After he was done unpacking, Jinn took a nice long bath in the attached bathroom. Much to his surprise there was a nice tub along with a showerhead inside.
The tiles were neat, and the water was at the most soothing temperature.
Jinn took his sweet time in the bath to relax himself. When he returned, his room was already deep in sleep. Jinn could even hear his faint snores.
Just as Dean had told him, after a few hours someone did come to drop off his uniform.
Without even trying it, Jinn knew that it was a perfect fit for him, and with that, the creepiness of this academy rose to another level in his mind.
Finally settled down, Jinn made his own bed before lying in it.
’It’s about time...’ instead of sleeping, Jinn closed his eyes to connect back to Agnes like he had promised her. ’Are you there?’
At the same time, somewhere in the Glory City, a red-haired woman was walking down the street, accompanied by a butler and a maid.
After leaving everything behind, Agnes needed a fresh start and a fresh pair of clothes. So when she asked the butler Jarvis about a shop for clothes, he smiled and told her that their master owned a clothing line in the city along with many other shops.
And when William came to know about her inquiry, he did not waste a moment and sent a couple of servants with Agnes to help her.
"Which is the shop, Maya?" Agnes looked around, but most of the shops in the area sold nothing but clothes. When she heard the maid’s reply, she finally knew the reason.
"Every shop here belongs to master." ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ NoveI[F]ire.net
Maya smiled politely as she guided Agnes to a certain shop while saying, "But you should be able to find everyday outfits in this shop."
It was then Agnes realized that every shop sold a different set of items. One sold items only for men, and the other only for women. Then came the dresses for different occasions and price ranges.
Like that every shop had its own selling point.
Just as she stepped into the shop, Agnes froze, not because of the awe of what she saw but because of what she heard.
’Are you there?’ the clear and crisp voice she had been waiting for all day finally rang in her ears.
Agnes instantly concealed any emotions she might have let slip and continued walking as if nothing had happened. ’I was scared that you might get late.’
Naturally the earpiece Jinn gave her was still in place. Since it did not make her feel uncomfortable, Agnes did not bother taking it out even while she slept.
’How are the things in that place? Did something like what happened last night happen again?’
Hearing the concern in his voice, Agnes’s lips curled upwards slightly. ’Nothing, everything was fine. I almost felt that what I saw was just a nightmare. But I saw the tied maid again in the morning.’
The ever-so-sharp Maya and Jarvis naturally caught her subtle smile, but they only thought she might have liked the clothes she was seeing.
’Looks like there is still some time to save her.’
Agnes wanted to reply, but something caught her eyes.
"You can take anything you like from this place, Lady Blackwell." Jarvis bowed slightly while gracefully presenting a line full of casual dresses.
The bright colors and the artistic designs instantly caught Agnes’s breath. ’They feel odd. Nothing like what I used to wear.’
’What feels odd?’ Agnes jolted hearing Jinn’s curious voice and told him what she was doing. After a second of silence, she heard a chuckle in her mind.
’You are thinking too much. Agnes, you are starting a new life; it’s time you made some changes to your habits as well. By the way, I think vibrant colors will look great on you.’
Her emerald eyes instantly went towards the colors that stood out the most, violet and golden.
"I will try this one." Agnes picked the dress matching the color of her eyes. Maya glanced at the woman who was the store manager and had her pick the dress for Agnes while she guided the lady to the changing room.
’Do you have a plan for the maid?’ While the maids were helping her change, Agnes decided to divert her attention to feel less embarrassed about everything.
’Indeed I have one...’
By the time she was done listening to his plan, Agnes was already wearing the new dress. ’This is a surprise; it feels so light.’
Staring at herself in the huge wall mirror, Agnes twirled around. The dress looked perfect on her, and the maid even went overboard by styling her hair as well.
"This size is perfect." "After testing the dress for a while," she said, looking at the shop manager. "How much is this dress?"
The woman had barely opened her mouth, but the head maid beat her to it. "There is no need for you to pay for any of that, Lady Blackwell. It is a gift from our lord; you can look for other dresses as well."
After a moment of surprise, Agnes firmly denied William’s generosity. "There is no way I can take this for free. Please let me pay for it, or I will not take anything from this place."
Not even giving Maya a chance to speak, she turned to the shopkeeper and asked, "tell me."
The woman glanced at Maya warily only to meet her warning glare. She wanted to cry, but no tears would come. ’Lord, save me.’
She did not want to offend William’s guest, but telling the real price would only make the head maid angry. So she told Agnes a ’very discounted’ price.
"10 kals, Lady Blackwell." The female shopkeeper tried her best to keep a straight face.
As if sensing something, Agnes glanced between her and the maid. She knew there was something off between them, but she could not tell what.
’Since when were the clothes this expensive?’ In the end she believed the price she was told and said, "I will take it."
The clothes Agnes purchased did not cost more than a single kal. And that was a dress she kept for special occasions.
If only Agnes knew that she was only paying one-fifth of the real price of the dress, she might not have even bothered agreeing with Jinn’s proposal. After all, he was the one who told her that she needed an expensive wardrobe for their future plans.
"I will look for a couple more dresses."
Seeing Agnes agree, both the maid and the shopkeeper let out a sigh of relief.
At the end of the day, Agnes was a shot of golden coin and had ten more dresses on her.