Chapter 36 - Breaking the Ice

It was her first time going out in a half year. Azriel fiddled with the blue dress among other dresses that filled up her wardrobe. It was the one with a fluttering material, full lace, and a fairy imprinted gem brooch in between the collars. It was so beautiful and expensive-looking that she had not been able to wear it as she felt it did not belong to her. She glanced at the teddy bear that she had set against the pillow on her bed. On the bear’s foot, which was sitting quietly, she could see the words that Rhema had embroidered.

With some courage and thrill, Azriel took out that dress. She was trying it on excitedly but was confused soon. The dress had back straps that needed to be crossed and knotted in order to be put on. It could not be put on alone since it was a dress suitable for a daughter of a big merchant or of a noble. She stretched out her hands behind her back as much as possible, but she could not reach the straps. She ended up falling while struggling. Noticing that something was going on, Rhema entered the room.

“Azriel?” Seeing embarrassed Azriel and the disheveled straps behind her back, he grasped the situation. “I’ll help you. Come here.”

Rhema gathered her long, black hair and turned it over to the front, making a knot with the straps in the back to a nicety. While he was at it, he fixed the hem and lace that were creased when she fell and put on a thin summer cape on her, which was made as a set with the dress.

Azriel, who wore the white cape over the blue dress, looked pretty as a doll. He was tempted to give her better things. He wanted to load her with more valuable, no, the best things. Such a desire was formed in his mind. It had been a long time since he had felt such a desire. Rhema tidied up the girl’s disheveled hair by roughly brushing it with his hand. He was not clever enough to think of using a comb or tying her hair. “Well then, shall we go?”

He stretched out his hand to her. Grabbing that hand, Azriel looked at his attire closely. Rhema was wearing a white robe that he wore when he first met Azriel. Even though it was in the middle of summer, it seemed he did not feel the heat at all. The sleeves of the plain white robe were embroidered with silver thread. It was similar to what wizards would commonly wear.

When Azriel took his hand, the surrounding environment was changed in an instant. It was a surprisingly smooth long-distance teleportation. Azriel was yet to know how amazing this magic was. As for Rhema, he did not think too much since he was used to it like breathing.

Where they arrived was a back alley of Iligala, a free port city that the Kingdom of Aucandor boasted of. Holding the girl’s hand, he headed to the shopping district he was familiar with. The shopping district was where wealthy people went, which mainly dealt with custom-made and imported goods.

Since Rhema did not know where the toy shop was, he went into the boutique that he regularly visited. At the bell chime, a tailor came out to greet the customers. Seeing them, he opened his mouth wide as if to drop his jaw and hastily poked his assistant’s waist. The assistant, who was organizing items, irritably lifted his head and dropped what he had in his hands upon seeing the famous wizard bringing a cute, doll-like girl. The wizard’s princess whose rumors were widespread had finally appeared.

“Welcome, Mr. Wizard! It’s a pleasure to meet you, little lady! How can I help you?” The tailor quickly came out and bent his waist. He looked at Azriel from top to bottom to have a close look at the girl who was wearing the clothes he sent out. She seemed to be from the northern region as she had golden eyes, black hair resembling the night, and outstandingly pale skin. Her small face had well-defined features even though she was young. She was a strikingly pretty child, but her elegant mysterious atmosphere was more impressive. She looked exotic. ‘She could be a princess of some country.’ For such a girl, the blue dress he sold matched perfectly. The tailor’s heart was filled with pride. The only thing that bothered him was her hair. Since she had a nice texture, it did not get tangled, but it seemed to have been roughly fixed by hands no matter how much he looked. The unpolished, untied hair that was just laid down randomly did not seem right.

“About toys…”

“Before then, how do you like this, Mr. Wizard?” The tailor with a lightning-like hand movement picked up a hat for girls. It was a white straw hat decorated with a cute ribbon. When the eyes of Rhema and Azriel were on it, he quickly went ahead to explain it. “The sun is hot now, why don’t you put this hat on this little lady? It will be cute and cool. Particularly, this ribbon lace is a piece by a renowned artisan, imported from the Talasin Empire with difficulty…”

Rhema, looking at Azriel and the hat in turn for a moment and nodded. Thinking that he had made a great sale once again today, the tailor tried to put on the hat on the girl. As a shadow of a grownup man was cast over her head, Azriel turned pale. A monster, a monster’s shadow. She hid behind Rhema’s back as if to run away. As his robe was tugged, Rhema looked down and saw that the tip of Azriel’s hand was trembling.

“Step back.” As the wizard’s voice carried displeasure, the air seemed to react and tighten sensitively. A chilling feeling flowed down the tailor’s back. He quickly took a few steps back. Azriel, who eventually calmed down, stuck her head out. Thinking that the child was shy, the tailor held out the hat to Rhema. “Would you like to put this on her, Mr. Wizard?”