She was only in her mid-teens. Everyone in her family grew taller, and so did Lou. The young girl had already grown taller than her. She felt a little deprived.
“It’s bigger. Really. You’re bigger than Trixie.”
“…You can’t say that, Leone.”
“No, Leone is here too!”
Lou smiled brightly and approached them. Shee was still bright and had no shyness at all. Lou took their hands one by one and she tugged lightly.
“Wait a minute, Lou. The carriage-”
“Our staff will take care of it!”
Lou looked very happy. She heard that she has a very good wardrobe, so maybe that’s why? Was it because she was grateful and happy to see Leone for promoting her and providing her with funds for the business? Aside from that, it seemed oddly, a little more intensely, happy. As if there was another scheme.
“It’s been a long time, really, kid. How long have you waited?”
After a lively voice guided them, the dressing room door opened. Nothing changed in the dressing room. Clean and spacious interior, location of dressing rooms, cutting rooms, and clothing display racks that take into account the movement of people choosing clothes, people trying on clothes, tailors, etc. There was no fancy interior, but there is a mannequin in the center where different clothes are displayed every day. It was a place that gave the impression that it was a store for clothes.
“We said we wouldn’t be open today. A special VIP from our dressing room is coming!”
“Uh? Is that okay? We’ll be leaving soon.”
“You can’t leave soon!”
Lou shouted in horror.
“Never. I made nine wedding dresses for you, and—no, thirteen—from tuxedos to suits for Leone!”
“…Lou. We ordered one set each. Why have there been so many?”
“This has also been reduced a lot, right?”
“Even if I try them on, I can’t buy them all. We don’t really have anywhere to store it.”
“You don’t have to buy it. I’ll give it to you as a gift! You can keep it in the mansion in the capital. Just wear it. We are… we are…!”
Lu’s eyes gradually became more and more mad. Leone gently pulled her towards him. When she looked up at him, he had a strange face. A strange face that looks like it is afraid of something, but also seems resigned or liberated.
“I couldn’t sleep and made clothes because I thought I could dress Leone for the first time in a long time!”
“Your Majesty, I missed you…!”
“It was only after I left that I realized that you had a perfect body that I would never see again anywhere, even in heaven. Huh.”
“I knew it before you left, but I couldn’t catch it.”
She didn’t know anything else, but one thing was certain.
‘Today, I got it wrong…’
“Hey, Lou. We have plans for dinner tonight. I need to meet Mr. Adler.”
“Is it so?! To do that, you need to try it on quickly! Should I have called more people? But I thought it would be better to gather only people who worked together in the imperial family.”
She didn’t know if Lou heard her, but she just poured out words.
“…These are the people who get together all month long and have meetings 24 hours a day whenever they have something to do to make my clothes.”
Leone spoke in a grave voice. He still had a strange expression.
“I didn’t know because they were only in charge of your clothes.”
“I didn’t know. I’ve never really been scared of anyone. Those people who dressed me were a little scary.”
She felt very sorry for him who spoke so calmly. It was fortunate that the only events he attended during the two years after becoming emperor were the banquet celebrating the former emperor’s birthday and his own birthday celebration banquet, which he decided simply because he did not know his date of birth.
“If you had let me make a little more clothes, we wouldn’t have had this much resentment…!”
Wasn’t this a relief…?
“You’ve already made a lot. He brought 20 pieces to every birthday banquet.”
Leone retorted in an uncharacteristically bitter voice. It was easy to be indifferent or ignore it. She was so caught up in the atmosphere that she didn’t know what to do, but in the meantime, Lou grabbed her wrist.
“Wedding dresses take longer to wear than men’s formal wear. So it takes time to choose the prettiest one. We need to start quickly. This time, I even did my first design. For you!”
Uh, okay. Without even a chance to give a single answer, she was dragged into Lou’s hands. Leone put out his hand as if to grab her, and she tried to catch it, but they couldn’t reach and walked away. Those hands were so sad… As she watched Leone being dragged away, she felt like she had to be strong for her.
* * *
“Ah, it’s refreshing. I feel refreshed inside!”
“Uh… Uh-huh.”
“You were also a gemstone! How come each dress matches so beautifully? It was hard to choose!”
“Very, very! Great! your majesty! How about signing an exclusive contract with us? I’ll give you all the clothes for free!”
“…I am no longer the Emperor, so don’t call me that.”
She, who only sounds like a zombie, and Leone barely respond as if he’s exhausted. What’s surprising was that she actually finished all of this before dinner time. Wouldn’t they even give you a suit to wear to dinner? They said that the fashion in the capital city has changed quite a bit these days, and the clothes provided were suits that are good for movement. As the boundary between commoners and nobles gradually disappears, clothes like this are starting to appear.
“How much longer will you stay in the capital?! Once, no. Please stop by three more times.”
“…Ugh. Huh?”
“Your majesty, what did Trixie say?”
“I’ll have to go, thank you. She said so.”
The reason Leone understood what she said was because he felt the same way. She barely gave him a thumbs up.
“Yes? Oh, you said you had an appointment. I’ll have an employee wait for the carriage. Oh my, please promise me. If you come three more times-”
“Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.”
Lou’s words continued for a long time, but she couldn’t bear to reply, ‘Okay, I’ll come three more times,’ and staggered away from her, making zombie noises. The scariest thing was that while Leone and I were already exhausted, the staff in the costume room were all in good spirits.
“Your majesty. What is she saying again?”
“Ouch. If this continues – it will be late in the evening, right. Leone?”
Her tone of voice, which did not suit her at all, came out of Leone’s mouth.
“Ah, is it so? Is the carriage ready?”
“Yes, manager.”
“It will be there if you go to the front! Sister, then make a promise-”
“Lou, bye.”
Before Lou could say anything, Leone picked her up. This time, she couldn’t tell him that she had two legs because of his actions. Rather, she was grateful to be hugged and carried. Wearing nine dresses, including all kinds of petticoats, and doing the matching hair and accessories was the most intense labor she had ever experienced in her life. Really, it would have been easier to clean the mansion.
“Sister!? Leone!”
She fell into Leone’s arms and climbed onto the carriage. Because it was the middle of summer, the sun was setting slowly, so the world was still bright.
“Let’s go, quickly.”
Leone urgently ordered the coachman. Fortunately, the staff seemed to be working hard at their jobs, and the carriage started right away.
“Ah… I thought I was going to die.”
The nonsense finally died down and some words came out. That dressing room was a really dangerous place.
“…me too. I thought I was going to die.”
Leone, who didn’t cry often, wiped his tired face. They sank deep into the carriage’s cushioned seats and sighed.
“I won’t go there again. No way, ah!”
As she continued speaking, the carriage suddenly stopped. Because the speed was not fast, it shook once, but if the speed had been high, the stop was so sudden that it would have felt like the body would have flipped over.
“What happened!?”
She went straight to the window opening towards the coach seat. And Leone…
“You’re an uninvited guest.”
Someone got off the carriage.
‘Gate crasher?!’
If he was an uninvited guest… Suddenly, she arrived at the dressing room earlier and thought, ‘Again…’ came to mind Leone saying this. Really, have crazy people finally appeared trying to do something to them?
“Aaaah!”
Outside, men’s screams rang out as if it were natural.
“S-sorry… Ahh!”
It looked like Leone was having a game. She carefully opened the carriage door. As soon as he got off, Leone was seen standing, bending the large man’s right arm backwards and easily subduing him. There were two more men sprawled out next to him. She also saw a man running towards Leone. Although he was immediately kicked by Leone.
“What is happening?”
She thought it would be better to ask the driver rather than the one fighting. Even at a glance, it seemed like he was an attacker. Because you never know.
“Since the class system was abolished and the application of the crime of injury became widespread, there have been commoners who have been deliberately run over by carriages that look precious and extorted money… I think that’s the type.”
So he was not an attacker? What kind of presence did Leone feel…
“Trixie!”
Leone, who rarely raised his voice, shouted.
“Uh oh, oh!”
The driver who was nearby also turned his head and tried to scream, and in the meantime, Leone ran towards her. She turned her head to follow their gaze. When she turned around, she saw a large man reaching out for her. The hand was right in front of her nose.
“Net! Net! Arrr!”
At that time, she heard an unfamiliar sound that seemed somehow familiar. It was a very small and insignificant sound for Leone to have lost his senses.
—————————————————————
Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
If you like my work please support me with Ko-fi or Patreon. Next post will be released on October, 9.
Want to read more?
