Coldsnap: The Billionaire Alpha's Fated Pregnant Princess (GL)
Chapter 59 - Your Advice Is Noted, Grandfather Figure

Chapter 59: Chapter 59 - Your Advice Is Noted, Grandfather Figure

Stewing in the potential ridiculous behavior of this world’s deities, I scarf down the other rolls. Despite probably hearing every motion and emotion in my form... Edgar says nothing.

It’s not something I can just come out and talk about anyway, so I sigh while shifting my totes around.

"I’m actually on my way to make an appointment, but I need to find an electronics store first. My phone died and I... have no way to charge it."

"Ah, the tragedy of modern times."

His tone was gently teasing.

"There’s a good shop by the lake. Welken’s. Run by a couple who’ve been in business since calculators were cutting-edge. They won’t overcharge you like the big places... but if his wife is there she might talk you into more than you came in for."

Great. Because what I need is someone helping convince me to spend the money...

Still, I find it interesting that such different personalities recommended the same place. It must be rather well known here.

Opening the system map, I see a road near the body of water on one side of the town has a marker now. An area I haven’t explored.

Kind of far from the clinic... but it’s not like I have to be there waiting right when they open!

"I appreciate the recommendation. Though I feel like I’m using you for this too much, you told me about that pawnshop as well."

We sat in comfortable silence after I said this. Watching the birds squabble over the last crumbs... though I guess he is just listening to them.

Finally, Edgar spoke out again.

"You know, Citra, I’ve found something interesting about life in this city."

"What’s that?"

"Sometimes the things we resist most stubbornly are exactly what we need."

The words landed like the battering horns of a ram shifter against my heart. Immediately forcing me into thinking of Kyrie.

He tilted his head with those too dark glasses looking at me. As if seeing... or listening to something I couldn’thear.

"Not always, of course. Resistance can be a wisdom of its own. But sometimes... the choices we think are wise to avoid because they never worked out before..."

He let the thought trail off while massaging his hand. The digits looked locked with age and wear.

> Or possibly some sort of human sickness. <

I stand, perhaps too quickly, and gather my things. With a shuddering breath, I compose myself.

Just because he can’t see, doesn’t mean I should let my expressions loose. This is a public place.

"I should go. Thank you for the directions you’ve given me. All of them."

"Thank you for the bread and company. Always appreciated. I’m here most mornings, weather permitting."

"...Alright."

"The birds and I would welcome your return, should you find yourself in the area again, Miss Lomdi."

I forced myself to return his smile, though he couldn’t see it. I’m hoping it can be heard in my voice.

"I’ll keep that in mind. Goodbye for now, Mr. Miles."

My steps away were heavier than when they came. An elders advice is a valuable thing in my world.

All the more when they are closing in on their deathbed. There is something rather mystical about it - even if what they say might not strike true to a closed soul.

That was when my grandmother made the decision to leave a year old kit her private diary.

> As she lay dying. <

I checked the time on a bank’s digital display as I passed. Enough time to find this electronics store and perhaps get everything I’ll need to keep that phone working.

The thought of using it to check on information - using its capabilities more like a computer than a mere camera - made me quicken my pace.

I told myself firmly that the knowledge I wanted to gather was about so many other things. That it wasn’t curiosity about Kyrie Voss, CEO of Lunarizon Industries...

The fact that Vrika’s seemed to deepen in contentment at this thought was something I chose to ignore completely.

⧖ ☾ ❄ ☽ ⧖

The lake district of Vossden offered a pretty different atmosphere from the parts of the city I’d seen so far. More open space, less congestion... with a breeze carrying the scent of freshwater.

And of course, all the things that live inside it. A strong nose is both a boon and a curse.

[Welken’s Electronics] sat in a row of small businesses facing the street. The shimmering surface of the lake was visible just beyond... and through large windows on the other side of the shop.

Unlike the sleek corporate storefronts downtown, this place had more architectural character. A place clearly built when the methods of construction were different.

Helene’s memories dance vaguely in my head, noting a few features that she had learned about before she stopped learning. It only makes me shake my head and sigh.

The sign was newer in style, with bright ’LED’ lighting up colored paneling. Display windows were packed with both cutting-edge devices and curiosities from what looked like the era of this world’s tech from before this body was born.

I noticed hand-written sale signs on those, alongside professional print advertisements for the newer things. The idea of a ’consignment’ shop immediately triggers at the sight.

A bell jangled cheerfully when I pushed open the door - though when I look I see only a ’speaker’ above me. I did think it seemed artificial in the sound, but it was close enough to the real thing that most humans may never notice.

The inside was just like certain merchant stalls in my kingdom’s grand bazaar. Glass display cases formed narrow aisles throughout the space, filled not with gems, jewelry, and other ’curios’... but with devices separated by type.

Walls were lined with grids of thin bars, with accessories hanging from rods and hooks on them. Cabinets behind the counter likely held more valuable... or more frequently stolen merchandise.

The air smelled strongly of plastics - from all the packages and the items themselves. Of course there was that same chemical cleaner smell underneath it all.

A few people skimmed the shelves in the store, but I saw no one manning the sales counter. Nonetheless, I wandered over to the tablet sitting up there playing a demonstration video on loop, its voice explaining the device’s new features over ambient music.

"Be right with you!"

The voice came from behind a beaded curtain at the back of the store. Male, definitely.

> Thank the Goddesses, it isn’t the wife... <