The Flower Festival is one of the biggest events to happen in Florence.
The people of Florence were very fond of flowers, especially women, that the vast majority of the land owned by those people living in Florence has been used to plant different kinds of flowers wherein some of those flowers nearing extinction were planted and cultivated but there are only a handful of them and some of these near extinction flowers are difficult to raise and would take a long time to mature.
Since it's held in the season of spring where most flowers would bloom, the people of Florence decided to held a festival for the flower harvest which is what we call the "Flower Festival".
Except for the locals, many people from neighbouring kingdoms would also come to visit Florence. Aside from those blooming flowers, there are also different kinds of stuff being sold at the streets like armors, clothes, and artifacts. There are many merchants who would come to Florence during this event as it is an opportunity for them to establish some connections with other people especially those who are of high rank.
The streets of Florence were bustling as a flood of people could be seen walking around. Some of them were checking out some stuff that had caught their attention, some were just there to look around.
A carriage with the logo of a white rose entered one of the most bustling streets in Florence. They stopped outside a luxurious restaurant and as soon as their carriages stopped, a person came out from the restaurant to receive them. The person carried a polite smile and helped the people inside the carriage to get down.
The first person to come out was a woman full of white hair but still exudes the aura of magnificence. Everything around her looked so luxurious which made people around her be careful when tending to her.
"You're still as graceful as ever, Duchess Carmen." The person who helped her praised.
The woman who was called as Duchess Carmen couldn't help but chuckle when she heard that person's words.
"And you're still a sweet talker, Anton." Carmen replied.
After she got down, a woman clad in a pastel blue dress followed suit. She was the complete opposite of the woman who got down before her. Her silky long hair was hanging behind her which made her look more attractive. Even Anton couldn't help but get mesmerized by her beauty.
Following behind her was her personal maid, Lillian.
Anton sidestepped and bowed down to the woman who came out.
"Greetings, Miss Naomi." He said while keeping the polite smile plastered on his face.
Naomi only responded with a nod and a little smile.
Seeing her reaction, Anton didn't mind much and went back on entertaining the white-haired woman.
"It is Rosewood's great pleasure to have you here, Duchess Carmen."
The woman only smiled and didn't utter a single word of response.
Anton led the group of three inside and the fancy interiorsbrevealed themselves.
Rosewood was one of Florence's first-class restaurants and its reputation far exceeds those other first-class restaurants in Florence.
Seeing the fancy interiors of Rosewood, it won't be right to say that it isn't deserving of its title being first-class.
Aside from these fancy interiors, the foods they serve were also top-notch! Rosewood appeared in Florence's news a lot of times with numerous praises showered over them. Aside from having a massive reputation Florence, their fame had also reached the other neighbouring kingdoms and many of them made a trip to Florence just to dine in Rosewood.
Carmen couldn't help but nod in satisfaction as she walked through the elegant staircase of Rosewood. Despite visiting Rosewood a lot of times, she would always come and go with satisfaction.
Rosewood consisted of four floors and are differentiated by classes.
The first floor is open for all people. As long as you can afford to pay the high prices of the first floor's dishes, then you are allowed to dine.
The second floor is for wealthy people. Compared to the prices of the dishes in the first floor of Rosewood, the dishes in the second floor were much more pricey.
The third floor is for nobility and the fourth floor is for the royalty.
As you ascend the higher floors, the atmosphere and prices of the dishes also increases.
The nobility differed in status. The nobles are ranked according to their titles: duke or duchess, marques or marchioness, earl or countess, viscount or viscountess, and baron or baroness.
The title of a duke or duchess is only two rank lower than the royalty. Leading the ranks of royalty are the king and queen followed by the prince and princess.
As Carmen had the title of a Duchess and is cousin with the King of Florence, she's naturally given the highest privilege and benefits.
The four of them reached the room they had booked in the third floor and stepped inside.
The interiors of the room were simple yet luxurious and the atmosphere in it was full of ambiance.
As soon as the three of them had settled down in the dining table, Anton excused himself since as the manager, there are still some matters he needed to attend to.
"Duchess Carmen, I should excuse myself this time as I need to tend to a lot of things." Anton said politely.
"Go on, then. Actually, you needn't attend to us every time we come here for a visit. The service of the other staff here is good, too." Carmen replied with a smile.
"It's my pleasure to attend to you, Duchess Carmen." Anton replied and quickly bowed down.
After a while when Anton exited the room, a waitress came in and went on to entertain the people inside the room as a replacement of Anton. The waitress received their orders and excused herself to handle it.
It was only Carmen, Naomi, and Lillian inside the room.
Carmen looked at Lillian, who was standing by Naomi's side, and spoke.
"Lillian, take a seat." She ordered.
Lillian looked at her with confusion on her eyes. As Naomi's personal maid, she would always be sticking close to her and would always follow her. Today's no exception.
"Come on, there's no need for formalities within us." Sensing her confusion, Naomi urged.
"But..." Despite Naomi's urging, she was still hesitant.
Upon sensing Carmen's gaze on her, her hesitation came to an end.
She pulled out a chair beside Naomi and sat down on it. Still, she was somehow reserved.
While waiting for the dishes to be served, Naomi and Carmen talked to each other while Lillian remained silent and just listened.
Soon after, the food they have ordered arrived and in no time, the table was filled with dishes.
Although the food had been placed, the trio still didn't move their dining utensils as Carmen haven't told them so.
"Grandmother, can we eat?" Naomi asked while staring at the food placed in the table.
"Not yet, sweetheart. Someone's still not here." Carmen said.
"Who are we waiting for?"
Carmen was supposed to answer when the door opened and someone came in.
"Oh, he's here." A sweet smile appeared on her face.
Naomi and Lillian both turned to look at the person who entered and was shocked to see who it was.
"SECOND UNCLE!"
Both Naomi and Lillian was shocked to see the person who entered the room."SECOND UNCLE!"Naomi's voice reverberated in the whole room as she happily ran towards the person.That person chuckled and patted Naomi on her head like a kid.The person who entered was none other than Duchess Carmen's third son, Alistair. In all of Duchess Carmen's children, Alistair was the one who would often go out to travel and his whereabouts would be unknown. He would come home occasionally that it was hard for everyone to see him stay in Florence for too long.Although his whereabouts would be unknown, he would send some letters to his mother, reminding her that he was doing well and talk about other stuff.His arrival today haven't surprised Duchess Carmen but only the two ladies in the room."You still look short than ever, little lass.""What do you mean I still look short?! I grew 2 cm taller!" Naomi complained."I
Lillian give a quick chase to Naomi whose silhouette was slowly disappearing.Naomi stopped when she saw a hanging sign and stared at the place owning that sign which was the library. The sparkle in her eyes was still present and she stared at the library with those sparkles.She pushed the door which opened and the vintage interior of the library greeted her. The undisguised smell of both new and old books wafted together in the air.She went to look at the side and spotted something that made her smile."Lisa, something new today?" She walked in front of the library counter.The librarian, Lisa, have a huge spectacle on her eyes and freckles on her face. Her skin was tan and her hair was brown in colour which is currently tied in a fishtail braid.She was sitting down while reading a book and when she heard someone speaking to her, she immediately shut the book, stood up, and faced Naomi with a smile on her face."Well, yeah.
'Could it be a treasure?'With this possibility in her mind, she felt fearful towards the crystal ball.The thought of playing with it for a long time vanished in her mind. God knows how much a treasure is worth, be it a common, uncommon, or rare treasure and it is not something an ordinary person like me could afford.'Even if I save my lifetime salary, I can't fork out even half of a treasure's price...'Thinking back to her actions, Lillian's heart bled.'Good thing that I didn't damaged it even for a bit.' She cried inwardly.Lisa, who already snapped out of her deep thoughts, saw her staring fearfully at the crystal ball. A confused expression appeared on her face.She left the library counter and went near to Lillian while she stared at Lillian and the crystal ball repeatedly with a confused expression."What happened?" She asked.Lillian stared at her with the same fearful expression and glanced at the
The moon had already risen into the dark evening sky with the sun nowhere to be found.The once bustling streets of Florence became quiet, with the streetlights illuminating the darkness.The lights in every residences were already turned off which was the same in Naomi's residence.The door and windows of Naomi's room were closed and the heavy curtains were dropped to cover the windows. The atmosphere was warm.The room was quiet that the sound of Naomi's steady breathing could be heard.Her dream was nothing out of sort. What was happening in her dream was something she always wanted to experience in real life.Suddenly, the air enveloping the whole room became chilly which caused Naomi to frown due to the sudden coldness and grabbed the duvet tightly and draw it closer to her.At the same time, something bizarre is in her dreams. Compared to the usual vibrant dreams she would have, her dream this time was the complete opposit
Naomi crouched while hugging her knees, staring into the crystal clear glass shards with an emotionless face.Some crystal shards were scattered in the floor. Naomi picked a few and then threw it into the wall while still crouching.'What should I do?'Thinking of the circumstances she was in, Naomi wanted nothing more than to weep.'I never wanted to be transmigrated in an unknown world! If I did, atleast give me something that can help me!'Naomi was sullen and continued to pick and throw crystal shards as she remained silent and went deep into thoughts. Only the sound of crystal shards being thrown could be heard.This scenario continued for a while.Heaving a sigh, Naomi stopped and stood up, shaking the dirt off her snowy white clothes."I can't keep staying here and do nothing." She muttered to herself.'Okay. I need to get out of here.'She stared at the surroundings once again until her e
The dead branches and leaves that had fallen into the ground created a crisp sound as someone walked and happened to step on them.As Naomi walked forward, she kept looking around the area she passed by. Whether she walked into the right path that can lead her out of the forest, she wasn't sure about it herself.When she went out of the place she came from, on which she knew that it was a huge cave when she glanced at it from the outside, she just started to walk in the opposite direction of the cave and continued to walk forward.There was once a time where she thought that she had gone far away from the cave but when she looked back, she could still see the opening of the cave.Naomi continued to walk forward, venturing deeper into the forest. Looking around, she noticed that aside from the lush greenery and herself, the only beings that accompanied her were birds chirping as they fly away into the sky or stop by in some trees and there was still
The big black wolf fell into the ground as a silver arrow pierced its back where scarlet red blood oozed. It laid into the ground without making any moves.Naomi was still frightened with the sudden appearance of the big black wolf and how it attempted to kill her, its eyes appeared as if it can't wait to eat its food.She stood still, looking at the big black wolf, who was lying in the ground with its own pool of blood, with a frightened expression.She couldn't help but think, 'What if it succeeded?' Naomi couldn't continue to venture deeper in that thought."Are you okay?"The sound of the dead branches and fallen leaves being stepped upon sounded on which reached Naomi's ears.Naomi, with the same frightened expression she displayed on her face when she saw the wolf was going to pounce on her, looked up only to see a young man, who doesn't look like to be much older than her, approaching her.He was tall but fairly skinny. His loo
"So, how do beasts improve their cultivation?" Naomi asked.As Lucas patiently explained things regarding beasts and cultivation, Naomi listened attentively."Just like us, they gather the spiritual energy in the surroundings and absorb them. It may sound easy but doing it is pretty hard. Some beasts and people, commonly those with poor innate talent, even took several years just to take their first step in the cultivation realm. Things with spiritual energy should help them as well."'That should be hard...' Naomi thought.A cold glint flashed through Lucas' eyes. It was gone in a blink of an eye that no one would be able to notice it."There is a much more easier way for humans and beasts to improve their cultivation." Lucas said.Naomi became curious, "what is it?""The wolf's beast core I showed you earlier was silver, wasn't it?"Naomi nodded."Some humans and beasts would kill other beasts who are of higher c