Liliana thought over her gifts as her group made their way back to the carriage. The guards with her seemed far more exhausted than they’d been hours before. But then again, Liliana had dragged them nearly across the entire city on her hunt for the perfect gifts. She’d been lucky that her father had given her additional funds for her allowance today, but she assumed it was partially selfish desires that drove that. Her father wouldn’t want her to shame their family by providing him and her stepmother with cheap trinkets, and Liliana had unabashedly made ample use of the funds he’d provided.

Instead of a simple focus, Liliana had purchased an entire grimoire that had a gem on the cover that could be removed and used as a focus to enhance Fire magic for Emyr. It had a comprehensive list of different fire spells that Emyr could slowly learn as his Fire affinity grew. For Alistair she had bought Alistair an affinity unlocking token from the temple. He simply had to present it to any temple, and they would unlock his chosen affinity. Liliana was a little surprised they offered it, but it seemed there was nothing money couldn’t do as long as one had enough of it. For Silas she’d purchased a limited edition cookbook, after being tipped off by Astrid that the formidable guard captain secretly enjoyed cooking in his spare time.

For her precious maid, she’d purchased a beautiful fur coat made with a thick, forest green fabric and lined with a lighter green fur that felt like silk. She’d also bought a matching pair of gloves. Astrid rarely bought anything beautiful for herself, and was more apt to patch her clothes than to replace them. Liliana knew the woman would immediately turn down any jewelry, from memories of a younger Liliana trying to gift the maid some of her own few jewels. However, she doubted Astrid would as readily decline items that had actual use, even if they were luxurious enough to be worn by the highest nobles.

Jason, she’d purchased a penannular brooch for his cloak. It was made of delicate looking silver metal twined together, with two sapphires nestled into the twisted metal. Liliana thought it would be a good way to both show her gratitude for the guard, whilst subtly declaring him her personal guard.

She’d even purchased something for Marianne, though when she’d be able to gift it to the princess, she wasn’t sure. She’d purchased a traveler’s diary that had been published. From what she’d flipped through, it seemed the author of the journal had been a rather impressive artist, rendering the sights he’d seen in beautiful detail. There were even maps folded into the book that carefully marked out the different places he’d been. Many she had not heard Marianne mention in their talks or letters. She hoped it meant the princess had not yet acquired this book for herself, and in case she had, Liliana had also purchased a few fiction novels she knew for certain the princess hadn’t read yet.

For her father she’d bought the most expensive looking white gold and sapphire brooch in the jewelry store, not much caring if it was particularly tasteful. For her stepmother, she’d reluctantly purchased a gold and ruby ring for the woman. She’d been sure to pick the one that looked the most tacky amongst the available selection, almost asking to have a larger stone embedded in it just to make it nigh on impossible for the woman to wear comfortably. She put the least amount of thought into their gifts, seeing them as nothing more than an undesirable expectation she must fulfill. At the very least, neither could say she had scrimped on cost for their gifts.

As they came within view of the carriage, Liliana could see several guards gathered around, conversing with each other in the afternoon light. It seemed Emyr and Alistair had already finished their shopping, though Liliana could see neither boy nearby. As Liliana’s party got to the carriage, the guards carrying her gifts split off to load them into the carriage, Liliana approached the idling guards.

“Where have Emyr and Alistair gone off to?” Liliana asked the first guard she approached.

“The young lords have been waiting for you in the cafe for you,” the guard answered promptly with a smirk as Liliana flushed. How long had they been waiting for her?

“Thank you,” Liliana answered quickly, turning on her heel and nearly fleeing from the good natured chuckles of the guards. As Liliana entered the cafe, she did not have to wonder for long where Alistair and Emyr had seated themselves, for it seemed every eye in the cafe was either fixated on their table, or sneaking not so subtle glances their way.

“Ah, her ladyship, the grand lady Liliana, has finally graced us with her noble presence!” Alistair declared, standing from his chair and sketching a deep, mocking bow as Liliana came to their table. Emyr simply looked up and inclined his head before hiding his face behind a mug of steaming liquid.

“Hush you, I had more than just you two to shop for,” Liliana huffed as she sat down. She quickly placed an order for a hot chocolate drink when a frightened looking serving girl came their way. She seemed young and terrified of having to wait on three nobles.

“Enough that you took two hours longer than us to do it?” Alistair asked as he, too, sat down. Liliana flushed, but she crossed her arms, looking away from her brother.

“Just because you might not enjoy putting thought into your presents doesn’t mean I don’t,” Liliana informed him before her head tilted down and her shoulders hunched defensively.

“It’s the first time I’ve done something like this, really,” Liliana said more quietly.

She’d impulsively picked up presents before for others in Ariowood. But specifically going out to buy presents for someone had never been something she’d had the privilege to do. A lack of experience she shared with the original owner of this body. On Earth, she’d always been too young to have money to spend on others, instead giving her parent’s hand made items for holidays or birthdays. Then, by the time she’d been of age to be able to work, she’d been too sick. The original Liliana had never been permitted the funds to even buy herself the smallest of baubles, let alone buying something for another.

This was the first time in her life she could go shopping with the intent to gift presents to those who mattered the most to her. She’d spent a long time agonizing over her decisions in the stores, guided by the knowledgeable shopkeepers and even her own guards when she could not entirely decide between her options. Liliana wanted every gift to be perfect for the person receiving it, for them to get the gift she’d chosen and see a representation of how much she cared for them. She was more excited to see the reactions of those getting her gifts than to receive any herself, if truth be told.

“I-I’m sorry, Lili, I should’ve, I should’ve thought before I spoke,” Alistair spoke up, drawing Liliana’s gaze from her tightly clasped hands to his face. He did look sorry, guilt clear on his features. Guilt that was becoming more and more commonplace on his face as the days went by. Liliana wondered how long he would blame himself for her childhood, when she herself held no more animosity towards him for the actions of his younger days.

“I’m sure Liliana’s well used to your truly remarkable ability to consistently insert your foot ankle deep into your mouth every time you open it. With that level of flexibility, perhaps it should be you who is the opening act for the circus performing on your birthday,” Emyr spoke up, the flood of elegant yet taunting words making it clear his attempt to lighten the quickly darkening mood.

“I’m sure I’ll love the lock picks you selected,” Emyr said as Alistair struggled to reply to the jab his best friend had made at him, his mouth hanging open as he stared at Emyr. Liliana snorted, covering her mouth quickly to stifle further giggles, both at the rather beautifully said insult and the incorrect guess from the self-proclaimed information expert.

“So you followed me, hm?” Liliana asked as she controlled her expression, though she could feel her eyes dancing with mirth. The sadness that had so recently tried to dig its claws into her heart was banished as quickly as it had appeared.

“Mayhap,” Emyr said ambiguously, shrugging his shoulders and sipping on his drink, though a small smirk tilted up the corners of his lips.

“And did you also tail me, Alistair?” Liliana asked, turning to her brother, pausing as she accepted a drink from the trembling waitress, who immediately scurried off. Liliana summoned Nemesis from stasis before touching her drink, the serpent wrapping herself around Liliana’s neck as soon as she appeared. It was second nature at this point to ask the serpent to sniff for poisons lurking in her food or drink. She found herself even doing it at home. But then again, with a poisoner sitting across from her at the dinner table every night, it was a good habit to be in.

“Ah, what if I did?” Alistair asked, recovering finally from the insult he’d been dealt and crossing his arms, raising his nose as if daring her to deride such an action.

“Oh, I was just wondering if a clumsy attempt at following me around actually gave you any worthwhile information,” Liliana spoke, sipping her hot drink carefully when Nemesis told her it was safe to drink. The serpent immediately retreated back into her summoning stone, disliking the amount of attention they were under by the humans in the cafe. She still did not like overly crowded places, especially if the humans in them spent too long looking her way.

“Guess you’ll just have to find out when I win,” Alistair told her, smiling victoriously as if the game was already won.

Liliana smiled softly to herself as she sipped her drink. She had expected as much from both of them, which was why she’d bought the lock picks first, then the brooch for Jason. She’d bought the affinity unlocking token third, having Jason take her through the most roundabout way possible to the temple before going to buy Astrid’s cloak, then the grimoire. Liliana had also picked up a skill scroll for lock picking, both for herself and to throw Emyr or Alistair off if they were still watching after hours of shopping. She’d bought her father’s brooch after that, then stopped by the bookstore and picked up Silas’ and Marianne’s gifts as well as a few books on lock picking, maps of the Rosengarde territory, and a list of dungeons in their territory with descriptions of what their typical layout and monsters were. She’d finished up by buying the ring for her stepmother.

Unlike the boys, she’d employed a more subtle method to gather informations, suspecting they had not told their guards about their game. Nor would they likely think to divulge such information to the shopkeepers. They might be coming to see the commoners around them as something more than NPCs, but she expected some habits were subconscious. She currently had her own guards updated on the game, having slipped each one a gold coin and a promise of a second if they could gain information from the boy’s guards as to what they’d purchased. That failing, she’d also talked to each shopkeeper they’d seen that day.

Emyr, she knew, had purchased a poison detecting ring for her, one that could detect poisons up to Rank 2, something beyond Nemesis’ own abilities. It would even nullify a poison if it was under Rank 4. Anything higher, it would help dilute its effects, but it would destroy the ring. She knew it was meant for her. She had no idea who else he would give such a gift. She thought he’d tried to cover his tracks because he’d also purchased a bracelet made of sapphires and diamonds from the same shop, and picked up some miscellaneous skill scrolls before she’d been to the same shop later that day. But she knew those were red herrings. The poison ring was his present for her. She would bet on it. In fact, she was.

She, however, did not know what Alistair had purchased for her. She apparently hadn’t hit any of the same shops her brother had, so the shopkeepers hadn’t given her any relevant information regarding his gifts. Which was why she’d recruited the aid of her guards. If they had any luck, Jason would let her know.

“We shall see, brother, we shall see,” Liliana said lightly as she finished her drink.

“Shall we make our way out, then?” Emyr asked, almost excitedly, as Liliana set down her empty cup. With a smile, she nodded. They stood, leaving a healthy sum for the poor waitress behind as they vacated the quaint cafe.