A black haired tailor sat on a purple stool, his face scrunched up in concentration as he sewed fine, even stitches into a white silk dress. Jaspers Lalonde squinted, delicately tracing the chalk line on the piece of silk with every stitch; he, was the proud owner of The Cat's Eye. This shop, Jasper's shop, was a popular tailor shop, located in the richer part of Derse, close to many other fine establishments that surrounded the grand castle and he was happy to be there. The place was often frequented by stuffy rich people and wealthy mobsters, but it was a good living for a humble boy such as him. A customer got is attention, he put down the piece of cloth, scribbling what she was saying onto a piece of paper before she handed him a commission fee and he went back to his work. It also wasn't often he would get small, delicate piece to work on; usually they were large, lavish garments, fit for royalty, literally!
Today, however, was a little different. Today was when the Derse summer festivities were taking place, and as a result, Jaspers' shop was filled with customers of all backgrounds. Special discounted prices were nowhere to be seen, as today, was Jasper's busiest time! He worked non-stop through the dry heat, with only a small fan to cool his rather large workshop. He could hear distant cheers and shouts from the streets outside, this made him work even harder, sewing with one hand and scribbling notes and ideas with the other. The people gave him such strength at this time; the winter had been hard, there weren't many customers in the winter, apart from before the winter ball. Money had been scarce and Jaspers had coped with what little savings he had stashed away.
Jaspers sighed. He loved this time of year; it always left him feeling fresh and reborn as the sun rose above the horizon. After 6 months of darkness, seeing the natural glow of all his hard work made every minute he spent, all worth it. Unfortunately for him, and the rest of the Derse people, now was not truly the time to be celebrating. They were in the middle of a war for heaven's sake! However, he thought, as he stood up and hung the dress up on a nearby rack, life always goes on and no war was going to change that. Looking over the dress, he felt truly satisfied with his work. It was simple, but very aesthetically pleasing, an effect he rarely got to achieve. This particular piece, was a wedding dress, intended for one of the maids of the Derse castle. Jaspers wanted to make this particularly special to her, as in their meeting, she had explained that all of her friends and family had cobbled together all of their savings for the dress, as they wanted the day to be truly special, as any woman's big day should be. Jasper's really did feel sorry for her, and discounted the price hugely off of what he would have usually charged, so she could keep some for herself. He'd also gone to the trouble of calling in her bridesmaids and making them all little dresses to match, something that he was truly proud of.
Jaspers strode over to the window, undoing the latch and poking his head out. In every direction possible, he could see the purple parade flags; he liked the originality of each district community, with their own distinct flag, each year revised and renewed. From houses to office buildings, there were flags out of windows, on poles and even on the animals! Jaspers didn't have his own flag, and there weren't as many in the shops as there were flying in the housing district. He pondered to himself, he was a tailor! Maybe he should have advertised smaller flags, handmade for the festival, "Ahh well," he thought, "Always an idea for next year!".
The train of thought in his mind wandered, arriving at the subject of the Royals. Hah. Royal. What a funny concept! Technically anyone could be royalty, the only thing that made them different was their support from the people, people liked them and looked up to them, and most of all, entrusted the politics of the kingdom with them. The people of Derse adored their rulers, and he, himself did too. The Lalonde's were eloquent and charming, while the Striders were sharp and aloof; all in all, the perfect personalities as the face of the Kingdom. Jasper's himself, shared one of the royal names; as a child, he was raised in an orphanage, endorsed by the royal family, namely the Lalonde's themselves. As a show of gratitude, many of the younger children who came to the orphanage without names were named after them or their direct relations; Jaspers had been named after Rose's cat, present around the castle grounds, he was a small, jet black cat with piercing eyes, a lot like him. Jasper's had jet black hair and was, in fact, rather short, although not for his age. However, this didn't stop him getting trampled and lost on Market days, usually, if he could help it, Jaspers would go to the shops to get supplies early in the morning before the rush, or while everyone was working, taking an hour or two to close the shop.
The bell of the door rang and hastily, he closed the window and quick walked behind the counter. "Good day sir, how may I be of service to you?" he said politely, jumping back onto his tailors stool and pulling out his trusty pencil. His life was humble, sweet, and sometimes tiring, but he wouldn't change anything for the world.