Shopping Trip (2)

Auralia turned to look at who had just spoken, finding herself staring at a striking middle aged woman with dark brown eyes and long, wavy red hair. She wore a tight fitting black dress that hit her knee and showed off her beautiful figure.

The woman reeked of wealth, the diamond necklace and matching earrings adding to the aura of wealth. She was accompanied by two younger versions of herself, Auralia guessing that they were her daughters.

The two girls looked to be around Auralia's age, the one having the same red hair as her mother while the other had brown hair. The brown-haired girl wore a similar looking dress to her mother while the other, younger looking one, wore short and a strappy shirt. They held black leather purses and had a dark look in their brown eyes.

Almost as if they were looking down on Auralia. Turning away from the girls, she noticed the smirk on the mother's face as she stared darkly at Auralia, ruining her beautiful image. The look made Auralia wonder if the woman had ill intent towards Mrs. Davidson and her.

"Oh, fancy seeing you here, Madeline." Mrs. Davidson smirked back, her eyes going cold. "And I see you brough your lovely daughter with you. Look at how much they've grown. You must be anxious to get them married seeing as your diamonds are fake."

Madeline went red in the face, embarrassed by Mrs. Davidson's backhanded compliment. However, Mrs. Davidson didn't spare her a second to retort.

"Anyway, this is my granddaughter, Auralia. I'd like for your daughters and her to get along but I won't expect that from you seeing as she'll be taking their spotlight." Mrs. Davidson laughed, waving her hand as if see had said something funny.

Auralia was suddenly glad Mrs. Davidson was on her side. She was quickly learning that some battles in high society required wits and backhanded compliments.

One of Madeline's daughters, the younger looking one, however did not find the remark funny and took a step towards the older woman, hand raised.

"You, old ha-"

In an instant, Auralia stood up and found herself grabbing the girl's small wrist, her instincts kicking in. She was glad that all her training had paid off.

"I suggest you think twice before touching my grandmother." Auralia murmured as she squeezed the girl's wrist.

The girl's eyes widened in pain and she let out a whimper of pain. Auralia loosened her grip and sat back down as if nothing had happened.

"I suggest you move along." Auralia said to the three women, looking around to see other diners were looking at their table curious about what was going on. "People are getting curious and a scene will only get you kicked out."

She then turned back to look at Madeline and smiled coldly, "And we wouldn't want that would we? Imagine how that could affect your daughters."

Madeline huffed, realizing it was a losing battle. "We'll be going!"

Her face was red with embarrassment as she turned to her daughters, slightly pushing them to walk away from the table. Once they had left, Auralia turned back to look at Mrs. Davidson who was smiling warmly at her.

"You seem to have taken to high society like a fish in water."

Auralia blushed at the comment, feeling a little bashful. "Oh, I was just copying what you had done earlier. It wasn't anyway special. Anyway, who were those three?"

Mrs. Davidson's face went cold at the last part. "The older woman, Madeline, was my late husband's mistress. The two younger girls are his daughters."

Upon hearing those words Auralia knew it was time to change the subject. She was surprised by the fact the late Mr. Davidson had taken such a young mistress, but then again…people did weird things.

She also decided to make a mental note of the trio, knowing that as Mrs. Davidson's official granddaughter, those three were going to be future headaches. If she hadn't scared them earlier that is.

"Oh, I see…" Auralia murmured, picking up the menu. "Um…would you like to order anything?"

Mrs. Davidson smiled softly, immediately understanding what Auralia was trying to do. "Sure dear. And it's okay if we talk about those three. You should know what's going on in case you bump into them again. They like being active socially."

With those words, she quickly called over a waiter and placed in their orders before turning back to look at Auralia.

She sighed and said, "Well, you know who they are. Besides that, you'll notice that Madeline is quite desperate to marry off her daughters. My husband's will didn't include any money for them and my eldest son thankfully cut them off after the girls were finished with college.

"Anyway, the marriage part is a little important. Madeline recently had her eye on Maria's son, Alexander, and wants to set up things between him and her eldest daughter, Anna."

"So, I guess I'll be dealing with them after all." Auralia muttered, a little annoyed.

It seemed she wasn't only going to be protecting Alexander from kidnappers and people trying to harm him but also people who wanted to marry him for his wealth and the prestige that came with his name. For a second it made her wonder if that was really the real reason behind the marriage clause.

To protect him from other women…

"Afraid so…" The older woman paused for a second and smiled. "But I'm sure you'll be fine seeing as how you handled them today."

"Hopefully I will…"

The waiter soon returned with their drinks and the conversation disappeared with him as the two turned to topics of gossip and current affairs, Mrs. Davidson pointing out a few people in the restaurant.

Soon, they were finished with lunch and Mrs. Davidson decided to do a little shoe shopping before they headed towards the jewelry shop.

The shop was small with an old man running a counter holding various jeweled pieces from earrings to necklaces to bracelets to rings and watches. The placed was filled with bling and most of it didn't seem to be the fake kind.

The man upon seeing Mrs. Davidson, smiled and grabbed a box. "Oh, Mrs. Davidson, so nice to see you. I have your order here, ready for you."