"Ready to depart my lady?" Earl asked Evelyn as he opened the carriage door for her.
"Yes," she replied.
She was about to hop in, a carriage came into her view and halted right behind their carriage. A woman stepped out of it and smiled brightly at Evelyn.
"Hello Eve," she greeted cheeringly, hugging her.
"Bele!" Evelyn responded with the same energy.
Bele Duchess, she belonged to one of the noble houses in the provinces. She had lost her parents when she was young and was raised by her grandparents. Her father had accumulated and left behind him enough wealth such that three generations could survive easily.
Bele and Evelyn were childhood friends. They met each other in the etiquette class for the first time. They hated each other until one day when Bele was bullied by the other girls in the class for having ginger hair. Evelyn stepped in between her and the bully to retort them so that they never bully anyone again.
From that day onwards, their bond became strong and here they are with fifteen years of friendship.
"Hello Earl," Bele greeted him as she blushed looking at him. Since childhood, he had this effect on her. Earl being close to Evelyn when she joined the duo she became friends with him making the trio stronger.
"Hello, lady Duchess, how have you been today?" He greeted her with a small bow.
"I am doing fine, thank you. How have you been, Earl?" She asked with a soft voice trying to suppress her blush.
"I am fine as well, thank you," he said with a gentle smile.
"How come you are here Bele?" Evelyn asked her which caught her attention back towards her from Earl.
"Oh, there's a village carnival today. We planned to attend that. Did you forget?" She asked, crossing her arms.
Suddenly it struck Evelyn about the plans they had decided. It slipped from her mind due to her constant preparation for council exams. She smiled sheepishly looking at Bele's sullen face.
"I apologise, it slipped from my mind," she apologised and continued, "We can go now."
"Alright, let's go now," Bele said and turned to her carriage.
"Earl, we will practice tomorrow. I will go out with her today," she informed him.
"Sure, my lady. But I reckon we can postpone the practice until you finish the tier one exam. Practising might drain your energy and can exhaust your brain," he suggested.
"I agree with him. You can continue once you are done with the tier one exam," Bele said approvingly to Earl.
"Mhm," Evelyn nodded. She looked at Earl and asked him, "Would you like to join us for the carnival?"
"Thanks for inviting me. I appreciate your kindness my lady, but I have to accompany the lord for some of his work later today," he informed.
"I see. Well then, we will now," she stated with a smile and hopped into Bele's carriage after her.
"He still has to use titles," Bele remarked, pitying him.
Evelyn understood whom she was implying. She smiled ruefully as she can't do anything about that.
"I reprimand him for using the titles when we are alone," she informed her.
"I see," Bele nodded in understanding.
Soon the carriage halted at the premises of a village where the carnival was held. They both stepped out of it and strolled towards the heart of the village.
Everyone around them bowed showing their respect as one was a princess and the other one was from a noble family. She nodded and returned a polite smile.
The village was decorated with seasonal greenery. Many stalls put different lighting lanterns to attract customers. Both the lanes on either side of the path were crowded by various stalls and the buyers, bargaining to get a good deal.
You could hear the carnival music being played loudly but not so loud, hurting the ears. The music was soft. Anyhow, the music was suppressed by the shouting of shopkeepers calling the customers to buy their goods.
As they wandered around the village enjoying the jolly atmosphere, a young man caught Evelyn's attention towards him. He seemed taller than her and had brown eyes. His hair was messy and a few strands fell on his forehead. She couldn't comprehend why she wasn't able to take her eyes off him.
"What do you think, Eve?" She snapped back as Bele elbowed her.
"Huh?"
"Should we check those charm stones?" Bele asked.
"Yes, sure," she replied with a nervous smile. She glanced in the direction of the man for one last time before following Bele to the shopkeeper.
"Greetings, which stone would you like to buy?" A middle-aged man asked. He glanced at their dress with greedy eyes as he knew he could raise the price to double or triple now.
"Well, we are just seeing," Bele replied.
"No need to see my lady. Trust the stones and they would never betray you. My experience says, these lucky charms will shower the fortunes on you," he said, trying to convince them to buy the charm stones.
"How do these stones work?" Evelyn asked. She was curious how a small piece of stone changed one's already written fate.
"These are the stones which are made by witches themselves. And we all know how the stones made by them worked," he replied.
"How do we know that these stones are real?" Bele asked.
"Well, you can see my stall here. I am not going anywhere. Trust me these are real charm stones, my lady," he said thinking how he can deny it any time of selling it.
"How much for it?" Bele enquired.
"100 gold coins," he replied.
Evelyn frowned at him. She held Bele's arm as she moved it to take out the amount to be paid. Bele looked at her in confusion.
"We will buy it while returning," Evelyn said and turned to walk away dragging Bele with her. She heard the seller calling them again but she ignored it as if she didn't hear him.
"Why? Are we not buying it?" Bele asked, perplexed.
"He is a fraud Bele. He raised the price looking at us. He sold the same stone for 50 bronze coins for a customer before us," she reasoned.
"I see, I wonder when you noticed these things," Bele muttered.
"Have always been a good observer," she giggled.
They both continued strolling and visiting the few shops that caught their interest.