Helen didn’t make us wait too long, as she rang my doorbell at the exact time she told Emma she’d be there. When I opened the door, she put Em’s clothes in my arms with her cute gray heels on top of it in a see-through box.

“Good day to you, lady Aurora.”

“Same to you, Helen.” I smiled back. “Do you want to come inside while we wait for Emma to get dressed?”

“No, thank you, I’ll be waiting in the car.” Helen politely declined my request. “Just come outside when you are ready.”

“Okay, we won’t let you wait for long.” I smiled and turned around, closing the door behind me and handing Em’s clothes to her. I then proceeded to walk over to my money coffer before I froze in the middle of the living room.

“Is something wrong, Rora?” A freshly showered Ria asked.

I span around on my feet. “Uh, do you think it would be suspicious to walk around with an entire wad of cash? That sounds to me like it would be very, very suspicious.”

“Oh!” Ria exclaimed as she was putting on her shoes. “I think so, yes.”

“I’ll pay for your clothes, Auro.” Em said from my room. “You can pay me back later if you want to… although it’s not really necessary. My mom won’t mind me buying something for my girlfriends.”

“If it’s okay for you.” I scratched the back of my head and walked over to my own shoes. I’d switch to the heels when I actually had a more fitting outfit to go with them - and if it depended on my girlfriends - another pair of heels too. “I really need to find a bank to deposit my money in though.”

“Hey, if it's that vampire bank, maybe you can get a banking card with a vampire motif on it.” Em joked as she walked into the living room again, she was somehow already done getting dressed.

“Haha, very funny.” I faked a laugh.

“But what if it has cute bats on it, Rora?” Ria joined in on the fun.

“Now, that’s a good idea.” Em nodded with a chuckle.

“Hmmm… I guess bats are pretty cute. I’ll think about it.”

“Yay!” Ria jumped a happy jump.

I chuckled as well. “Anyway, let’s head out, Helen’s waiting in the car.”

We got into the car, with me carrying a bag with my heels. Em got into the front seat, while Ria and I got into the back.

“Is everyone comfortable?” Helen asked. “Seatbelts on?”

“Yes and yes!” Ria exclaimed.

“Okay.” Helen smiled and started driving away. She didn’t let much of a silence fall before she started speaking again. “Miss Emma, your mother has asked me to accompany the three of you while you are on your shopping trip?”

Em immediately turned her head towards her driver. “Why’s that?”

“She has heard of some rumors of weekend criminality. She just wants you to be safe. I’ll try not to hinder your date.”

“Hmm.” Em sounded a bit grumpy. “I guess we might as well make use of it by having you carry our bags.” That second part of her sentence was clearly meant to be a joke, though, as she smirked at Helen.

Helen laughed. “That’s more than fine by me, Miss.” She then continued driving us to our destination, as smoothly as ever. I didn’t know how she managed to avoid every bump in the road, but maybe this car’s suspension was just that good.

When Helen stopped the car she got out first to open the doors for us but I’d already gotten out to stretch my legs and breathe in some fresh air. While I’d gotten a bit more used to cars with our outing to the castle and visiting Em’s place, I still very much preferred to be outside of one as much as possible.

“Do you get car-sick, Lady Aurora?” Helen asked as she helped Ria out of the car.

“No, it’s just that I like the outside air a lot more.”

“You could’ve opened the window if you wanted to.”

“I know, but that always gives such a draft, I don’t really like that.”

“That’s very fair.” Helen closed the door behind Ria and offered to carry my bag with the heels inside of them. I politely refused. Helen smiled. “I’m used to the car’s air conditioning but I do know what you mean.”

“Helen’s private car is an old-timer convertible, it’s really cool, actually.” Em commented as she nodded towards the entrance to the walking zone. Signaling us to follow her.

“Oh? What kind of car is it?” I asked while we started moving.

Helen locked the car with a beep from her keys. “It’s a 1974 Lynx E. It’s a pretty fun, but not a very practical car.”

Em looked up a picture for me on the internet. “It’s in this color as well.”

“Oh wow, yeah, that does look cool. But I guess it doesn’t have enough trunk space?”

Helen nodded. “Yes, and it’s not as bulletproof as this car either.”

Both Ria and I looked very surprised at that statement, while Em just sighed.

“She’s just joking.”

“No, I’m not.” Helen deadpanned. “Both the doors and windows are rated to stop 7.62 rifle ammunition.”

“Wait, really?” Now Em joined us as well.

Helen just smiled, not giving us a clear answer.

“Em, I’m really not sure if she’s joking or not.” I told her.

“Helen!?” Em walked up to Helen and pulled her sleeve but Helen just kept silent while smiling and walking onwards towards the pedestrian zone.

-At least it’s clear that I’m not the only one who likes messing with her.-

Em was still trying to get some answers out of Helen as we started walking by the first couple of stores. Even though the weather was pretty good and it was a Saturday, there really weren’t that many people around.

“Where have all the people gone?” I asked Em, also because I wanted her to stop bothering Helen -Even though she might deserve it just a little-

“Hmm, they probably haven’t advertised it very well.”

“No.” Helen replied. “Public transport is on strike today. There are no trams or buses running to this area today.”

“Ouch.”

“It’s their right, though. They don’t get nearly enough money from their employer.”

“I understand that.” I nodded. “And they also get a lot of shit from their passengers. Wasn’t there something in the news about that recently?”

“There was.” Helen confirmed. “I’m pretty sure that’s also one of the big reasons why they are striking today.”

“I hope it’ll get better for them soon.” Ria replied.

“I hope so too, Ria.” I took her hand into mine and softly squeezed it.

“Mhmm.” Em nodded before her attention got pulled by one of the stores nearby. “Oh.” She immediately started to walk over.

Helen followed her and the rest of us did so too.

“Auro, don’t you think this is something for you?” Em pointed at something in the showcase.

“Hmm? What?” The reflection in the glass stopped me from being able to look into the store until I was a lot closer. I wondered how Em even had been able to see what was inside from where we were walking.

“Here, this dress.” Em kept signalling me closer, just until I could clearly see what was inside.

“Oh hell no. I won’t be wearing that even if hell finally freezes over.” Em was pointing at an incredibly frilly pink dress. Quite similar to that lolita fashion people spoke about.

Em chuckled. “Awh, don't you even want to try it on?”

“Heck no.”

Ria however, was looking at it with big eyes and her mouth half-open.

“Do you want to try it on, Ria?” I looked at my girlfriend.

“Now, that’s an idea.” Em supported that motion immediately. In the meantime, Helen was just next to us, staring into the street while occasionally looking at her phone.

“Can I?” She looked up at Em and I, slightly blushing.

“I don’t see why not?” I shrugged and then looked at Helen. “Do you mind if we go inside for a second?”

“Sure, go ahead. You girls are here to shop anyway, aren’t you? I’ll just keep myself occupied.” Helen replied with a smile.

As our bodyguard had given us the go-ahead, Em, Ria and I walked into the store. The inside of the store was filled with a multitude of frilly clothing. There was a young lady behind the counter who greeted us the second we walked in. “Welcome.” Her eyes immediately fell on Ria who clearly was the most interested in the clothes around her. “Oh My Goddess, Miss, don’t mind if I say this, but you’d make an incredible model for our clothing line.” It was clear the lady had immediately seen that Ria’s petite cuteness potential was through the roof.

“M-me?” Ria pointed at herself. “I’m not sure.”

“Of course! Please do try on a couple of our dresses!”

“See, I told you it wouldn’t be an issue to try them on.” I smiled and whispered into Ria’s ear.

She blushed a little more. “O-okay.” Ria replied to the young lady.

“Please follow me to the changing room.” The store lady’s enthusiasm was contagious, as I felt myself really wanting to see what kind of cute dresses Ria would be put through.

-Hopefully I won’t get too many nosebleeds.-