One of the infrastructure developments in St. Petersburg was a shopping mall. Alexander had forgotten about its construction ever since he left the site for inspection and only remembered it when Anastasia and Anya brought it up.

It is designed to be the largest mall, larger than the Bon Marché in the Francois Republic that sells an assortment of products ranging from foods, cosmetics, appliances, clothes, and many more.

He wanted to show the mall upon its completion to his sisters, daughter, and wife, as it will have modern amenities similar to the late twentieth century or twenty-first century.

However, there is one slight problem.

"I'm entering," Alexander announced as he opened the door of their baby's bedroom. Similar to Anya, their new child would have his own bedroom. But given the fact that it's still a baby, Alexander and Sophie would often sleep in one room.

"Oh, Alex! Just in time," Sophie welcomed him, carrying Andrei in her arms. "I heard about your plan with your sisters. You are going to this new mall aren't you?"

"Yeah, it was sudden and they looked enthusiastic about it. So there's no way that I can refuse it."

"I see. So, why did you come here?" Sophie asked while humming a lullaby to the sleeping Andrei.

"Do I really need to have a reason to visit the two of you here?" Alexander said as he walked over to her. He glanced at Andrei, who was sleeping peacefully. He is sucking his thumb, making him look adorable and cute. Alexander felt the urge to plant a kiss on his child's cheek but he hasn't shaved his beard yet so he refrains from doing so. Instead, he softly stroked Andrei's head, earning a soft groan from the baby.

Alexander sighed fondly at the adorable groan before looking up to see Sophie. There he noticed his wife looking down and blushing like she was a teenager. "What? Did I do something wrong?"

"Nope! I mean…" She paused, took a breath, and then continued, "Nothing, nothing at all. You just seem happier lately."Alexander chuckled. "It must be because the problem that is keeping me away from you is gone. The Black Hand. At last, I can finally spend more time with my family."

"I think I know now why you are here," Sophie said.

"What is it?" Alexander asked.

"To invite me to come with you to the mall, right?" Sophie guessed.

"You're wrong," Alexander admitted. Sophie arched her brows at him, prompting him to elaborate. "Well, technically I came here to see Andrei and you? The second one is to inform you that we will be going out for a while as I will show my sisters and Anya to the mall. As much as I love to have you come along with us but you have to take care of yourself first. You just gave birth and your body is still recovering from it."

"I see," Sophie giggled bashfully after hearing Alexander's explanation. "That's quite unfortunate isn't it? Well, I understand now. Then, enjoy your trip to the mall and once you return home, tell me how it went. I would love to hear what I missed."

Alexander nodded and kissed her on the forehead. "Don't worry, once you are okay, we'll go to the mall, just me and you, like a date."

"That's a promise?" Sophie asked and Alexander smiled. He nodded again. "Then I suppose I should not keep you any longer since you have already informed me what you need to inform me about. Thank you for visiting us though."

"You are sounding way too formal, Sophie," Alexander teased. He leaned in to give her another peck on the lips. Andrei simply caressed the crown of his head before leaving the room.

Once Alexander left her alone, Sophie placed Andrei back in the crib and gently stroked Andrei's chubby cheeks with her thumbs. Andrei is in deep slumber and she figures he won't wake up for a while. And so, she returned to the bed and grabbed the book she was reading under the pillows, and resumed at the part where she was once that was interrupted due to Andrei's cry.

***

Outside the Winter Palace, a convoy of SUVs is parked in front of the Winter Palace's main entrance. In the middle of the convoy was the Beast, where Alexander, his sisters, and his daughter were going to board.

"Are you sure that we don't need a disguise, brother?" Christina asked as she fixed her hat on top of her head.

"Even though we will receive great attention from the people that were visiting the mall, they won't dare approach us. The Imperial Guards had us covered from all directions. Isn't that right, Rolan?"

"Yes sir," Rolan confirmed. "There will be a team of Imperial Guards that will disguise themselves as civilians, and watch your movement. Should they notice something strange in an individual's behavior, we will clear them out, no questions asked."

"To go on such an effort…we should have opted for a disguise, brother. I heard recently that tasking Imperial Guards at a place where you want to visit costs taxpayers a lot of money."

"That is a necessary expense when it comes to protecting the Emperor," Rolan explained. "There have been a lot of assassination attempts on the Royal Family recently so the money you are worried about, Your Imperial Highness, is going to something meaningful. You wouldn't want your brother to be killed because there was no Imperial Guard present around right, Your Imperial Highness?"

Christina's face turned pale after hearing that. "Yeah, I don't want that."

"Since when are you three going to keep talking?" Tiffania interrupted. "Come on, we are going to be late for the opening."

"There's no need to rush, Tiffania," Alexander said. "I was informed that there was a long queue at the entrance."

"All the more reason that we should hurry up, right?" Tiffania countered, grabbing Alexander's arm. "If we stay here for long, then we would get stuck in the line so let's go…" she grunted, trying to pull Alexander but he won't budge.

"You don't have to worry about the line, Tiffania. We have special privileges. We can still enter the mall without us having to line up."

"Wait…really?" Tiffania asked, astonished by Alexander's words. "How?"

"You seemed to have forgotten that we are a royal family."

"Ah yeah…I have forgotten about that," Tiffania uttered. "Well, I guess I got worried for nothing. But still, I want to see the mall now so don't just stand there and head there. Anastasia and Anya are already inside, you and Christina are the only ones outside right now."

Alexander turned his face and looked at Rolan, who was pressing a finger on his earpiece. Rolan met his gaze and gave him a prompting nod. "The road is clear. We can go now."

"Finally," Alexander headed inside the Beast with Tiffania and Christina, joining Anastasia and Anya.