'Couldn't you… at least tell me I look fine.'
Even to Rose's own eyes, she didn't look bad right now.
Gold thread embroidered throughout the dress gave it a luxurious yet lavish feel. Her red hair cascading over the calm indigo dress was truly harmonious.
'My lady, you're too beautiful!'
'It really suits you! His Excellency will be so surprised!'
Maid servants usually flattered their masters, but it was hard to find any falsehood in their enthusiastic reactions.
Besides, Lucy had confidently declared he would surprise His Excellency Dane. Coming from no one else but him, it was worth trusting, wasn't it?
That was when it happened.
"Was the budget insufficient?"
Words no one had expected came out of Dane's mouth.
The fireplace was clearly blazing, yet the temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees.
"…Pardon?"
Even Lucy hadn't anticipated such words, his face bewildered.
"If the budget was insufficient, you should have requested more."
Dane continued in an angry voice.
"To skimp on the fabric like this."
"I'm not sure what you mean, Your Excellency. I never did such a—"
"The neckline is far too plunging."
"……."
Lucy froze on the spot.
'When he unleashes fierce criticism with those cold eyes, there's no way to withstand it.'
Past memories were returning like a boomerang. Truly, there was no way to withstand it.
"……."
Everyone was at a loss for words.
If he had complained about using too much fabric, that would be one thing, but this kind of criticism was a first even for Lucy's staff.
Rose was flustered too.
'Is it really that bad?'
It was bolder than what she usually wore. The neckline dipped all the way to the end of her collarbone.
But aside from that, everything else was modest. Besides, gathering the bust to emphasize a feminine silhouette was her own weapon—one that any lady of standing would employ.
"…Forgive my presumption, Your Excellency."
Lucy quietly opened his mouth. Even as a tailor, there was a line he couldn't bend on.
"This level of neckline is standard in social circles. It is, in fact, on the conservative side."
"You call this conservative?"
Even at Dane's blunt retort, Lucy didn't yield.
"The modest dress Your Excellency envisions—wouldn't that be a design found only in etiquette manuals? In truth, ladies of the madam's age wouldn't hesitate to plunge even lower than this."
"They lack any sense of shame……."
It was a reaction as if Lucy had stripped Rose bare.
Lucy clicked his tongue with a low "tsk," then changed the direction of his argument.
"But look, Your Excellency. With the madam's fair skin and elegant shoulder line exposed, isn't it beautiful?"
"I'll concede that."
Dane replied so immediately that it rendered Lucy's efforts moot.
"Far too pretty."
Thump.
An unexpected remark struck Rose's heart hard.
'…What did he just say?'
Having thoroughly stolen Rose's wits with a single sentence, Dane then frowned as if dissatisfied.
"But if she exposes her shoulders this much, my wife will catch a cold again, won't she?"
"Your Excellency, this is an indoor garment. There are outer layers prepared separately."
Dane and Lucy began to face off against each other once more.
"It's the first time I've seen His Excellency complain like that."
"He always wore whatever was given to him without question."
Lucy's staff whispered among themselves.
"He's quite demanding when it comes to the madam's dresses, isn't he?"
"That's not demanding, he's just being a pain in the—"
"Shh!"
Rose didn't have the presence of mind to listen to the staff's whispering.
Pretty… far too… pretty…….
Those words kept swirling around in her head.
'I'm… pretty?'
It was a compliment she had never thought she would receive, not even once.
'Oh my, the lady has become a wallflower once again today.'
'Calling her a flower is too generous. She's more like a weed on the wall…….'
'Shh, she'll hear you.'
The criticisms she'd heard whenever she occasionally attended tea parties. They would flutter their fans and whisper cunningly, just loud enough for only the person in question to hear.
'Dear, please do something about that straw-like hair of yours. And what on earth are you wearing?'
'Ah, Mother! I saw her combing my sister's hair this morning. Even combed, it still looks like that—the horror!'
The stepmother and stepsister who would cackle and tear Rose down. Their eyes were filled with pure malice and vulgar amusement.
That was why Rose had always believed she was seriously ugly.
But for the first time,
'Maybe I do have some pretty parts…….'
She began to think that perhaps it wasn't true.
"Well then, let me ask for the madam's opinion."
Lucy, who had been arguing with Dane for quite some time, caught his breath. The squabble had riled him up so much that his neatly styled hair had become slightly disheveled.
"What do you think, madam?"
"…Huh?"
The arrow had turned back toward her.
Dane stood cross-armed and askew, and Lucy was breathing hard with a flushed face. Both were staring at Rose.
"…In my opinion as well,"
Rose hesitated for a moment before offering her honest thoughts.
"This level of neckline seems fairly ordinary."
"You think this is ordinary?"
Dane asked back, sounding incredulous.
But Rose liked this dress. Because it was the first dress Dane had ever told her was pretty.
"You said it was pretty. Don't you like it too, Your Excellency?"
Dane's face, which had been radiating chill all along, gradually softened.
"But what if she catches a cold wearing this?"
"Ah, well."
At Rose's signal, the maid Sonya, standing nearby, brought over a shawl.
"How about if she wears this over it?"
It was the shawl Lucy had prepared earlier, saying it would suit her well. Made of white fur, the shawl fully exhibited the dignity of a northern grand noble.
Rustle.
When she draped it on, Rose's shoulders and collarbone were covered.
"…Hm."
Only then did Dane take a step back.
"Then, as the missus wishes."
It was an astonishingly swift capitulation.
The iron-walled stance that had resisted Lucy's every argument crumbled instantly at Rose's few words.
Smack!
Lucy slapped his forehead. He hit himself so hard his forehead turned slightly red.
"Understood, Your Excellency. Then shall we move on to the next dress?"
He seemed to have figured out how to handle the Dane before him.
After that, everything went smoothly.
"What's this on the sleeves? Why is there netting layered over them?"
"It's not netting… hoo, it's tulle. Woven as thinly as possible, so it subtly reveals the skin underneath."
"Subtly? This is outright conspicuous."
"…What does the madam think?"
Lucy had employed the strategy of deflecting to the madam!
"I like it. My arms look slender, and it's not too cold either."
"Then we'll purchase that dress as well."
The effect was tremendous!
Thus Lucy succeeded in getting all five dresses approved.
"And what is this unit price?"
"…Pardon?"
But it didn't end there.
"Look at my wife's wardrobe. It's completely empty, isn't it?"
"Well……."
"I need to fill that, and you're telling me only five dresses?"
At the sudden reproach, Lucy's face darkened. For one thing, it wasn't his fault that the wardrobe was empty in the first place.
"Your Excellency… today I brought these as rough estimates since I wasn't sure what would suit the madam. Now that I know her style, the next dresses will be easy to tailor. You can browse the catalog in advance and place orders."
"What about spring dresses?"
"Those should be tailored for the next season. Why would we do spring dresses already……."
Lucy's patience seemed to have reached its limit, his face alternating between red and blue. His tone had grown quite slack as well.
"A fitting session of one to two dresses per day is the norm. Today was already quite a stretch."
"Is that so? I've tried on ten in a single day."
"Men's clothing isn't as complicated as women's. Besides—does Your Excellency think the madam is a steel superhuman like yourself? If we were to fit all those dresses today as you suggest, the madam would collapse from exhaustion."
"Then let's stop here."
"……."
Lucy pressed a hand to his forehead and swallowed a deep sigh.
"This is awful, just awful……."
Dane pretended not to hear and stared at the wide-open wardrobe and jewelry box. His piercing gaze, as if searching for flaws, made the maids unconsciously shrink back.
"What about accessories? Didn't you bring any?"
"Of course I brought them."
Lucy heaved himself up with a groan and gestured to his staff.
"Go to the carriage."
"How much should we bring?"
"Everything we have!"
Lucy snapped back as if in disgust, then preemptively cautioned Dane.
"Let me say this in advance—what I brought are items to check compatibility with the dresses, so they are not top-quality products. I recommend having jewelry separately tailored at a jeweler's shop later."
"Understood."
"Then let us take a brief break."
Lucy wore a smile where only the corners of his mouth lifted while his eyes didn't laugh. It was the look of someone who'd had enough.
"The madam needs her rest as well. Would that be all right?"
"Go ahead."
Lucy and his staff filed out of the room. So did the maids, who had been busy attending to Rose all the while.
Thus only two people remained in the room. A brief silence flowed between Rose and Dane.
"……."
Dane looked over the dress from behind Rose, as if seeing it anew.
Rose could steal glimpses of his face in the mirror straight ahead. She saw a face different from before—and one that only she knew.
Then,
"Do you really… think I'm pretty?"
Rose's lips moved.
**
'Why is she asking?'
Was my voice too quiet earlier? It had been loud enough for everyone in this room to hear.
But rather than question that, I felt instinctively that a more important moment had arrived. A moment that could cure Rose's terrible affliction.
So I answered without hesitation.
"You're pretty."
I said it while meeting Rose's eyes in the mirror. Then I added immediately.
"Very."
"Ah……."
Rose's face flushed crimson and she averted her eyes. She clutched the hem of her dress tightly and murmured in a thin voice.
"Th-that's… a lie……."
Her tone suggested she wanted to deny it. But within it, a small hope could be seen trembling.
"Why would I lie?"
As I took a stride closer, Rose reflexively raised her head. Ripples formed in Rose's green eyes, trembling gently like the surface of still water.
"Because I'm……."
Rose began to fall into self-deprecation out of habit, then suddenly stopped mid-sentence. It seemed that a well-fitting, high-quality dress gave its wearer confidence.
"It's just the two of us here. That means there's no need to keep up pretenses."
I seized the moment and drove the wedge home.
"You are pretty."
I declared, looking directly into Rose's eyes.
"You have been from the very beginning."
I spoke my thoughts exactly as they surfaced in my mind, without any embellishment.