Yellodia asked, pouting as if trying hard to hide her emotions.
“Can you wait sitting in a chair?”
“The crinoline you’re wearing under your dress is fixed with whalebone. Even if you could sit down by breaking it with your strength, miss, if you do sit, it will have to be remade from scratch.”
“But my legs already hurt?”
For a moment, Sona had a headache. Anyway, she had to acknowledge that noble young ladies were willful.
Still, it wasn’t as though she could scold the precious daughter of Duke Savie and tell her she shouldn’t sit in a chair while her fiancé watched.
Of course, even if it had been just the two of them, it would not have been much different.
Taking off the crinoline for a moment wouldn’t ruin the dress. Sona quickly finished her calculations.
“Then……”
“Would you spread your arms for a moment?”
Unexpectedly, it was Edward who resolved Sona’s dilemma.
Edward slipped his arm around Yellodia’s waist and lifted her up before seating her on a tall chair without a backrest.
The basket-shaped frame did not quite touch the floor, and Yellodia balanced on the chair as if she were riding a horse.
And so, the fact that Edward’s hand had touched her body quickly evaporated from her mind.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m much better. I didn’t know I could sit like this while wearing a dress.”
“Women’s clothes are more uncomfortable than I thought.”
“I’m fine. After the wedding, I plan never to wear crinolines with whalebone or wire again.”
“That’s a relief.”
Edward replied, keeping a close eye on her in case she fell backward.
As the two focused on each other, Sona hid a smile and carefully opened the door.
She didn’t forget to give a discreet signal to Masa, who was standing quietly in a corner.
If she said they couldn’t find the accessories after about thirty minutes like this, Yellodia would generously forgive her.
Once Sona disappeared outside the door with Masa, Edward calmly began to speak.
“I didn’t know she was a tailor. You two seem close; you seem to know each other well?”
“My mother was the one who discovered Sona’s mother, who owned a failing clothing shop about twenty years ago. They had a patron and guardian relationship.”
Yellodia continued speaking with a somehow proud smile.
“Luckily, Sona seems to have inherited her mother’s talent, and her shop has grown into the most famous dress shop in Frier. Since then, Sona has been making my dresses.”
“I didn’t know there was such a history.”
Edward looked down at his own formal suit and said calmly.
Yellodia admired Edward’s appearance for a moment.
Thanks to his tall height and slim physique, the black formal wear suited him extremely well.
Among all the people she had met, there was no man as sharp yet elegant as Edward.
And she had a premonition that there never would be.
When Edward suddenly raised his head, Yellodia unconsciously gulped dryly.
“Baron…… wouldn’t it be better for you to sit in a chair too? Your legs must be hurting.”
“I’m fine. This much is nothing.”
“Is that so?”
Yellodia fiddled with her fingers sluggishly.
Now that they were alone, she felt her whole body tense and didn’t know what to talk about.
She was curious about his former fiancée, but she didn’t know where to begin, and she was aware that it wasn’t something to ask about so abruptly and clumsily.
“Truthfully, I was surprised to receive your message. I didn’t expect you to send me a handwritten card, my lady.”
Yellodia snapped to attention and raised her head.
Edward was gazing at her with eyes that held an appropriate mix of goodwill and curiosity.
“If I didn’t see you like this, I didn’t think we’d be able to meet until the engagement ceremony. Did it perhaps inconvenience you?”
“Not at all. Rather, I should have been the one to ask; I apologize for being inconsiderate.”
“Then…… will you invite me next time, Baron?”
Edward looked a little surprised.
“Would the Duke not be displeased?”
“If I somehow manage to win over my youngest older brother, he’ll accompany me. My second older brother will want to meet my betrothed at least once before the engagement ceremony, so if I bring my brothers along as guardians, Father will understand.”
“……I see.”
When he imagined Yellodia accompanied by her second and youngest brothers, somehow a bitter smile wanted to come out.
Edward suddenly recalled Kias Savie, the Young Duke, who had glared at him throughout his dinner with the Emperor.
Kias’s eyes had been sharp, as if scrutinizing Edward’s every move.
So much so that Edward, despite eating a meal said to be more expensive than its weight in gold, could not tell whether it was going through his nose or his mouth.
Meanwhile, wondering how Duke Savie had so easily granted permission for his treasured youngest daughter’s marriage, Edward stared fixedly at Yellodia.
“…….”
He had thought so from the beginning, but even at seventeen, she possessed an atmosphere that made one hesitate to approach her rashly.
The most striking feature of her appearance was her large, vivid eyes.
The irises revealed beneath her fluttering lashes became a transparent lake whenever they caught the sunlight, and at times a forest.
Her snow-white skin glowed smoothly like pearls, and her straight nose and rose-colored lips were harmonious and beautiful.
If she had debuted in society, Edward would not have had even a chance to speak with her.
“Is there nothing you wish to do before getting married?”
“Before getting married?”
At Yellodia’s bewildered question, Edward shrugged his shoulders lightly.
“After the engagement ceremony, the wedding won’t take that long either. It seems you are getting married at quite a young age, my lady…… If there is anything you wish to do before then, please tell me.”
“Baron, you really don’t know about nobility. Noblewomen are actually freer after getting married. There is more they can do then.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. But I’m not foolish enough to confuse freedom with debauchery. After all, freedom comes with responsibility. I hope you, too, will keep to what must be kept, Baron.”
“I shall do so.”
Edward replied without hesitation.
Had Edward known the inner workings of high society, filled with adultery and immorality, he would not have answered her words so lightly.
She, too, suspected as much, so she didn’t add anything else and simply smiled.
“It seems Sona couldn’t find the accessories after all. Would you help me up?”
Edward looked quietly at Yellodia, who entrusted herself to him as if it were only natural, then lowered her to the floor.
The sensation touching his hand was surprisingly soft and pliant.
Yellodia lowered her eyes and quietly stepped back.
Then, as if it were natural that her maid was waiting in front of the door, she called for her.
“Masa, you may come in now.”
The maid quietly opened the door and entered.
Yellodia smiled bashfully at Edward, who was looking at her with a somewhat surprised expression, as if she knew nothing, and said:
“I can’t return to the mansion any later, so I’ll take my leave now. Then, I’ll wait for your message, Baron.”
＊ ＊ ＊
The morning immediately after parting with Edward at the dress shop, Yellodia rubbed her bleary eyes as soon as she woke.
The sunlight pouring through the curtains was vibrant and hot.
Yellodia stretched out her arms in a languid stretch, then pulled the bell cord to call the maids.
“I want to wash up right away.”
“We’ll prepare it.”
With the maids’ help, Yellodia washed, had breakfast, and sent word to her tutor that she would miss class due to feeling unwell.
“I want to be alone.”
As soon as she dismissed the maids, Yellodia crossed the sitting room attached to her bedroom and entered the dressing room.
The spacious and cozy dressing room was densely lined with colorful dresses and accessories. It was almost like the treasure vault of a queen who received the king’s abundant love.
“Hmm……”
Looking around the room blankly, Yellodia strode over to one corner. It was a space Masa despised.
There, shirts and pants of various kinds hung on clothes hangers.
Though Masa grumbled whenever she had the time, she had washed and ironed them with as much care as Yellodia’s other clothes.
Yellodia chose a long-sleeved shirt, a doublet, breeches fastened at the bottom, and hose.
She tied her red curly hair tightly with a blue satin ribbon, and finally, after securing a dagger at her side, she was roughly prepared.
‘This should be about right, shouldn’t it?’
Standing before the large mirror, Yellodia let out a satisfied sigh. She looked exactly like a noble boy.
Yellodia returned to the sitting room, quietly opened the door, and stepped out into the hallway.
And she tiptoed down the hallway and down the stairs on her toes. It was the staircase leading to the back door.
“Where are you going?”
“……!”
Startled, Yellodia turned her head. She had nearly let out a scream loud enough to lift the mansion off its foundations.
Surprisingly, Masa walked out from the dark shadows beneath the stairs.
“You startled me! Just how long have you been standing there?”
“Since you were staring blankly out the window in the middle of breakfast, my lady. Whenever that happens, something like this always occurs.”
Soon, Masa let out a sigh with a troubled expression.
“Are you truly going out?”
“Yeah, this time I’m going to buy a summer dress.”
Yellodia answered with shameless boldness. Masa was speechless.
“My lady, what has gotten into you?”
“Come to think of it, aren’t I debuting in society this season? The number of guests visiting the mansion will increase too; I can’t wear the same dress every day.”
“That’s truly strange. All of my lady’s party dresses are made by Lady Sona.”
“That’s what I’m saying. I was on my way to Sona’s.”
“In that getup?”
Masa couldn’t help but point that out.
Yellodia was dressed in men’s clothing. And even if one searched the entire empire, there was no noble young lady who went to a high-class dress shop wearing men’s clothes.
Unless she wanted to throw all the innocent young ladies visiting the dress shop into shock.
Before she knew it, Masa’s eyes had turned sharp.