Violetta looks at them with discomfort. She was a bit reluctant to part from things as they are. Furthermore, according to the two staff members, they'd probably be at the mercy of that demidog and his society even though they gave the taxonomic name instead of the common name.
Though Violetta doesn't really think that they'd punish them, she isn't part of the society and doesn't know the rules and regulations.
'Seriously, they shouldn't expect someone to remember all taxonomic names!' she sighs inwardly.
Then, she walks up to one of them and gives a light tap on the shoulder.
"Illicium verums are star anises."
The shopkeepers towards the young, fair complexioned girl with black hair. Slowly, they frown in suspicion and wariness.
Now that Violetta looks closely, the two look like they're twins.
"How do you know?" one of them asks.
"... well, or you can just send a letter to the customer in the Demigod Society and ask for clarification. The Demigod Society is a place filled with kind and righteous people. They would never berate you for something so trivial," she tries to reason with her positive opinion that they wouldn't be punished.
"True…" they contemplate.
Violetta internally hopes that they'd follow her tips.
"Hmmm, I will ask the leader," Twin One tells Twin Two.
They politely bow and thank Violetta for the suggestion as civilized shopkeepers.
She gives them a smile and walks off to catch up to Delta.
Walking beside her, Delta asks, "What did you do?"
"Ah, just some philanthropy," Violetta responds
Delta laughs, "You sound like some rich guy…"
"But I am."
"..."
… when Delta forgets how wealthy the Demigod Society is and that the amount of money Royals have is also considered 'rich'…
They travel through a maze of shelves with thousands of aromas filling the air. There are an amazing variety of herbs, ones from Eastern, Western, Northern, and Southern countries and cultures.
Shopkeeper Li and his two customers arrive at the section of herbs used in cooking.
'Chives, rosemary, thyme, mint-' Violetta names as she walks by.
"Hey, can you get some of this for me?" Violetta asks, pointing at the mint batch on the shelf.
"Sure!" the Shopkeeper walks over with a hand in the bag.
He grabs about an ounce or so, flips the bag over, and seals the bag with a tag.
Then, he hands it over to Violetta.
Finally, they arrive at the basil and parsley.
"How much would you like?" He asks Delta.
"An ounce of each is fine," she responds immediately.
Using the same actions as before, he takes up the parsley and basil.
He passes the small bags to Delta.
Delta holds up each bag and inspects the herbs inside.
Then, satisfied, they walk towards the counters in the front.
Cha-ching! $$
"That will be eighteen taels total," the young shopkeeper says behind the counter.
'Taels?'
Delta freezes in front of the counter while Violetta inwardly facepalms.
'Ah!!! We both forgot about the currency exchange! We're so dead.'
Suddenly, a short, blue haired character who looks like he jumped out of an anime comes to the rescue. Yes, that's right, it's little Chris.
Walking over, he lightly slams down a handful of silver taels and drops a bag of herbs onto the counter with his other hand.
"This should be enough for the four bags," Chris says.
Violetta looks at the little shaky figure tiptoeing to reach the counter. That little child is somehow even more reliable than adults. She laughs ironically with a tad bit of pride.
The young shopkeeper laughs too, before putting the taels away. Then he prints the receipt and hands it to them while also putting the four bags of herbs into a larger bag for them to bring away.
Meanwhile...
On the other side of the store, Kate looks at the beautiful small petals in a jar on the lower shelf.
"Wow, it's so colorful and pretty~" she mutters to herself.
Suddenly, she remembers to check on Chris. However, when she turned around to scan the area, she couldn't find the little figure!
Her two hands clasp together nervously and she searches around. Cold sweat slowly drips down her back as she thinks of how to explain it to the princess. Finally, she sees a tuft of the bright blue hair.
The brown haired maid heaves a relieved sigh. She walks over-
"??! Where did he go?"
She looks around, flustered again. Unexpectedly, she spots her highness, the princess before Chris!
'It's better if I tell the truth,' she guiltily tells herself.
Then, she walks over to Violetta's side.
"Ah, you're here, Kate. Delta and I have already got our stuff. Let's go!" Violetta says as she turns to face Kate.
"Um...about Chris..." she starts.
Her fingers intertwine, fidgeting nervously. A long silence fills the air.
To her surprise, Violetta talks, "Huh? What do you mean? He's right here."
Violetta points to the hooded figure at the counter.
Chris also turns to face them when he heard his name. Kate looks at him, surprised. His brilliant hair is under a hood, and noticeable only in a distance.
Kate thinks back to the tuft of blue hair she saw.
'Huh? Then what was that I saw before?' she wonders.