The third day of the festival arrived. Things have settled down a bit in the capital. The third day is for businesses. All the jewelers, shoes and dressmakers are always packed with customers, since on the fourth day is the victory banquet held for the nobles in the imperial palace. The emperor passed a law, 

"All who attend the victory banquet must be clothed in new garments,"

To boost the economy and convey prosperity. Hence, people buy theirs ahead of time in the capital and come to pick it up the day before the banquet. Others who can afford to do so buy their garments on the way and get some jewels, shoes, or a small piece of clothing from the capital. But they must do it themselves, so the third day is like a runway of nobles coming to shops looking elegant and flamboyant. Today, General Wania and her husband are going to town to prepare for their banquet plans.

The two left home close to noon, walking around town looking for an appropriate shop for Agnius, as most stores only made women's clothes. Wania didn't want to go to two different stores for a dress she would only wear once. The two drew attention wherever they went. Wania was the hero of the empire, and Agnius was the man who won the tournament. Citizens sang cheers and greeted them as they passed. Children came up to them to play, laugh and cheer. Wania played with some while asking for directions, and Agnius just looked at them and didn't scare them off.

"I'm surprised they're not afraid of you," Wania said, looking around for the shop and pointing to it.

"I'm not scary", Wania chuckled. Her eyes made contact with a store with noble men gathering at the front. If anything, it's a men's store. She went in, commanding the men to make way; as they saw her, they obeyed. Still, when they saw Agnius following behind, some started to whisper "Of course he can't buy clothes for himself, the general wouldn't want to embarrass herself by letting a commoner accompany her dressed like his own". Wania ignored them and entered, inside the reason all the other men were outside was clear.

"Is this the best you've got? The capital is truly lacking," a loud voice said as soon as she opened the door. The voice expressed its annoyance with the quality of the clothes shown, and when the door closed behind them, it screamed, "I said no one was to enter until I was done. Who dares?" The voice's owner turned around to see Wania and a tall figure dressed in black behind her.

"Dimitri Daigo, how is your father doing?" Wania asked. The man was the son of Duke Daigo. They controlled the southeastern seas, the continent's biggest port. Being in charge of it made their family one of the richest on the continent. As such, many merchants had their head offices close to the sea, making their province rich as well, rich enough to spawn a spoiled brat like Dimitri.

"General Wania, I was not expecting you to be here since this store mostly sells men's clothes," Dimitri said, but Wania ignored him. She walked in and sat down.

"Where's the owner? I heard you sell clothes for men and women here. I need a matching set for my husband and me."

The store owners were a husband and wife; they rushed away from Dimitri's side, tired of all the insults, and went to help General Wania. "Yes, your grace, we're the owners, my name is Miller, and she is Blossom."

"Both of you? A partnership?" she asked.

They showed their wedding rings, "For life, your grace." The sight caught Wania off guard, but she kept her composure.

"Alright, well, my husband is standing at the door over there," Agnius said, pointing to Dimitri, who was face to face with him. The duke's son had attempted to leave, but his father had warned him to avoid Wania at all costs, and he met Agnius at the door.

"Get out of my way. Don't you have any sense of recognizing your betters?" he shouted at Agnius, who was not paying attention.

"Agnius, baby, get rid of him." Agnius didn't hesitate, grabbed Dimitri by the neck, and flung him through the window. "Add it to my bill. Agnius, come here, let them measure you. We're wearing a matching set, so what colour do you like?" Wania acted like nothing happened, Dimitri turned to face Agnius and met his deep red glaring eyes. "Agnius, come" he turned and went to her. The men outside helped Dimitri up and urged him to report to his father, some even offered to be witnesses and Dimitri agreed so they went off.

Inside the store, Agnius was undergoing measurements of his clothes. "I know black goes with everything, but you've got to try something else." Wania was trying to deter Agnius from wearing black; it's all he wears. "Black, I like black", but it wasn't working. She turns to the store owners "Blossom, do you think you could do something with that? Add some highlights of blue, green and orange." Blossom nodded and brought over a book of designs. "You just need to choose from these designs", Wania looked through the books. Miller took Agnius' measurements, and Wania looked over to Agnius, watching him coldly tell Miller how he wanted black clothes to be made like his leather armor, because he was comfortable like that. Miller struggled to explain why the design wasn't appropriate for the banquet. She was enjoying herself doing something minimal and having someone to do it with; she remembered how she used to enjoy shopping with her sisters in her younger days.

"Your grace?" Blossom says, Wania snapped her eyes. "He's adorable, isn't he?" Wania blinked at Blossom's words "I'm sorry?" she sounded confused, urging Blossom to explain herself "We've heard the rumors, and the way you look at him, you find him adorable in a way you.ve never felt before" Wania was no longer confused but she was now stunned "I see, well. "It's strange to find someone that big and intensely adorable." Wania was trying to play along with the rumours. "We met unusually, so the fact that we're married surprised everyone. The commotion he's causing is rather funny." "But at the end of the day, you love him, and he's been a joy to have around", Blossom says. The two went back to choosing designs; it was off to the jewellers after getting it done.

 The two walked in silence through the streets. Agnius was following Wania, staying quiet because there was no need to talk. Wania was silent because she was still processing the conversations between herself and Blossom, but she just wanted to ignore them.

"Agnius, have you thought of a design for the wedding ring? " she asked, trying to occupy her mind with work or other tasks. Agnius nodded in agreement, and Wania was stunned. He was so quiet and boring that he seemed predictable. She didn't expect the men to take the guise of their marriage this seriously.

"Wow, I'm so excited to see what you have", Agnius was about to describe the ring. Still, Wania stopped him with a wave of her hand, "You should surprise me with it on our wedding day, and if you need help with making it, get it done here" They've reached their destination, a large stand alone building, with beautiful flowers decorating it's front, the windows sparkle so much with the gems been advertise. The two meet a crowd of women drinking tea as servants bring the jewels up to them to choose.

The chairs were set up in an arc, with a sofa in the centre. From the centre, going outwards, the chairs become small and less luxurious, the duchess and their daughters in the centre, and as the chairs, the women become less noble. There was an air of discrimination among them, the less noble women keep quiet as the higher ones select the best jewels amongst themselves leaving the not so pretty ones for the others, the smarts one take what they can get and go, the ones who think they're smart, scheme to get better jewels by bribing the servants to hide gems for you or paying extra to the store owners. It was a jungle of women trying to outshine each other, and Wania had just walked in.

Upon her entrance, the building fell silent. She looked around before the store owner could come running from his office.

"Great General Wania, I greet you. It's an honor to have both you and your husband visit my store." The man's name was Mai Jasper. He was a well-known jewel merchant who travelled the empire, but his base of operations was in the west, square in Wania territory.

"Mai Jasper, I needed jewels and gems for the banquet, something that goes with black, blue, green and orange" At Wania's words Mai Jesper snapper his fingers and the servants collected everything from the other ladies and brought them to Wania, all the jewels, necklaces, rings bracelets, brooches, everything that a lady could ever want was at Wania's feet "Take your pick your grace"

"Oh yes, I also need some for my husband." Mai Jesper turned his head to the tall man standing behind Wania. The man looked cold and intimidating. Mai Jesper avoided eye contact but still did as Wania asked.

The other higher noble ladies were fuming with anger, "How dare he? Who runs a business like this? It's just because she's the general" one lady mistakenly joked about Wania "Even the finest stones can't hide her unpleasant form", those worlds shut the room down, the lower ranker nobles practically ran out the building, some higher one left their elegance and grace behind, the lady who said it wanted to blend into the escaping crowd but said crowd pushed her back into her sit.

Wania only turned to look at her. She saw a younger lady in her early 20s sitting right next to the sofa. Wania asked for her name. She was too scared to speak, so others answered for her.

"Your grace, she is the newlywed Marchioness Edouard, René Edouard; she married Margrave Edouard earlier this year." She ran out after saying that.

Wania thought for a moment, "Margrave Edouard, the current margrave is Justin Edouard, son of Steven Edouard. I knew his father but had hardly met the boy, so what his wife the right to say about me like that" she was cold with her words, her were browsing through the jewels, "Go tell your husband what you have done, and tell him to report to me home before I get back". The lady was still too scared to move, but the store's servant helped her outside. Agnius stood there when Wania walked up to him, raising a ruby to his eyes.

"The colour doesn't match. Mai, can you get a ruby to match his eyes?" The two tried to search for a ruby to match but were unsuccessful. After hours of searching, they settled for diamonds and went home. At the gate, the Edouard family was waiting for Wania. They were not let into the estate. Wania didn't pay attention to them and went in. After leaving them outside for another hour, they were escorted inside.

In the parlor, Wania sat in light clothes. Upon seeing this, the couple rushed into the room and bowed their heads to the ground.

"Your grace, I beg of you, please forgive my wife for her actions. She is young and acting out. She was sheltered growing up, and her father spoiled her with many gifts, especially jewels and—" Justin was rambling on, but Wania stopped him.

"Shut up," she said, turning to Agnius. Did you see? He's just blaming her for everything and throwing words about." Agnius looked at her, paying attention to her words and actions.

Justin raised his head to quickly make excuses: "It's not my fault; I wasn't even there." But Wania was having it; she was glaring at him. "I don't care whose fault it is. Justin Edouard, I knew your father. He and I were so close. Your mother accused me of seducing her husband. Do you remember?"

He whimpered, shaking as he answered "Yes I remember" "do you remember what happened after?" tears were flowing from his eyes he was a mess, shaking and holding back tears, "You to-" she stomped on his head pressed it against the ground, grinning it into her rug "I took the lives of her brothers, and burnt their lands cause they said they would pay the price in her stead. A punishment your father pleaded to take in their place. You buried empty caskets that day, cause I refused to let you cut down the burnt corpse from the ashen remains of his home. Now you come before me, blaming your wife to save yourself. You spit on your father's memory" She removed her foot. Justin tried to lift his head, but the blood from his broken nose had stained the rug deeply. He couldn't lift his head from the ground, and his wife rushed to his side to comfort him. "You, René, take your husband and leave. I'll let you off for the Steven Edouard, but if you so much as joke with my name, I'll make you bury you own family alive" The guards helped the Edouard couple out of the room. Agnius watched from the window as their carriage left.

"Leave them, come join me for a drink, Agnius", she called out, and he went.

"You could have killed them; they could cause trouble later," Agnius said while pouring her a glass.

"I've killed a lot of people already. I don't want to kill more, at least not for a reason like that."

The two sat silently and drank briefly before finally going to bed for the day.