The Rebirth of Evelyn Knox

Evelyn had already seen how stubborn Cecilia could be, and knew that arguing with her would be simply pointless. 

She could only sigh helplessly. "At least tell me how much it costs?"

The ash blonde waved her hand with a smirk. "Ah… Mister Chonkers is too fat, and I'm too rich to care about such things! How can you expect me to remember?"

The old lady chuckled. Her impression of Cecilia's pink haired friend was quite good so far, despite the whole fiasco with the two boys earlier. She decided to help her out this time.  "Why are you being such a brat, Cecilia? Listen, Evelyn, this little idiot struck the lottery somehow, so you don't have to care about it, but when you're buying similar things in the future, something of this quality costs around… 300 to 800 spirit stones, depending on whom you're getting it from."

Evelyn nodded. Although it was ridiculously expensive compared to 'regular clothing', but when she considered it as a low grade artifact, the price seemed much more reasonable.

Bree, currently being just a senseless little child, had already changed into her new clothes right in the middle of the store. Thankfully it was just the few of them around, so she probably won't be too mortified when she recalls this moment in the future.

"Mo—Um, Eve! How do I look?"

Evelyn smiled as she watched Bree bounce around in glee. "Very cute."

The little girl grinned. "You also wear it!"

Evelyn shook her head. There didn't seem to be any changing room in this place, and she didn't feel comfortable using the old lady's place to change clothes anyway. "Uh, maybe later…"

"Aww…"

The pink haired girl rolled her eyes at their disappointed reactions. "I'll show you what it looks like when we get back, okay?"

==========

Having already accomplished what they came for, Evelyn and Cecilia didn't stay to bother the old lady too long, and headed back towards the short range teleportation gate that would lead them back to the White Lily Palace. 

"You won't be getting too much free time once the classes start, so feel free to relax as much as you want these few days."

Evelyn nodded. "What about you, Cecilia? You seem quite free. Is the load lighter after the first year?"

Cecilia scratched her head sheepishly. "Oh, these are holidays for us upper years as well, don't worry. Our classes also resume on the same day as yours start. Though technically I should be using this time to advance my cultivation."

The pink haired girl furrowed her brows. "I'm not being too much a nuisance, am I?"

Cecilia shook her head. "Not at all! I feel your arrival here brought a breath of fresh life into my dull routine, instead. I'll be more efficient when I do cultivate now!"

Evelyn sighed in relief. "That's good. But how busy are our days going to be, later?"

If she really didn't get any free time at all, it might actually derail some of her plans a little.

Cecilia hummed in thought. "How much time you spend in class every day depends heavily on your professors, but even if you do get a lot of so-called free time, you should be spending it either training or cultivating anyway, otherwise you'll keep falling behind others. So keep that in mind, I guess."

Evelyn nodded. 'So if my luck isn't too bad, it should still be manageable. As long as I can take out around six hours a day, it should be enough for a trip to the forest and back.'

Cecilia was unaware of her friend's ridiculous plans, and continued advising her earnestly as they walked. "Evey, I know you're like, super talented, more so than myself, but don't underestimate the people here, alright? The professors are generally old monsters, and the students they favor can easily get boosted to far above your level. We don't know what kind of means they have, after all."

The pink haired girl blinked in surprise. "Teachers picking favorites? Is it normal for this kind of thing to happen here, or is it just a few of them?"

Cecilia smiled. "Of course, everyone has their favorites. But don't let it bother you. I'm sure someone will definitely take a liking to you, since you're so cute and talented."

Evelyn couldn't help but chuckle. "Fufu… maybe if you were a professor, I wouldn't have to worry about much."

At this time, an elderly man with a leashed dog type beast companion walked past them, and the beast snorted derisively at Bree. 'Inferior mutt! Look at you walking around naked. No leash, no collar!'

As the only one who could somewhat understand what it was saying, Bree almost immediately exploded. But when she growled and wanted to pounce on the dog, Evelyn managed to catch her just in time.

Thankfully, the old man didn't seem to notice the interaction between his dog and the little girl, and soon disappeared from their sight.

Evelyn squeezed the little girl's cheeks. "Naughty! What if you had gotten bit by that thing?"

Bree snorted angrily. "Hmph, it may be bigger than me, but it's weak, too weak! Bree is strong now, much stronger than that thing!"

The pink haired girl rolled her eyes. "Alright, Bree is strong, but don't go attacking anyone unless I tell you to, okay?"

"Um, okay?"

Evelyn thought that would be the end of it, since Bree was an obedient 'child' after all. But as they walked past a shop that had various beast companion accessories on display, it seemed to have immediately caught Bree's attention.

"I want that!"

Evelyn didn't mind buying Bree anything, as long as it wasn't absurdly expensive or harmful, but when her eyes landed on the thing that the girl was pointing at, her expression couldn't help but turn weird.

It was… a doggy collar.

"You don't need that, Bree, how about we get you a necklace instead?"

"No! Please mommy, I want that! That thing from earlier looked at me so smug because his master gave him that!"

Evelyn had a headache as she thought about how to placate the little girl, and Cecilia's amused giggles weren't helping at all. "Uh… Didn't I buy you this dress? It's much better than a collar."

Bree pouted, but didn't argue with her anymore.

But looking at the sulky little girl, Evelyn could only sigh helplessly. "Fine. Let's get you that collar."

The shopkeeper welcomed them warmly, and didn't find anything strange… at first.

And then Evelyn started trying out various collars on Bree's neck to see which ones would look good.

The middle aged man could only stare blankly. 'What the hell is going on? Don't they know this is a beast accessory?'

"Uh, miss, you know… that thing is quite useless on humans. Its calming effect only works on beasts."

Evelyn nodded, having already known as much. 

The shopkeeper felt a little helpless, thinking that perhaps this little girl was just too young to understand it properly. "We have a strict no refunds policy in our store, miss, so if you buy it then you can't return it later."

Evelyn rolled her eyes as she recalled that this was the second time she was hearing about a 'no refunds policy' here. Though the first one was from Cecilia. Did she look like an impulsive buyer? 

"We understand. Don't worry, shopkeeper."

Once Bree took a liking to a purplish blue collar and Evelyn decided that it looked quite alright, they paid the shopkeeper and left.

Cecilia couldn't help but tease her friend. "Fufu… the shopkeeper looked so reluctant to sell that to you. He probably thought you were a pervert."

Evelyn rolled her eyes. "He was clearly just worried I'll come back to return it later for a refund."

The ash blonde chuckled. "Still, I have to say… you're so stubborn against me, but melt so easily when it comes to Bree… I'm a little jealous."

Evelyn sighed. How come Cecilia was sometimes so dependable, and yet still so immature? "Seriously? She's just a baby right now…"

Cecilia seemed to realize something as her eyes lit up. "Ahh, so you're weak against children?"

Evelyn shrugged. More than being weak against children, she felt that she had a soft spot for Bree in particular.

After all, she was probably the one who had sacrificed the most for both Evelyn and her family, so how could she not have a good feeling for her? Evelyn's heart wasn't made of stone.

Cecilia seemed to take her silence as her being shy. "Ehehe… Don't be embarrassed. You should use this chance to practice your parenting skills so that you'll be a good mother in the future, you know?"

Evelyn scoffed. "I have no interest in such things, Cecilia, and don't plan on—"

She wanted to say 'ever being a mother', but considering how Bree usually called her 'mommy' in private, she didn't want to mention such a thing and end up triggering a response from Bree that would just embarrass her further in front of Cecilia.

The ash blonde thought that maybe she was considering 'being a mother' in her mind, and couldn't help but be a little startled. 'Little Evelyn had been so against accepting that she could ever be interested in a 'boyfriend', but it turns out she's quite interested in being a mother!'

But considering how easily she had given into Bree's demands, she'll probably suffer a lot once she had a child of her own. Hopefully, her husband can share her burden.

Cecilia didn't know why she felt a little uncomfortable at the thought.