We arrived at the square of the city…and we made a scene on the spot , with 2 carriages and 5 horses, surely it made people stare and make a scene…But it was not, the people did not make a scene about it.
When I wanted to get out of the carriage, suddenly in front of the door there were already the little two, waiting for me, with some sorrowful faces looking at me. I tried not to look at them, and kept walking out from the carriage, but my shoulder was patted by my mother behind me. I looked at mother behind me, and saw her smiling at me. It felt like my mother wanted me to make up with them. After everyone and I was on the ground, the little two were in front of me immediately with mother and father behind me.
“*sigh* Is there anything that you two want from me?”
They heard it and they contemplated it.
“We want to say something, Sister Aurelia.”
“What is that?”
“We want to…..” They looked at each other, seemed to be trying to throw each other, who wanted to say it..
“What are you two gonna say to me?”
For some reason, people around us stared at us…
“*sigh* Can you two say it fast? Before we make a scene here..”
The little two just kept silent in front of me..
“You know, that you two who want to stroll in the city, and right now, you are just standing in front of me, you said you want to say something, here your sister in front of you, and you two just keep silent. Do you two really want to stroll in the city or just want to stand here all day? How about this?” For no reason I keep talking at them “I can do both, I can stand in here all day until you two say what you want to say, because it is not me who want to go out, it is you two who ask father to go out, and in here, you two wasted it, because you two cannot say it to your own sister, even she in front of you…” For no reason, I felt similar inside me “Your father has prepared all of it from carriages, and guards, even he spared his time for us, and so we can be in here, and here I am stuck in front of my two little siblings, who cannot say something to me…” The feeling was more boiling inside me, and for no reason my face was in front of their face “HEY!! Is your sister really scary in my sweet little siblings’ view? It’s not scary right? If it is, your sister will be so sad, but it will be even more sad if her sweet little siblings cannot say something even when she is in front of her sweet little siblings—”.
Suddenly I felt there were 2 hands on my shoulders. I looked at it, and it was mother, but my arms felt tightened, I looked around me, there was Lady Octavi and Adel beside me, for some reason they gripped my arms…For some reason I didn’t realize their presence ….And I turned my face at the little two, they were so scared…
Mother turned my body to face her, and pulled my head in front of her face “Aurelia!!! Remember they are your little siblings, grip your emotions and keep your composure, surely I ask you to make up with them, but it doesn’t mean like this.” she said with a worried tone.
“Huh??” I didn’t know what had happened.
Livia and Martia took Aurelio and Ophelia to father, away from us.
For some reason without my knowing, people around me were unbelieve and scared…
“Can mother let it go your hands from my head, please?” I asked mother..
“No, until you are calm.” she said.
“I am already calm, mother..”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I am, can you lower your hands?”
And mother lowered her hands from my head…but Lady Octavi and Adel gripped still in my arms..
“Can you lower your grips?”
They lowered their hands from my arms…on the contrary, their hands were in my two hands, and they were holding my hands.
“What I mean lower, it’s not like this, it means to take it off from my arms.” I said.
“They will keep holding your hands, until we get home…” Mother said..
“What!” I was surprised “Is it a little too embarrassing for me?”
“No, It’s not.”
“But, two people holding my hands seems too much, how is one person holding my hand?”
“No, they will hold your hands, no matter what will happen.”
“*Sigh* right..” I tried to shake their grip from up and down, left and right, pull and push…Their grip was so strong, it could not let it go.
“I apologize, my lady, but it is an order from madam, so I must obey it..” Adel said.
“Yeah………”
I looked at father, Lady Laura seemed to whisper something to father, and Immediately Lady Laura made an excuse for herself to do work as a substitute of father.
We continued the stroll in the city. After what had happened, the little two kept their distance from me, even the 4 children too…On the way, father was with the little two and 4 children, and mother kept beside me. 3 guards followed us, and 2 guards stayed to oversee the carriages and the horses. In the square, we watched some performers, even the last trobairitz and the singer when I came here, were in the square to perform…I saw the little two and the 4 children from behind, were so entertained by all the performers in the square…and I saw father gave coin more generosity to the singer and the trobairitz, than us when we were here…
Afterwards, we walked in the streets toward our first destination, and it was a boutique with some fancy design..It had a glass of window, where glass was so expensive and it was classified as luxury items..When I heard it from Lady Octavi from the tutoring, I was amazed by it, because the house was full of glass of window. I looked around the street where the store was, there was no store that used glass beside this store. All the stores didn’t use the glass as a window, they just used wooden shutters.
The guards stayed outside, and we stepped our foot to the boutique, and Mother and Ophelia changed suddenly..They immediately charged the clerks, and asked about these and those clothes that were in the store. In the meantime, father already took a seat on the bench inside of the store. It seemed he was already used to this situation.. Because it was my first time at the store, I was walking and looking around in the store…All the dresses and clothes were so fancy, because there was nothing to tell the price, so I went to one of the clerks and asked about the prices…She asked me to follow her, she led me to every row of dress and clothes, and started to tell the prices…
And I was dumbfounded and unbelieve from what the clerk said about the prices. There were 8 rows of dresses and clothes, these rows grouped because of the material, and the motif of the dress and clothes…The most expensive of material was silk, followed by linen, cotton, and wool..and there were 4 rows where all the dresses and clothes were not produced locally, and grouped with the material it used. The most expensive rows were from these 4 rows where the products were not produced locally, and grouped with the material it used. The other 4 rows where the products were produced locally by the women in their household..The price was so expensive, the cheapest row was with a silver coin price tag, and the most expensive row was with a platinum coin price tag. The dresses and clothes used with silk worth gold coin minimum, if it was not local, it was worth platinum coin.
I saw mother in the 4 rows not locally, meanwhile, Ophelia was in the local rows…and they were in the silk row…For some reason, I wasn’t interested in all the dresses and clothes in the store..So I took a seat on the bench with father…Aurelio and 4 children were with Ophelia followed by Livia and Martia, so it just Father and I with Lady Octavi and Adel holding my both hands on the bench. I saw father was so surprised when I sat on the bench, then looked around…
I was more surprised about Lady Octavi, where she usually wore a knight dress more like a man’s attire than a woman’s attire.
“Lady Octavi, are you not interested in dress or clothes?” I asked her..
“I am not that interested in that, and I am more interested in you, my lady.” She answered..
“Right….” I turned my gaze to Adel “How about you, Adel? Are you not interested?”
“Like Lady Octavi, I am more interested in you, my lady..than clothes..”
“Right…”
I saw father beside Adel, giggling, made me turn my gaze to him.
“How about father? Are you not interested too?”
“Like Adel and Lady Octav….” Seemed he tried to hold on without giggling with a cool face “Father is more interested in you, than clothes…” Father was giggling in the end..
I felt teased by all of them…And I saw mother from a distance, she was walking toward me with a woman beside her…
After mother was in front of me with a woman beside her “What are you doing sitting in here, Aurelia?” she said..
“I am just sitting with father…”
Father was still emitted small giggling, Mother turned a small gaze to him, and immediately Father stopped it…
“You cannot sit around here with your father, you will follow me with this lady…” she said.
“Who is she, mother?”
“She is the owner of this store…and she will be trying to find the dresses that suit you with her workers..”
“But, as you can see mother…” I showed my 2 hands in front of mother where Lady Octavi and Adel were still holding it “With these, Can I wear or try a dress?”.
I heard a small giggling from father, again mother turned a small gaze to him, and he immediately stopped again..
“There is no excuse, Aurelia…You will come with her, and Mother will follow to watch you…”
For a sudden, Lady Octavi and Adel were standing, making me stand too…Mother and the owner walked out from the bench, Lady Octavi and Adel followed them, I tried not to follow them, but their grip was so strong, it made me forcefully just follow them..
They led me to the corner of the store, where there was a big mirror…There was a table and chair with some drinks and snacks, where mother was sitting in there, while she was watching me…There were 3 workers beside the owner…They measured my size of my body, and other workers went out to take dresses who seemed suit for me…And they brought an entire row of dresses…and they brought a fitting rooms, where it was curtains circling with big diameter who could fit 2-3 people inside the circle…
They started to dress me all the dresses inside the fitting rooms, where Lady Octavi and Adel switched up holding hands, when the worker tried to dress me because the grip disturbed it…When I held Adel,I thought her grip weaker than Lady Octavi, but I tried to pull the grip, it didn’t make a single flinch…
Forcefully, I gave up…They dressed me with various dresses, after they dressed me, the curtains were opened, and showed it to mother with the owner standing beside her…Mother just kept whispering to the owner, everytime she looked at the dress in me…After some dresses, suddenly the spectators in front of the curtains increase, there was father, the 4 children and the little two followed by their maids, there was 1 table and 2 chair more for the little two, and father sat with mother. When they showed me to them, they started to discuss it with each other, while I was standing in front of them with some snacks and drinks on their tables…
