Chapter 373: Styles
“Mom, this is the clock shop. Do you want to take a look?”
“…Mm…”
Evelia looked at the many different pocket watch designs in front of her and couldn’t help falling into thought.
She wasn’t someone with much sense of beauty. In fact, the old her never even had any kind of standard for what looked good.
Now, faced with rows of shining items, Evelia had no idea what to do.
Before, whether it was jewelry or clothes, everything had always been handled by Anna. Anna would carefully choose outfits that suited Evelia and then even teach her how to match them. After all, Anna was an excellent fashion designer.
But now, when Evelia had to choose something herself, she really didn’t know what to do.
The shop owner stood behind the counter, watching Evelia walk in. She was dressed neatly and elegantly. The coat she was wearing was, of course, one of Anna’s gifts. Since it was from Anna, the fabric was naturally top quality.
The shop owner, who could recognize such things, immediately saw that Evelia was a “big customer.” His face broke into a wide smile as he welcomed her.
“Madam, may I ask what you are looking for?”
Normally, with Evelia’s outward age, people would call her “Miss.” But since Rachel was with her and had just called her “Mom,” the shopkeeper addressed her as “Madam” instead.
“Pocket watch.”
Evelia didn’t care about the man’s attitude, or the way he smiled with too many teeth. She only lowered her head and looked at the display case in front of her.
For an adult, the counter’s height was just right, but for Rachel it was too tall, even standing on tiptoes, she could barely see.
Although Evelia wasn’t good at socializing, she was still an assassin, and her ability to notice details was sharp. Seeing Rachel straining on tiptoe, Evelia picked her up easily and held the light little girl in her arms, letting her sit on her arm.
“Pocket watch? Ah—then please take a look over here.”
The shopkeeper walked to the left display and showed Evelia their most decorated pocket watch collection. To him, Evelia clearly looked like a wealthy lady.
Even though she hadn’t come in one of the exclusive carriages that represented Armand and the knight order, the one she used was still a fine carriage that showed her lifestyle was at least upper-middle class. To the shopkeeper, it was rare to get such a customer, of course he planned to make as much profit as possible.
“……”
Evelia followed his direction and looked at the display of pocket watches encrusted with colorful gems. But after just one glance, she frowned.
Rather than pocket watches, they looked more like pendants with hands.
They were so overly decorated that it was hard to imagine they could serve any purpose other than display. The heavy gem settings pressed deep into the soft display cushions, showing just how much they weighed. They were nothing like something you could casually take out to check the time. Beautiful but useless.
Still, Evelia thought, maybe they could work as hidden weapons. They looked heavy enough that if thrown hard, they could crack open an enemy’s skull.
The shopkeeper quickly noticed Evelia’s unhappy expression. In his mind, rich people usually loved things that showed off their wealth. Why didn’t this woman like them? Her clothes were so fine, so eye-catching, yet she disliked this kind of style?
But the truth was, Evelia didn’t understand the value of “wealthy” or “not wealthy.” All the clothes she wore had been given to her. She didn’t even know their prices. All she knew was that they were warm in winter.
“If you don’t like this style, Madam, perhaps you’d like to take a look at the ones on the other side?”
The shopkeeper still felt doubtful, but business was business, he had to make the sale.
The shopkeeper quickly led Evelia to another display. The pocket watches here were still very expensive, but the decoration style was clearly less over-the-top than before. They had a kind of subtle, simple luxury, without too many diamonds, yet it was obvious they were costly items.
“So expensive…”
Rachel glanced at the price tags and said it out loud without holding back.
Before leaving, Evelia had told the coachman to take them to the best clock shop in the royal city so she could find a suitable pocket watch. But she didn’t expect the coachman would bring them straight to a luxury shop, where the prices were ridiculously high.
Since Evelia had no real sense of prices, she didn’t pay attention to the numbers on the tags. But Rachel, who had worked for many years just to earn a little money, could immediately tell how outrageous these prices were.
Many of the pocket watches were inlaid with different types of gems. They really did look beautiful, but the prices were unbelievable, so high that the labor cost alone was several times more than the material cost.
If Rachel wasn’t appearing in the form of a little girl right now, she could have told Evelia directly that she could make pocket watches herself. Whatever style Evelia wanted, she could create it. Just pay her, and it would still cost at least two-thirds less than this luxury shop.
In fact, the pocket watch that Evelia once gave to Armand as a keepsake had originally been Rachel’s work. Although the watch itself wasn’t handmade by her, the alchemy enchantments on it were. In a way, she should have charged a craftsman’s fee back then too. And the fee for a genius alchemist’s work shouldn’t be cheap.
“Do you not like these?”
The shopkeeper asked carefully, seeing Evelia stay silent.
He was beginning to get confused about what this finely dressed woman really wanted. But since she looked like a big customer, he decided that no matter what she said, he had to try his best to satisfy her.
“Too messy.”
“…What?”
The sudden two words from Evelia left the shopkeeper stunned.
“These pocket watches are decorated too messily.”
Armand had never liked jewelry or ornaments, and Evelia always kept that in mind.
He was a man who didn’t even put decorations on his beloved sword. How could he possibly like a pocket watch covered with diamonds?
If it was something she wanted Armand to carry with him, it had to look plain and ordinary.
“T-then… how much is that one?”
Evelia pointed toward a small display in the far corner of the shop.
The pocket watches there looked dull and gray in color, standing in sharp contrast to the shiny and luxurious ones elsewhere.
“Eh? Madam, those ones over there are outdated styles. They were designed more than ten years ago.”
“Ten years ago?”
“Yes. Those were made by an older group of designers. Because the style is too old-fashioned, they’re just left there for now. They’ll soon be replaced with new stock. For the moment, they’re displayed only as an example of the past era.”
“Ten years ago… that’s perfect.”
Evelia nodded after listening.
Ten years, wasn’t that exactly right?
Even though it sounded like a long time, back when she and Armand were together, wasn’t that precisely ten years ago?