The next day, we all woke up relatively early. The plan was to spend the early morning to get ready, and arrive at Maia's place at around early noon or so? Regardless, it was around 6:30 and we were all already up. Waiting in the room where we all had tea the other day, we sat down, a few of us drinking some coffee, while others tea.
It's a pretty nice morning, huh?
I looked outside the window, and saw that it didn't seem like it'd snow or rain today. Well, granted that judging the day's weather based off of how the sky is at sunrise may not be the best move, but regardless.
But… aren't we missing someone…?
It seemed like no one really paid it any mind for some reason, but there clearly was someone missing among us, and it wasn't Maia or Luna.
So no one's gonna bring it up… I guess I have no choice.
"Uhm, Maia…?"
"Hm? What's up, Cael?"
"Isn't there one less of us?"
"Huh? What are you on about?"
"…"
Luna, chuckling lightly then came to my rescue.
"You'll see her soon, Cael."
So you guys did know what I was talking about…
In case it wasn't clear by now, the one who was missing from the table was Nala. I hadn't seen her much yesterday after getting Glove-Kun, but before I realized, I completely lost track of when the last time I saw her was.
"Gotcha."
Well, given that we were waiting for the tailors to bring out the stuff, then it didn't take much for me to realize where she was. Though I was a little surprised that they were actually allowing her to indulge to this extent. Maybe I had a biased view on tailors, but I though they're like snarky people who don't allow outsiders to watch them at work, because they're "not worthy" or some shit like that, but not only did they allow her to watch, they also allowed her to make something of her own, and on top of that she's still with them right now.
"Shouldn't you be going though?"
I asked Maia. I honestly thought she was supposed to wait for us there or something like that, but it seemed like that didn't even cross her mind as she sipped her coffee.
"Is there a point in it anymore? If I go with you guys at least it'll spare the awkward "first" reunion on the live transmission."
"Oh right, the whole thing is gonna be transmitted, huh?"
"Of course it will. We're talking about the first time the Ashford family has returned to the capital, you know?"
"Well, technically we have been there before when we were adventurers still."
"Shut up, dad."
"…"
"There, there, dear. Your daughter doesn't hate you, you were just being a pain in the ass."
As mom patted his shoulders, we decided to kinda just ignore it, and continued our own conversation.
"I guess that's true. But what about your clothes? Did you also have them make something for you?"
"I'll just wear my uniform. It'll be more than enough"
"Talk about lazy…"
"There's literally nothing wrong with it-"
"Alright, alright. Drop it you two. They're coming."
Luna interrupted us, as we then also heard footsteps approaching from outside the room. Shortly after, Ivy and Iris opened the doors, then after they stepped aside… she, lead them on.
"Come on guys, hurry!"
With a smug smirk from ear to ear, she waved her hand as if she was in command of all of them. The surprising part though? They actually seemed to have began hurrying up a little after she entered the room, and stood there looking at them entering. With a large walking wardrobe, around 10 people followed her lead.
"Uhm… Nala?"
"Shut it, Cael!"
"Wha-"
"You have to let the professionals speak now!"
"You haven't even-"
"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. That's exactly why you should shut up and listen. Because you're wrong!"
"…"
"Then if Cael is wrong, then little one, does that mean?"
"Exactly, daddy! Unlike Cael at least you understand."
"You little-"
"Anyway!"
After completely talking over me and ignoring me, she clapped her hands thrice, and the people behind her began unrolling the curtain on thr wardrobe, and they revealed the clothes. As much as I hated to admit it, I was actually impressed however. So much that my eyes widened slightly, and I decided to actually shut up and listen from there on.
"So?! What do you think?! I've personally helped with making them, so these are also mine!"
It seemed like I wasn't the only surprised one though, because even as she asked us all what we thought, no one seemed to be able to speak yet. How could we though? This girl had never shown any interest in fashion until a few days ago, but now in front of us were some of the most stunning pieces of clothing that I have ever seen.
You have to be kidding me… right?
From a single glance alone, there wasn't even any point in asking how exactly Nala had helped with the production, but even so, I simply had to make sure of it for myself.
"Nala… you said you helped them make these?"
"Yep, yep, I did! So what do you thi-"
"How exactly did you help?"
"Hey, why did you interrupt me like tha-"
"Just answer."
"…fine. I helped with the designs! Aren't they awesome?!"
I swallowed dry.
This is almost creepy… prodigies really are in their own league.
Her first ever piece was this humble and simple black Glove-kun over here… but at the same time she was designing all of those? I'd genuinely want to believe that she just gave some advice to the professional tailors, I really do. But it would be such a terrible lie that I'm unable to convince myself of it. After all, they all looked as if they were designed individually from each one of us as the inspiration. And I'm not talking about "hmm, that'd look good on *insert person*".
What I'm talking about is how these look like they were designed strictly for just one person to wear, hence why we could tell at first glance whose is which, even now as they still haven't told us. Specifically, among all of them, mom's dress stood out the most, alongside Nala's own.
You know how more modern dresses usually keep a single base color with a smoother, simpler and more "elegant" design? This kinda kept that as well… but it also didn't whatsoever. The main color was white of course, since that was simply the color that suited them the best due to their hair. However, splattered almost in the same way a painter would when trying to make one of those weird "abstract" paintings and what not, golden patterns were scattered and splashed around it.
You'd normally assume that it would look overwhelming, no? Any sane person would, since a painting and a dress' synergy are worlds apart, but for some weird reason, instead of making it look out of place, they were blending in so well that I genuinely couldn't even begin to try and explain it. The only genuine description I could give, is that the golden splatters resembled petals? Maybe? I'm not sure. But it seemed like there were also some accessories which would go along with them, so I still couldn't give my full impression until I'd see her wear it.
"Honey…"
"Little one, are you really the same girl from a few days ago?"
"What to say… this is astonishing."
"That's an understatement…"
"H-huh? W-what are you talking about, everyone…?"
Seeing everyone's serious expression, and our parents and Aldric along with Lysanna's comments, Nala seemed to have started to worry a little. But she was very clearly misunderstanding what they actually meant.
Maia chuckled, same with Luna as they were the ones to jump to her rescue.
"Pfft…You got it wrong, Nala… haha"
"Y-yeah… hahaha, y-you don't need to worry, they- they definitely like them…"
"…really?"
It's pretty comical to see her confidence dip out so quickly, but I guess it's best to not have our little genius worried or doubting herself.
And with that, I got up from my seat, and walked towards her. With my right hand, which was wearing Glove-kun as usual, I placed it on her head.
"We're just surprised… but in a good way, Nala. We're surprised by how good they look."
She's like a little puppy…
The way she was almost begging for reassurance with her eyes is what reminded me, that even though a few moments ago she looked like she was the boss of this entire mansion, she was still just a little kid after all.
"Are you sure…?"
"As sure as one can be."
And just as fast as her confidence disappeared, it had reappeared all over her face. Forcefully taking my hand off her head, she then pushed me back into my seat from my back.
"Sit down! We're going to show you guys every single one of them, and no one's leaving until we're done!"
"Eye-eye captain."
The full lecture lasted around an hour, and while the rest of us dressed up, Luna and Maia who didn't get one right now dressed up with their own clothes.
Us boys were all already outside, fully dressed up and waiting for both Markus and the others to grab their carriages, but also for the girls to come out. It would've been an understatement to say that we weren't all bored, but what can you do about it? I'm sure the 2 married men here know better than us that women take longer to get ready after all. Well, with the exception of Aldric's daughter that was in his arms, since it turns out, dressing up a baby doesn't really take long, regardless of gender. How convenient is that?
For a little overview though, both dad and Aldric had full suits with jackets and all, meanwhile me and Rune had everything but the suit's jacket. Though I did question the morality of that choice at first, since it's still winter, it seems like neither one of us is particularly cold, so there's probably no reason to complain? Our shirts have long sleeves too anyway.
Aldric's suit was mainly centered around green as the main color, meanwhile ours were mostly black focused. Both me and Rune had ribbons attached to our collars, while the adults had ties. Honestly, the simplicity of our clothes was both under and overwhelming at the same time. Because while ours didn't have any particularly special abstract color schemes or accessories to go with them, they did still have their own personalifications, which gave them their unicity.
For example, both mine and dad's hassle built in sword belts. Like, I'm not saying that the belts we're wearing so happen to have been customized to have them. What I mean is that our very pants have built in blade belts on our hips. Granted, they were a little different from each other since we don't have the same type of swords, but they were obviously made with the same intent in mind.
Aldric's on the other hand, had an attachment on the back of his jacket where he could attach his bow. I'm not completely sure about the design's aesthetic since he kinda just has a big ass bow on the back of his suit, but at the same time, he was fairly close to your above average pretty boy, especially with his long hair tied in a long tail, so he'd probably pull off any outfit. For that matter, I didn't really think it looked bad either, I'm just not used to seeing a bow on someone's suit. He also had a small arrow container on his right hip also, for fast loading. These designs were efficient at the very least, even if you wanted to argue about the aesthetic.
And lastly, Rune's… well, honestly I'm a little hesitant in talking about it. Because unlike ours that have at least some kind of special feature tailored specifically for us, even if subtle, his… had nothing. Just a plan, white shirt with a black vest, the same as me, alongside his own collar ribbon, again like me. He also unfortunately seemed a little down about it, which is why neither one of us had said anything out loud about our clothes.
What was Nala thinking…
Did she forget about him? Yeah, let's not kid ourselves, that one just isn't possible. He's her twin after all. Then maybe she forgot to add something special to his? But once again, there's no way she wouldn't think about him. I was a little worried honestly. But it was shortly after, that I was proven wrong, luckily.
"Oh, they're finally done."
Dad said, as Ivy and Iris opened the doors. Then, from the inside, they came out. Mom was in the middle, with Nala holding her right hand, and Lysanna's other hand, meanwhile on her left there were Maia and Luna. Our eyes widened. As expected, the one who stood out the most generally, was without a single doubt mom.
Her dress was beautiful enough as is, but paired with the white petaled flower earrings she was wearing, and her white arm gloves, it was just an ultimate combination of overwhelming beauty. Honestly, she could've probably used the name Snowwhite better than Snowwhite herself. After all, mom had the signature Ashford white-silver ish hair as well.
However, the one who stood out the most in my eyes, was pretty obvious. Luna was wearing an elegant dress this time, nothing like that one piece she wore when we first met, but it was still using blue as the main color. I was unable to take my eyes off of her, no matter how much I tried.
"We're done, everyone. Sorry for the wai-"
But mom stopped her sentence midway, as she was interrupted by the very same Luna.
"Ah! Cael…"
"Huh? What?"
I was confused, but for some reason her expression changed almost instantly. From a light smile as they were going out, to grumpy, almost annoyed, as she walked towards me.
"Seriously? Did none of you guys realize…"
But both dad and Aldric looked confused. At last though, Luna had finally reached me. She stopped for a few seconds, staring at me, before letting out a sigh.
"Just how the hell did you wear this collar ribbon? You even forgot to pull down your shirt's collar…"
"W-wait, what?"
But before I could say another word, she had already started fixing it for me.
"The ribbon is upside down, and you're showing the backside instead of the front… and again, you didn't pull down the collar afterwards, so it was just hanging there. Seriously, how old are you again?"
"…I'll make sure to avoid that next time."
"You better."
"…yes mam."
In the meanwhile, mom and the rest had also caught up to us.
"My, my. Your dad also used to mess that up pretty often when we were kids haha. I guess you are his son after all. No wonder he didn't even notice."
"Alright, let's not exaggerate. I didn't mess that up that often…"
"Dear, you still can't tie a tie properly."
She said with a smile, as she also approached him, and began fixing his tie.
Shit, I didn't even notice that his tie was also off…
Was it genetics? Well, I guess it didn't matter that much in the end. As Luna finished helping me out, Nala was the next to directly approach one of us, and it was of course her twin. I wanted to ask her what was going on with Rune's clothes, honestly. But believe it or not, I actually didn't have to do it anymore.
I may not have noticed it at first, but it was plain as day now after all. Nala's own dress was just as plain as Rune's. It was a completely average but elegant looking white dress. Smiling as she grabbed his hand, she began explaining before any of us even managed to ask.
"Hehe… you guys were curious about why Rune's clothes were so simple, weren't you?"
"It's because I wanted to match with him. I didn't really put a lot of work into my own dress, so I thought I'd have Rune be the same as me. If you guys all have fancy looking clothes, but we don't, we're gonna stand out the most… both of us, together. We're twins after all!"
It seems like I was indeed worried for nothing after all. Sometimes being wrong can actually turn out to be quite pleasant, you know? This was one of those cases.
Shortly afterwards, Markus was back, and we went on our way to the capital. This time around however, we were using different, and simply speaking, larger carriages. Instead of the 4 seats per carriage layout we used on the way here, these could fit up to 6 people in each individual one. The reason was the fact that we simply gained a few more passengers, since not only did both Luna and Maia tag along, but so did Ivy and Iris.
The carriage distribution was a little different as well because of it though. For example mom, who used to be with us, was now in the "adult" one, and she also took Rune and Ivy with them. Rune was relieved when Nala revealed why his clothes seemed to be the only "plain" ones, and was happy about it, but at the end of the day he was generally just more comfortable while on mom's lap, even if it meant being in a different carriage than his twin.
The layout was as follows now: the front carriage had the adults. Meaning, our parents, Aldric, Lysanna and their little one, but also Rune and Ivy. Since both of the kids that are there would spend most if not all of the ride in their moms laps, I guess that technically means only 4 seats are occupied? But it doesn't really make that big of a difference in the end, so who cares.
Our carriage on the other hand, which was supposed to be the kid's one, and which was moving right behind theirs, had of course myself, Luna, Nala, Iris… but also there seemed to be an intruder.
After all, the first carriage is supposed to have the strongest fighters, ready to protect everyone in case of an emergency… but the strongest out of us all, was currently sitting in front of me, munching on strawberries from her gigantic basket, without a single care in the world. Nala was sitting next to her, also munching from that same basket, while Iris occupied the 3rd seat next to Nala. Me and Luna were alone on our side.
"Say… why the hell are you here again?"
"Hm? Did I not tell you already, there's no point in me waiting for you at the mansion anymo-"
"No, not that. What I'm asking is, why the hell are you in this carriage? This is the "kid's carriage", you know? Last time I checked you're well over the age of 15…"
"If anything, why do you care so much about me being here… I'm not even sitting next to you two lovebirds, so what's the issue? Are you too shy to get down and dirty while your older sister is here? Last time I checked that doesn't seem to be an issue with you two, so I doubt it."
"L-lovebirds?! W-w-who are y-you calling t-t-that?!"
"Denial isn't healthy, you know? my sweet little brother."
The way she casually said that while munching made me want to punch her in the face, but on the other hand, I also had no valid arguments against her… me and Luna were sitting so close next to each other that our shoulders were pretty much squished together, even though we had plenty of space after all…
"… you better be the first one out if any kind of danger arises, you strawberry freak gorilla."
"When did I evolve from gorilla to strawberry freak gorilla…"
Luna, Nala and Iris all ignored our banter for the better or the worst, which resulted in a fairly smooth ride afterwards. Well, it's hard to even call this a banter honestly, especially compared to how me and Nala as an example usually argue… me and Maia got along surprisingly well, once again.