Abandoned, Caelin was suddenly left to her own devices to continue searching for clues. While swearing to herself that she’d give Theo a bad coworker review and have him fired by Lilac, Caelin stopped at another jewelry stall. It sold more luxurious accessories of sea creatures shaped from precious metals and stones. Caelin picked up a golden pendant depicting a creature with numerous tentacles. 

“Is this a giant squid?” Caelin asked the woman sitting behind the table, who was braiding strands of silver twine. 

The jeweler laughed and shook her head. “No, darling, that’s a kraken.”

“You’ve seen a kraken before?” Caelin asked, inspecting the pendant. It looked like a squid to her.

“Of course I haven’t,” the woman said. “But I’ve heard legends of it since I was a child. It resides in the depths of the ocean, primarily feeding on colossal squids and whales. And when it rises to the surface, it can easily snap a shipping vessel in two with its many arms and consume it whole.” She pointed to a tiny ruby at the tip of one of the tentacles. “That’s a fishing boat.”

Caelin whistled in newfound admiration, impressed by the tale of the kraken.    

“Excuse me, but I saw on the sign that you were also willing to buy jewelry,” a young lady suddenly said, approaching the stall to stand beside Caelin. Beneath the hood of her dark turquoise mantle, strands of light brown hair peaked out. She wore a plain olive colored dress, which showed when she reached out to reveal a golden necklace encrusted with numerous emeralds. 

The jeweler’s eyes immediately widened at the sight of the extravagant necklace, and Caelin could practically hear the greed dripping from her mouth as she spoke. 

“I supposed I could offer you 5 agens for it,” the jeweler said, feigning disinterest. 

Seeing the young lady about to agree, Caelin burst out laughing, shocked by how the jeweler blatantly attempted to take advantage of her. “5 agens? Are you sure you didn’t misspeak just now and meant to say ‘5 aurii’ instead?”

“Are you trying to rob me blind?” The jeweler hatefully glared at Caelin for inserting herself into the conversation. “This necklace is of such a suspicious background, it’s hardly worth even 1 aurus. How do you know she didn’t steal it?” 

“Oh please,” Caelin said, waving her hand dismissively. “We both know that she’s obviously an undercover noblewoman who decided to come out to this market and mingle with the poor commonfolk. Though her outfit looks plain, it’s clearly made from fine silk. Isn’t it better to not scam a noble and face her family's potential fury when she later returns home? 6 aurii is already a great deal.”

“No, 5 aurii,” the jeweler corrected.

“If you insist, we’ll accept it for 5 aurii,” Caelin agreed.

“What…no…what,” the jeweler sputtered incredulously. “That’s not what I meant.” 

“Are you going back on your offer?” Caelin gasped in shock, placing a hand dramatically on her chest. “I can’t believe you’d try to change your offer after already agreeing to it. Is this how you do business with honest clients?” 

“No, no,” the jeweler hurriedly interjected as passersby overheard Caelin’s words and began whispering amongst themselves while glancing at the stall. “I’ll give you 2 aurii for it, young lady.”

“2 aurii and 20 agens,” Caelin quickly counter-offered. 

“Fine, fine,” the jeweler agreed with a huff and carefully counted out the gold and silver coins, handing them over to the young lady. “Just get out of here before you chase away any more customers.” 

“Great doing business with you,” Caelin said cheerfully and walked away from the stall. 

“Wait!” the young lady called, running after Caelin. “Thank you for helping me back there. I really had no idea how to bargain. Please, let me thank you in some way.”

“No need,” Caelin said. “But let me offer a word of advice for the future. The next time you run away from home, make sure you take apart the jewels and metals first to attract less suspicion.”

“Am I really that obvious?” the young lady asked, flushing at the words. 

“Just a bit.” Caelin shrugged. 

“I’m Elli, by the way,” the young lady introduced herself, lowering her mantle’s hood to reveal bright green eyes like the emeralds in the necklace she had just sold. She appeared to be around the same age as Caelin and had a warm smile. 

“Caelin,” Caelin said and couldn’t help returning the smile.

“Can I buy you a cup of tea at least?” Elli offered. “As a thank you.” 

“I am beginning to feel a bit parched,” Caelin agreed tentatively. 

Elli visibly brightened at the words. “What’s your favorite kind of tea? I personally prefer Darjeeling.”

“I usually go for jasmine with green tea,” Caelin said.

 Elli nodded enthusiastically. “That’s a delightful choice. I had purchased some from a place yesterday that offered tea with macarons…” Her voice trailed off, and her face turned pale as she stared at something in the distance. 

Following Elli’s gaze, Caelin saw the three mercenaries from before on the other end of the street. There was a look of recognition on their faces as they pointed in Caelin’s direction and shouted something.

“Oh fae-locks,” Elli cursed and looked around desperately. 

“Come on, this way,” Caelin said, grabbing Ellie’s wrist and pulling the runaway aristocrat down another market alley as the mercenaries gave chase.

Weaving through the crowds and market stalls, Caelin and Elli attempted to lose their pursuers. Despite a fallen crate of sardines and a near-miss with a steam-powered stagecoach, Caelin could still see the mercenaries every time she looked back. She couldn’t help but admire their persistence as they continued to follow, never falling more than thirty meters behind. They were obviously dedicated to their mission, a trait that Caelin wished Theo possessed a bit more of. Recalling how he had shamelessly left her without an explanation, the anger fueled Caelin to run faster.  

“Wait,” Elli gasped weakly as they turned another corner. “Caelin…please…slow down.”

Hearing Elli struggling to breathe, Caelin slowed down to walk and looked behind her. Elli’s hand dangled limply in Caelin’s grip, while her other hand clutched at her chest. 

“I’m sorry,” Elli said in between deep gasps. “I can’t run very far. I’ve had a bad heart since I was a child.”

“Don’t apologize,” Caelin assured her. She looked around their surroundings, searching for a suitable place to hide. The three mercenaries were bound to come around the corner and catch up to them soon. 

“Just go on without me,” Elli said, slowly sinking down towards the ground in defeat. “They don’t know you, so they won’t go after you if you leave me here.”

“Nonsense,” Caelin said, pulling the young lady back up to her feet. “I decided to help you when I first grabbed your wrist, and I intend to see this adventure through.”

Looking to their left, Caelin spotted a ladies’ dress shop as an idea began to form in her mind. “Come on, Elli. Just one last sprint. I know where we can hide.”

Running into the boutique with Elli, Caelin grabbed a variety of dresses. Once her arms overflowed with puffy dresses as frills and laces obscured her vision, Caelin moved onto the next step of her plan. She grabbed a blonde wig of curls off of a nearby mannequin head and threw a handful of cuprus coins at a confused shop attendant.

“We’ll be trying these on,” Caelin stated and pushed Elli and the dresses into one of the fitting room stalls in the corner of the shop. 

Given the size of the dress shop, the stall was also of a smaller scale than the ones Caelin had heard about from Aria in Apatite City. Intended for one person without any assistance from a personal maid, it was a tight fit for both Elli and Caelin, but that worked better for what Caelin had in mind. Pulling the fitting room stall’s curtain closed, Caelin turned towards Elli.

“Get down in the corner and try to make yourself as small as possible,” Caelin whispered. 

Nodding, Elli tucked her knees to her chest and sat in the corner of the stall. “What are you planning?” 

“Just trust me and stay quiet,” Caelin said and proceeded to cover her up in the pile of dresses she had collected earlier, leaving a small space for Elli to still breathe. 

She quickly removed her jacket, tossing it onto the curtain rod so that the stall appeared occupied from the outside. Undoing her black leather bodice, Caelin listened carefully for any sounds from outside the stall before adjusting the blonde wig to completely cover her own dark auburn hair. She styled the blonde bangs to cover her right, red eye, leaving only her blue one to be seen.

“What’s happening?” Elli’s muffled voice came from underneath the pile of dresses.

“Shh we’re waiting,” Caelin whispered back. She blew back a tuft of blonde hair that ended up in her mouth when she spoke. “Don’t worry. I’ll let you know when it’s safe to come out.”

There was a vague sound of acknowledgement from the corner. 

A few moments later, Caelin heard the sounds of heavy leather soles against the boutique’s marble floors. There were shouts from the shop’s attendant.

“Excuse me, sir. You can’t go in there, it’s occupied. Sir!”

Moving fast, Caelin began unbuttoning her white blouse right as the curtain was harshly yanked open, and she came face-to-face with the scar-faced mercenary. Caelin took a deep breath before letting out a scream at the top of her lungs. 

“Pervert! Get out! Quick, someone help me! There’s a pervert in the ladies’ changing room!”

The mercenary’s tanned face turned a deep shade of red as he quickly covered his eyes and closed the curtains. “I’m so sorry, miss. I was looking for someone else.”

“Apology not accepted!” Caelin continued to scream until the attendant repeatedly assured her from the other side of the curtain that they had the man and his two companions escorted from the shop. They were most certainly banned from ever approaching the premises again.

After a few more sniffles and a shaky breath for good measure, Caelin redressed herself, pulling down her jacket from the curtain rod. 

“Coast is clear,” Caelin whispered to Ellie and moved the dresses off of her.

“Are you alright, Caelin?” Ellie asked as she stood up. Her face was full of concern. 

“Of course, I wasn’t actually scared,” Caelin said. “It was just an act to make them lose us. Come on, let’s use this opportunity to make a clean getaway.”

Exiting the fitting room, Caelin wore a miserable expression as she turned towards the attendant. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I’m in the mood to be trying on any more dresses now.”

“No, no, the apology is all mine,” the attendant hurriedly said and held out a small paper note. “It was completely my fault for not stopping the man from entering the dressing room in the first place. Please let me make it up to you by offering you a complimentary tailoring session for your next visit.” 

“Thank you,” Caelin said and accepted the note with a sad smile. 

Suddenly, the boutique’s door burst open, and there was again the sound of leather soles against marble again as someone ran up to Caelin. Thinking that one of the mercenaries had returned, Caelin braced herself for a fight as she turned towards the person. Instead of a mercenary, Caelin stared into the grey eyes of Theo. 

He had run all the way to the boutique, evident from his heavy breathing. His cloak’s hood must’ve blown off at some point during the sprint, revealing his worried expression in full view. She had thought that she’d still be upset with him for suddenly abandoning her during their mission. But when actually faced with his reappearance, Caelin felt her anger melt at his concerned gaze.

Grabbing Caelin’s shoulders in a tight grip, Theo looked her up and down as if to check for any injuries. 

“Wh-what are you doing?” Caelin managed to stammer out. Under Theo’s unwavering attention, she felt more embarrassed than when the mercenary had seen her partially undressed. Everywhere he looked, her skin seemed to burn.

“I was nearby when I heard your screams,” Theo said. After confirming that Caelin was unharmed, he let out a small sigh of relief. “Thank goodness you’re alright.”

Caelin didn’t know how to interpret his tender actions, but she felt her face flush as her heart beat just a bit faster. 

However, her fluster over the potentially sweet moment quickly passed when Theo looked behind Caelin, noticing the other person for the first time. 

He frowned. 

“Lady Eliana?”