After the shock with Erina's luggage, Lanie and David were in a trance, with the first saying "Rich people are really from another world!" And the last one saying "I shouldn't be surprised, I've been working here for years... what a shame...". With these lines it was already possible to see that Lanie was a newbie, while David was already an experienced employee. When John offered to help us carry the bags, the employees got out of their trance and were also ready to help as well.

With the help of the three, Erina and I were taken to our rooms. That's right, rooms in the plural. That explained the size of the bedrooms, the rooms were individual. Erina and I had two rooms on the first floor. Each room had a bed, nightstand, chest of drawers, closet, curtains, folding screen, desk with chair, shelves. With the basics already provided, the decoration would be at the discretion of the student. For me, the rooms were a good size - considering that they are single rooms, I expected them to be cubicles -, but for Erina, whose room in the family mansion was larger than a classroom for a hundred people, those rooms were small. She would have to think of another way to keep all her belongings.

After we received the keys and put the luggage in the rooms, John took us for a walk through the commercial district. When John proposed the walk and we stepped our foot out of the dorm, Erina quickly crossed her arm with his, gluing her body to his. This is getting out of hand! I'll have to put a limit on that!

“Erina, don’t treat my brother as if he was your butler!”

“No need to worry”, John tried to reassure me, “I'm not uncomfortable, so there's no need to scold her.”

John, dear brother, you are too naive for your age! The girl who is nesting in your arm is far from being an innocent maiden!

“Brother, she's my friend. You don't have to treat her like that just because she has money!”

“And that's exactly why I don't mind.”

“Huh?”

Both Erina and I look at him, confused.

“She's your friend and she makes you happy. Being a member of high society must be difficult. As much as you have so much money, there is always a concern to maintain a perfect image. That's why I want to make her comfortable, so that she will always comes to stay with you. Therefore I don't mind.”

“John...”, Erina sighed, her eyes were shining and she took the hand from her free arm to her lips, like a maiden in love.

That's it. Now she won’t give up on him.

“Brother”

“Yes?”

“You are too much of good person.”

With his free hand, John head-patted me and also gave me a warming smile.

 “You don't have to praise me! Just knowing that you will be in good company already makes me happy!”

I WASN'T PRAISING! When I said he was too much of a good person, I was giving him a worried smile, but he didn't understand! It was like I said before, he is unable to see any malice in Erina.

Without me even expecting, John extended his forearm that was free to me, signalling me to cross my arm with his. I don't know why he's doing this - maybe I was a little pale - but I thought it was better to accept the offer so I wouldn’t give the impression that I was upset with him. And so the three of us went to the commercial district, Erina and I leaning on each arm of John.

Arriving in the district, Erina and I were able to see better the shops we had seen by the sly. As it was not yet time for lunch, the three of us could take a look at the establishments. Erina was the one who decided where we would go first, when her eyes caught the sight of a beautiful dress in the window of a boutique. The moment she saw the piece of clothing, she ran to the store, consequently letting go of John's arm. How ironic! She made a point of holding on to John and, at the first sign of distraction, forgot about him.

Obviously, John and I followed Erina into the boutique. Its name was Silk Shine. Despite its name, the store also sold clothes of other fabrics. Next to the door we entered, was the exhibition showcase, in which mannequins positioned in front of elegant purple curtains exhibited attractive outfits to attract buyers into the establishment. The floor of the store was made of wood, as was the lower half of the wall. The upper half of the wall was made of beige bricks. Distributed by the boutique, there were clothes maws and shelves presenting different types and colours of shoes, as well as mannequins dressed in the most popular costumes of the moment. Next to the cashier, there were some fitting rooms of purple curtains.

While we followed the Erina’s rhythm, the store attendant approached the three of us. He was a man with brown hair combed on the side, wore rounded-rimmed glasses and dressed very well.

“Good morning! How can I help you?”, He greeted us politely.

“We're just taking a look”, I answered.

“Right”, he nodded, “If you need anything, I'll be next to the cashier”, and then withdrew.

Then I felt something take my arm and pull me hard. It was Erina, who had pulled me to a corner of the store on the pretext of showing me something. She took her hand close to her mouth, so that John could not read her lips, and whispered with the greatest excitement:

“Glasses!”

“Huh?” I asked, confused.

“The attendant wears glasses!”

“And what is it important?”

“Did you like him?”

My frown frowned in response.

“... You're making fun of me.”

Erina laughed at my reaction and quickly had her focus directed to a dress that seemed to be expensive. With nothing to do, I went to John, who was looking analytically at a mannequin dressed from the men's section. He seemed to be stuck in his own thoughts to notice that I approached.

“... This one would look fine...”, he murmured to himself.

“Are you going to take this one?”

Listening to me, John turned around with an impressive speed.

“I-I was just looking...”, He justified himself, scratching the back of his neck. I swear I saw a slight blush on his cheeks. Would he be embarrassed? There’s no reason to! What's wrong with me seeing him interested in clothes?!

Looking beyond me, John saw something that pleased him. Passing by me, he went to a table that had heads of mannequins that had hats and took one. It was a long-brimmed light blue hat, tied by a purple ribbon. Next to the ribbon, there was a small cluster of dark purple spheres that reminded me of jabuticabas.

“What do you think?”, John asked me.

“I think  it’s beautiful”, I replied.

“I think it would be good on you! Why not take it?”

“... I don't think I'll have so many opportunities to wear this hat while I'm at school.”

John looked at his hat again and nodded, convinced. Even with my comment, he decided he would buy it for me. Does he insist because he now has a job? I've heard of people who want to gift their parents and family using their own money when they finally get a job. It must be the same case with John.

“Hey! Are you going to bring anything?”

John and I saw Erina running to us, hugging a piece of clothing close to her chest.

“I'm thinking of taking this hat to Amaris”, John replied.

“Hmmmmm...”, Erina tilted her head closer to the hat and analyzed it. Then she turned to evaluate me full body and, after looking at the hat again, she told me, “It will match your dress!”

“Thank you! And what are you going to buy?”, I asked.

“This pair of boots here”, She showed us a pair of white high boots with thin and black laces and brown soles, “We're already going to lunch, so I don't want to walk with several bags. But eventually I'll buy more.”

“Let me take them to the cashier”, John offered, referring to the boots and the hat.

“Huhuhu, what a gentleman!”, Erina commented, willingly handing over the boots to John. After my brother withdrew and was far enough away, she approached me and whispered, “He grew up and became a quality man, don't you think?”

“... I can't disagree.”

“If you weren't his sister, you would be my rival in love, wouldn't you?”

“Don't cross the line, please.”

After John returned, he handed each of us a bag with our respective purchased piece. Erina then took a purse of money stored in a hidden pocket of her dress and took from it an amount of money equivalent to the price of the boots. At first, John refused the money, but Erina insisted until he finally gave in.

Then we went to the bookstore and looked at the volumes we found there. The owner of the bookstore, a lady in her early 40s, was very friendly and also a business woman with good speech. It was evident that she had many years of experience and lavished them with pride. She kept watching us, paying attention to our conversations and, when the moment of opportunity came, she approached and gave us recommendations. She recommended to Erina a romance novel by an author who focuses on this theme and, to me, recommended the first book in a suspense series. Sly woman! She did this to make sure we would come back to buy more in the future! Anyway, we bought the books. In addition, Erina was also looking around the store, hoping to find some student from the Academy, and, unfortunately, she did not find anyone. She will have to be patient and wait for the entry ceremony tomorrow.