"I-I-I-I-I-I wi-will be m-m-m-m-measuring your waist, n-n-n-n-now."
The teenage boy slowly wraps the tape measurement around Ruby's waist as she raises her arms out of the way. Sweating bullets, the boy carefully and quickly takes Ruby's remaining measures then disappears around a corner.
"You can get dressed now, Lady Ruby," the boy calls from the corner without showing himself.
"Okay" is her usual simple response as she puts her clothes back on unfazed at how the boy reacted. When she finishes, she reappears from behind the screen and takes a seat next to the duke.
"Did everything go well?"
"It went the same like in the other shop."
"The kid didn't touch you inappropriately, did he?"
"I am unsure of what being touched inappropriately means as he touched me the same way as Leyna and the other maids do. However, I do think that he might be ill as water was falling from his forehead."
"As long as he didn't do anything wrong, then there isn't a problem."
Ruby and the duke sit quietly while Ruby skims through a catalog that she found on the table.
"Father, why do men wear clothes like this while women wear clothes like in the shop before?"
"What do you mean?"
Ruby points at the pants in the catalog. "In men's clothing, you can see the shape of a man's leg while in women's clothing, they have a lot of fabric layers hiding their legs."
"Men need to be able to quickly move at a moment's notice. A dress is too congested to do that in. Women move slowly and do not need to run, so it is fine for them to wear something as constricting as a dress."
Staring at the catalog, Ruby points at a red and white suit. "This one looks very nice. Do you think so?"
The duke glances over at Ruby who is still showing her placid expression as she points at the drawing in the book.
-At the dress shop, she said that she doesn't have a preference, but now, she is saying that she thinks that the suit is nice. Does she actually know what she likes or is she just randomly pointing at something?-
Sitting up, the duke leans over to get a better view of the picture that Ruby is referring to. "Why do you think that outfit looks nice?"
"I don't know how to explain it. The dresses at the shop were very... excessive. I think that's the word for it. The suits here are very simple and subtle while still looking nice."
"Do you prefer suits over dresses?"
"Suits are very appealing; however, I will still try to maintain the dress for the sake of being the duke's daughter. It would be wrong of me to make the Stoneborne House look bad if I were to do something that is not normally done for a lady simply because of a passing thought."
-She is adapting quickly. She saw how everyone dressed on our way to the men's shop and took into consideration the norms of the kingdom. I don't know how, but she also understands the high image that the Stoneborne name holds, and she doesn't want to tarnish it. However...-
"Whatever you wish to wear is up to you. No one will say anything just because you are wearing a suit out in public. If you prefer to wear a suit than a dress on a random day, then do so. No one will stop you."
"Why will no one say anything or stop me?"
"You are the Princess of Stoneborne, Ruby Stoneborne. No one other than the queen can tell you to do something. This means that you are free to do whatever you want, whenever you want, however you want to do it."
"Am I an important person?"
"At the moment, no, you are not. However, once you are officially registered as my daughter after the meeting with the king next month, you will be the second most important woman in the kingdom, so you should live up to and act appropriately to such a title."
"I understand, Father."
Shortly after finishing their conversation, the owner that greeted us earlier walks over to us.
"Hello, again, Your Grace and Lady Ruby. Did you find everything to your liking? Was our employee polite to you, Lady Ruby?"
"Everything was fine. I had no problems," Ruby promptly answers.
"That's good to hear. Would you be making any orders with us today aside from the apprenticeship attire?"
The duke points to the red and white suit that Ruby mentioned earlier. "Send this to the Stoneborne Estate along with the apprenticeship attire."
"Do we have your measurements on file, Your Grace?"
"It is not for me. It is for my daughter. She liked the design and colors."
"But, Your Grace, women are not allowed to-"
"Are you refusing my daughter's order?" the duke asks with his signature cold glare.
"O-of course, not, Your Grace. We will send the suit along with your previous order by the end of the day."
"Let's go, Ruby. We have other places to go to today."
"Yes, Father."
Once the pair make it out the doors, the duke glances down at Ruby.
-The magic doctor's office isn't too far from here, so it should be fine to walk. On the other hand, this child is so obnoxiously curious about the world that she will randomly stop and stare at something until she knows what it is, making the walk longer.-
After coming to a conclusion with himself, the duke reluctantly holds out his hand. This makes Ruby stare at the duke confused.
"The magic doctor's office is just around the corner, so we can walk from here.
Knowing you, you will get separated from me if I take my eyes off of you for even a second. This is the only way to make sure that you don't get separated."
Ruby blankly stares up at the duke. "Are you sick as well? Raynold and the maids said that you are a cold man who doesn't like children. You also look uncomfortable. Do we need to see a normal doctor?"
"I am not sick. Although I dislike children, you are an exception since you were found in one of my mines with an unknown origin. I have a duty to investigate where you came from and why you were in the mine in the first place. Once I discover that, I will send you back where you came from."
"If you are just going to send me back in the end, why did you make me your daughter?"
Flustered yet annoyed, the duke takes hold of Ruby's hand. "You ask too many questions. Hold my hand until we get to the magic doctor's office."
"Okay."
---
"Ah, good morning, Your Grace. Are you here for another elemental stone?" asks an old man from behind a desk.
"Good morning, Doctor Pledais. No, I still have enough at the estate. I am here to have my daughter checked out."
Surprised by the strange request, the old man turns around to look at Ruby. Just as he gets her in his sights, he loudly gasps with widened eyes.
"Your Grace, where did you find this child?"
"Her origins are not important. She has the power of fire, so I wanted you to see her controllability over it."
"Your Grace, that child is dangerous."
"What do you mean?"
"She has a blazing red aura surrounding her indicating she has an overflowing amount of mana in her. If she loses control of it, even if it's just a little, she could possibly erupt in flames and destroy everything around her."
"Is there something she can use to control it or for her to learn to manage it herself?"
Digging through a small box in the corner of the room, the old man pops back up with a red bracelet in hand.
"Have her wear this every day until she can learn to manage the mana herself."
"What is it?" the duke asks as he takes the bracelet.
"It is a mana stone that specializes in fire magic. It will help control the child's mana just enough so that her mana doesn't overwhelm her, but it won't be able to stop any effects that occur from her magic. I'm surprised that she is still alive with the extreme amount of mana that she has for such a small body."
"Is there a teacher that can help her manage and use her mana effectively?"
"For the absurd mana that the child possesses, it would be best to get one of the mages in the king's magic tower to teach her so that they can also watch over the mana and make sure it doesn't consume the child."
"The king is unaware that I have a child. If I request a mage from his tower, he will immediately find out."
"The only other teacher that you could possibly find for this amount of mana is the ancient dragons, but they all have left the Newport Kingdom already."
The duke places the bracelet on Ruby's wrist. "Thank you, Doctor Pledais. I will take what you said into consideration."
Before the duke can leave the office, the old man stops him. "If you are planning on raising this child, you better be prepared. Those born with fire magic are inherently loud and rambunctious. You should count your peaceful days as they are starting to become numbered."