Luciel's Luxury Boutique — Fifth Best-Seller: The Sexy Bra
"This piece was designed to bring out a woman's cuteness."
"Oh my, little ribbons?"
What I'd brought out this time was a light-pink bra and panty set, trimmed with cute little ribbons along the bottom of the bra cups and the waistband of the panties. For something sold under the banner of "sexy," it was a fairly plain, basic design—but look closely, and you'd notice the cups covering the underside of the bust came up just a little short.
In other words: an underbust!
The moment something cute came out, Lady Frill's face lit right up.
"You won't find the classic, mature beauty of a woman in this particular piece. But a mature woman's body doesn't automatically captivate every man's gaze, either. This very set is proof that such a thing is no absolute formula."
"You're absolutely right!"
Good. That's a hit.
Since this one was a safe, surefire product, I hadn't bothered stacking on extra sales patter. I'd only explained the underbust angle because the lady found that style unfamiliar.
"Goodness~ do men truly want to see even those secret little places on a woman? Honestly!"
This time even the lady—who liked the naughty stuff—seemed to warm up a little; I could see her cheeks flushing pink as she nodded along.
Still, once again she raised one small concern.
"I already have plenty of cute underwear at home, though..."
I flinched.
"But this one suits me! And it's my first underbust, too!"
Yes, yes—that's the spirit. Think positive!
Riding the momentum, I pulled out the final product. This one, too, had been procured specially for Lady Frill and no one else. If she weren't the customer, there wouldn't be a single corner of this other world where I could sell it.
"First, please don't be alarmed. This, too, is a product I sell."
"Oh my? What on earth is this?!"
The last item was far too embarrassing to be called underwear. For starters, it couldn't even be called a bra. There was no wire to support the weight of a woman's breasts, no cup to cradle them, not so much as a back hook to fasten and unfasten.
It was merely a covering.
A luxurious golden nipple cover, only slightly larger than a coin, that barely managed to conceal a woman's most precious parts—her nipples and areolae.
The panty wasn't much different. The band riding the hips was a thin string, and the truly tiny scrap of fabric failed to properly cover a woman's most important region, fluttering with every movement and exposing everything beneath.
This was, quite literally, underwear you could wear without appearing to wear anything at all—lingerie that left every inch of the body, nipples and genitals included, unavoidably on display!
The kind that guarantees no man in bed could ever simply turn his back on it—
Behold: the decisive-battle lingerie!
"Oh, come now, stop teasing me~!"
"I'm not teasing. As I said, back in my homeland this is a real product with a real name, and it sells like hotcakes."
"Still... it doesn't cover anything but the important parts, does it? Not up top, and not down below either."
"For a woman, covering the top and the bottom is quite enough, is it not? What more could one possibly need in the bedroom?"
"Hmm."
Frill's expression was already beginning to cave: now that I hear it out loud, that actually makes sense.
But something still seemed to nag at her.
"Still... um... how do I put this..."
"Do you feel something is a little... lacking?"
"That's it! This is simply a matter of wearing a whole lot less, isn't it?"
Not enough impact with this one? Exactly. I'd felt the very same way. In this moment, I felt as though I'd climbed straight inside Frill's head. And that's precisely why I'd come prepared—I am a very, very thorough man.
From a velvet box the size of my palm, I drew something out: a tiny golden bell, made to attach to the nipple cover by magnet and to sway and jingle with her every movement.
"A bell?!"
"That's right."
"D-don't tell me... haah..."
In this line of work, there are moments when, from a salesman's standpoint, another word is unnecessary. This was exactly that moment. Why say it when I can show it?
I brought the tiny golden bell close to the outer face of the nipple cover—and in an instant, the two snapped together with a click.
"How did it stick? What on earth did it attach with?!"
"Why not touch it and find out for yourself?"
There was no need to explain magnets to otherworlders who didn't know they existed. And the lady had no particular desire to know, either. Instead, like a child clutching a new toy, Frill spent a good while pulling the bell off the cover and pressing it back on, feeling the invisible force with her own two hands.
"...Did you embed a trace of magic stone in this?"
From behind me came Erina's murmur, just barely loud enough to catch. Sure enough, she was analyzing this item as magic too. How very Erina.
"And the inside of this one works like a clamp?!"
After playing with it for ages, Frill examined the inside of the nipple cover and asked, eyes gone wide.
"It's designed to pinch the flesh on the inside to hold itself in place. But it hurts far less than you'd imagine."
"Hurts? No, that's not what I meant..."
I know, I know—we're a general store that sells every manner of bizarre and outrageous thing, but this? This was too much even by our standards. Still, I was, first and foremost, introducing a customer-tailored product. I wouldn't dream of taking this out for other patrons—the moment they laid eyes on it, they'd cry outrageous! and bolt for the door.
But you? You need at least this much to truly live, don't you? Deep down you adore it—you still haven't put it down—because a last sliver of pride remains: the pride of a noble lady, the cherished daughter of a high Count's house.
So, the overall verdict?
"Hmm. In the end, this doesn't do the job of panties or a bra at all, does it? It's just... how do I put it... something that announces to other people, this part contains this~"
"You've grasped it perfectly. This is a deeply secret item that can hardly be called ordinary underwear. The only souls who could ever behold you in it would be you, standing before your mirror—and perhaps some dashing, mysterious gentleman who might one day steal into your chamber!"
"Hmm~♡"
Me, delivering exactly the words she wants to hear at exactly the right moment. Was that too far?
No.
The customer, you see, doesn't not want to buy this. What she wants is for me to hand her a reason she must buy it. A legitimate justification for purchasing this utterly useless-for-survival, purely expensive luxury item whose sole function is covering nipples and crotch.
"How would I even wear this~♡"
Our lady's got a boyfriend now. She's got one!
One look at her face and there was no mistaking it—far, far too lewd.
"Master, how rude of you, saying such a thing no matter how close we are♡ My chastity is a treasure I shall keep, always, for the man my father has destined for me... heehee♡"
Treasure it, my foot. Don't lie through your teeth—you're bluffing a merchant you take after in every last way.
That said... for some reason, Erina's jaw was rattling behind us.
I didn't need to ask why. She was picturing herself baring her body before a crowd in something this shameless.
Except you've already bared everything, fully naked, in front of hundreds.
Ah, so for her, plain nudity might actually beat wearing this? Probably.
"Now, then!"
Hoping to flip the mood, I clapped my hands together with a loud smack—and Erina jolted like someone snapping out of hypnosis.
"So, what will you do? This is the extent of the models I can show you."
"Hmm. Well... I'm not sure."
"Would you care to... try them on yourself?"
"Of course. But I've only ever watched my older sisters wear proper bras—this is my first time, so I don't know how to put one on alone..."
Erina, prepare for deployment!
"I anticipated this and trained my staff in advance. Erina will assist you with the fitting."
Erina flinched—then nodded hard, as if the moment she'd been waiting for had finally arrived.
She'd probably guessed it from the instant the lady pointed at the underwear. I'd spent the afternoon drilling her on putting on a bra by herself for exactly this moment, so helping another woman into one would be far easier.
"I'll help you put on the bra."
"Oh my, how kind. I take it you've worn these often, miss?"
"I only learned recently myself, so I'm no expert... but I'll do my very best to help!"
"The fitting room is upstairs. Please head on up."
And so, with the three-piece sexy lingerie set loaded into Erina's arms, I sent the two of them up the stairs to the shop's mezzanine.
The mezzanine above the shop floor was a multipurpose space: when no distinguished guests were expected, it held unpacked inventory, or a small sofa turned it into a lounge. Today, though, its entrance curtained off with pretty pink fabric, it was a women's fitting room complete with a large full-length mirror and a sofa.
From upstairs, over the creak of wooden floorboards, the two women's voices drifted down.
"Shall we start with the basic black one?"
"Ahh~♡ that tickles, miss!"
"Ah! Sorry about that! To put on underwear, you first have to take off everything you're wearing..."
"No, it's quite all right. It's only the first time a woman other than my wet nurse has laid hands on my body. Heehee. It doesn't feel bad at all, so please keep undressing me."
"Then, first..."
Plop. Rustle-rustle.
Sliiiide.
"Wow, your skin is pure porcelain. And your complexion—flawless."
"What are you talking about? Yours is far lovelier, miss. Especially your chest!"
"Not at all. Mine's been through years of hardship—it's sagged terribly compared to before."
"If this is sagging, what on earth was it like before~?"
"Kyaa! Don't touch..."
"How could I not touch something this enormous!"
Ahem...
Good, keep it up, Erina. I'm glad I took you on as this store's employee. This work seems made for you—you're breezing through all the things I, a man, never could.
More to the point, that conversation was far too stimulating. There was no way I could wait alone down here. I'd better step outside and pour the escort knights a cup of coffee each.
Tending to her retinue outside while Lady Frill tried on the underwear proved to be the right call. For them, the waiting wasn't boredom—it was a stretch of time brimming with dread. Judging by their talk, the Count had issued strict orders that they were not to leave her side for a single instant, and that if anything should happen to Frill, their own lives would answer for it.
"Her Ladyship is having the time of her life right now. There is nothing at all to worry about."
At first they looked like they couldn't believe a word of it, but one warm, sweet cup of instant mix coffee apiece seemed to melt them, and before long the mood turned downright convivial.
"This foreign drink called coffee is wondrous enough, but a paper cup you use once and throw away? Truly ingenious—and extravagant."
"Paper that doesn't soak through—does such a thing require the aid of alchemy?"
"Haha. That's a trade secret, I'm afraid, so I can't go into detail about my products. I appreciate your understanding."
In this medieval other world, paper was no common sight. With nothing mechanized and everything crafted by hand, most paper production went into the writing of books. Had anyone in this world stumbled into this peculiar general store cold, with no introduction, and encountered goods like these, suspicion would have been the natural reaction. Some customers, depending on the case, feared craftsmanship that crushed their common sense, or felt outright revulsion.
But this shop had been vetted by the three esteemed daughters of the House of Count Mane, and so it already wore the label of "a wondrous general store selling foreign goods at fair prices." Perhaps because of that, no one ever pried into where the goods came from, or into my origins and hometown. If anything, they seemed to find more meaning in the simple luck of having followed Lady Frill here and earned a sip of such a splendid beverage.
"By the way... what might Her Ladyship be purchasing here?"
When one of the maids asked me cautiously, every gaze mid-sip in that courtyard converged on me. These people had simply tagged along on a shopping trip without the faintest idea what Frill was buying here. No wonder they didn't know.
Everything the lady had purchased so far was first wrapped in black plastic bags—nearly impossible to obtain in this world—then double-wrapped in paper shopping bags made of precious paper before being handed over. Unless the lady herself pulled out her purchases and bragged about them, no one could ever know what she'd bought.
"Hmm... well. As always, Lady Frill shows interest in a wide variety of goods befitting her noble grace."
"So... specifically what kind of...?"
"Perfume? Or clothing?"
"Or yet another item imbued with foreign alchemy beyond anything we could imagine?"
The captain of the escort—the very man who'd declared earlier he would inspect our shop—couldn't hold back and fired off his questions.
Honestly... if it were just the maids, I could understand the curiosity, but why are these bastards so damn curious?
Well, in an other world with no idols of its own, Lady Frill would be a top-tier idol.
In any case, I absolutely could not say that the lady was buying sexy underwear. Collecting the emptied coffee cups with unhurried ease, I said with a smile:
"Now, isn't that strange? Her Ladyship has never once asked me to share her purchases with anyone. I do wonder what would happen if I told you all?"
!!!
Pffbt!
Apparently this was news to them—in an instant, every face went stiff with alarm. One servant even sprayed out the coffee he'd been so carefully savoring.
"No, forgive us! Of course she'd want it kept secret—we simply weren't thinking!"
"Please pretend we never asked!"
"Her Ladyship surely has her private life as well—we failed to consider it..."
"It's quite all right. I understand all of you."
With a bright smile, I picked up the coffee tray and headed back inside the shop. By now, the fitting had to be finished.
"Kyaa! Stop touching!"
The moment I stepped inside, Erina's scream came ringing down from the second floor. Still not done?
I shut the shop door at once, so no sound would leak out.
"Oh, come on, be honest with yourself. Deep down, you wish someone would touch you here, don't you?"
"Th-that's..."
"Carrying something this huge and not having a single man to touch it? That's a crime!"
"Ahh... it hurts when you pull..."
"Wow. Such elasticity—it stretches right out~"
Where exactly is she pulling?! Stretches right out?!
"Hee. Then you touch mine too, miss. They're small, so there's not much to feel, though."
"There you go again, saying that. Even small, Your Ladyship's are charming. They'd fit snugly in one hand."
"Heehee, that tickles~♡"
For a while the two of them went on groping and pinching each other, trading pleasant moans and squeals. I waited another five minutes or so, but it seemed their play would never stop unless someone cut in, so I cleared my throat a couple of times.
"Ahem... Your Ladyship. Have you finished trying everything on?"
"I've tried them all~ I'm buying all three."
"You like all three models? What a relief."
"Honestly, the only one that truly suits me is the second one, the underbust set. But Miss Erina kept giving me courage, so I decided to try them all on~"
"Hearing you say that makes me truly happy."
Erina, nice one! I knew I'd picked the right employee.
The lady had already paid one gold coin, so whether she took home one lingerie set or all three made no difference to me. But if she paid a full gold coin and left with less than its worth, I'd feel guilty. It would mean my store didn't stock enough interesting items to whet her appetite—that she'd come all this way, deep into the night, and found nothing new she wanted to buy. And that would mean nothing less than the laziness and complacency of me, master of this general store.
"Then please come down now. You still have other things to see. Your servants and knights are waiting."
"Hmm... if you insist that much, Master, I suppose I'll come down~?"
Frill dawdled for another good while. Meanwhile, I readied the black plastic bags for wrapping the underwear at the counter. At last the curtain swept aside with a swish, and I heard the lady's small frame descending the stairs one careful step at a time.
"Hand them here. I'll fold them nicely and wrap them for—gyah, that gave me a fright!!"
Facing the stairs, I whipped my head away in a panic.
Because the lady was wearing nothing but the merchandise.
