"Thank you—" Before Frederick finished talking, Katherine had already turned around and left the room.
The atmosphere became awkward again as the crack in their broken father-daughter relationship reared its ugly head.
"Ahem, Luqing, can you give them a tour of the city? I'm sure they will enjoy the view at night.
Also, bring them to eat outside today. Fredrick and I have to do something later." Ava requested.
"Yes, my lady."
As Luqing walked up to the three of them, they didn't say anything besides following her out of the living room.
---
"Luqing, where are we going?" Sophia curiously asked as they began heading inward rather than towards the exit.
"This is the first time you guys have come to Regina, right?"
"Yeah. This is the first time we've actually been inside a city other than the capital." Sophia replied.
"This place is quite cold during the winter. If you all don't mind, we have a few winter coats for you all to wear."
As they approached a room, Luqing pushed it open, revealing the place to be an endless number of wardrobes.
Luqing opened them one by one, revealing all kinds of winter clothes right before their eyes for them to pick from.
There was an endless amount of choice, from an expensive-looking fur coat to a simple jacket, swimsuit, or even a men's suit.
"No one has worn these clothes before. Lady Ava loves to buy clothes and keep them in a place to look at.
This place is where all these clothes end up. Some of them are from Lord Fredrick as well. Feel free to pick whatever you want to keep."
As the three followed Luqing down the aisle, they finally found a section of clothes that fit them.
"These are the only one that fits you all... But Miss Amelia and Miss Katherine had worn them in the past.
If you all don't mind, we can wear these for now before the new sets of clothes arrive tomorrow.
Sorry for the delay. We didn't mean to have you wear old clothes."
As Luqing started apologizing out loud, the three of them quickly shook their head before helping her back up.
"No, it's fine. I'm always curious about what Auntie and Mom have worn in the past."
"Me too!"
As Sophia and Mary excitedly began picking their winter coats from the wardrobe, Alex was much more hesitant.
Most of them were clearly designed for females, with barely any of them being more towards unisex clothes.
"Miss Alex, do you want to check out Lord Fredrick's older clothes? He has some that he wore when he was a kid."
Luqing quickly noticed the hesitation on his face as she offered an alternative choice over on the other side.
"Sure. Thank you."
Alex quickly followed Luqing over to the other side of the room, only to see clothes that looked extremely different from each other.
They were the perfect clothes in Alex's eyes, as they looked almost intimidating and cool at the same time.
From the full black leather jacket to even a brigandine that was clearly meant to be worn with knight armor.
Alex quickly grabbed a few stylish pairs of clothes before heading back with Luqing to the other two.
"Are those all the clothes you guys wanted?" Luqing asked as they all held a few pairs of clothes they had picked on their own.
With a nod, she led the three of them back to their room before letting them change into their clothes.
Alex was the first one to come out, stunning Luqing a little as she didn't expect how handsome he would look.
The black leather jacket and white undershirt, paired with black winter pants, made him look much more energetic.
It was almost a completely different person, shifting his somewhat feminine appearance to a more masculine appearance.
There was still a small flaw, as the clothes were still a little bit too big for him, not to mention the lack of muscle that didn't match the energy of his clothes.
"Luqing, what do I look like?" Alex curiously asked as he flipped the jacket collar back and forth.
"You look amazing, Miss Alex."
"Thank you."
As Alex thanked Luqing, Sophia and Mary finally came out of their rooms as well.
The two of them were wearing the same thing: a simple white coat with a little white fur around the back of her neck.
Inside was a white turtleneck sweater, covering the gaps that the coat couldn't cover. The only difference between the two was that Mary didn't really fit in the coat.
"Your guy's clothes look pretty nice." Alex complimented.
"Yours too. I never expected you to pick something that looked so cool," Sophia murmured, her eyes looking a little jealous.
"Brother! Marry me!"
Mary excitedly ran over to Alex, who awkwardly pushed her away from reaching him as his face blushed red.
"Hell no! I'd rather be single for life than marry someone who sleeps like a little piggy every morning." Alex said jokingly.
"Sophia! Alex insulted me again!" Mary complained as she started swinging her arms in anger.
"Stop joking around, you two. Luqing, can you give us a tour of the city?"
"Of course."
---
As the three followed Luqing out of the castle, they were immediately hit by the crowds of people walking out.
The sun was almost setting on the horizon, yet people were not hurrying to head home.
Shops and stores were full of people, with even stalls being set up selling various kinds of goods to people.
"Is there always this many people in the streets?" Mary curiously asked as she remembered that there was almost no one out at night back in the capital.
"Usually not, but since it's about to be the end of the year, everyone is preparing for the big event."
"Is it the thing that all mages come to visit this place?"
"Partially, but it's also because a lot of people come to this city for shelter."
"Shelter?" Alex asked curiously.
"Yes... During the late winter, monsters and massive blizzards from the north often hit nearby villages very hard.
The safest place is in the city. And there is no city safer than the one we are in right now."
Luqing looked a little proud as soon as she mentioned the last part out loud, lifting her chin slightly.
"Grandpa must have worked very hard on the city then," Alex murmured as he noticed the street was much cleaner than he had imagined.
"Lord Fredrick? He doesn't manage the city at all. He's the duke. The city management falls under the mayor."
"Really? The mayor?" Alex asked curiously.
"Of course. The Duke title is just a titular title... I mean, he does have the power to fire the elected mayor from the guild.
But he usually doesn't intervene in the daily city management. At least compared to other dukes in other cities."
"So, like a free check collector..." Alex murmured inside his head as he drew several parallel connections back over in Earth.
As they walked down the street, they could feel the atmosphere of the crowds was completely different from the capital.
Everyone was excited and looked lively. There was actual energy on people's faces, with loud talk and squabbles going off every moment of the walk.
After walking for a bit, Luqing suddenly took a right turn despite still having a long way to go down the main road.
"Why are we turning?" Sophia curiously asked.
"The area ahead isn't fit for a noble status, Miss Sophia."
Despite Luqing's reasoning, it only made the three of them even more curious.
Especially after seeing a massive crowd forming ahead and several guards running towards it, they couldn't resist going closer to check it.
"Please, Miss Luqing, can we just go check it? It will be real quick, and we'll head back afterward." Mary pleaded.
After a short consideration, Luqing agreed to it as they headed back to the main road before continuing to head down.
As they got closer and closer to the crowd, they could hear people yelling out loud.
"Get him! Don't let that red-shirt thief get through!"
"That guy stole from the elderly! Everyone beat his ass and show him what respect is!"
The three kids standing in the distance quickly realized what was happening. A person in red was holding a bag.
More specifically, the thief had been surrounded by a crowd, beating him up and chasing right after him.
Soon, the commotion drew too much attention, as a loud whistle could be heard coming from the main street.
"Everyone move out of the way!"
As the guards tried to push past the people, it only caused more chaos, and people started to panic a little.
"Shit, he got away."
Several of the men who were chasing the thief let out a sigh as the crowd began to disperse in all directions.
"Who was causing all this chaos?" The guard finally arrived at the center and questioned the men in the middle.
Just as the three of them were getting closer to finally seeing the men who were chasing the criminal, Luqing suddenly pulled them back.
"Okay, time for us to head back. Lady Ava would be mad if she saw us watching this."
The three reluctantly followed Luqing as they began to head back towards where they came from.
At the same time, Luqing felt a little embarrassed inside, saying they were in the safest city, yet a crime had happened right before them.
After walking back for a bit, Luqing's embarrassment disappeared as they stopped at a restaurant they had walked past earlier.