Chương 413: Harvest Festival (3)

Hearing the door open - thanks to the small bell attached to the inside of the doorframe, which rang out when the Orc ushered me inside - the Duchess looked up from her papers and turned to smile at us, before her lips curled up even more as she put the papers down and said "Ah, Astra~! Welcome to 'Families Beginnings'~! I trust you got here alright?"

She turned her sky blue eyes towards the Orc, who gave the Duchess a deep bow before quietly walking deeper into the store, leaving us alone in the front.

"Good, good~! Was Shelur as quiet as she always is? I hope that wasn't awkward for you, Astra..."

I chuckled, shaking my head as I replied "She was quiet, yes, but I was captivated by this part of the city. I had never been, so being able to take it in without any distractions was nice! Besides..."

Trailing off, I smiled beneath my veil as I recalled the few moments of fantasizing I had about Shelur, before I shook my head and approached the Duchess, pointedly looking at the papers and asking "What were you looking at, if I might ask, Duchess?"

I didn't miss the smirk that she aimed at me when she noticed the poor attempt at changing the subject, but she didn't pursue it as she instead said "I was taking a quick look at the costs for those plushes and dolls you had come up with. The material cost and labor cost primarily, and gauging the best price to sell them at to earn a good profit whilst still being affordable to everyone. But, now that you are here, I think we should focus on doing a nice tour, hm? And what better place to start then here..."

Stepping away from the counter, the Duchess gestured towards the room we were in and did a quick twirl, causing her suave crimson dress to billow out slightly with her movements and reveal her shapely legs for just a moment, those stocking clad calves stirring something in me for the brief second I caught sight of them...

It made me realize just how horny I really was, since such a brief look at something so normal got me all riled up... though the fact that the transparent red cloth that covered the tops of her breasts showed how they jiggled when she looked back at me wasn't helping either.

With her hair braided neatly into four separate strands, the Duchess let her 'fluffy' braid dangle over her left shoulder, the red hair resting atop her breasts; meanwhile, flower ornaments had been woven into the braid, and like when we had first met, a larger flower clip rested on the other side of her head, balancing things out and displaying the woman's love for anything related to flowers...

Something that made me wonder if it was just a love for them, or if it had something to do with her name, Poinset - it sounded like it was derived from Poinsettia, so perhaps she is some type of flower related race?

"Astra?"

Smiling at me, she waved her hand in front of my face and snapped my attention away from her beauty and instead onto her words, causing me to nod as I coughed and nodded, apologizing as I said "I'm sorry Duchess, I'm still waking up..."

"That's fine. It is still rather early in the morning, after all. Now, let's take a look around, hm? I have to say that I am rather proud of this store of mine~!"

I blinked a few times as I felt the Duchess grab my wrist and guide me towards the glass display at the front, the woman excitedly showing off the various hand carved pieces of furniture that this store sold alongside all of the toys and various things that a child might enjoy; half of her words slipped through one ear and out the other as my attention remained on the dainty hand that was grasping my wrist.

"Ah, and Astra, can you spot anything special about these pieces here~? Anything at all~?"

Hearing her excited, anticipatory tone, I blinked a few more times and leaned closer to the cradle she was pointing at, my eyes scanning over it even as my mind focused on the fingers that stroked my arm idly.

My eyes did land on the crest that was engraved on the side of the wood, and I hesitantly asked "Is... Is that a poinsettia?"

"It is... and do you have an idea on what that might mean~?"

I looked back towards the Duchess, who was grinning happily at me as she continued to speak, not letting me answer as she waved her free hand at everything inside the store, informing me "Everything you see inside this store was made by my family... or well, was made by my sister, who had more of a knack for working with her hands than working with words. I manage the business, she supplies everything in here. It used to be run by our parents, but..."

She trailed off, her smile turning a bit sad as she looked around, only to smile back at me as I reached over and stroked the back of her hand, only for the two of us to stand there silently as she slid her hand from my wrist to my own, entwining her fingers with mine.

Though, when the door opened again, the Duchess hastily removed her hand and looked towards the door, before saying "Ah, there she is! Speaking of, Astra, this is my wonderful older sister~!"

I blinked a few times as I looked down at my hand, though when I turned I blinked instead because of the near identical copy of the Duchess that was standing at the door, though the differences were rather obvious.

Where the Duchess had a near permanent smile of some kind on her lips, this woman was frowning; where the Duchess had an air of regality around her, this woman was colder and more serious, though considering the nod she gave me and the kiss she placed on the Duchess' cheek, it would seem it was just her expression doing her a disservice.

"Greetings. Name's Annie."

Her voice was also far less sonorous than her sister's, instead being rather gruff and raspy, whilst the darker blue eyes seemed far deeper than the Duchess'.

"Annie, this is Astra; Astra, this is my sister Annie. She... stepped down from the position of Duchess and told me to do it instead..."

Pouting, she looked at her sister, who just shrugged and gestured towards the shop, saying "Who'd ever heard of a Noblewoman doin' woodcarving? Besides, all those damn formalities are so stuffy and annoying... Rather be carvin' some wood and paintin' it. Much easier to deal with then people..."

"As you can likely tell, we're... not much alike past our looks. Annie took after our Mother, and I took after our Mom. When they... passed, they left us 'Families Beginnings', the store they opened up together. It's not the fanciest, not the most expensive, not the most profitable, but..."

Looking around with a warm smile, the Duchess nodded to herself as Annie said "It's ours. And eventually, it'll be one of our kids stores as well. Though, hopefully that's not for a long, long time..."

"Speaking of, when are you and your wife going to start trying, hm? It's been two years Annie~! Gimme some beautiful nieces already!"

Snorting, the slightly taller, thinner woman looked at her sister and shook her head, saying "Same goes to you, Renna. When are you gonna stop being so damn passive and sta-!"

"HUSH!"

Surprisingly, the Duchess placed her finger on her sister's lips, blushing hard as her older sister just smirked and glanced at me, confusing me a bit as the two women just stared at me, dark blue and sky blue conveying far different emotions despite being so similar in color...