The morning sun cast warm golden light across Ironhold’s bustling marketplace, painting the scene with an almost festive glow of the New Year Festival.
The market square was alive with activity of pedestrians going for the Shopping spree.
Alex walked through this familiar chaos of the market; to his right, Lucy practically bounced with each step, her eyes darting from stall to stall with barely contained excitent that made her seem years younger.
Her recovery over the past three days had been nothing short of remarkable the terrified, traumatized girl who had been carried unconscious from that mountain cave was nowhere to be found and had transford back into the energetic young woman she once had been.
"Brother Alex! Brother Alex, look at this!" Lucy exclaid suddenly, darting toward a fabric rchant’s stall with the enthusiasm of a child spotting candy.
Her fingers reached out to touch a bolt of silk that shimred between deep blue and purple depending on how the light struck it.
"Isn’t it absolutely beautiful? The way the color changes... I’ve never seen anything quite like it before!"
Nathan, walking on Alex’s other side, rolled his eyes dramatically.
"Lucy, you said the exact sa thing about the last three fabrics you looked at," he pointed out with a teasing grin.
"At this rate, we’ll be in the market until sunset, and you still won’t have decided on anything."
"That’s because they’re all beautiful in their own way!" Lucy protested, spinning around to face her brother with her hands on her hips in a mock annoyed gesture.
"You wouldn’t understand, Nathan. You think all fabric as just ’cloth’ to wear and discard after use, I can bet that you can’t tell the difference between silk and cotton even if you die!"
"I can tell the difference perfectly well," Nathan shot back, though his grin widened. "One costs ten tis more than the other, and that’s all the difference that matters to a practical person."
Alex watched their playful banter with a small smile tugging at his lips.
"Brother Alex, what do you think?" Lucy asked suddenly, turning those bright eyes on him as she held up the shimring fabric for his inspection.
"Wouldn’t this make a lovely dress? The color reminds of the night sky just after sunset, when the last light is fading but the stars haven’t quite appeared yet."
"It would definitely suit you," Alex agreed diplomatically, though he had to admit the color was striking.
"Though I suspect Nathan is right about one thing, we might be here until sunset if you intend to examine every bolt of fabric in the marketplace before deciding."
"Brother Alex, How can you say that? You’re supposed to be on my side!" Lucy complained like a child.
"Besides, a lady should take her ti with important decisions like fabric selection. These are the things that matter in life!"
"More than food?" Nathan challenged, gesturing toward a nearby food stall where the aroma of freshly grilled at skewers wafted through the air, making stomachs rumble in response.
"I seem to rember soone complaining just this morning about how hungry she was and how she absolutely needed to eat sothing imdiately or she would faint from starvation."
Lucy’s face flushed slightly as she rembered her dramatic proclamations at breakfast.
"That... that’s different! A person needs food to survive, but a person also needs beauty in their life to make survival worthwhile!"
Alex shook his head with fond exasperation, letting them continue their sibling squabbling as he turned his attention to their surroundings with more serious intent.
Eight guards from the Viper Syndicate were positioned around them at respectful distances ..... close enough to intervene if needed, but far enough not to intrude on the family outing.
This ti he had made sure that it would be no repeat of that disaster, not under his watch again.
Jacob stood closer than the others, his massive fra sohow managing to blend into the background despite his size
"Boss," Jacob said quietly
"Everything is secure."
"Good," Alex replied, keeping his voice equally low. "Though I doubt the bandits would be foolish enough to try anything so soon after their last failure. They’re probably still licking their wounds and trying to figure out what happened to them."
"Agreed," Jacob said with the barest hint of satisfaction in his tone.
"Word on the street says the bandits have gone completely quiet. No raids, no sightings, nothing at all. Whatever you did to them in that cave, Boss, it scared them properly."
Alex nodded, though internally he knew the credit belonged to Reddy’s professional efficiency rather than any particular prowess of his own.
"Still, maintain vigilance," Alex instructed. "Scared animals are sotis the most dangerous when they feel cornered and desperate."
"Understood, Boss."
As Jacob lted back to his position, Alex’s attention was caught by Lucy’s delighted squeal from the ornant stall.
"Brother Alex! Look at this one! Isn’t it perfect?"
She held up a delicate hair ornant crafted from silver wire twisted into the shape of a butterfly, with tiny blue stones set into the wings that caught the light beautifully.
The craftsmanship was exquisite, clearly the work of a skilled artisan rather than mass production.
"It’s lovely," Alex agreed, examining the piece more closely.
The butterfly’s wings were detailed with such precision that individual wing segnts were visible in the talwork.
"How much?" he asked the rchant, a weathered old man with clever eyes that had probably seen every haggling trick in existence.
"For such fine work? Fifteen taels of silver, young master," the rchant replied smoothly.
"The stones are genuine sapphires, imported from the western territories, and the silverwork took three days to complete. You won’t find finer craftsmanship anywhere in Ironhold, I guarantee it."
"Brother Alex, no, that’s too expensive!" Lucy exclaid in protest, although her eyes remained fixed on the decoration.
"I was just looking, I didn’t an for you to actually...."
"Nonsense," Alex interrupted her gently, already beginning to count out the silver from his purse of coins.
"After everything you’ve been through in the past few days, you deserve sothing beautiful to remind you that life has lovely monts too."
He handed the silver to the rchant, who quickly wrapped the ornant in soft cloth before presenting it to Lucy with a practiced bow.
"A wise purchase, young master," the rchant said with genuine approval in his eyes as he watched Lucy’s face light up with pure joy.
"The young lady will treasure it, I’m certain."
"Thank you, Brother Alex!" Lucy clutched the wrapped ornant to her chest like it was made of solid gold rather than silver and semi-precious stones.
"I’ll wear it every day! Well, maybe not every single day because I wouldn’t want to damage it, but on special occasions at least, and maybe sotis on regular days too if the weather is nice and—"
"Lucy, breathe," Alex interrupted with a laugh, placing a hand on her shoulder to stop her increasingly breathless rambling.
"No need to explain your entire wearing schedule for the next year."
Lucy blushed but couldn’t stop smiling, carefully tucking the wrapped ornant into the small bag she carried for her purchases.
Nathan continued his good-natured teasing, and everything was going as normal as it can be.
But, of course, the universe had never been kind enough to let him have a peaceful ti for too long.
They were passing by a tea stall when Alex’s ears caught fragnts of conversation from two rchants sitting at a small table, their voices carrying clearly in the relatively quieter corner of the marketplace.
"—did you hear about young master Henrik?"
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