I walked around the streets feeling glad that I got rid of those siblings, it would have been uneventful if I went with them. Poppy was walking by himself now so he won't ruin his clothes, but we were wearing cloaks so that no one would recognize me, Lily can be discreet.
We walked into a store picked some clothes for Poppy and were out like we never came, I would prefer long hours of testing outfits, but I couldn't risk being seen with a child in public, getting a seamstress to make all his clothes would have been best. I wish Millie were here, at least I'd have someone to whine to.
"My lady," I heard a female voice from behind me and turned expectantly. Millie?
"Oh, its Taney," I said, disappointed. Tanny is one of my personal maids, but we are not close, at all.
"What are you doing here, my lady?" she asked her eyes darting to Poppy then back to me. Did I mention she has a gossiping problem?
"Nothing," I said smiling. "Are you heading back now?" I asked and she nodded.
"Yes, my lady, I want to order a carriage," she said.
"Good, could you please give this to Millie for me?" I said giving her the bags, it would have been tiring to carry those bags everywhere.
"Yes, my lady," she said collecting them quickly. I waved at her and turned to leave, while Poppy reverted to his dragon form and stayed on my head but hid under my cloak. He couldn't last in those tiny legs, huh?
"Do you want to get something to eat?" I asked.
"We just ate." oh, this naive dragon.
"I know, I just want to get some snacks. What's outing without eating?" I said, making my way to the stall from the last time I was out. I bought two of almost everything and continued my sightseeing. I fed Poppy as I continued strolling round. I didn't have anything in particular I wanted to do, but just walking round aimlessly was comforting. If people saw me feeding my head they'd think it's weird, don't worry I'm not Medusa.
"Hey, hey," I heard someone call me as a hand grabbed my shoulder, I turned and saw a drunk man standing there. Its still bright out here and you're drinking? Well, I guess anything goes in this world, it really isn't safe for a frail young lady like me that knows nothing about the world.
"What do you want?" I asked, not fazed. I'm pretty sure a drunk man that can barely keep himself standing cannot do that much damage.
"Oh, come on you don't have to be so tense," he said reaching for my shoulder, but I took a step back. What did I say? He almost is balance. "Don't run from me, I won't hurt you if…" I was honestly going to hear him out since I have nothing better to do with my time, and my snacks disappeared. But he flew away right in front of me, he just flew.
"Lady Rose," I heard the voice of my worst nightmare and turned to look at him.
"Sir Ryle," I said.
"I'm glad I got here fast," he said.
"Really?" I don't understand that statement. You're glad you got here fast enough to save the person you'll still kill from a useless, harmless drunk. Interesting!
"Yes, I followed your scent," he said like that wasn't a weird statement.
"Are you a dog?" I asked, absentmindedly. He burst into uncontrollable laughter and I just stared at him waiting for his laughter to die down.
"I have great senses," he explained.
"Well good for you," I said, uninterested. "Thank you for saving me," I said, waving him off as I walked away.
"So what brings you out here?" he asked, following me.
"The food cart."
"Oh, I see." I could hear the solidarity in his voice, that's our common ground. But why is this person acting too comfortable with me? "Lady Rose," he called.
"Yes?"
"Do you not know that there's a dragon on your head?" he asked. My patience…
"How is that possible?" I asked, irritated. Why am I reacting so much to this nonsense? Ah, my head hurts.
"Well, you seem so calm, that I thought you didn't know," he said.
"I would like to ask you, Sir Ryle, is it possible to not notice that something is on your head? And for this long?" I asked, annoyed.
"Yes, if I'm hungry," he replied. I give up.
"Interesting," was the only word I could get out.
"Can you stop calling Sir Ryle? It's making me uncomfortable." is it now? Well, you're making me uncomfortable, we don't always get what we want. I wish I could say that, but as an obedient extra, I'll do what the male lead asked for. "I'll call you Rose in return." quite the offer, Mr. Male lead, but no, thank you. "Friends shouldn't refer to each other formally, right? We should give each other nicknames."
"When did I ever agree to be friends with you?" I asked weakly.
"Rose, Rosy, Anne, I'll call you Anne, what will you call me?" he totally ignored me.
"Ryle's fine," I said in defeat. "This is Poppy, by the way," I said finally remembering my manners. Poppy came out and flew on Ryle's shoulder, which was…
"Nice to meet, Poppy. I'm Ryle." I'm sure he figured. "No way what is it?" they were having a conversation and I couldn't guess what it was. I'm so curious, and how are they communicating?
I was finally let back into the circle, but Poppy stayed on Ryle's shoulder, is this betrayal I smell? It was all too weird because the book's description of Ryle was a cold master of the magic tower, this childish, annoying attitude was only revealed to Lily when he started developing feelings for her, even then, he wasn't talkative just comfortable. But in my memories, he's EVIL.
This it doesn't make sense, my killer became my friend, it's quite interesting. What's more? Poppy seems to like him. Poppy, the sauciest being to ever exist.