Jin-ho sighed, rubbing her eyes from reading yet another one of the University library's old tomes. She had changed back into her normal clothes for the occasion, knowing that whenever people would recognise the uniform, they'd probably double the price they charged. And double it again after noticing she was fairly new, which would be five seconds after she'd open her mouth. Even though Credits weren't the issue, she was a Merchant's daughter after all...

So far, she had gotten a couple of good ideas, and of those one stood out in particular, an Alderaanian moss painting. It would be practical too, as Naboo was a planet with a large amount of water. The problem however was trying to get her hands on one, as she had no clue where such things could be bought.

- "Unless..."

Her eyes caught the small map that was hanging near the entrance again. Didn't the University have a School of the Arts? Maybe...

After a bit of walking -- as well as the occasional wrong turn -- the red headed Handmaiden found herself in the School of the Arts. She looked around to see if there were any teachers in the area, whom she could hopefully get to ask some questions to.

Jin-ho did indeed find a teacher, and asked a barrage of questions, all conveniently about moss paintings. During the conversation, the teacher mentioned a couple of the Art Students had worked on a few moss paintings as a graduation project, and the School had planned to put them up for sale during an Exhibition that would take place that evening.

Even though it was originally considered off limits to junior students, some mild persuasion on the Handmaiden-in-training's behalf managed to get her on the Guest List... Though it needs to be said that the permission slip she had recieved with the emblem of the Royal Family on it had worked wonders.

Satisfied, Jin-ho decided to head home, to change into something more elegant when showing up at the Exhibition. She had such an outfit somewhere, she just needed to find it first...

That evening, Jin-ho stepped out of the cab that had taken her to the Exhibition hall. She was wearing a red chinese cheongsam, with golden phoenix patterns on red brocade, and a white mandarin collar with golden collar cuff. In case she would be geting cold, she had a light beige colored silken shawl tied around her waist, and black pants that were made out of an elastic synthetic fiber that would -- again -- prevent her from getting cold. If there would be some kind of auction later on, she figured she'd get to sit still a lot.

The outfit was hers, something she'd lucked out on finding when she was buying clothes back on Dathomir. Whatever the case, one look at the other guests made her feel relieved at having gone home to change first. Though she still lacked experience in cultural refinement, at least she wouldn't be standing out in a bad way.

After a tour around the various pieces on display, a small speech was held by the Principal. Though he had looked at her a couple of times -- probably due to her young age -- he had shrugged it off, knowing that all that were in the room had been mentioned on the guest list.

There was one painting in particular that Jin-ho had set her eyes on. It wasn't as detailed as some, and lacked the amount of symbolism interweaved into it as others, but the change was something else. One could almost see that the ones that had created it did so out of their hearts, that they truly enjoyed making Art for the sheer purpose of making Art.

Making a small note on her copy of the catalog, she looked around a bit further, but except for a couple of items that would make good second options, she saw nothing that had matched the aura of the first painting. When the crowd was led into the auction room, the red headed student sat down, waiting for the painting's number to be announced along with the starting bid.

"...And number 38 is this moss painting, entitled 'Landscape of Time'. Bidding will start at 400 Credits.

Biting her lip, Jin-ho resisted the urge to start bidding immediately. According to what her father had taught her about being a merchant, that would trigger other people to bid more as well, believing it to have more value than they estimated. Let them think her hesitant...

Five hundred Credits... Five hundred and fifty now.

- "Six hundred Credits."

She put up her sign, and the auctioneer gave her a nod stating they had seen her offer, and the red headed student lowered her sign again in response. She had not been the only one to have noticed the aura the painting seemed to give off, and bidding was a bit more furious than she had imagined.

"Seven hundred going once..."

- "Eight hundred Credits."

It was an effort not to let out an audible sigh. Twice as much as her total savings, and still no sign of stopping. Though the bidding was certainly starting to slow down, with people trying to hold back a bit to save their money for the items that had been higher valued.

- "Nine hundred and fifty Credits."

If it weren't for her having helped her father out with the bookkeeping at times, she wasn't sure she wouldn't have lost her nerve at bidding that amount of money. However, things appeared to look good now...

"One thousand Credits bid by bidder #49... Going once... going twice..."

- "Twelve thousand Credits."

She was surprised at her own calm voice. Nevertheless, it was time to end this. Bidding over the minimum increment now meant a final bid, a sign to the other bidder to get it over with and move on to the next item in line.

"Twelve thousand going once... Going twice... SOLD to bidder #52!"

It was an effort not to start cheering on the spot. With a calm, composed appearance she sat there waiting for the rest of the auction to finish, before moving on to the area where the purchased items would be paid -- and registered where it would need to be delivered.

"Bidder #52, Jin-ho Morinagare. Item number 38, price twelve hundred Credits."

Jin-ho nodded, and took out the permission slip containing the Royal Seal. There were some murmurs around her, probably by those not expecting to send someone as young as her to an Art Exhibition, but she ignored them. With agreements made to deliver the painting to Saiya at the Royal Palace, under her name, she walked outside again, taking a deep breath of the night air before calling a taxi for the ride home.

Tomorrow... she'd be visiting the Palace again.

[Royal Palace]