiful situation.
Wiping the drool from their lips, they painfully crossed gazes with their ears puckered up to the constant drivel being spat from close behind.
Lowering her voice, "Does Alora always do that?" Yulei asked in a hushed voice.
Hilda was about to vividly nod, but Yulei's hand grabbed her shoulder, "Yep. The little dummy is weird..."
"How about numbers, has Alora ever muttered numbers?"
"...Hmmm?"
Grabbing her chin, Hilda contemplated for a moment. She ran through the sparse memories-
"Nope, the little dummy only says words. Something about eyes and brains sometimes-" Hilda's face contorted with slight disgust.
"She grabs the air, and, fwoosh! Throws things around sometimes." Habitually performing an exaggerated movement, Hilda received a soft blow on her arm from Yulei as she glanced back at Alora.
"...Yeah, I saw that at that breakfast."
With suspicions flying all around the group, suspicions with differing targets, they headed along to Sparkle.
---
Vanessa held Jill's hand and dragged him along into a vibrant street painted in pink, blue, red, and every other colour that attracted children.
Vanessa shouted with a hop in her step, "Starcrossed Alley! We're here!" and turned around with her arms spread wide.
Alora's eyes snapped about the street, at the colourful array of shops:
A store stacked with cute, colourful accessories; hairpins, necklaces, bracelets, sheep, cat and dog headbands-
The list of accessories decorating the interior of the store was endless.
Beside it was a lingerie store that catered specifically for children, so instead of the usual display of sexy lingerie found on Earth, the store had cute patterns, mascots and more.
Cuteness extended nigh endlessly in the Starcrossed Alley.
"Let's go, Alora! To Sparkles!" At this point, not even Esme could hold herself back, as mature as she seemed, she was the youngest of the group alongside Alora.
No child could resist the allure of fun!
"Hold on tight, Lady Yulei!" Yulei's maid accelerated the wheelchair down the street, she chased after the sprinting kids.
Each had their unique smile and laughter, which spread contagiously to the surrounding families, brightening the atmosphere.
With Vanessa and the unwilling Jill in the lead, the remainder of the cohort chased after them with grinning faces-
Excited faces-
Jubilant-
Except Alora.
---
"Sparkles!"
"Yep, Sparkles!" Vanessa proudly exclaimed with Hilda beside her.
The feisty redhead long forgot about the loss of desserts and was prepared to pounce into the store.
Unlike the rest, Sparkles was decorated in wealth like no other store in Starcrossed Alley. Here, you would find the highest quality clothing and the latest fashion trends that would spark jealousy among the other children of the Domain.
Hence the name:
"Sparkles, Alora, Sparkles!"
Esme shook Alora's hand up and down with sparkles exploding in her golden eyes.
"Y, yeah, I hear you-"
"Sparkles!!!" Esme, unexpectedly, was the first to dart into the open doors of Sparkle.
An aroma of fresh fruits rushed through their noses as, one by one, they broke into the quiet store.
The store employees welcomed them with smiles, but the children were far too occupied in their little bubbles to give them much more than a:
"Wooohoooo!!!"
"Sparkles!"
"Ugh, Vanessa, let go-"
"Hilda, Hilda! They have a Remmy mascot shirt! And hat! Look! Look! It even has a pancake on its head!!!"
"Let's buy it!"
The children were like an explosion, scattering into the store like mice as they lay their grubby paws on everything they fancied. Their servants were the only ones to 'suffer', having to carry the baggage.
Hilda, while staring at the Remmy mascot along with Yulei, shot the running Esme a spare glance. Then, she kneeled over to whisper:
"Hey, now that I think about it, little dummy only wears the same shirt and pants every day..."
Yulei's ears perked up.
"So, what do you think? Should we-" A cheeky smile slathered Hilda's face.
And Yulei:
"Yes!"
Her interest skyrocketed, "We should dress her in pink pyjamas, an angel outfit, a-"
Simultaneously, Hilda and Yulei shouted, ""A Remmy costume!!!""
...Moments later, the staff spotted two mice chasing after two much smaller mice.
And in sync, the two ladies looked at each other:
"Cute." "Adorable."
---
"What do you think, Lily?! It would be so cute!"
Esme held up a frilly, puffy pink dress adorned with tiny white sheep over Alora's body. Her voice had a pep to it as she asked her maid.
"Very, Lady Esme. It would suit Lady Alora."
"Right?!"
Esme shifted her glittering eyes onto Alora's.
"What do you think?"
Stuttering, Alora took a step back from the overly enthusiastic Esme.
"I, I don-"
Fwoosh!
A head popped up diagonally from behind Esme, "It would suit little dummy! Try it!"
Another head, this one seated in a wheelchair, rolled up from the side with a wide grin, "I second that! But I recommend this shirt instead!" She held up a Remmy mascot shirt with a burning gaze.
Surrounded from all sides, and with her life hanging by a thread as the swords of her enemies approached-!
"...Ugh."
Alora raised the flag.
"...Okay."
The three rascals shared gazes and:
"Yay!"
"Alora, you'll look so cute!"
"Little dummy! Get out of that boring shirt already!"
...Meanwhile, inwardly:
S, Someone, help! I don't want to wear this cute stuff!