"Welcome sir, ma'am."

As soon as Leon and Layla entered the shop, a young-looking butler greeted them with proper etiquette.

Leon, ignoring the butler, turned to Layla and informed, "This place is where my mother usually visits to get all her wardrobe set. You can get your sandals as well."

Upon mentioning the term 'mother', the butler once again looked at the boy, especially the hair and his golden eyes.

"Ah!" He exclaimed upon noticing. "Those eyes, you must be a Valentine."

"Hm?" Leon turned toward the stunned-looking butler. "You are the caretaker here, I assume?"

The butler straightened his posture and politely nodded, fixing his bow. "Indeed sir, I am Sirius Don Hoodwick, the caretaker here. You can simply address me as Sirius."

'Sirius?' Leon repeated the name in his mind. 'Well that's… quite a name.'

"How may I help you, sir and madam Valentine?" Sirius asked, looking at both their faces.

Leon spoke in place of Layla. "My cousin here wants sandals for a special occasion which will be held tomorrow."

Leon pointed to Layla. Hearing Leon's request, Sirius's face brightened.

"Why of course, madam. You have come to the right place. Just today we received plenty of new stocks. Would you like to see?"

Layla nodded her head.

"Sure."

"Perfect, this way please."

As Sirius led them ahead, Layla ran close to Leon and whispered in his ear.

"Leon, why did you bring me to this expensive place?"

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"No, don't get me wrong. I just didn't bring enough gold coins with me."

"..."

That was something new. As a Valentine, she was supposed to be super rich, just like Leon's other siblings.

'Wait, did my uncle not give her enough?'

The thought crossed Leon's mind. Of course Leon soon discarded the idea. 'No no, that's not possible.'

From the way Layla's father talked about both their kids, it was clear that he treated them enough to get spoiled.

"How much do you have?" Leon asked just in case.

Layla leaned in further to his ear and whispered softly.

"Only a hundred million gold coins."

"..."

His eyes twitched after hearing this absurd sum of money. This girl right here was basically a millionaire, and she still thought it wasn't enough.

'Did she ever go window shopping on her own before?' Leon had some doubts.

He sighed then casually replied, "It's enough, but if you still come up short, then I will help."

"You will? That's so sweet of you." Layla's eyes shone. "Then I will surely return the favor to you one day."

Leon said that to her even though he was broke right now. He knew all too well that her shopping value wouldn't exceed more than two hundred thousand.

Sirius stopped beside a three-story rack filled with different varieties of leather sandals.

"These are our finest creations, crafted using the skin of Trojan lizards by the hands of well-trained professionals."

Layla leaned forward to the rack and examined each sandal. She carefully asked Sirius about the material, glue, and leather details and evaluated them using that information.

From the way she judged things, Leon deduced that she was extremely picky.

"What did you choose?" Leon asked her to ease her confusion.

Layla pursed her lips, still looking at those sandals, and said, "I don't know. All of them look super sturdy and professionally crafted."

'So, she's the type who prefers quality over looks?'

That was rare to find.

"Leon, what do you think I should get?"

"Huh?" Leon raised his brow and simply said, "What? You want me to decide?"

Layla nodded.

Leon didn't reject the idea. He simply walked and picked up the very first sandal from the rack within his reach.

"How about this one?"

Anyone could see what he did there. Even Layla was lost for words.

"Seriously?" Layla flailed her arms and replied, "Leon, I am kind of hurt."

"What? But why?"

"You say why?"

Actually, Leon was aware of what he did just now. He didn't want to waste his energy on useless stuff, so he picked up the closest sandal near his hand.

'Guess she didn't like it…' Leon thought back on his action. 'Well, then why did she say all of them looked good?'

Leon scratched his cheek and said, "Well, to be honest, I like each one of them."

Layla paused. "Each one?"

She looked at the entire rack. Then the second rack. Then the third. All three floors filled with sandals.

She turned back to Leon slowly.

"All of them?" she repeated.

Leon nodded once, completely serious. "Yeah."

Layla turned back to the racks again. Her eyes narrowed as if she was calculating something.

"Alright then," she said calmly.

She raised her hand and pointed at the very first sandal on the top left.

"From here…"

Then she pointed her finger all the way to the last sandal on the bottom right.

"…to there."

She looked at Sirius with a bright smile.

"Pack them up."

Sirius blinked.

"Pardon?" he asked, genuinely confused.

Layla repeated without hesitation. "Pack them up. All of them please."

"All… all of them, madam?"

"Yes," she replied with full confidence. "Leon said he likes each one, so I will take each one."

Leon froze. "Wait, what? When did I say buy everything?"

Layla puffed her cheeks. "You said you liked all of them."

Leon stared at her, then at the racks, and then at Sirius who already looked like he was calculating ten different bills at once.

"…Layla," Leon said quietly, "you do know there are more than five hundred sandals here, right?"

Layla blinked. "Only five hundred? That's not a lot."

Sirius almost dropped his clipboard.

"Madam, this is… quite a large purchase," he managed to say.

Layla nodded proudly. "Yes. Please prepare them."

Leon facepalmed. 'She will actually buy everything… this girl is insane.'

Sirius gulped and bowed slightly.

"As you… wish, madam."

After her purchase, the total bill came out to be thirty-seven million gold coins. That was basically one hundred million dollars.

Sure, in his previous life, Leon had done tens or hundreds of times larger transactions in a single day, but he was an adult back then. This girl, on the other hand, was still a child.

They told Sirius to deliver everything to the dukedom by evening. But even so, Layla picked up three random boxes to take with them, just in case of any urgency.

"Please visit again!"

Leon and Layla stepped out of the shop with Leon holding the three boxes.

"Hmm… I smell something delicious," Layla said while sniffing the air. She turned to Leon and added, "Hey, treat me to something delicious."

Leon sighed and started walking. 'Sure—'

But as he looked ahead, he saw two pairs of eyes staring at them.

Two young girls with similar facial features, matching outfits, hats, and glasses stood in the street and stared in his direction. Even though they were in disguise, Leon identified them easily.

'Eula and Rinna? What are they doing here? Shouldn't they be in class?'

Layla beside him noticed the way he paused and followed his gaze.

She squinted her eyes at the faces, the matching clothes, and the almost identical height.

Before Layla could ask Leon, Rinna locked eyes with her.

Layla stiffened slightly.

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