Verdamona had expected a fashion store or luxury department, maybe, or something glittery and overpriced as she got in.
Instead, she found herself stepping into a palace of glass and silk. Chandeliers floated in midair. Racks of clothing weren't just displayed. They hovered, rotating slowly, each outfit shimmering with subtle Flux enchantments. Mannequins even bowed as customers walked by. In the middle of the grand hall stood a figure who immediately drew Verdamona's eyes.
He was a man... at least, he looked like one. To put it in informal terms, he looked like a feminine man?
He had the kind of face that made her brain stutter for a moment, framed by waves of blonde hair brushing past his shoulders. His jawline wasn't sharp but elegant. His lips were a little too perfect. However, his body had some masculinity with broad shoulders tapering into a narrow, shockingly thin waist and long legs wrapped in sleek black trousers and a white blouse that somehow looked casual and aristocratic at the same time.
'That is the most unfairly beautiful man I've ever seen. Wait… is he even a man?'
Before she could puzzle it out, Xaessia lit up with a smile she rarely wore.
"Norphie."
The man—Norphie—turned, his eyes widening in delight.
"Xaessia, you're here!"
He was striding over with light, fluid steps, pulling Xaessia into a hug. Verdamona's jaw nearly dropped again. Xaessia was actually hugging someone back.
"It's been a year since you last visited me. Do you know how cruel that is?"
Xaessia exhaled, leaning back with a guilty smile.
"I know, I know. I'm sorry. House duties and university life doesn't exactly leave me much freedom these days."
'She's actually apologizing to someone?'
Norphie pouted, crossing his arms in a way that was way too graceful for someone with broad shoulders. His eyes then flicked past Xaessia, landing directly on Verdamona. They sharpened with curiosity.
"And who is this?"
"This is Verdamona Alaric, my companion."
Companion. The word made Verdamona's chest flutter strangely. She straightened unconsciously, trying to look less out of place in her sleeveless dress and heels. Xaessia turned back to her with an elegant little flourish.
"Verdamona, this is Norphie Phoenicia, one of the Princess under the House of Phoenicia"
Verdamona nearly choked on air. "Wait, you mean that Phoenicia? The strongest Alteration Flux House?"
Norphie smiled knowingly, almost smugly, as if he was waiting for that reaction.
"Yes. Alteration is our pride. And as you can see, my Flux inheritance is a little… unusual."
Verdamona squinted. "Unusual? You look like…"
She trailed off, embarrassed to finish. Norphie chuckled.
"I know. Handsome yet feminine. A contradiction. But that's not even the strange part."
Before she could ask, Norphie's skin began to steam faintly like mist rising from a hot spring. His features shimmered, blurred and then shifted. His chest narrowed. His waist pulled in more dramatically. His frame slimmed into delicate curves, even as his hair remained normal. When the steam cleared, Verdamona found herself staring at the same person, only now a woman stood there.
Her voice broke the stunned silence.
"I'm androgynous."
Verdamona's mouth actually fell open.
"W-what?!"
Xaessia rolled her eyes like she had seen this performance a hundred times before.
"You really love showing off, don't you?"
Norphie winked. "If you had a body this versatile, you'd show it off too."
Verdamona's head spun. She could not think straight.
"So—so wait. You're… both? Male and female?"
"Yes. It's something I can control or morph at will but it has downsides at times. I have to alternate genders for a certain period of time but both are me."
Verdamona stared. Her brain was working overtime. Xaessia of course, was unfazed, adjusting her hat now that she no longer needed the mask.
"At least you have a woman you love."
Norphie's feminine cheeks flushed slightly. She looked away, soft for just a moment.
"That's true. I do love her with all my heart."
Verdamona blinked. "So wait. If you're a woman and a man… which one does she love?"
That earned her a melodramatic laugh. Norphie swept a hand through her hair.
"Both. She accepts me for who I am, no matter which form I wear. Isn't that romantic?"
Verdamona didn't know whether to be amazed, envious, or just plain confused.
"Honestly? I don't even know how to respond to that."
Norphie turned on her with a playful grin. "Respond with admiration, darling. That's what most people do."
Verdamona groaned, covering her face.
"This is too much. First Xaessia choking people with roses in public, now this."
Norphie—currently in her feminine form—tilted her head as she clasped her hands together. Her slim frame and tailored blouse gave her the strange blend of ethereal beauty and stern poise.
"So, do you want more gothic designs again? Something with deep lace, black velvet, and the usual crimson linings."
But Xaessia, usually quick to smirk or cross her arms, shook her head with a small, tired smile.
"No. I don't want gothic this time."
Norphie blinked once, then twice before gasping dramatically, a hand shooting up to her chest.
"Wait. What?! Xaessiarerich Argemenes, saying no to goth? Since when? Are we in some alternate timeline where birds sing and demons bake bread?!"
Verdamona actually choked back a laugh because the shock looked genuine. Norphie almost staggered back into a clothing rack as if she was physically struck by the absurdity of Xaessia's answer. Xaessia exhaled slowly, folding her arms beneath her chest.
"It's not a whim, Norphie. I just… want to try something new for once."
Norphie, who was rarely ever caught off-guard, raised a brow.
"Not bad, change is good. But why the sudden revelation? What flipped inside your head? You've ruled every room you walked into with gothic elegance since you began high school. What could possibly make you abandon it?"
Xaessia glanced away. "I argued with my brother."
Verdamona's ears pricked up at that.
"Since coming to the university, he's been… different and avoiding me. I didn't understand why at first. I thought it was his fault. I thought he was just being stubborn. But then he finally stood up to me, and when he did, I realized I've been the one making him suffer for years. I thought I was protecting him, guiding him, but all I was doing was chaining him like a dog."
Verdamona felt the truth sting even in her own chest. Xaessia sighed, almost whispering now.
"So I want to change for his sake. I thought maybe the first thing I could do is change my outfit style and stop being the domineering sister who always towers in black lace and shadows. Maybe, if I look different, I can be different."
Norphie stared at her long and hard. For a moment, her sharp blue eyes softened. But then, she shook her head slowly.
"No. You can't do that."
Xaessia snapped her gaze back up, startled.
"What? Why?"
"Because changing one's behavior does not come from fabric stitched in boutiques. It comes from here," she placed a delicate hand against her own chest, just above the heart. "Your brother never hated your choice of clothes. If anything, he loved them. Do you know why?"
"Why?"
"Back in high school, when you both used to sneak out together to come here, he would help you pick gothic outfits. He used to tease you about how you looked like a raven ready for war, but he still pointed to the darkest, sharpest gowns because he thought they fit you. He thought they made you who you are."
The silence that followed was crushing. Verdamona could almost feel Xaessia's composure splintering piece by piece.
"Phaser doesn't hate your gothic style, Xaessia. What he hated was how you bossed him around. How you never let him breathe. Clothes didn't cage him. You did. He told me that once."
"He told you?"
"Yes. He told me not to interfere. He said he doesn't mind if you wear anything in the world, even the most absurd outfit, or do the most reckless thing imaginable. You'll always be his sister, no matter what. He said that whatever you choose, he'll embrace it, even if it breaks him a little."
Verdamona's breath hitched. That kind of loyalty, that kind of love…
Xaessia's eyes trembled faintly.
"He… really said that?"
"That's why I never stopped you. I didn't tell you to back off, even when you went too far. Because he told me to let him endure it. He believed in you, even when you didn't deserve it."
For the first time in Heart's Boutique, Xaessia looked small. The weight of years of pride and cold dominance crashed over her shoulders like stones. She looked away, trying to blink back tears, maybe, though she'd never admit it aloud.
"So you're saying… if I give up the gothic style, if I change my wardrobe, it won't change anything?"
"Not only will it not help but it could ruin everything. Because that gothic identity? That's yours. It's what makes you the Xaessiarerich he's always embraced. Strip that away, and you're not making yourself better. You're just erasing yourself."
The words slammed into Xaessia harder than any Flux duel ever had.
"I can't… I can't wear gothic dresses anymore. I'm tired of them, Norphie. I want to stop. And it's not that I hate the goth style. The dresses are now..."
Norphie tilted her head, her lips curving into the faintest, almost mischievous smile.
"Who said gothic outfits only have dresses?"