Lacius silently leaned his shoulder in response to my query.
On the surface, we probably look like the happiest lovers in the world.
It wasn’t an arranged marriage, but a relationship that started out of love. If it was real, it would be a relationship that would be talked about for a very long time.
In actuality, though, I have to ask even this.
If we had been true lovers, it would have been only natural for me to gripe about the fact that he isn’t offering his shoulder for me to lean against.
“Are you tired? You must have been very surprised.”
It was then.
Lacius looked down at me and asked sweetly, as if he had swallowed honey.
As if he would give up the whole world if I said I was tired.
“A bit?”
“I asked because it looked like you were. We can leave now if you’re tired.”
“The song sounds too good for that.”
No matter how much gold was offered to me, I would never give up this opportunity to lean against his arms.
Because this moment is mine.
I gave my cheek a gentle rub and secretly winked at Lacius as if I were being cute.
“There are people over there who have been hiding and observing us. Perhaps weekly magazines’s reporters.”
“Reporters are in a frenzy today.”
Lacius gave a disgusted expression.
I glanced at him and nodded.
“Yeah, I shouldn’t give them a chance to find fault with me.”
If you give them even a little bit of opportunity, rumors of a breakup will circulate right away. That won’t do.
Lacius’ expression softened as he placed his arm on top of my shoulder. He exudes a much friendlier vibe now than before.
Lacius placed his lips on the top of my head and spoke softly.
“Is the investment in sea dragon eggs mentioned earlier the bait to catch those families?”
“Right. I am preparing.”
“Is there anything I can help you with?”
No, everything is okay. By the way, what happened to Gloucester?
“An intensive tax investigation will be carried out soon. Their house will also be seized and searched.”
Nice. Cheers to power.
I smiled as I let the music take over me.
Lacius continued after tucking my hair behind my ear.
“I don’t think I mentioned this, but the strawberry champagne’s exact composition will soon be revealed.”
“Oh, good. I was waiting for it.”
They claim that it is probably poison from a plant, but I won’t say more until I’m certain.
“Alright.”
As expected. I’ll eventually have to deal with the thing I detested right away after reading about it in the original work.
Just in time, the soprano gave off a high and clean note. Listening to a beautiful song relaxes the body.
I leaned more on Lacius’ shoulder.
While momentarily considering that it would be nice if time stood still right now.
* * *
Several days later.
I was once again in the clothing store’s basement.
It was to remeasure the underwear and to try on Madame’s new dress.
“The dress sample is here!”
Employees were hopping around excitedly.
They appeared happy despite having dark eyes that suggested they hadn’t slept in days.
“Show it to me.”
“Here it is, miss.”
The dress Madame showed me had a long drape from the shoulder straps to the hem.
It is quirky due to the deep cut between the chest, but the chiffon cape hanging from one shoulder keeps it from being vulgar.
It appeared regal as if the wearer were a priestess of a temple due to the gold leaf edging on the hem.
When examined more closely, the inner portion of the chest is heavily padded with fabric, and the waist appears to be slightly larger than that of a typical dress.
Even by these alone, this dress seemed much more comfortable than the current dresses.
“Go ahead, put it on.”
Madame pushed me while speaking in a much more excited tone than usual.
I’m wearing comfortable clothes right now, but they ought to be more so.
In the end, they had to detest wearing dresses unless they were from the Titania brand.
I put on the dress with the assistance of the staff, somewhat calming my heartbeat.
My goodness, from the outside, it appeared to have a line in the waist.
The second special fabric developed by Madame.
It is as if snowflakes and shaved ice have melted down on your skin.
Even though I am certain that I am wearing it, the dress doesn’t feel particularly heavy, prompting me to look down to make sure I’m indeed wearing it.
In this world, it is common for aristocratic ladies to grow their hair long, so even that would make their necks feel heavy.
In the end, it was a cycle of the general difficulties because the clothes were also heavy.
Wearing this would be an absolute shock to them because even I, who came from another world thought that dresses were supposed to be heavy.
It was sensation itself.
“W-What do you think?”
“Madam, this is….”
After walking through the curtain, it took me a while to move from in front of the mirror.
Such blissful whiteness. It appeared as though snow had been falling on it.
The hem was delicately but brilliantly decorated with gold leaf.
“This is truly revolutionary,”
I clenched my hands in anticipation.
“It is the color combination that contrasts most sharply with the lady’s red hair and is certain to stand out.”
As she exclaimed a compliment, Madame’s breath trembled.
I turned around while giving a silent nod.
The hem then extends from the top of the ankle to the shin before dropping.
It was similar to a fairy’s winged dress—I don’t know if that’s the right metaphor.
“Yes, this is it.”
I nodded.
“I’m sure the money we made at the previous party will be nothing compared to what we will earn this time.”
Even though I provided the rough sketch, the actual making of it is a completely different matter.
And they accomplished it in just a short period of time.
“Then, Madame and assistants, start the production right away. Staffs, we’ll plan how to make the show together.”
“Yes!”
“All right!”
I took off the dress, thinking about how to set up the showroom.
“By the way, Miss Nia, what is a showroom?”
“Ah, we invite the VIPs and bring in a number of models to showcase our clothing.”
“Oh my goodness, wouldn’t that be expensive?”
The employee who helped me get dressed asked me in an innocent and sincere manner out of concern.
I grinned while glancing at the staff.
“You don’t need to be concerned about money.”
“Ah!”
“You only need to worry about one thing: how to set up the showroom so that more people will buy our clothing and fall in love with it.”
After that, another gown was thrown at me to wear.
It was also a brand-new gown that Madame had created.
I made my dress’ straps tighter, fooling myself into believing that I had actually transformed into a butterfly.
“What should be the theme of the show?”
“Since the dress feels like that of a priestess, how about a brave priestess who defeats a dragon?”
“What other options are there?”
“There are different kinds of priestesses; I’m not sure which is preferable.”
Indeed, the priestess of the Temple of the Moon and the priestess of the Temple of the Sun are entirely different.
The staff chattered enthusiastically and voiced their opinions.
I had an excellent idea as I carefully listened to their tales.
“Why don’t we set the concept in that way, then?”
“Pardon?”
Since being a priestess is a very honorable occupation, let’s stick with that idea in a way that it will complements our attire.
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