Siduri looked uncomfortable with her new look. She did not know how to react as she walked through the crowd with her head held light.

The dark elf continued to look around with a suspicious look on her face, her eyes daring to meet the people who looked at her in interest.

It caused many people to look away from her, but Siduri was still unsatisfied with her safety.

"Does that girl not realize how much attention she gets from the crown because of her behavior? I guess putting her in charge was not a good idea?"

Layla looked at Siduri's skittish behavior with a sigh. She was beginning to realize just how bad of an idea this was.

Thankfully, they reached the shop without any problem, and Siduri relaxed slightly with the safety of the four walls around her.

All the workers inside the shop looked skittish and ready to run away at a given notice. The morning run-in with the imperial and temple knights scared most workers into thinking that this place was about to be shut down.

Everyone wanted to ask the same question, but no one dared to speak to Layla.

"This is a disaster! Shall we postpone the opening for a few more hours? People have been gathering here in waves for this opening, but what can we do when our staff is like this?"

Layla pointed out as she sighed in annoyance. She did not want things to be this way, but when faced with such troubles, even she had to adapt.

"Young Miss, give me a minute. I will set everyone straight for you. In the meantime, why don't you take another aging potion?"

Mary's smile was sinister, promising her victims a lot of pain and suffering.

Layla's instincts instantly told her that leaving Mary alone with her 'victims' was a bad idea, but she was also sure Mary would hold herself back.

"Very well! I will be counting on you for this, Mary. Do not disappoint me."

Layla sighed before placing a hand on Mary's shoulder and leaving. She noticed Mary's smile but decided not to say anything to her.

After all, this was no longer her business.

...

'It hurts. I must stop taking these aging potions for a while, or my body won't last.'

Layla complained as she felt pain in her joints.

She exaggerated her situation a bit when she complained about the pain, but there was no doubt in anyone's mind that Layla was suffering at the moment. One look at her face was enough to tell you that.

"Miss, now that you are back, we should open the shop. You should straighten your back so that people can approach you with ease. Slouching makes you look harder to approach."

The advice was useful, but Layla hated to admit it.

Still, she followed the advice and felt a lot of people looking at her.

The store's opening ceremony attracted many customers, most out of town.

People had traveled all the way here from the town where Layla had advertised her products, and the first-day sale looked promising.

"It is nice to see our products flying off the shelves. Most people here also put in per-orders to get their stuff.

Now that we have all this business, we should consider a delivery service. We can charge people extra and send them products to their homes."

Layla's mind ran with ideas about what to implement and what she would need to do. She was happy to see the sales, but chaos also came with such a crowd.

Some people tried to shop-lift her products and sneak them out while others started to argue with the staff.

One particularly bad customer did not even stop at verbal abuse, so he decided to raise his hand. He would have slapped the poor employee if Siduri had not moved and grabbed that customer's hand.

"Hey, don't you know that I am a customer? How dare you treat me like that?"

The man asked in an agitated voice as he tried to hit Siduri. But the dark self was not as nice and polite as the other staff was. She was dense and stronger than the human male.

Layla also stepped forward to clarify the situation before it got dire.

"A customer? Any person who raises a hand on our employees is no customer of ours. I am afraid that I will have to ask you to head back now. You and your kind are not welcome here."

Layla spoke softly, but her voice echoed through the room. Her words made the man pale and then flush before he stomped out. His face was angry.

It made Layla sigh to see that man leave, but he was the least of her concerns. Her priority was to make sure her staff was alright.

"Hey, are you alright? That man did not hurt you in any way, right?"

Layla asked the worker, who looked startled to have Layla there. A flush spread across the worker's face, and she quickly pushed herself back to her feet in an upright position with a bright red face.

"I-I am fine, miss! I am sorry I disappointed you and caused a customer to be punished. I will make sure this does not happen again-"

*Sigh*

"Listen here, you all! I am not disappointed in you. If anyone treats you like that man did, they are not our customers. Please throw them out and ban them from our store for life. This place is a safe space for customers and our workers, including nobility."

For a minute, people looked stunned to hear Layla speak.

Most places treated customers above anything else, and with the noble class being so predominant, it was a given why people were skittish.

But Layla was going to make her store different.

Things would start small, but soon, they would take the shape she wanted. Soon, the news of her store spread everywhere, but not all talks were positive.