Mrs. Miles led her back to the restroom. On the way Veronica observed her walking in great detail, then tried to replicate it, but she tripped and nearly fell over. Mrs. Miles looked back to see what was the commotion. The corner of her lips curled into a smirk.
"You don't even know how to walk?", she sounded quite amused. But her smile disappeared, as Veronica didn't find it too funny, also this was another opportunity to sell her amnesia.
"I know how to walk, but I don't remember how to walk in a big skirt like this! But yeah it is very funny, the poor girl who doesn't know anything other than her name, lets laugh at her!"
She actually managed to make her eyes watery, probably some real emotion about her situation is showing. It also made Mrs. Miles look away, she must have felt really ashamed.
She didn't turn around, just continued walking and said, "I am sorry for acting like that, it was ill mannered. Lets change your clothes and then I show you how to move properly in a dress."
'And here I was thinking helping me get dressed couldn't get more embarrassing...'
Veronica looked at the woman and sighed. Her life had become pretty sad, but what can she do about it. 'Adapt and overcome!', she heard this once in a movie, but it seemed quite fitting for her current situation.
"I would like that, thank you. And I'm sorry as well... it is just a little too much."
They reached the door, Mrs. Miles turned around and smiled kindly. It was a bit surprising to see such emotion on her face, but it fitted her well.
'She probably keeps her smiles rare, for it to have a greater effect.'
Her hand moved, she opened the door and gestured for Veronica to enter. They went in, turned on the light and moved to the mirror.
"Okay, get that rugged dress off and lets see if this fits you."
'Great! Let the humiliation commence!', she moved and tried to remove the dress, but another problem quickly showed itself.
'If I can't put on a dress alone, then why would I know how to take it off? Goddammit! Why is this happening to me!'
With a face red as a tomato and with a voice small like a mosquito's buzz, she slowly turned. The shame was too great so, while she looked anywhere but at Mrs. Miles she asked, "Could you help me take it off?"
She just smiled and moved quickly, taking off the dress. When she was nearly done she said, "You shouldn't be this embarrassed, we are both woman, we both have the same assets. Well similar ones at least. Anyway, I have done this plenty of times with my daughters, so we'll be done quickly."
As she finished speaking Veronica's dress fell, only her corset and underpants remained, concealing her assets.
Mrs. Miles looked her over a couple of times, then probably noticed the tearing in her corset. "Yeah, we will have to take that off as well. But this isn't supposed to be me dressing you, you should learn how to put these clothes on and take them off. First things first, don't wear corsets. Yes they help with figure, but you are thin enough to not need them everyday, just on special occasions."
She walked behind her and began loosening the corset. Her hands were calm and mechanical, like she had done it hundreds of times. 'Well, she probably has that much experience. I have a lot of catching up to do!'
Her hands moved quickly and in a few seconds the corset hit the floor as well. Instinctively Veronica's hands moved covering her breasts, behind her Mrs. Miles laughed.
"You are so shy, good... Man like those kinds of girls. Anyway, now I will show you how to put this dress on. It is quite easy you will see, but you will have to remove your hands."
Taking a couple of deep breaths and with a red face she removed her hands. Mrs. Miles didn't even look at her breasts, she just moved like a professional, putting the dress on very efficiently. In a couple of seconds it was already on her, the dress itself wasn't bad it fitted her quite well. Only issue was that she wore no bra, it made her feel weird and constantly wanted to cover her chest.
"Okay, there you go. Do you remember how to put it on? I could show you again if you like.", Veronica flinched and quickly shook her head.
"No, you don't need to. I got it, my only problem is... Why is there nothing below the chest area? What if it gets cold and my nipples show?" She whispered the last part and it made Mrs. Miles laugh. She had a very beautiful laughter, but just like her smile it was rare.
"You worry about your nipples showing, but that is exactly what man like. In your age, with your looks, you should already have children! This will just be something extra to get you a good husband."
Veronica was mortified, she expected these people to be a bit more open about such affairs, but this was just too much. 'Isn't she a bit too shameless?'
"But lets move on, I will show you how to walk now so pay attention. In the Free cities the woman have a very specific dress codes. Dress ends below ankle, no shoulder, elbow or cleavage showing. Be careful to follow these otherwise some people might think you for a prostitute and believe me that is not fun."
'Free Cities? Is that the name of the country that I'm in currently? And dress codes? Not very free of these cities to have dress codes.'
Her thoughts were brought back to reality and she payed attention of Mrs. Miles's movement. It took a while, but eventually she got it, she moved up and down the corridor a couple of times. Once Suze was satisfied with her walking, they both went back to the kitchen.
They entered and went to the table. Mr. Miles was still sitting there, but there was another person... A woman barely touching adulthood. She was very pretty, her hair was the same straw color as her mother, but her eyes were deep blue just like her father. It didn't take a genius to guess these information. She introduced herself in a kind, calm voice and with a small smile.
"Hello, my name is Sofie Miles, you have already met my parents. You must be Veronica Navarro."
"Yes, nice to meet you Miss Sofie." She pretended to be the as subservient as possible, which of course fooled no one at the table. They started laughing, then James kindly spoke to her.
"Please, no need for formalities, we aren't some duke's family from the Dracon Empire. Just call us James, Suze and Sofie." Veronica smiled warmly, it was a genuine smile. It felt nice to be respected. She sat down in an empty chair and so did Suze, she stayed silent for a while, thinking through what questions to ask. After a few minutes she began.
"So, I am in a place called Hammon and I heard you say... Free Cities? Is that the name of this country? And you said something about a Dracon Empire? Is that another country?"
James looked at her with pity and started answering her questions. "Yes, we are in the Free Cities on the southwestern shore of the East Continent, that is where Hammon is located. The Free Cities are a country mostly known for trade, they are located at the south part of the East Continent. They are called the Free Cities, because they are free of any monarchy and dictatorial type of leadership, they are led by a council who represent the whole country, they are voted for every five years."
'Interesting. They actually have a democracy, didn't expected that to be honest. And they are mostly doing trade and this city is located at the coast. How big this continent is though?'
James continued, "Above us is located the Dracon Empire, it is many times the size of the Free Cities, but we have a very good and prospering relations with them. Their whole empire is locked between mountain ranges, so in order for them to trade with the West Continent, they need to go through us. They are ruled by an emperor who is the sole leader of their government. Their biggest export is food and machinery. The industrial revolution began in their country, they are the pioneers of these new technologies."
'Industrial revolution... then I was correct! It is like the Victorian Era back on Earth!'
"On the West Continent there are three more countries as well, they are currently at war. Also there are the Outlands on the northeastern part of the West Continent, it is unruled and full of criminals, many people began calling it the 'Wild East'. Then there are the Islands, they don't really belong to anyone just their local leaders. Geographically this is what you need to know for now, I will also show you maps later if you want to."
'5 countries, plus the Islands and the Outlands. Either this world is really small, or they are just really good at keeping things together. Earth had more than a 100 countries, but here they only have 5, they must be doing something good.'
Before James could continue, Sofie cut in and said, "Before we explain anything, I talked to my father and we wanted to ask you if you have anywhere to stay or do you have a job?"
'Well, I see where this is going.' She went along with it anyway, and with a sad face replied, "I'm afraid I don't... Well, maybe I do, and I just forgot it with everything else."
Sofie smiled sympathetically, and made her offer. "We are actually kind of short handed in the inn, as a port city loads of ships show up in need of a few days of accommodation. It is good money, but also a lot of work. Your job would be a barmaid, you would clean, bring out food and drinks, nothing too hard and your salary would be 3 Gold Gelt a week. So what do you say?"
'It is very convenient to hire a person with amnesia to work for you! I don't even know how much 1 Gold Gelt is worth, but of course I have no other option. They do seem to be nice people, I don't think they are using me and they already helped me a lot... Okay, lets do this!'
Veronica put on an appreciative smile and accepted the offer, "That is very kind of you, I was getting worried that I will have to sleep on the street."
"Now that we are done with that, Sofie will show you around. You will start from tomorrow, dinner is at seven. Until then you are free to do what you want, sadly the midday rush is about to begin so we can't tell you more, but at dinner there will be time."
Said James, she nodded and everyone went to do their job. Sofie motioned Veronica to follow her and they began the tour of the inn.