As dusk stained the cobblestone roads, the streets of Luen Nore seemed to have been washed in a thin layer of blue.
The prop shops by the roadside had already flipped their signs to "Closed." As warm yellow light spilled across their display windows, the busy figures of the shopkeepers could be seen inside; the café on the corner was taking its final orders, and several Magical Girls emerged in twos and threes with coffee cups in hand, chatting and laughing as they went.
Seated in the slowly moving Fairy carriage, Larkspur fiddled with the pair of gloves that still felt somewhat unfamiliar to her.
The gloves, azure blue with white lace at the wrists, fit neatly over her hands. Strands of starlight slipped through their gaps, while the pearl buttons occasionally reflected the passing streetlights. The hem of her princess gown nearly reached her heels, its taffeta saturated with twilight as it flowed across the cherrywood seat like congealed milk.
Such excessively lavish attire was clearly not Larkspur's style. She had originally intended to find a relatively fitted women's suit, but Emerald had vetoed the idea the moment she mentioned it, then rather stubbornly selected her current outfit.
Since Emerald had chosen it, Larkspur wore it.
She had her own way of choosing clothes, but that did not mean she was particularly attached to it. Or rather, Larkspur did not really care what she wore. Unless it was too revealing and improper, or overly elaborate enough to hinder her movements, most clothes seemed no different to her.
The princess gown she wore happened to cross neither of those lines. Though its construction was somewhat complicated, it remained within what Larkspur could accept. Besides, Emerald had organized the "dinner gathering" they were heading to. Emerald undoubtedly knew better about whatever