[Chapter Size: 2000 Words.]
Third Person POV
Northern kingdoms.
...
...
The city was holding a festival during the day while Madara landed in one of the alleys, entering the city without anyone noticing or finding it strange that a boy was there. He put on a cloak to hide himself as he walked through the streets, passing by some people dancing and playing.
"Why should we hold this festival? Nilfgaard will soon be knocking on our doors!" someone complained as Madara walked past a group of men.
"Yes, but Temeria will be victorious. After all, this is the harvest festival. Despite having almost no one compared to previous years, it is still a tradition for the city!" another said, laughing.
"Even so... we shouldn't be celebrating in such dark times," the man continued to grumble.
"Stop that, you fool. Let's dance!" A chubby woman grabbed the grumpy person and pulled him to the middle of the street.
The place really seemed much smaller than what the structure could accommodate. It was an odd atmosphere for a celebration, and only these people—and Ciri—had any desire to be like this.
Madara moved through the city, leaving the main area and heading to a corner of the city where there were a few shops, all closed, probably because people were at the festival or afraid of being robbed with people circling around this part of the city.
Madara saw a clothing store and noticed there were people on the second floor, with some movement. He went to the entrance and knocked on the door.
No one seemed bothered to answer, so he knocked again. On the third knock, finally someone began to come out, and Madara took a few steps back as the door was unlocked.
"Listen here, you idiot, can't you see we're closed?!" The man opened the door, stepping outside and finally looking at Madara, seeing it was just a boy.
"Brat, you'd better have a good explanation; otherwise, I'll beat you up!" the man growled.
Madara just sighed before releasing his Sharingan, making the man's eyes widen before he fell into a genjutsu, blinking a few times and then turning back to Madara with a smile.
"Hello, of course, esteemed customer. I hope you have a wonderful afternoon; you are at the best tailor in Kerogar. I am Chamjin himself!" he introduced himself, completely different from the initial interaction.
"I need girls' clothes," Madara said, and the man nodded, opening a space for him.
"Then please, come into my shop and tell me about the person who will wear these clothes," he said, keeping the friendly smile.
Madara entered the shop, with clothes displayed all around in various sizes for all kinds of people. "She's almost 13 years old, a bit shorter than me. I need a dress and common clothes," Madara said, and the man quickly went to get those items.
He returned with items he found suitable for the description Madara had given, while Madara nodded, looking at the clothes piling up in front of him.
"These are all I have..." the man said.
"How much will it be? I'll take them all," Madara said, taking out a sack of gold.
"All of them?" The man was surprised but, at the same time, excited to make a big sale. His clothes were expensive, and few people in the city could afford them, so he was thrilled to sell an entire stock.
"What's going on here?! Chamjin, didn't you send this person away?!" An irritated woman came down the stairs, attracted by all the noise the man was making.
She arrived and saw the man placing all the clothes in front of Madara. "What's this?" she asked suspiciously.
"Look, dear! We have a customer, and he's buying all the girls' clothes!" he exclaimed.
The woman found it strange and very suspicious, but as soon as she saw the gold gleaming through the hole in Madara's sack, her greed spoke faster, and she smiled. "That's great! Do you need anything else?" she asked, visibly excited.
"Yes." Madara saw an opportunity to seek a woman's help for matters only they understood. "I'm traveling with a girl my age. I need intimate items, if you know what I mean, and I need someone who can teach her... if possible." Madara was at a loss here; he needed external help for Ciri with things he had no understanding of, knowing that she had never been taught these things in Cintra.
"Of course, I can help. If you pay me a small fee, you can bring the girl," she said excitedly. Madara knew he was dealing with opportunists, but as long as they did what he asked, he wouldn't mind.
So, Madara paid the money to the man and took all the clothes, leaving the shop moments later. He moved through the city unseen, heading back to his camp far away.
Ciri was practicing throwing kunai when he arrived. She noticed him and greeted him. "So, you went to the city. Is the festival still going on?" she asked with enthusiasm, and Madara nodded.
"I also brought clothes for you to wear," he said, pulling out the scroll to show her.
"Clothes? But didn't you already take some from the castle?" she asked curiously.
"Yes... but you can't be seen as a princess here anymore. I bought common clothes. You'll wear them in the city to avoid drawing attention, and your hair must change too," Madara said.
"My hair? What's wrong with my hair?" she immediately asked.
"You're the only person with platinum hair in the north, maybe even in the world... That's why the tailor's wife who sold me these clothes also gave me a dye that can be washed out easily. I want you to go to the spring nearby and dye your hair," Madara requested, and the girl nodded.
"It should have been my grandmother too..." she murmured, thinking of Calanthe with the same hair color, but she quickly put the sad thought aside and nodded with a small smile while taking the dye.
Night finally fell as she put on a dress fit for a farmer's daughter, but colorful enough. People liked colors, and they represented this in their homes and clothes. Even nobles liked to have colorful houses and castles on the inside.
Madara ended up combing his hair while wearing a hat he had also bought. He, too, could be suspicious due to his unique hairstyle.
"You look different... but still handsome," Ciri murmured, twirling in her colorful dress in front of Madara. "How do I look? Do I look like a commoner now?" she asked, looking at him with her green eyes.
"You look fine. Now, let's go," he said, though Cirilla pouted at his usual tone, wondering if he was being serious or lying.
He picked her up, and they left the camp, heading toward the city. "My hair looks awful like this; it took me a while to fix it!" she complained as the wind blew, her newly dyed black hair tied up, while Madara removed his hat and placed it in front of her.
"This will help you," he said in his usual tone.
"Thanks..." she said, smiling as she moved her face closer to his chest while he carried her princess-style in his arms, approaching the city.
"Incredible..." Cirilla commented, looking at the large bonfire in front of her while everyone danced with one another. Despite the area not being very crowded, people were talking and drinking in every corner except for those dancing. There were a few stalls selling things, which even surprised Madara, as he didn't know such things existed in these times.
"What is that?" Ciri asked curiously, pointing at a stall.
"Cotton candy. Let's go get some," he said, noticing a few couples buying it.
They reached the stall, and Madara bought one for Ciri. "Aren't you going to get one for yourself?" she asked.
"I'm not really a fan of sweets," Madara replied as he handed her the cotton candy.
"This... is delicious!" She immediately loved it, laughing and watching everyone dance.
There were comments from people talking about the war, even about relatives who had joined the Temerian army, with a somber tone. But Madara didn't care about that, nor did Ciri, who was eating her cotton candy, laughing, and clapping along to the music played by a band of bards, just as background music to liven things up.
They were the same festival songs from The Witcher 3, if Madara could guess, which he found quite pleasant to recognize. After all, the music was somewhat enjoyable.
"Hey, take this!" Ciri exclaimed beside him, offering a piece of cotton candy to Madara.
"..." He didn't say anything, taking it with his hand instead of letting her feed it to him as she intended.
"Come on, tell me it isn't good!" she exclaimed.
"It's not bad," he simply said.
"Hey, kids! Aren't you going to dance?!" A woman appeared, dancing a few meters away from them, teasing Cirilla.
"I..." Ciri was surprised, looking at Madara after finishing her cotton candy.
He sighed and ended up taking her hand, placing his other hand on her waist. "You should at least make the invitation first! But it's alright anyway..." she said with a bit of shyness, and Madara didn't mind giving her a subtle smile. They made their way into the center of the crowd, joining in on the more lively dance, getting into the rhythm.
"Hahahahaha." Ciri started laughing with joy as they began to be guided by Madara.
"..." Madara said nothing, keeping a less serious expression with a slight smile as he led the girl, following everyone else's moves.
"I didn't know you could dance like this!" she exclaimed, her tone still playful.
"I didn't know... until tonight," he explained briefly, after all, he had used his Sharingan to copy all the dance styles.
"Hahahaha." Ciri didn't mind, continuing to dance as she tried to keep up with Madara, even finding it funny how the usually serious boy was letting loose tonight. But she didn't find it bad at all.
They spun her around, tossing her from side to side, even drawing the attention of many around them while Ciri kept laughing.
And so the night went on as they danced to several songs, with the bards changing tunes, drawing everyone's attention while they enjoyed themselves.
Just for tonight, Madara allowed himself to have fun in this medieval world, while Ciri finally laughed with joy since the start of the war in Cintra. Tonight, there were no wars, no chases, no worries of death or abductions—they were just there, dancing, with Ciri being the most excited and Madara letting a slight smile appear, thrilling the girl.
The music finally stopped at that moment as someone appeared on stage.
"And now, a song for this young and lively couple who have energized this entire festival!" this person exclaimed, drawing everyone's attention in the square. "Play something lovely for this affectionate couple—a young love for a lifetime! Long live love!" the person said simply.
"How can he say something like that in front of everyone?!" Ciri looked as red as a beet as she exclaimed, glancing at Madara to see his reaction. But what she saw wasn't what she had imagined.
"Hey, is everything alright...? Why did you activate your Sharingan?!" she asked, bewildered, as Madara kept his red eyes fixed on the stage.
The music began, but without receiving an answer from Madara, Ciri looked at the stage to see more clearly who it was—but there was nothing there. It was as if the man who had said those words had disappeared.
"How did this demon find us..." Madara said in a dark tone, ready to use his full power if necessary to face that man.