Gustav/Story

Myne first meets Gustav when Benno takes her and Lutz to the merchant's guild to get them temporary registrations. If they wish to sell their paper to Benno, such a registration is a necessity. Since a temporary registration is usually only given to the children of merchants to allow them to help in their parents' stores - and the animosity between Gustav and Benno - the guildmaster initially refuses to grant it. However, he changes his mind upon being shown the hair ornament Myne made for her sister's baptism. It turns that after seeing the ornament on Tuuli last summer, Gustav's granddaughter Freida wished to have one like it, but no matter how much he looked, even the guildmaster himself couldn't find any store or workshop that sold one.

While he is reluctant to go along with Benno's plans, he still reluctantly agrees to grant the two children temporary registrations, so he can commission a new hair ornament for his beloved granddaughter from Myne. He also tries to recruit Myne into his store, but she refuses, preferring to stay associated with Benno.

Gustav wishes to keep the commission a secret from his granddaughter, so he can surprise her with the hair ornament, but Myne manages to talk him into allowing a meeting between her and Freida. She argues that a happy smile about the perfect gift is much better than a potentially disappointing surprise, if the gift turns out to be not quite fitting. Gustav tries to trick her into attending this meeting alone, hoping for a better chance to again convince her to join his store in private, but only partially succeeds by having Myne agree to a meeting of just the children without any adults.

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