Episode 57
People who held any sort of authority, nobles included, were all obsessed with those damned formalities. Come to think of it, those with nothing often could not observe such niceties even if they wished to, so perhaps the very ability to uphold those damned formalities was itself a symbol of power.
Sasha said their wedding had to be perfect, beyond reproach from anyone. Since it was fake to begin with, she said, it had to be all the more flawless.
The engagement rings they had chosen yesterday were as ornate as any engagement rings could be. According to her, their wedding bands would be simple, like everyone else’s. Yes. She said they would do everything exactly as others did, just the same.
The tailor returned to the mansion two days later with the dress and frock coat prepared for fitting. It was not that Sasha had openly rushed him, but he had, in his own way, read the atmosphere to some extent.
It was a peaceful Saturday afternoon. As if the extreme discomfort of the first day had never been, Isaac was slowly growing used to life here. Perhaps because Sasha had given them some separate instruction after that first day, they no longer stole glances at Isaac or exuded an air thick with wariness. Instead, they stayed out of sight, as though they had resolved not to be seen by him at all.
He thought they were servants who, like their mistress, were extreme in many ways. At least, that was how Isaac felt.
“Would you please wait a moment?”
It was late afternoon. While he was strolling through the garden with a rather bored expression, a servant approached and told him that Sasha was looking for him.
When Isaac headed to a certain room as Sasha had summoned him, the maid standing guard before the door spotted him and bowed politely. Soon, the maid opened the door a little, checked the situation inside, and announced that Isaac had arrived.
“She says you may come in.”
The maid relayed this to Isaac, stepping aside as if to make way and opening the door for him. She would not even meet his eyes.
But once he entered the room, Sasha was nowhere to be seen. The room extended in a long passage leading to the room beside it. Soon, Sasha’s voice drifted from beyond.
“Would you sit there and wait for a moment?”
Isaac nodded and took a seat at the coffee table set up in the main room.
Before long, Sasha appeared, and Isaac, who had naturally been eating one of the cookies placed before him, froze slightly and looked at her.
“……Is it already finished?”
“No. This is a ready-made piece the dress shop sent over. It doesn’t fit me, but I tried it on for now. I wanted to see whether it suited me.”
Isaac nodded with a somewhat bewildered expression. The white wedding dress fluttered lightly each time she walked. As she had said, the wedding dress was a little large on her, and each time she turned her body at a subtle angle, the inside of her shoulder, or else—
I’ve lost my mind.
With the tips of his ears flushed red as if they might burst, Isaac stared only at the floor. The half-chewed bits of biscuit rolled around in his mouth.
“Aren’t you bored? You’ve been here for days now.”
“……Not particularly. It’s quite spacious, so there’s some fun in walking around and looking at things.”
Sasha sat across from him, picked up a biscuit, and put it into her mouth. Isaac was still looking only at the floor.
“Is there something on the floor?”
She followed his gaze to his feet and asked.
“No. It’s just a little difficult to look at you.”
Isaac simply answered honestly, exactly as it was.
“The wedding dress is?”
“The dress is large, so…… I think I can see even the parts that ought to be covered.”
At Isaac’s remark, Sasha looked down at her own attire as if wondering, Is that so? Then she tilted her head, seeming a little dumbfounded.
“……I chose an intentionally conservative design for the dress, you know. Considering the customs of both our families……”
“Your shoulders are showing.”
“……Captain Pinscher. Dresses worn in summer reveal far more than this. Is this your first time seeing a woman’s shoulder……”
She had been about to ask, but closed her mouth.
He was a man who had left home early and spent the whole of his youth in places crawling only with men. It made sense that he would have no immunity.
Sasha found his flustered state somewhat absurd, but at the same time, she felt a little worried.
“When the weather gets hotter, you won’t even be able to go out. Will you?”
“Those women are those women, and you are you, Miss Grayson.”
“Ah, so other women’s shoulders are fine, but seeing mine makes you terribly uncomfortable?”
Sasha muttered sarcastically, looking rather offended instead, and the maids who had stepped back to listen to their conversation exchanged glances and shook their heads.
“In any case, I understand. I’ll go in and change. I wanted to show you on purpose because I wished to ask your opinion as well. You’re saying even this much is too revealing, yes?”
“……”
Isaac still did not answer.
With a huff, Sasha deliberately clicked her shoes as if to make her displeasure known, then disappeared beyond the other side.
Quite some time later, Sasha changed clothes and came out, then sat across from him again.
“I suppose the dress I wore to the party was all right?”
“Back then, I don’t even remember what you were wearing. I had no interest in you.”
“What a very strange standard.”
The maids sighed inwardly at their master’s lack of tact.
The soldier in question, however, seemed entirely unbothered by his fiancée’s own lack of tact.
“At any rate, did you call me here to look at the dress? It would be better to see it again once it’s finished.”
“No. There is the dress, but.”
Sasha stopped speaking and looked back toward the maids.
She seemed to think for a moment, then said to the maids,
“Would you go downstairs and ask the chef what today’s dinner dessert will be?”
“Yes, miss.”
“And the remaining one, go to the butler and tell him to prepare the carriage tomorrow morning.”
Having deliberately sent both maids out, the room soon grew very quiet with only Sasha and Isaac left inside.
“We have to attend worship every Sunday morning. And while we’re at it, I thought we might watch the play being performed Sunday afternoon as well.”
“Yes.”
“You should come too, Captain. I saw you walking in the garden day after day. You can’t even clean your gun here, so you must have been bored with nothing to do. I’m sorry I didn’t consider it in advance.”
Isaac lifted his deeply bowed head and looked at her.
“This will be a chance for everyone to see you as well. The cathedral and the theater are both crowded places.”
Ah, so that was the purpose.
Only belatedly realizing her true intention, Isaac scratched his nose with a somewhat sheepish expression.
“Understood.”
＊＊＊
The next day, after having breakfast together, they returned to their respective rooms to change clothes and came out.
When he went down to the first floor, Sasha, changed into a green dress, was already waiting for him. Isaac quickly walked toward her with brisk steps and offered one arm.
“I hope you both have a pleasant time.”
The butler spoke with a meaningful expression as he closed the carriage door. Just as the door was about to shut, a servant hurried over carrying purple flowers and called, “Miss!”
“Someone sent flowers for you, miss. Where should I place them?”
Sasha, already seated inside the carriage, asked with a sour expression.
“Who is the sender?”
“It only says Sir Butler.”
“……Ah, a name I’ve seen in a letter. Put them in my room.”
The carriage door closed the rest of the way, and they could see the butler, Jason, approaching the servant to take charge in her stead. Through the window, Isaac watched the servant stagger along, his view blocked by the enormous bouquet of flowers.
“Do you always receive gifts like that?”
Isaac asked her, and Sasha shrugged.
“I used to receive quite a few before I slapped Jeffrey. There have hardly been any since, but, well.”
She murmured as if it were nothing of consequence.
“I suppose there must be more people like Osmond or Bloom.”
Isaac watched with a displeased expression as the bouquet, far taller than the servant carrying it, disappeared into the mansion. Without realizing it, his brows had furrowed.
“Does it bother you?”
Sasha asked.
“Don’t worry. Once we’re married, I’ll refuse all gifts like that.”
“……That isn’t exactly what I meant……”
“It’s the perfect thing for bad rumors to spread among people. We have to block it at the source.”
As always, she spoke with a thoroughly meticulous expression, cutting the matter off, and whatever Isaac had been about to say slipped right back down his throat.
“You judge everything only by how it will appear to others, Miss Grayson.”