Chapter 5

The aroma of freshly baked pastries lingered in the air as the door chime rang, and people bustled in. It was a narrow breakfast shop: the line of customers consumed most of its space, leaving only a little room for three tables. Harvey and I sat in the corner. This morning, we decided to grab breakfast at the nearest shop while everyone prepared for this anticipated day. Posters of the Moonlight Ball hung on the glass panes and lamp posts, as the small boutiques started opening early.

I watched as Harvey stared distantly, mind elsewhere, pancake laid untouched on his plate. He’d been a little too quiet after the conversation we had in the apartment, and I wondered if he, somehow, regretted what he said.

“Harvey,” I called, and he turned his attention to me. He looked like he was about to drift to sleep. “Look at all those dresses.” I pointed at the boutique across the street, where two long gowns, worn by two mannequins, stood behind a glass pane. 

“Do you like them? We’ll look for your dress after this,” he said, taking a forkful of pancake to his mouth.

“We don’t have money,” I pointed out and chuckled.

He tucked a hand in his pocket. A bunch of coins clinked as he tossed them on the table.

“Coins?” 

What could you possibly buy with pieces of coins? Those amount to a soda and chips at a local grocery store.

“Not just any coins.” He took one from the table and put it between two fingers to show it to me. “Gold. I think it’s Azen’s currency. I found them in a string pouch in my closet.”

“Interesting.” I grabbed one and was surprised by the weight. It felt denser than the ones we had on the other side, and they looked a bit bigger. There was a tree engraving in the middle and unintelligible text embossed around it. “So they just hand out gold like that? Why didn’t I find any pouches in my room?”

“I couldn’t know for sure. But these will be enough to start.”

We went across the street after we finished our breakfast. It was early in the morning, but the boutiques were already crowded with people scrambling for suits and dresses for the ball. Boutiques were scattered near each other, and the one I eyed a while ago was near empty, if it wasn’t for that one lady bargaining for the gold dress. Harvey sat on the red velvet couch in the middle of the store, while I walked around to search for dresses that were displayed in glass boxes under warm lighting. Gold ornamental patterns decorated the rims, and dresses had a certain coherence in them. The fabrics used were muted tones, no extra contrasting colors, just pure cohesion. If one were too plain, the shape and the cuts would be a little asymmetrical. If the others were plastered with jewels and crystals, it would only be straight or silhouetted, none that would distract your eyes from the design itself. They didn’t look as if they were sewn by different people.

“I hope I can help you find a dress fit to your liking.” A lady walked in our vicinity, wearing black sleeves and trousers, a tape measure hanging on her neck. She glanced at both Harvey and me as I sheepishly stepped away from the dress displays. “Are you here to find something to wear for the ball?”

“Yes. I’m looking for something subtle but doesn’t look identical to other dresses,” I answered, as the black dress on the display caught my eye.

“Perfect.” She moved around the store, pulled a rack out of one corner, and placed it beside me. “I have some dresses here that might be perfect for your taste. Though they would cost about five golds for one.”

Five golds? I didn’t think we would have enough coins for five golds. So that was the reason the lady tried to bargain for a dress a while ago. I guess this store was quite expensive.

I glimpsed at Harvey, who stood from the couch and tucked his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

“Pick anything you want, don’t worry about it,” he said. The lady assisting us smiled from ear-to-ear like we were the first to agree to that price.

“I have something here that both of you will love.” She pulled out a hanger from the rack and dangled the dress in front of me. It had a lace corset tube, a little see-through in the torso, and the silk fabric with a long slit draped to the ankles. It was, indeed, subtle, but a little erotic. “It’s my latest design. I sell it off for seven golds, but since you’re my first customer and your boyfriend will pay for it, I would give it to you for five. You rarely see men walk in this store.” She let out a soft chuckle as I felt myself blush.

“I would say this is beautiful, but it would be an understatement.” I reached for the fabric of the dress. The silk was soft and dense, and it surely was of a high quality. “Can I try this on?”

“Absolutely. I’ll assist you in our fitting room.”

We headed to a narrow aisle where there stood three fitting rooms separated by red velvet curtains that matched the couches of the boutique. The lady helped me with putting on the dress, just in case I would accidentally ruin it.

“So you own this boutique, and you designed everything?” I asked out of curiosity, and I could see the glimmer in her eyes through the mirror.

“Yes. It’s the only thing I was passionate about since I moved here in this kingdom,” she answered as she tightened the knot behind the corset.

“You’re from the other side, too? What’s your name?”

She showed me the tag attached to the dress. There was a name written in cursive. Therese, it read.

“I think we’re mostly from the other side. I moved here with my parents when I was twelve.”

“You’re a werewolf, I would guess.”

She just hummed and stared at me through the full-length mirror. Her eyes turned red, and veins started to bulge around her sockets. I held my gasp, dumbfounded.

“A lycan,” she corrected. “Our packs are scattered around Azen, and I’ve only wanted to sew dresses, not fight like most of the lycans here; they can be very reckless.”

“I’ve never encountered a lycan in my life, just now. Are they any different than us, werewolves?”

“You’re new to Azen, I see.” She rearranged the frills of the silk and ironed them out with her fingers. “You’ll encounter many of us at the ball. And I hope to meet you there with your pack.”

“We have no pack. I mean, not yet,” I replied, a bit ashamed, as a realization sank in.

“You mean, it’s just you and your mate who moved here? Or are you a rogue?”

“Harvey –– I mean, he is not my mate or anything like that. We’re friends. We grew up together. And no, I’m not a rogue. Our pack is still on the other side,” was all I could say as she raised her brows.

“Oh, yeah, I should’ve realized. You still don’t have the mark.” She stared at my exposed shoulder before handing me a pair of lace gloves. “Here, pair it with the dress, and you will look stunning.”

The gloves reached my elbows, and I was in awe at the sight of my reflection in the mirror. I couldn’t believe how well this dress hugged my figure. Mom would’ve loved to see me looking like this –– like her little princess.

“You have an eye for design. Girls who come here don’t like the dresses because they’re too simple or too saturated with how dresses are made on the other side. They like traditional ball gowns that scream ‘I am here’.” She seemed so proud of her work as her eyes trailed on me. “We should show this one to your friend. He’d be surprised.”

We went out of the dressing room, with Therese holding the hem of the silk so I wouldn’t trip on it. As I walked out of the aisle, Harvey was already waiting for us. His eyes ran down the dress before it landed on my face. I gripped the silk and flattened it out with my hand, sheepishly standing in front of him. I couldn’t help the awkwardness in my stature under his gaze. I just hope he won't find a way to tease me.

“You look…” he raised his brows and tried to find words to say, “good in that dress.”

I gazed at my reflection in the mirror standing behind the couch and pulled my hair up to see the entirety of the dress.

“Do you think I should put my hair up or just let it down?” I asked. Harvey’s eyes were still locked on me as he stepped closer.

“A hairdo would be perfect. Since the dress is already draping, your hair shouldn’t pull it down even more,” Therese commented and fidgeted with her tape measure. “It’s just my suggestion.”

“Perfect,” I mumbled and tilted my head to look up at Harvey. I nudged his shoulder and gave him a teasing smile. “I like this one.”

He glanced at Therese behind me and said, “We’ll take this.”

I clapped in excitement and giggled. It was as if I was brought back to my childhood. When we would go to the ice cream store, he would tell me to get whatever flavors I wanted, and he would always offer to pay. I remembered when he laughed at the chocolate around my mouth and said I looked like an old man with a beard. One time, I cried when I broke my bicycle. The day after, he attached a seat to his bicycle so I could ride with him. Then we both ended up getting injured because, well, he wasn’t a great rider. 

After we managed to take the dress off, I waited on the couch as Therese packed the dress in a box and Harvey paid at the counter. The wooden door of the boutique swung open as a man wearing a suit and tie came in. He had the same fedora as the chaperone, and the same watch was attached to the pocket of his sleeves. He walked beside Harvey and rang the bell, which immediately caught Therese’s attention.

“Oh, you’re here,” she said and scrambled to the counter to assist the man. She pulled a cream-colored box tied with a pastel ribbon from the shelf and handed it to him. “I already have it ironed. If there are some flaws in the stitching or the princess didn’t like the fabric, I have another backup. But it’s the exact same dress that she asked me to make.” She handed him another box.

The man didn’t say much to her and just placed a string pouch on the counter before he left. The look on Therese’s face: the way her eyes glinted, her sigh after he handed her designs out, and the smile of satisfaction told it all. 

She designs dresses for the princess.

After she handed us the box, she gave me a card containing her name and her number.

“If you need anything, feel free to call me on the phone,” she said before we bid her goodbye.

“Now let’s find a suit for you, shall we?”

Harvey plastered a grin, and we walked down the street to the men’s boutique.

༺═──────────────═༻

If the Goddess fated, may everything align.

I read through the invitation again, as Mrs. Sebastian’s words lingered in my head. “You two will represent the pack, and you will find your mate.” It still hadn’t dawned on me: the duty. If I did or didn’t find a man during the ball, what now? Was it necessary to create an alliance through marriage and nothing else? If so, how could I find a mate knowing I wasn’t fully a werewolf? And the dream where I was bitten…

I looked at the mirror and ran a hand on my collarbone. 

Isn’t it a warning? A premonition?

While my thoughts ran in marathons, a knock on my door pulled me back to reality. I should get myself together.

“Come in.”

Harvey walked into my room wearing the maroon suit we bought a while ago. The black sleeves he wore underneath were barely buttoned up, revealing his bulky chest and the gold jewelry. He walked towards my vanity where I sat and handed a black box as small as the invitation card.

“I didn’t have the chance to give you this when we separated. I know it took years, but I still want you to have this.” 

When I opened it, a moon-shaped diamond pendant immediately caught my eye. It glimmered under my gaze, and the chain itself had little diamonds on it.

“Wow, Harvey, this is––“ I was lost for words, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of it.

“It’s a family heirloom. Dad told me to give it to the woman closest to me. And Mom already has her own, so I feel like you deserve it.” His low voice sounded so intimate.

“This is beautiful,” I responded and closed the box before handing it back to him. “But I can’t take it. We’re going to a ball, and you know why we’re there. Who even knows? Like maybe after this ball, you find your Luna, you can give this to her instead. It’s a family heirloom, not just something you should give away when you feel like it.”

He took the box from my grasp and stared at the necklace again.

“Elle, I don’t know what will happen at the ball. And I’m not giving it to you because I feel like it.” He took the necklace out of the box and went behind me. “Now, if you don’t want to because I know you probably feel guilty, let’s make a deal.” He crouched behind me, placed his face above my shoulder, and stared at me through the mirror, a smirk creeping on his lips.

“You’re making me nervous,” I said as his face came inches closer to mine that I could already hear his breathing.

“Am I?” he whispered, breath brushing against my cheek.

The space between us was non-existent, and I was holding my breath at the proximity. When he pulled away, I let out a sigh as he put the necklace around my neck. The weight and the cold surface of it sent shivers through my body.

“You didn’t tell me about the deal,” I nervously said, as he clasped the necklace, fingers grazing against my skin.

“If we don’t find our mates this evening,” he paused as his fingers trailed along my shoulders. I couldn’t move; it was as if I froze and all I could feel was Harvey’s teasing touch. “If we don’t find anyone to our liking… I would like to end up with you.”

I was surprised by his offer, and there were barely even coherent thoughts forming in my head. Had he planned it all along? Moving to Azen, just the two of us, going to the ball? That this wasn’t a proposal but a coercion? Or was it coercion if a part of me did sort of want it? 

No. We can’t. It’s too soon to decide. And the dream… is this what the dream showed me?

“If the Goddess fated, may everything align.”