An elaborately decorated, antique-style four-wheeled carriage stopped in front of the clothing store.
An elderly man dressed in a butler's uniform stepped out of the driver's seat. He walked steadily to the carriage door, opened it, and said softly, "Countess Charlotte, we have arrived."
A pair of white silk gloves came into view. The butler quickly bent down, looked at the ground, and helped the passengers in the carriage onto the street.
A noblewoman who looked no more than twenty-five or twenty-six years old was followed by her maid. The former slowly opened the folding fan in her hand, covering the lower half of her face, a smile in the corner of her eyes, and said softly as she looked at the sign above her head, "This is it."
Pushing open the ornate revolving door, guests are greeted by a spacious foyer, which is packed with artists and connoisseurs who have come to admire the work. Their purpose here is clearly not to buy clothes, but rather to admire the paintings hanging on the walls and in the display cases.
Charlotte looked at a portrait displayed by the door and stopped in surprise. The painting, in terms of color, composition, and technique, was completely different from the painting styles of the world today.
Charlotte partially covered her mouth with a folding fan and asked the butler, "This...is a clothing store, right?"
The latter replied somewhat uncertainly, "Probably."
The further Charlotte looked, the more astonished she became: "Could all the paintings here be fakes?"
"I'm afraid not. I've never seen these works in collectors' circles or at exchanges," the butler said, his voice slightly rapt as he admired the paintings. "These are all genuine, and they should all be by masters!"
Charlotte's eyes widened: "You mean, this place contains many unpublished works by masters?!"
The butler nodded first, then shook his head: "The works here are indeed the work of masters, but something is strange. Some of the painting styles and techniques here have never been tried before..."
As the number of people in the front hall increased, the Countess, accompanied by her butler and maids, continued forward. To her surprise, several bodyguards and a maid were guarding the entrance to the next hall.
The maid bowed respectfully to Charlotte and her party, then smiled and said, "Greetings, esteemed guests. Only ladies may enter the back rooms. Gentlemen, please wait outside for a moment."
"Ha! Only women are allowed in! How interesting!" Charlotte laughed, patting the butler's shoulder with her folding fan, and led her maid through the porch into a grand hall several times larger than the front hall.
Everything before my eyes completely overturned the concept of a traditional clothing store. Rows and rows of clothes, shoes, hats, and bags were hung in different display cases according to style, size, and color, while exquisitely decorated bronze mirrors were placed around for customers to try on clothes.
Charlotte looked around. At each product counter stood a maidservant, responsible for greeting customers. Groups of female customers crowded the hall, moving between counters that interested them, asking about prices and comparing options. Judging from their clothing and appearance, some women came from the holy city of the East, some wore robes from the Southern Empire, and others, with their tall stature and deep-set features, were clearly from the Northern Islands or the barbarian lands.
The Countess's maid, startled by the surging crowd before her, muttered to herself, "There are probably about five hundred people here..."
Charlotte spotted a familiar figure in the crowd and waved with a smile, calling out, "Cathy! Cathy! I'm here!"
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