Chapter 20
The Lady’s Dress
What if she stayed at home and only the baby was sent to the palace in the master’s hands?
“Yes… I guess… I should be the one to go.”
There was no need to make the anticipated catastrophe happen.
Rakalt nodded vigorously as if to say, “Of course, that’s obvious.”
“But why would His Majesty suddenly want to see the baby…?”
As her initial shock settled, it was now time for the visit from that familiar guest.
A chill of fear crept up on her.
His Majesty? Me? Why? We’ve been fine so far, and there hasn’t been any problem.
But this is no ordinary person—it’s the king.
For a commoner like Adelen, it was common to live a lifetime not even knowing who the king was.
To the common people, the king was a distant, godlike figure.
“Well, maybe he just wants to see for himself.”
However, since the palace was Rakalt’s workplace, he didn’t think much of it.
In fact, he thought it was rather fortunate timing.
It was around the time when the baby’s rapid growth had started to raise concerns.
He wanted to hurry in dealing with this potentially dangerous creature,
one who might grow quickly and one day turn on Teplan.
“Get ready quickly. Do you intend to keep His Majesty waiting?”
“Ah, no! I’ll get ready quickly… but, what should I wear?”
Adelen, who had been rushing around, suddenly froze in confusion.
She didn’t know what to do in a hurry because she knew nothing about such situations.
“Head Butler.”
“Yes, Master. It’s prepared over there. Adelen, go wear that.”
Adelen followed the butler’s pointing finger with her gaze.
“Gasp?!”
And as her eyes landed on the dazzling dress before her, she felt faint.
“I asked the other maids to check your wardrobe,
but how is it possible that you only have one set of casual clothes?
They’re worse than your maid’s uniform, so we’ve decided to lend you the late Madam’s dress.”
“M-M-Madam’s d-d-dress… for m-me…?”
“Yes, it’s the simplest one, so try not to feel too burdened.”
The burden had already reached over her head.
“W-What if I accidentally ruin it…?”
“It’s a dress without an owner now.”
“B-But it’s the Madam’s dress…”
It wasn’t just anyone’s; it belonged to her master’s mother, the former countess.
“I-I’d rather borrow a dress from one of the other maids!”
“There’s no time.”
Why was she causing such a fuss over a single dress?
Rakalt grew impatient.
To him, clothing was just clothing.
Even if it was his mother’s keepsake, it didn’t matter to him.
He had no gentle memories to make his heart ache.
And even if he did, many years had passed.
His heart, dulled from wielding the emperor’s sword, didn’t stir before remnants of his mother.
“Come on, Adelen. Just put it on.”
The butler, watching his master, gently nudged Adelen’s back.
Hesitantly, Adelen muttered “uh, uh…” and was pushed into the dressing room with the dress.
“Sigh…”
In the end, she had no choice but to wear it.
Though it was supposed to be the simplest one,
the luxurious sensation slipping down her fingertips was undeniable.
She was too afraid to hold it comfortably, worried that it might tear with the slightest wrong touch. If it was something kept as a keepsake, it must have been quite precious.
The value of her master and the baby frightened her; those things were more expensive than her own life.
This one dress—she couldn’t afford it even if she spent her entire life on it.
But her master was waiting outside.
No matter what, it was time to summon her courage.
She had always wanted to wear a dress at least once in her life, but she’d imagined it would be a wedding dress, not the intimidating dress of the late Lady.
With a deep sigh, Adelen began to squeeze herself into the dress.
As if to spite her, it seemed the Lady had a similar physique to Adelen’s. It fit her perfectly, leaving no excuse to claim it didn’t fit.
“Um… I’m done getting dressed…”
She wanted to quickly get it over with—put on the dress and finish the palace visit as soon as possible.
The dress was indeed simple; it was designed in a way that she could put it on by herself.
As she opened the dressing room door, two—no, three pairs of male eyes turned to her at once.
“Oh… I almost didn’t recognize you.”
The butler was the first to comment.
Embarrassed, Adelen scratched her cheek and walked briskly over to the baby.
“Uh….”
“?”
But the baby hesitated, pulling his hand back.
“Baby?”
“Aduee?”
It wasn’t until she called out that he blinked and looked at her properly… as if he hadn’t recognized her, just as the butler had said.
“Do I… look that different?”
If she had known, she would have checked in the mirror properly. Hopefully, it wasn’t because she looked strange.
Adelen belatedly fumbled, checking her hair and appearance. But there was no way she could see herself just by feeling around.
The last person left to give his opinion was her master.
He would be the one accompanying her to the palace for the day, so if he approved, it was fine.
“Master, do I… look okay?”
With worried eyes, Adelen looked to Rakalt.
Rakalt was already watching her. Seated on the sofa, with legs crossed and arms folded, he hadn’t moved a muscle.
After a long silence, he finished his thoughts and slowly opened his mouth.
Adelen, fixated on his lips, swallowed nervously.
“…Was that always what the dress looked like?”
“Huh?”
His comment was entirely unexpected. It wasn’t even a comment on her appearance.
The butler was equally taken aback, turning to look at Rakalt.
“Uh? Master? Is there something wrong with the dress? It looks perfectly fine to me…”
Thinking it might be an issue with the dress’s storage, the butler approached Adelen to inspect it, but everything was in order.
“Is this really the simplest one?”
“Huh? Uh… yes, it is. It’s the one she wore briefly when visiting stores, not for parties or anything….”
Rakalt had spent very little time with his mother, so he had no way of knowing which dresses she wore and when.
In fact, the butler remembered better.
“Mother’s taste was quite extravagant, it seems.”
“Uh? I wouldn’t say that…”
The butler, missing Rakalt’s underlying meaning, stammered.
What exactly was he trying to say about the dress?
Was he saying he liked it, or disliked it, because it looked fancy?
But no matter how objectively he looked at it, the dress wasn’t flashy at all.
Adelen was equally anxious, wondering if something was wrong with the dress.
The butler meticulously checked her from head to toe once more.
Still, it was just Adelen in a plain dress.
“…Does it look too flashy?”
He asked his master directly, to be certain of his opinion, and received a straightforward answer in return.
“Right. If you add some jewels to it, she could attend a party just like that.”
“……”
The butler finally realized what the issue was.
It wasn’t the dress—it was his master’s eyes.
Having spent so much time on the battlefield, he had clearly forgotten how extravagant the typical noblewoman’s dress was.
After all, in war, they say that just wearing a skirt makes a woman.
It wasn’t that Adelen had an exceptionally flashy appearance, and that was why this comment was made.
‘What do we do, our master…’
With his dulled aesthetic sense, it would be disastrous if he started being too lenient with women’s appearances.
Such a tragedy, where Sigelion’s pride, that handsome face, would be lost after just two generations, must never happen.
To restore his master’s sense of beauty, the butler steeled his resolve.
“Master, if I may, this dress is not something an aristocrat would wear, but a girl from a well-off commoner family might wear something like this to go about.”
“…Is that so?”
At the butler’s words, Rakalt narrowed his eyes and scrutinized Adelen more carefully.
Would his master’s aesthetic sense recover quickly enough? Both Adelen and the butler held their breath and waited, their breaths shallow and tense.
Finally, Rakalt nodded, as if he understood.
“Ah, I see what the butler means.”
“Do you understand?!”
“Yes, it’s definitely not flashy.”
“See? I told you!”
“It’s pretty.”
“?!”
Both the butler and Adelen were left speechless in shock.
Amidst the confusion, Rakalt calmly stood by his opinion.
“It was pretty, which made it look flashy. Now that I think about it, Adelen, you were pretty.”
“……”
“……”
Neither of them could say a word.
It was clear that the master didn’t mean anything else by his words. That was precisely why neither of them could respond.
It felt as though they had been charmed by the world’s greatest flirt, even though he wasn’t even trying to charm them.
Was conquering the social scene his goal after the battlefield?
The butler, for a brief moment, let go of his worries about the appearance of the heir.
He He shocked me when he said she
is beautiful lol