Travelling in a carriage cut the travel time in half since the horses could move faster for longer amounts of time. In just 10 days, the capital could be seen along with the castle. Greyson started feeling excited, but also nervous due to the exam coming up. The test to join the Dalia Magic Academy was given semiannually. There was one more week before the next exam, so Greyson was glad he met Claude or else he would have had to wait another half a year before he could take the next exam. Claude told Greyson some of the details of the exam which only served to make him more nervous. Apparently the standards for acceptance were very high and normally only 1 or 2 people will be accepted and sometimes none at all would pa.s.s. Although Claude and Lucius praised his talent, Greyson could not help but be nervous anyways. Nothing was set in stone so he didn"t want to get his hopes up too high and then fail.The carriages finally reached the city gates before they were stopped by the guards for identification. As a large city"s heir, Claude easily pa.s.sed through the guards and they soon were inside of the city. Greyson felt excited and quickly exited from the carriages to look around. Forgetting to wait for Claude, he ran out with Lucius in tow.
"Hey, Greyson! Wait for me! Hey!" Claude tried to shout out for him, but it was too late as he was left behind. He wanted to run after them, however, he had to be around for the carriages to be put away and so his servants could get into his house in the capital.
...
"Lu, have you ever been to the capital before?" Greyson asked as he looked everywhere in wonder. Lucius rolled his eyes while snorting, "of course not, for what reason would I, a magical beast, need to enter a human city? I wouldn"t even know the directions, either."
Greyson seemed to understand his question was stupid so he just ignored Lucius"s answer and continued looking around. Born in a small town, Greyson was shocked and impressed by the buildings and shops all around. There were even magic shops that sold all sorts of enchanted items and magic medicine shops. In Willow Town and even in Sirius City, the amount of magicians was small and such shops were not needed and not practical.
He spotted a magic items shop and decided to go in for a peek. He opened the door to see all sorts of interesting looking items. Most of the store looked like a regular miscellaneous item shop. They sold jewelry, cooking items, toy trinkets, all daily items. Only these daily items were enchanted with magic, giving the owner a special ability. Some of the jewelry was linked to a specific spell that could serve as a life saver later or just an extra ability for comfort. The cooking items were enchanted, as well. The pots and pans had fire magic charms that allowed for the food to heat up without actual fire and storage containers had water magic charms to preserve food for longer or keep things cold. Greyson was completely fascinated by everything he saw to the point he felt that he was no longer in the same world. However, when he saw the price, he was no longer shocked because only the truly rich could afford items like this. Everything was priced in gold. All Greyson owned his entire life were coppers and only a couple hundred. His life savings could barely equate to one silver let alone gold.
However, instead of feeling down about it, he just allowed this moment to inspire him to strive for more using his talent with magic. He would earn enough gold to help buy these items for the church and help make Sister Lily"s life easier. He remembered that she would get minor burns every now and then when she cooked because she had to stay close to the fire. These magic cooking items could make cooking so much easier for her. Greyson also thought back to Claude and realized that if he made enough money she would not need these items because he could just hire servants to do all the cooking for her. Clenching his fist, Greyson promised he would let her live a life a luxury like a Queen.
Stuck in his thoughts, Greyson did not see the look of disdain that slowly arrived on the shopkeeper"s face. The shopkeeper looked at Greyson"s clothing and saw how poor the child looked. He right away knew that this poor kid would never be able to afford anything in his prestigious store. When he saw that Greyson showed no signs of leaving even after seeing the prices, he snorted and walked over to the store guards before pointing him out.
"Hey, that beggar over there will disturb our real customers. He even brought some wild cat in with him. Go throw him out." The guards looked over and saw that it was just a small child and felt the shopkeeper was being too much. However, they knew they were paid by him, so they had no choice but to throw out the kid. They walked over behind him.
Greyson felt people approaching him and turned around to see men in uniform. They looked like the store guards, but he felt confused as he had not done anything to warrant them coming for him.
"Hey, kid, sorry but the shopkeeper wants you to leave. It"s not that we want to do this, but he"s a real jerk who like to kiss a.s.s to rich people and bully the poor. He pays us no matter what, though, so we are going to have to throw you out. Could you cooperate? We won"t actually toss you. Once we are out the door we"ll just put you down." The older guard explained. Greyson glanced over at the shopkeeper and saw the mocking sneer on his face. He felt humiliated by the circ.u.mstances, but he didn"t want to make things difficult because he had no power in the city. He already felt thankful that the guards seemed to be kind people. Thinking it through, he nodded and let the man pick him up. The shopkeeper was satisfied by his actions and stopped paying attention. Once the guard was out the door, he placed Greyson down looking apologetic.
"Sorry, kid, most of the people who own magic stores are n.o.bles and they love to look down on commoners."
"It"s alright. Thanks for not really throwing me out." Greyson smiled at the man and turned to leave. But before he could go, someone grabbed his shoulder.
"Hey! I"ve been looking for you everywhere! What happened? I saw this guard carrying you out. Are you hurt?" Claude"s familiar voice rang out.
Greyson looked over and just smiled saying, "it"s no big deal, the shopkeeper seemed to think I didn"t fit in at his store. He asked these gentlemen to escort me out." Claude could hear the hidden resentment in his voice and felt his own anger rising. He could pretty much infer what happened. Glaring at the guards, he pulled on Greyson"s arm and took him away.
"Grey! We"re going to a clothing store. Right now!"
He pulled him over to a well-known clothing store in the city and had the manager there dress Grey in new clothes. After waiting for a little while, he saw Grey walking out of the fitting room. The new Grey was wearing sapphire blue silk robes with white pants. His already stunning looks along with the clothes made him seem like a little prince. Claude nodded his head in satisfaction before telling his servant to pay for the clothes. He then pulled Grey back to that same store.
"Hey, Claude, what are you doing? I didn"t need new clothes. Hey!" Grey continued to protest but couldn"t pull away from Claude"s grip.
They entered the store and the shopkeeper looked over. He gasped with surprise and ran over before bowing slightly saying, "Young Lord Devereux, what brings you to my humble shop? Who is this n.o.ble young boy? Your friend?"
Claude looked over at him and snorted angrily before replying, "Oh, my "n.o.ble" friend, is it? Why? Does he suddenly fit in with your store?"
"Young Lord, I don"t quite follow what you"re saying..." the shopkeeper looked sincerely nonplussed.
"My friend was here earlier, you don"t remember?"
"Young Lord, your friend has stunning looks. I would definitely remember him if I saw him before. I have never seen him before today!"
"Oh really? My friend here came in earlier in a plain white hooded robe. You probably didn"t see his face? Then you kicked him out because you thought he was poor and couldn"t afford anything in the store." Claude continued to grill the shopkeeper. The man thought for a second before he remembered the event earlier today when he kicked out a little beggar kid. He didn"t get a look at the face so he did not recognize Greyson when he walked in.
"Young Lord, it was a misunderstanding. If I knew he was your friend, I definitely would never treat him so." The shopkeeper could only admit his mistakes while keeping his dissatisfaction locked away.
"Hmph! I won"t forgive you unless I see you kneel and apologize to my friend. Otherwise I"ll tell all my n.o.ble friends that your shop is a scam and the things you sell are overpriced and flawed! I"ll see how you run business then!"
"No! No, no, no, Young Lord, I"ll apologize, okay? I"ll apologize!" The shopkeeper panicked before turning to the little kid next to Claude. Gritting his teeth in anger, he swallow his pride before kneeling down and apologizing.
"I"m sorry little friend. It was I who was blind and do not belong in this store." Greyson looked at the man in front of him. He did not mind as much as Claude, but he wouldn"t lie and say that seeing this man apologizing didn"t make him feel good. He felt great!
Smirking, Greyson accepted his apology, "Oh, it"s okay. Everyone has moments of stupidity. I never took the incident to heart anyways."
The shopkeeper kept looking down, but his eyes burned with resentment. Once he looked up, though, he smiled widely and nodded, "yes, yes, it was my idiocy. Did the Young Lords want to buy anything today?"
"No, I wouldn"t want to shop in the low end store anyways." Claude quickly waved his hand lazily and started walking away. Greyson laughed nodding in agreement before following behind Claude. The shopkeeper looked at their backs before noticing the silver cat on Greyson"s shoulder looking back with mocking laughter in its eyes. Once they were gone, the shopkeeper grabbed one of the shop girls and threw her down. Venting his anger, he repeatedly kicked and stomped on the crying girl and wouldn"t stop no matter how much she plead. The girl fainted from her injuries before the shopkeeper finally stopped after he heard no response. Looking over to the guards, he ordered, "clean this up."
Looking over at his trusted attendant, he grit his teeth and squeezed out, "I want to know who that boy is. I"ll make sure he will regret disrespecting me!"
"But... sir... he seems to be good friends with Young Lord Devereux. Wouldn"t revenge be a bad idea?"
"As long as he can"t trace it back to me and the event seems random, why would he think to get revenge on me? Plus, my store isn"t that weak. My family isn"t as strong as the Devereux family, but they have their own connections." The shopkeeper glared with rage at the door before walking back to his office.
...
"Hey, Greyson, be careful. I don"t think that shopkeeper will let this go." Lucius whispered into Greyson"s ear. Greyson nodded and agreed that he should be cautious. However, he didn"t regret accepting Claude"s help.
Glancing over, he finally spoke out, "hey, Claude, thanks for that... I really appreciate it."
Claude smiled back, "We"re friends, right? It"s no big deal. n.o.bles like that disgust me anyways. They should be taught a lesson." Greyson smiled warmly at his comment and they continued walking towards the Devereux residence in the capital.