"Hmm, this shop is so…interesting. There is ancient magic woven in the walls strong enough to even repel my fae magic. I feel so…suppressed here…but not in a way that makes me afraid."
The female sitting on the couch spoke. She was Isabella Lilly, the Duchess of Grand Cheshire Empire.
There was not a single person out there who did not know her name or her face. But her fae nature and aura made people naturally afraid of her.
Fae were scary creatures and they did not like to mingle with humans. But once in a while, they blessed humans with their powers and blood.
That was how she had inherited her fae blood and rose to a position of power.
One would usually think that someone in her position usually had nothing to worry about. But they could not be further from the truth.
The fae nature Duchess Lilly had inherited made her unable to sympathize with humans, and thus made her feel alienated from her family and subjects.
That was one of her biggest worries, that she was too much for her subjects and she was causing them harm.
But she had no one to talk to, so all she could do was pray to god to help her out.
And finally, after praying for over 50 years, god seemed to have heard her prayers and sent a messenger to her who could help her out in the form of this shopkeeper.
If that truly was the case, then she had a reason to believe in god and do everything to help spread the word of god.
'Mister shopkeeper, let's see what you have. If you are a fake, then you will die by my hands. And if not…then it would be my pleasure to spread your presence to the world.'
Her eyes moved to look at the young shopkeeper once more, but a weird power obstructed her from being able to see his face and she became more and more certain that the shopkeeper was not a normal person.
______
"Shopkeeper, I will buy this book…and about that music box…"
"I'm afraid it is not for sale."
I told the customer and she looked at the music box with a longing face before she left. She was the fifth customer in the past hour to try and ask me about the music box.
But no matter how many people came and how much they offered, I was not going to sell the music box to them.
The sales of the day made me feel better but I was still aware of the eyes looking at me from behind the couch.
I felt a little nervous, but I kept my composure and did not allow myself to falter.
The few remaining customers also noticed the chilling glare that was being aimed my way and made swift decisions about what to do.
"I-I will take this one book."
"I will take this one."
One by one, they picked up books and left the store, leaving me alone with the old lady. She was waiting for me silently and I felt the need to serve her some tea.
I looked at my pantry and picked up the most refined and high-ingredient tea I could find. They were all labeled and that helped me choose.
I also decided to add a few calming herbs to the tea that did not react with it and brought the tea to my guest.
"Are you done for the day?"
The older female asked me and I nodded.
"Yes. Just give me a few minutes to close and I will be with you. Until then, please enjoy the tea I brewed for you."
I handed the older lady the cup and she took it gracefully. But her eyes did not leave me for a single second while I did this.
With a nervous smile, I walked over to the storefront and locked it before I walked back to the older lady and took a seat in front of her.
I allowed her to take control of the conversation while maintaining my position with a smile. The female did not take long and did not beat around the bush either.
"Let me be frank with you, sir. The reason I am concerned is because I feel like I am losing my humanity. I don't have many emotions to begin with…but it's getting to a point where I feel like I am ignoring my people's needs. As Duchess Isabella Lilly, the Duchess of Grand Cheshire Empire, this is unbecoming of me."
The older lady told me and I finally had a name to put to that face.
'A D-Duchess…isn't that a big deal…like royalty? Am I qualified to counsel someone like her?'
I was not downplaying my abilities here, I was genuinely concerned.
While I had 10 years of experience, it was always with people I could generally handle. But a duchess…I had no idea what being one meant.
Moreover, it was a lot of responsibility on my shoulders. One wrong move here and my neck would go flying.
'L-Let's start small. I don't need to make the Duchess reach a conclusion in the first meeting. I should try to distract her from the real issue at hand.'
It was something I was good at.
"Hmm, that seems like a valid concern. So, you are worried about making a mistake because you are unable to connect to your people? Then, how about allowing your people to make a choice. You can ask them to cast a vote for important matters. That way, you won't be held responsible for any of their decisions."
I told the older female to adapt democracy from modern times.
But I continued before she could ask any more questions.
"Of course, you cannot do that for every small decision, so you can allow some representatives among your people to present their views to you…but you should allow them to choose for big decisions."
I made my voice as convincing as possible so that what I said came across as a suggestion rather than a solution.
It was a tactic doctors often used to guide patients toward the right path while still allowing them to think that they were in control.
"Hmm, that is…not a bad solution. I will try to apply it and see what happens."
The duchess told me before she stood up to leave. I watched her head toward the door and held my breath as she opened the door.
And then, she was gone and I felt my body relaxing.
"I-I survived that encounter. Let's hope that this streak of luck continues in the future as well and I don't have to face such a situation again…"
I complained as I cleaned up the mess left behind by the duchess. The tea in the cup was finished and I had not been harmed, so I considered it as my win.
Ding
The message startled me and I opened the phone to look at the screen.
[15 faith points earned.]
The message was simple but it told me a lot about my situation and how I could earn more faith points.
"As expected, I need to treat more patients to earn more faith points. And to do that, I need to have a better infrastructure that is comfortable and also fun to interact with."
And to do that, I needed some time and effort on my part. But first, I needed to eat.