“Oh, this necklace is beautiful!”

“You have a good eye, Lady! It is one of our most popular items in the shop! Many distinguished ladies have eyed this necklace, and I’m sure you’re one of them, Lady! ” The store clerk smiles widely as he shows a necklace to Madelief, whose eyes are very clearly sparkling with desire for that item.

Madelief, a bit ashamed from being tickled at hearing this very obvious flattery, pretends to deeply weigh the pros and cons of buying the necklace. While putting on her serious act, the front door of the shop can be heard opening and closing, indicating the arrival of a new customer. Hearing that, Madelief stops her act and decides to quickly finish her shopping before the store clerk has to divide his attention between her and the new arrival.

“I’ve decided to buy th-”

“I would like to buy this necklace.”

Madelief freezes as she hears an unpleasantly familiar voice from right next to her. She takes a deep breath before she takes her gaze from the necklace to the person on her right.

“Oh, I did not see you here, Lady Gerber. I did not think someone like you would visit this kind of establishment.” A cold pair of violet eyes meet her pink eyes, to Madelief’s disappointment.

‘Of course it’s her…’ Madelief held back a groan and tried her best to keep meeting Janthe’s eyes, despite still being quite afraid of her.

“T-there’s nothing odd about me visiting places like thi-this! I’m a lady too! An-and I had my eyes on that necklace f-first!”

‘Ugh! I barely stutter these days any more, but why do I have to stutter right in front of her!? Right now!?’

“You had your eyes on it first, huh?” Janthe starts to smirk, “But do you have enough money to buy it?”

“Huh?” Madelief looks at Janthe with a blank look.

“Clerk, I would like to buy this necklace - for double the original price.”

“Of course! Right away!” The store clerk, who had been staring at the ladies with a bewildered look, gained his footing and customer service smile the instant he heard the word “double”. Perhaps his smile was even wider than before.

“B-but you can’t do that!” Madelief instantly protested upon realising what Janthe was up to.

Janthe let out a pleased chuckle, “But I can. Very much so… or are you implying that you, a mere Baron’s daughter, could stop me?”

“That…” Madelief’s eyes are starting to tear up from frustration.

“Madelief can’t, but I can, Lady Fiala.”

The ladies jump at the sudden voice, as they hadn’t noticed the entrance of someone new during their spat. Both initially look at the new arrival with wide eyes, but Madelief’s face soon turns into a bright smile.

“Basil! You’re here earlier than I expected!”

“Luckily, the meeting ended earlier than I expected,” The Crown Prince smiles sweetly at Madelief, ”and I feel like I arrived at the perfect time. Lady Fiala, about the necklace-”

“I do not want it anymore - Lady Gerber can have it.”

Janthe, very displeased at seeing the pair be so cosy with each other, uncharacteristically ignores decorum and interrupts the Prince before he manages to finish his sentence. The Prince and Madelief are quite taken aback at that, but they aren’t given enough time to react as Janthe curtly says her goodbye to the both of them and hurries out of the shop.

Janthe keeps walking down the street at a quick pace while pressing her hand to her forehead and occasionally muttering under her breath, “Why? Why do I keep doing things like this…?” She only comes to a stop once she hears Lata’s voice calling her.

“Janthe, sorry for the wait!  I didn’t expect my business to go on for so long! But I hope you had… fun… looking at the jewellery in this shop?” Lata’s initial smile and happy tone falter as she sees Janthe’s disgruntled face, “Did something happen?”

Janthe’s look softens as she sees Lata’s worried face, “No, nothing much. My headache from this morning seems to simply have returned.”

“Oh no, we should quickly get back then!”  Lata grabs Janthe hand and hurries to the carriage.

Janthe feels a slight smile tug at her lips at this.

***

"How dare you!"

A few birds that were resting in the royal garden fly away as they hear a sudden angry shout near them.

"How dare I what?" Janthe smirks as she hides her face behind her fan.

"Oh, don't play coy with me! You know very well what I'm talking about - my necklace!" Madelief angrily raises her right hand, showing a necklace that has a broken chain.

"And what about it?"

"You broke it! On purpose!"

"Do not be silly! My fan just happened to get caught in it while I was immersed in my conversation with Lata," Janthe casually tells her, with no hint of remorse.

"It didn't just happen to get caught! You did it on purpose! You didn't need to stand so close to me! Frankly, you never stand so close to me! I should've figured that you're up to something at that point!" Madelief's voice starts to get louder, prompting her friend, Daisy, to show a worried face.

Lata, meanwhile, barely shows any expression at all - she has already gotten used to this type of situation. After all, they’ve had way too many encounters like this with Madelief already. And, as of late, her role is a lot more that of an onlooker. It was like that in the book as well, so she isn’t inclined to change that fact.

Meanwhile, Janthe's smirk gets bigger upon seeing Madelief get so worked up about everything. She can't help but rile her up some more, "And I figure you are delusional! And on a horse that is far too high for you!"

"Y-you-" Madelief's face is starting to go red from anger, but before she can retort, Daisy interrupts her.

"Maddie! I think it's better if we go!"

"Daisy, I can't just let this go!"

"You don't have to! But I feel like this might be getting a bit out of hand due to your feelings. I don't want you to do something that might bite you in the ass!" Daisy starts to gently pull Madelief by her arm.

"But-"

"Come on, please, Maddie! I know a good jeweller that can fix your necklace perfectly!"

Madelief hesitates for a bit, but upon seeing Daisy's worried face, she relents, "...fine."

'Oh, it's interesting to see Daisy to be the cool headed one for once!' Lata looks with interest at the retreating pair.

Lata jumps a bit as she sees Madelief suddenly turn her head and shout at Janthe, "Don't think that's how I'll leave things! Or anything in the future! I KNOW why you broke this necklace specifically, Lady Fiala! Your jealousy is very unbecoming- no - ugly! It is very ugly!"

"Maddie!" Daisy scolds Madelief, upon which the latter turns her head back again while mumbling a quiet apology to her.

Janthe angrily grips her folded fan upon hearing this. She nearly snaps it.

Lata sighs as she sees that, 'That last comment must've really affected her. It might take me some time for me to calm her down…'

***

SLAP!

All the ladies in the vicinity stare in shocked silence towards the way where the sound came from.

Two ladies seem to be at a stand off while two others are worriedly looking on. Even Lata, who had expected for such a thing to happen, looks at the situation with an uncomfortable look.

One of the ladies is the Duke’s daughter, and the other is a certain lady that the Crown Prince has become fond of.

The former’s face sports an angry look while her hand is up in the air - very clearly having done the slapping. The latter, meanwhile, is holding one of her cheeks - indicating very clearly that she was at the receiving end of the slap. Her face, oddly though, is showing a smile as she’s looking at her attacker, making the former even angrier.

“What are you smiling about! Are you fond of pain, like the vulgar person you are?!”

“Vulgar, hah! Look who’s talking - you’re the one who hit me!” Madelief instantly retorts, showing none of the fear or stuttering which she showed in her initial collisions with Janthe.

'Is she really the same Madelief I met several months ago? She's so different!' Lata marvelled a bit upon seeing Madeliefs growth despite knowing that she would go through one ahead of time.

Janthe's face got even angrier upon Madelief's retort and a snap could be heard, "How dare you have that kind of tone with me! Do not pretend to be so high and mighty in front of me!"

"Pretend to be high and mighty? I believe you've got things backwards. The only one I see on a horse far too high is you," Madelief said the last part in a very mocking tone, irritating Janthe a lot.

Yet, before Janthe could say anything, Madelief simply turned her back to her and started to walk away, leaving the former baffled.

"What are you-"

"I'm simply not wasting my time. You'll get what you deserve soon," Madelief answers her with a chuckle before turning to face her friend, "Come on, Daisy, let's go!"

"Okay!" Daisy follows Madelief with a smile as they leave.

Janthe was very annoyed at what Madelief said, but she was even more baffled at that sudden departure. She didn't quite know what to do as she stood there with a broken fan in hand. She felt very mixed inside, especially as her constant headache was getting worse again. Why couldn't any of the doctors she consulted with find a cure?

The loudly gossiping ladies surrounding her didn't help her headache either. Shouting at them to shut up started to seem like a really good idea for numerous reasons, but before she could do that, she felt a pair of hands gently wrap around her arm.

"Janthe? I think we should go."

'Ah,' Janthe thought as she stared into the ever so familiar green eyes in front of her, 'how does she do this? Simply being near her calms me so immensely.'

"Janthe?" Lata calls her name again while doing a little head tilt which Janthe finds to be rather adorable.

"Apologies, Lata, I was lost in thought," She finally answers her, bringing forth a smile in Lata. Janthe finds that to be rather adorable as well.

"It's alright! But I really think leaving would be a good idea."

Janthe answers her with a smile, "I believe so as well."

As they start to leave, Lata notices Randa in the crowd. They haven’t talked in months, due to her trying to avoid visiting Janthe when she’s here, but even seeing her makes Lata feel irritated. Her irritation flares up even more as she sees that Randa is quietly laughing at the whole situation.

'I know that you're not that invested in this firendship we three have, Randa, but have some decency to not laugh at this situation!' Lata quietly mumbles to herself as she and Janthe leave the premises.