Chapter 14
Before long, a servant brought clothes suitable for commoners.
Since they were sneaking out, they couldn’t ask their nannies or maids to help them change. As a result, the children had to help each other get dressed.
“Ow! Erika, stop pulling my hair.”
“Sorry. I don’t know how to untie this. What kind of weird design is this? Serel, help me out.”
Even taking off their current clothes proved to be a challenge.
“What do we put on first?”
Serel laid out the outfit she had chosen in the dressing room and stared at it, puzzled.
So even commoners wear petticoats, huh? But the problem was, to her, the petticoat and the outer skirt looked equally plain, making it impossible to tell which was which.
“Maybe it’s this one?”
Erika, who was having the same dilemma, randomly picked one up.
“No, it’s probably this one. The fabric’s worse, right? They’d probably wear the better one on top.”
Ellen, also confused, touched both skirts with her hands and picked one. Erika followed her lead and felt the fabric.
“…They all just feel cheap.”
Erika looked at Ellen as if asking what the difference was. Having lived a life surrounded only by the best food and clothes, to her, both fabrics were nothing but rough and faded.
The children, who had never dressed themselves before, fumbled for a long time before finally changing clothes.
“Is this thing supposed to not cover your feet?”
Erika stared at her exposed ankles. She seemed uncomfortable with the breeze on her legs, fidgeting and switching her weight from one foot to the other.
“Erika, come on… Commoners wear skirts that go up to their calves. That one’s actually a bit long on you. You’ve seen it before, right? From the carriage?”
Serel chuckled at Erika, who kept fluttering her feet.
“Really? I don’t know. I haven’t really looked at commoners closely. Besides nannies and maids, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one up close. But this is kinda comfy. A little drafty though.”
Apparently pleased by how easy it was to move, Erika looked fairly satisfied.
The three girls also took off their jewel-encrusted hairpins and stepped out of the room. Down the hallway, the boys were already gathered.
“What took you so long? I thought you got caught or something.”
“Changing was so hard. We didn’t have maids. Were you guys okay?”
“It was a bit tricky, but manageable. Boys’ clothes are easier than girls’.”
As Adrian and Serel whispered to each other, Roil urged them along.
“Talk in the carriage. Let’s get out before someone sees us.”
“This way.”
Following Santuc’s lead, the children tiptoed past the room where the nannies were resting and slipped outside.
They didn’t breathe a word until they were out of the mansion. The moment they stepped outside, they ran straight to Erika’s carriage.
Just like she said, it was black and not overly ornate.
Even so, the quality of the carriage’s material and the shine of the sturdy horses made it obvious it was expensive. But it could still be passed off as a merchant lord’s carriage—nothing too suspicious.
The Norta family’s coachman, who had been lying beside the carriage, jumped up when he saw the kids.
He looked alarmed when Erika said they were heading to the Brown district, but backed down with a flinch when she narrowed her eyes at him. Still flustered, he spotted a couple of plainclothes guards nearby and finally relaxed enough to open the carriage door.
✿ ✿ ✿
After leaving the Grandver district, the carriage entered the Brown district and stopped in a quiet alley a bit away from the marketplace.
The children hopped out of the carriage and, trying hard to contain their excitement, stepped into the market.
“Fresh ‘Fuka’ fruits from the Sierra Kingdom! Not your everyday fruit!”
“Brand-new fabric from Radin’s workshop!”
“Move it! Don’t just loiter there—you’re blocking customers!”
The marketplace was another world. Shouts from vendors and the bustle of the crowd hit them all at once like a wave.
Overwhelmed by the unfamiliar scene, the children froze and just moved their eyes around wildly. Grown-ups shouting and dashing about so chaotically? What on earth were all those things?
Their feet wouldn’t move from the entrance.
Ugh, I knew this would happen. The real mission is getting all five kids back to the carriage without losing anyone, Ellen thought, watching them nervously.
They had come to the market full of excitement, but now that they were there, they had no idea where to go.
“So… where do we start?”
Erika scratched her cheek.
“Why don’t we think while eating something?” Roil suggested.
With that idea in mind, the kids began scanning the stalls and slowly moved forward. They had no clue what was being sold or what they should eat, but at least now they had a goal: find food.
Serel suddenly pointed.
“Oh, over there! Let’s try that.”
They approached a stall where a woman was cooking thin dough, flipping it once, spreading chocolate on it, rolling it up, then grilling it again.
Fascinated by her swift hands, the children stood awkwardly, unsure how to order.
Ellen chuckled and stepped forward.
“We’ll take six. How much is it?”
“Six bronze coins.”
The woman replied while handing out the treats to each child.
Ellen took her treat and turned to Santuc. He was the only one who might have money.
The rest hadn’t brought any to begin with. Maybe their nanny had a bit on her, but—
Noble children rarely handled money themselves. They usually summoned merchants to their homes, or received deliveries and had their butlers pay. If they wanted to go out for some casual shopping, a maid came along to handle payment.
But today, they had snuck out without telling the nannies. When they noticed the clothes had pockets, they were surprised—those pockets were empty.
Santuc, having come from his own home, was their only hope.
Even noble kids who didn’t handle money still received a monthly allowance. They just stored it somewhere and had their nanny or butler pay when needed.
Surely Santuc had brought his?
But when their eyes met, Santuc panicked.
“W-Why are you looking at me like that?! I didn’t say we should eat anything!”
“Well, I didn’t ask to eat either. And I don’t have any money right now. But you do, right? Come on, just lend us some. I’ll pay you back later.”
From his reaction, Ellen realized he hadn’t brought any money either and muttered sarcastically.
She also realized, too late, that she should’ve warned the others earlier that they might need money. Seeing Santuc react like that only made her more annoyed.
Blushing, Santuc couldn’t pull out money he didn’t have, nor could he argue further.
Ugh, what am I doing blaming a kid? I should’ve handled this. How would these noble kids know any of this? Ellen thought, quickly feeling remorseful.
But still, what now? They’d already taken the food, so no refunds.
The vendor’s face began to harden. She had given out food before receiving payment and now feared she might not get paid.
Watching her expression darken, Ellen scrambled to think.
“Oh! Maybe one of the guards who followed us has money. Or the coachman. We should ask. Erika, can you call a guard over? We’ve already taken the food, so we need to pay.”
At Ellen’s suggestion, Erika raised her hand and waved lightly. One of the plainclothes guards approached.
“Hume. You’ve got money, right? Hand it over.”
Erika confidently extended her hand.
Is this… extortion? Ellen almost burst out laughing at how boldly Erika demanded money.
Without a word, Hume pulled a coin pouch from inside his coat and handed it to her.
“Here you go.”
As Erika opened the pouch, the kids crowded around to peek inside.
“Hey! Move!”
Erika stepped back to avoid the eager heads trying to peer in.
“She said six bronze coins, right?”
Erika scooped up a handful of coins and began picking out the bronze ones with awkward fingers.
Seeing a mix of gold, silver, and bronze in her palm, Ellen subtly turned to block the view. Flashing that much money in a child’s hand wasn’t a good idea.
Almost at the same time, Roil moved to stand beside Erika and casually shielded her hand while helping pick out the bronze coins.
“Here you go,” Roil said, handing the coins to the vendor.
Her expression had already softened when Hume brought out the pouch. Taking the money, she smiled brightly.
“Enjoy!”
Her attitude flip was so fast that Roil just smiled awkwardly and turned back to the group.
“Shall we go over there now?”
The kids began walking with their snacks in hand, awkwardly munching. It was their first time eating while walking.
From that moment, Ellen was overwhelmed. First, Erika wandered off alone. After bringing her back, Santuc disappeared. After him, Serel was spotted far off at another shop.
The only one who stayed close was Roil. In fact, he even brought Adrian back once when the boy strayed.
“Roil. Please, at least you don’t wander off.”
Ellen clung to his sleeve for a second, then let go.
They entered hat shops, accessory shops, grocery stores, bakeries—anywhere that looked interesting. Finally, they spotted a toy store, and their eyes lit up.
“Look! Let’s go there!”
Erika pointed excitedly, a monster-shaped hair ornament perched on her head, bought earlier at the hat shop.
Back there, Erika had tried on the strange accessory and asked if it looked good. Serel and Ellen had awkwardly smiled and reluctantly said yes.
Something else might look better…
But Santuc had enthusiastically praised it.
“It’s pretty! Honestly, there’s nothing in the world that doesn’t suit you!”
“Uh… well, it’s kinda okay… maybe? But what about the others…?”
Even Roil had tried, in a roundabout way, to dissuade her, but Erika had still walked out wearing it proudly.
Ellen was pretty sure Erika had only heard the word “okay” from Roil’s speech.
Selective hearing, huh?
Seeing her so thrilled with the monster-head ornament, no one had the heart to say it looked weird—even if it did resemble a pig-headed monster.
