The manager flinched, their body shaking as they stammered out an answer. Yuki allowed the manager to go and retrieve the dress. "But my lady," Akio protested. Yuki did not respond, but simply shook her head.
Yuki sighed and walked over to the store manager to ask for a dress catalogue. Twenty minutes passed, and Yuki had already chosen the dress she would wear for her birthday. As she walked out of the shop, Yuki reached out and showed something in her hand to Akio.
"Th-that..." Akio was surprised, but Yuki covered his mouth with her hand and smiled while raising her eyebrow. Yuki whispered to him, "Keep this and find out if it's real or not." Akio immediately put away the torn piece of a dress. As they continued on their journey, Yuki spotted a dessert shop. So they decided to stop by to indulge.
"Welcome to Amai Dessert," a server greeted Yuki and Akio as soon as they entered the shop. "My lady, I mean Yuki, please take a seat." Akio pulled out a stool for Yuki to sit on, and they perused the menu.
"I'll have the tiramisu and strawberry tea, please," Yuki said, looking at the shop assistant.
The assistant appeared nervous hearing the order and stuttered out, "I'm sorry, young lady, but we're out of strawberry tea and tiramisu." Akio suddenly realized the situation and ordered the assistant, "No problem, just give us the special, and also an Earl Grey tea"
The assistant nodded her head and went away. After they finished ordering, Aiko suddenly felt that something was wrong but remained silent, not wanting to upset Yuki. He just sighed to himself.
"Her Majesty's bad mood is really scary," he thought.
As Yuki and Aiko were waiting for their orders. Yuki suddenly grasped Aiko's hand.
"Look over there," Yuki said, pointing towards a man in the distance. Aiko turned his head towards the man with a surprised expression.
The head of the Yamazu family ?" Aiko exclaimed in surprise. Yuki nodded her head.
"We can use him right?" She asked seriously. Aiko again looked over to the man and slowly nodded his head.
"So that's why Your Majesty accepted the marriage proposal from the Yamazu family?" Akio muttered, his eyes fixed on Yuki.
Yuki remained silent, her gaze directed towards the window, lost in her thoughts.
She suddenly stood up from her seat and walked towards the head of the Yamazu family, who was waiting across the shop. As she approached him, she greeted him with a warm smile and a polite bow.
"Mr Yamazu, it's a pleasure to meet you," Yuki said, her voice soft and composed.
Mr Yamazu returned the bow and smiled at Yuki. "The pleasure is all mine, Your Highness or should I call you daughter-in-law, Yuki" he replied.
"Are you all alone, how can they be so reckless leaving you alone," questioned Mr Yamazu as he carried her.
Yuki who got the question asked looked back towards Akio and winked.
Mr Takao Yamazu walked across the street, carrying Yuki. As they made their way through the crowd, Yuki's eyes sparkled with wonder and mischievousness as she looked at the beautiful shops that lined the road. Suddenly, she pointed to a jewellery store and tugged on Mr Yamazu's sleeve.
"Mr Yamazu, can we go to that store?" Yuki asked, her eyes bright with excitement.
Mr Yamazu chuckled and looked at the store. "That's a jewellery store, Yuki. Are you interested in buying jewellery?" he asked with amusement. Yuki nodded enthusiastically.
As they entered the jewellery store Mr Takao dropped Yuki on a seat.
"Wait for this old man ok, Yuki," Mr Takao said as he entered a room covered by a red cloth.
Yuki got off the seat and started to browse through the store looking all around the store. That's when a piece caught her eye. It was the decoration on the jewellery door which was reflecting the sun's rays. As she was busy admiring the piece, she didn't notice when two hands reached for her and carried her towards a seat. It was the shop assistant," please excuse me young lady but you can't stand in the way" he said politely.
Yuki nodded absentmindedly as she continued to watch the display on the store door.
"You like that young lady," asked the shop assistant. Yuki didn't answer and just nodded her head.
"Yoho, I am back, Yuki" Hearing Takao's voice the shop assistant quickly turned over and bowed his head.
"Did I miss anything?" Mr Takao asked as he carried Yuki. "No, sir but the young lady was looking at this door decoration earlier," the shop assistant pointed out.
"Yuki, do you want this? I can buy you a better one. You can choose it, see?" Mr Takao said while approaching the other pieces of jewellery.
Yuki had her eyes set on the door decoration in the jewellery store, despite the shop assistant and Mr Takao showing her the various jewellery pieces. "I want this," she said firmly, pointing to the ornament.
Mr Takao immediately bought it for her.
As the decoration piece was quite big Mr Takao asked the shop assistant to melt the decoration and convert it into a harpin as Yuki requested.
*Two hours later*
Once outside the store, Mr Takao noticed that Akio had arrived to pick up Yuki. Seeing him he was furious about how she could leave Yuki alone.
"Akio, how could you leave her alone? If I wasn't present there, she could have been lost."
Akio, who was walking a few steps behind them, looked guilty and apologized. "I'm sorry, sir. I didn't notice she was gone."
Takao nodded but still looked concerned. " You have to be more careful, especially in crowded places like this."
As they walked through a narrow street on their way home, there was a sudden loud noise. The trio quickly turned around to see what was happening when they saw a group of people surrounding someone on the ground. Suddenly, they realized it was an assassination attempt!
. . . To be continue