Chapter 80: Now Where Did This Fly Come From?

Chapter 80: Chapter 80: Now Where Did This Fly Come From?

Just as Lorin expected, after following Erin for a short while, the food cart vendors were nowhere to be seen. The pedestrians on the street grew sparse. The occasional passersby were all impeccably dressed men and women, looking either like wealthy merchants or members of the nobility.

Lorin’s heart sank further with every step. When he spotted a gilded oil lamp hanging by the entrance of a shoe store, his hopes finally died completely.

"Where exactly are you taking me?" he asked.

"Just follow me and cut the nonsense." Erin was clearly still fuming.

Lorin felt his wallet could still be salvaged. Watching the Red-haired Mage’s increasingly brisk pace ahead of him, he cautiously probed, "I think buying a coarse wool coat would be a good choice, don’t you?"

Erin stopped in her tracks, turned around to give him a look of sheer disgust, and said impatiently, "You’re a Caster, for heaven’s sake. Sooner or later, you’ll have to attend Formal occasions. Are you planning to show up in a raggedy coarse wool coat?"

"Alright... alright..." Lorin knew he couldn’t win this argument. Perhaps this was the price to pay for teasing her. Having previously spent a fortune on a tent, he actually wasn’t completely opposed to spending money on comfort anymore. The main reason he still wore those tattered clothes was simply that he was too lazy to go shopping.

Erin soon brought him to a halt in front of a shop. The storefront looked much more understated than its neighbors. There wasn’t even a tout at the door to usher in customers. However, the doorframe was lined with copper plaques engraved with family crests. The topmost plaque bore the shop’s name in an elegant script: "Felix’s Custom Tailoring."

The two pushed the door open and went inside. Lorin glanced around. The interior matched the understated style of the entrance. Several floor-to-ceiling wooden racks leaned against the walls, neatly stacked with bolts of fabric in various colors. Aside from a few mannequins displaying finished garments, the shop was entirely devoid of other decorations.

An elderly man wearing round-rimmed glasses stood behind the counter. He was mostly bald on top, with his remaining gray hair curling neatly behind his ears. He was currently using a soft measuring tape to check the width of a dark Blue fabric. Hearing the chime of the door, he looked up and swept his gaze over the newcomers.

An expensive robe, a young woman, excellent bearing, accompanied by an attendant... A major client!

"Good afternoon, esteemed guests." Felix draped the measuring tape around his neck, stepped out from behind the counter, and spoke to Erin in a slow, deliberate tone. "Miss, what can I help you with today?"

Erin stepped aside, revealing Lorin, who was looking around. "Make a few outfits for him. The kind that’s decent enough to be seen in public."

"Making clothes for an attendant? This girl must be incredibly wealthy..." Felix thought. He had always been a consummate professional. He looked Lorin up and down, and though his expression remained neutral, his eyebrows twitched imperceptibly when he spotted a loose thread jutting out from Lorin’s cuff. "And how may I address this gentleman?"

"Lorin."

"Mr. Lorin, please come this way." Felix walked over to an open area in the shop, pulled the tape measure from his neck, and instructed, "Hold your arms out straight, level with your shoulders."

Lorin walked over and obediently shifted postures as requested without changing his expression, though inwardly, all hope had turned to ash. "Damn it," he thought. "I figured we were just buying a few off-the-rack pieces. How did this escalate to custom tailoring?"

"Mr. Lorin, you have an excellent physique—broad shoulders and a narrow waist. You could pull off any style. Did you serve in the military previously?" Felix finished the final measurement, offering the compliment with perfect tact.

"Thanks..." Lorin replied weakly.

"Miss, would you like to select the fabrics yourself, or shall I make some recommendations?"

Erin crossed her arms, tapping her fingers lightly against her sleeve. After a moment of thought, she pulled a few bolts of fabric from the wooden racks and placed them on the counter. "For the coat, use navy Blue wool, but nothing too thick. The shirt should be smoke-gray cotton with a stiff collar. Use dark red for the inner lining, and pure silver buttons for the cuffs..." She rattled off the specifications like a seasoned expert.

"You have a fantastic eye, Miss. These are only half a shade off from the current trends in the Royal Capital. Have you spent time there?" Felix asked in surprise.

Erin gave a slight nod. She reached up to touch another bolt of mineral Blue wool fabric on a high shelf, just about to add something when the copper bell on the door chimed again.

Lorin turned his head to look. Before the person even came into view, an arrogant and overbearing voice rang out from outside.

"Felix!

"Is that coat I ordered last time still not ready?

"That’s for my father’s Midwinter Festival banquet! It’s been delayed until today without being delivered, and now I have to come pick it up myself?"

A tall, gangly young man dressed in extravagant clothes swaggered in, trailed by a lackey of a similar age and two guards.

Felix’s eyebrows twitched as if he were trying his hardest to maintain his composure. He offered a slight bow to Erin and Lorin, saying, "My apologies, please wait a moment." He then turned around, retrieved a paper parcel from behind the counter, and handed it to the tall young man. "Mr. Hawthorn, it has been altered according to your father’s requests. I simply haven’t had the time to have it delivered yet."

Hawthorn scoffed and tossed the parcel to his lackey. Just as he was about to berate the old man further, he caught sight of Erin picking out fabrics.

"What a figure! What beauty! What elegance!" he thought. His heart immediately skipped a beat. He shoved Felix aside and eagerly approached Erin.

"Good afternoon, beautiful lady." Hawthorn stopped beside Erin, executed a Knight’s salute that he felt was exceptionally suave, adjusted his smile to the perfect angle, and said confidently, "Please allow me to introduce myself—Hawthorne Brian, son of Baron Brian. Might I have the honor of knowing your name?"

He firmly believed that no woman could reject a man of his extraordinary caliber. In his mind, he was already imagining the wonderful escapades that would unfold tonight.

"This mineral Blue fabric is quite nice, it’ll suit him well. Make another set out of this." Erin held up the bolt of cloth, measured it against the dumbly standing Lorin, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Why does it feel like this guy is getting more handsome by the minute?" she wondered. "Could I have actually fallen for him...?" She suddenly felt her cheeks grow hot.

Seeing the lady’s face flush slightly, Hawthorn blanked for a moment before following her gaze, landing on a spaced-out attendant.

"But why is she looking at that attendant?" Hawthorn wondered. "Could it be... my handsomeness is so overwhelming? That she doesn’t even dare to look at me directly?"

A smirk slowly crept onto Hawthorn’s lips. He took a diagonal step, placing himself right in front of Erin, and said with a dazzling smile, "Miss, the fabric of this garment is indeed—"

"Get lost," Erin furrowed her brows, sounding thoroughly displeased.

She was already in a bad mood today, and realizing that she might actually have feelings for that insufferable jerk only made her feel humiliated and angry. "Where did this annoying fly come from?" she thought.