Six carriages, which stand out just briefly by their sizes and glamor, have turned up in rows to the street where the best dress and jewelry shops in the city were clustered. It didn’t take long before the carriages dominated the whole street, which was fairly narrow, since only a selected number of people ever visited such a place.
Everyone, including those who were walking past the street and those who were getting on and off from their carriages, stopped on their tracks as they marveled at the parade of carriages before their eyes.
“Where are those carriages from? Have the entire family come out for an outing?”
“Good gracious! I think they are carriages from a royal family.”
“Ah. They really are!”
Some of the crowds recognized the coat of arms on the carriage representing the Hashi Kingdom.
A number of retinues alighted in rows from the opened doors as soon as the carriages came to a full stop. The armed escorts who wore epaulets that showed their rank as warriors on their shoulders, formed a circle around the two bigger carriages with their backs against them. In the meantime, attendants installed the portable stairs right in front of the doors.
Curious bystanders all had their gazes fixed on the rare sight happening before their eyes.
‘Who could it be?’
Although the crowds had an inkling by now that it was a royalty who came, they still couldn’t quite put their finger on who it really was. Royalties were in fact very few as Anikas are known to give birth to only one heir to a kingdom.
It was usually the kings who visited the Holy City since the king’s heir never left the kingdom until they arrived at their manhood. However, a king would likely call for a tailor if new clothing was needed instead of making a personal visit to the shop.
Another opinion was that an Anika could be in one of the carriages since an Anika, who married a king, would always be deemed as a royalty unless she was divorced. However, Anika never gained such exceptional respect as a queen once they left the kingdom.
Although Anikas receive a substantial amount of financial support, all the attendants need to be hired from the Holy City as it is strictly forbidden to keep anyone from the kingdom or to hire the warriors as their personal escorts.
The door to the second carriage in the row opened first. And the man’s significant blue hair, which appeared from it, was enough to catch people’s eyes from far behind. Although not many knew how to discern the coat-of-arms that represents different kingdoms, everyone was aware of the colors that represented the respective six kings of the six kingdoms.
“Desert king…”
“It’s the desert king.”
“I remember hearing that he had come to the Holy City a few days ago.”
The Desert king headed to the carriage in front as soon as he alighted from his. Then, he promptly offered his hand to a lady who finally showed up from the opened door. There were people in the distance craning their necks or screwing up their eyes to get a better look at the lady.
“Who is it?”
Not many recognized Dana by now as she had lived a secluded life for quite a long time. However, those who did recognize her, have all widened their eyes in great shock.
“She’s Lady Arse.”
“Truly?”
A lady with hair as black as coal soon followed and extended her hand to the Desert King. This time, there were more people who seemed to have recognized her.
“Anika Jin?”
Surely, it was a rare sight to see Lady Arse and Anika Jin, as well as the Desert king standing together on a street.
“What are they doing together here?”
Although it’s most natural for them to be seen together as the three of them were now tied under a strong bond called marriage, people don’t seem to really understand the relationship between them. If anything, it must be because no one has ever witnessed the three of them together in public until today.
Silence soon fell on the street. They stayed rooted to the ground with their eyes following them three, their faces took on set expressions.
It was only after they disappeared into a dress shop that the street came back alive like before, as if the stopped time had started to run as usual. It was again bustling of people’s chatter, busily discussing the scene they had all just witnessed.
However, others just couldn’t get enough of the trio. A crowd formed outside the dress shop. No one dared to enter despite their prying eyes as they feared to be stopped by the warriors guarding around the shop.
Not long after, another carriage came and stopped near the dress shop. From there came out a stout lady of middle age, Lady Ditheo, who didn’t give a fig about the crowd nor the lined carriage in front of the dress shop, as she pushed the door to the entrance of the dress shop without a hint of hesitation.
She was very much known for her audacious disposition indeed. The crowd seemed despondent as they feasted with their eyes the arrival of Lady Ditheo to the shop without being held back by the warriors.