Day In The Sun

Picking out dresses was a tiring experience for Carina, as in her past life (and her current) she never cared much for dressing up. She knew though that she needed to look the part of a Duke's daughter if she wanted her own independence, and she knew it would piss off Vanessa too, so she simply grit her teeth and sat through the entire experience.

Once the girls had eventually got over the initial hiccup of not recognising Carina and potentially insulting her, they made quick work of picking out clothes that suited her body shape and had colours that suited her complexion. Carina didn't say a word, just simply tried on what she was told to try on and rolled her eyes at the way the girls would exaggerate their reactions to seeing her in the dresses.

In the end, with Marie's help, she picked fifteen new dresses. A few for casual wear, a few for formal occasions, and some that she personally thought seemed pretty enough to pass as a proper noble lady's dress but also had enough leg room for her to potentially fight someone in.

(Marie had especially approved of the last few.)

After the dresses were loaded onto the carriage, Carina decided to continue fully taking advantage of the time she was given outside of the house and made her way to a café that some of the girls at the boutique had mentioned to her.

It was the most recent place the Flowers of Aecus had visited, and thus the store was experiencing a sudden overflow of new customers.

Carina had to wait in a line for twenty minutes, but it was well worth it when she took her fist bite of the store's signature strawberry shortcake.

"Oh my God." Carina moaned, closing her eyes in bliss as she took another bite of the cake. "This is amazing, Marie. How do they make it this good?"

Marie was amused at Carina's reaction, having rarely seen Carina react with anything more than a stiff, expressionless face.

"I'm not sure, Miss."

Carina ordered another slice of cake, and then a box of macarons, and on top of that a slice of the chocolate cake as well, and Marie watched with fascination as Carina ate it all without stopping to take a breath of air.

There was one macaron left in the box, and Carina was about to pick it up before she seemed to realise something and then looked up at Marie with an apologetic expression on her face.

"Marie, I'm so sorry, I got so lost in the dessert that I completely forgot about you! Here, you take this one."

Marie furrowed her brows, confused. "Miss? Why are you offering this to me?"

Carina looked confused herself at Marie's confusion. "What do you mean? Why wouldn't I? I wouldn't bring you in here with me just to force you to watch me eat all this on my own, though I do admit I got a little carried away there."

Carina only shoved the box towards Marie when Marie didn't make a move, and then when Marie still didn't move an inch, Carina sighed and simply took the macaron herself. Marie relaxed a little, thinking Carina would simply eat it herself, but then Carina surprised her by instead shoving the macaron into Marie's mouth.

She was too surprised to fight it, so in the end Marie simply ate the macaron, while Carina looked triumphantly at her.

"Good, right?" Carina asked.

Marie nodded. "Yes, Miss... but you shouldn't do that."

"Do what? Feed you? I only did that because you wouldn't take it yourself, you know, if you just-"

"-I'm just a maid, Miss, you shouldn't be acting so friendly with me."

Carina only scoffed at that, waving her hand as if dismissing the idea as ridiculous. "That's silly, Marie. You said it yourself, right? You're my maid, which means I'm your boss, and you have to listen to me. And if I want to be a little friendly and offer you some dessert, then shouldn't you just go along with it?"

Marie laughed, finding herself yet again completely shocked by Carina.

"I suppose you're right, Miss."

"Exactly! Now, what do you think we should try next? The ice cream? Or the pie?"

It seemed working for Carina would be much more of an adventure than Marie had initially suspected.