A Date? (3)
Here was how we'd ended up like this: Ethan had come out of the Academy for the weekend to deliver on the reward he'd promised for his victory in the sparring match against Harold.
Except he hadn't brought me along in my capacity as his exclusive maid — he'd brought me out as Lilith, the daughter of a baronet.
For one whole day, I wasn't his maid. Which meant I couldn't use the 'Young Master' form of address, and the usual extreme levels of polite honorifics were naturally off the table as well.
Once I'd thought it through like that, the whole atmosphere somehow started to feel... a little like a date.
And the moment I thought that, I began to grow suspicious of what Ethan's true intentions were in dragging me out here.
...Don't tell me he's deliberately setting up a date-like mood to try that confession again?
In truth, I'd been picking up signs of Ethan's odd feelings toward me for quite a while now.
After all, only a few months ago he'd already radiated the atmosphere of a man about to attempt something very much like a confession.
Given that he was at the age when boys grow like weeds, and that a woman built like Lilith was attached to his side at all hours, there was every possibility he'd catch feelings without even knowing what hit him.
He knows better than anyone that he's the heir to the Ducal House of Blackwood, so he's probably not stupid enough to actually try to make me his fiancée.
Whether he'd given up on a one-night fling of a romance, though, was another matter entirely.
The social atmosphere at the Academy was considerably freer than the outside world, and there were plenty of cases where noble and commoner students got close and their relationships developed in all sorts of mutually pleasant directions.
So it wouldn't have been strange at all for him to get swept up in that mood and decide that even if his future fiancée turned out to be someone else, he might as well enjoy a carefree romance while he was still a student.
I really shouldn't have agreed to this.
Once the word "date" entered the equation, honestly, I'd almost have preferred he just grope my chest and be done with it.
That woozy, lingering man-and-woman ambiance that turns everything awkward was the one thing I absolutely could not stomach.
Getting my chest touched I could rationalize as simply a reward for Ethan's efforts — but I still had my reservations about becoming an actual couple.
It wasn't that I thought Ethan was a bad man, as men went. It was just that, for me, men were still not romantic material.
I wish Ethan were thinking the same thing I am, honestly.
But judging by the fact that he'd given up his beloved chest-grabbing to ask for a full day out instead, I couldn't quite rule out the possibility of things drifting somewhere strange.
And so, with matters as they stood, there was only one solution.
The moment the mood started turning even remotely romantic, I would break it by any means necessary — before he could develop a shred of romantic feeling toward me.
With that plan tucked away in my head, I asked Ethan, as naturally as I could manage, what today's itinerary was.
After all, I'd need to know where we were headed if I was going to come up with the right countermeasures.
"S-So, Ethan...?"
"Y-yeah? Lilith."
"Where are you planning to take me today, that you brought me out as a noble daughter rather than as your maid?"
"...I mean, even if you ask where we're going, there's no destination in particular."
"Pardon?"
"I just... wanted to come outside the school with Lilith as an ordinary noble girl. Until now, I've only ever seen you in your maid uniform or the Academy uniform."
"......"
Ethan flushed, mumbled the words out carefully, and averted his eyes.
I couldn't tell you why, but for a second there I very nearly got swept up in his mood myself.
He really did waste a perfectly decent face on that sort of behavior....
With that thought, I fell into step beside him, our walk slightly awkward now, as we made our way down the commercial district of the Isle of Knowledge. Eventually, Ethan's steps slowed to a halt in front of a certain shop.
I, too, quietly came to a stop to match him.
"First things first — let's get you some new clothes."
"Clothes? Didn't I pack plenty of spares in the dormitory?"
"Obviously I don't mean your spares. I mean clothes for Lilith."
"...My clothes?"
"Yeah. One look at what you're wearing right now and it's obvious you need to change first."
I frowned slightly at that and glanced down at my current outfit —
the same ordinary maid uniform I always wore, plain as anything. Which left me no choice but to voice my confusion a second time.
"It's just a regular maid uniform, though?"
"Yeah. Regular as a maid uniform goes. But it's hardly something a noble daughter should be wearing, is it?"
"...I suppose not. Though I did think it was a little odd to be out in the Academy uniform when today isn't even a school day."
"Right. So — new clothes. Come on, you must be sick of wearing nothing but the Academy uniform and maid garb by now?"
...Not really, no. I could happily keep living my life in uniforms and maid outfits forever.
But I couldn't exactly argue against the claim that it wasn't befitting a noble daughter, so I had no choice but to nod along.
I was, after all, a person in possession of very basic common sense.
And besides, the thought had crossed my mind unbidden that having a single outfit for going out wouldn't be such a bad thing.
More to the point, I had come here today specifically to grant Ethan's 'request' — refusing was never an option to begin with.
"Very well, Ethan. As it happens, I was just thinking I could use an everyday outfit for outings."
"Glad we're on the same page, Lilith."
"That said, this shop looks rather expensive, so I'd suggest we walk a bit further toward the island entrance. For my personal finances, prices like these are a bit of a stretch...."
Thwip.
"...I'm buying. So stop worrying about nonsense and get inside."
"......Yes."
And that was how, my wrist captured in Ethan's grip, my body found itself forcibly dragged into a clothing store that reeked of luxury from the doorstep in.
The moment the two of us walked in, several female staff members in fine tailored gowns greeted us from top to bottom.
"Welcome. Is there anything we can help you with?"
"Ah, no, that is...."
A young nobleman and his maid walking through their doors — and yet the shop assistants didn't so much as bat an eye before launching into their service.
While I was still puzzling over how to respond to her, Ethan, standing beside me, answered with practiced ease.
"Prepare several outfits that would suit this young lady. If possible, something with the air of a noble daughter about it."
"Noble-style clothing befitting this young lady here? Right away, sir."
At those words, several of the clerks came over with measuring cords marked with fine gradations and began taking my body measurements.
Quiet murmurs about my chest size drifted into my ears.
"100, ah, no — 105 centimeters...."
"...We should have some larger sizes in the back. Start looking through those."
"Y-yes, ma'am...."
"......"
While I pretended not to have heard a word and kept my eyes discreetly elsewhere, the staff moved about with flawless efficiency.
Barely two minutes had passed since they'd measured me when one of the clerks approached with a gothic-style dress that practically radiated noble-daughter elegance.
"Would you like to try this one on first?"
"Ah, yes."
...So they did have clothes that fit Lilith's figure after all.
Well, fair enough — Lilith is one of the heroines of Luminor Academy. In a game where playing dress-up with the heroines is a whole content category, it would've been strange for there not to be outfits designed for her.
Quietly musing on this, I changed into the black dress with its high-waisted skirt in the fitting room and stepped back out.
Since Ethan was the one buying it, I dutifully asked for his opinion first.
"How do I look, Ethan?"
"......"
"Ethan?"
"Ah — uh, yeah.... Y-you look great, Lilith...."
"Do I?"
Personally, I thought it looked less like a noble daughter and more like a slightly married-noblewoman sort of outfit, but.
Well, noble daughters do grow up into noblewomen eventually, so Ethan's assessment probably wasn't a lie.
"Then it's settled. No need to waste time browsing the rest — I could just wear this one out and...."
"A-Ah, miss!"
"Hwyack?!"
"D-Don't stop there — how about trying this one on next?! I'm certain it will suit you beautifully as well!"
"P-Please try this one too, miss!"
"Y-yes?"
The shop assistants, their eyes suddenly gleaming with far more intensity than before, thrust fresh garments into my arms.
Flustered by their aggressive pushiness, I quietly turned to Ethan with a pleading look —
but alas, what came back from him was not my salvation, but a ringing endorsement of the staff.
"W-well, I mean, you might as well try them all on, Lilith?"
"What?"
"...You never know. There might be something that suits you even better."
"...Very well, Ethan."
Well, he was the one who'd brought me to this shop, and he was the one paying — when the man says try it on, what choice did I have but to oblige?
And so the impromptu fashion show at the clothing store continued for another thirty-odd minutes.
"How's this one, Ethan?"
"I-it's pretty, but d-doesn't it show off your figure a bit... a lot, actually...?"
"Hm. Does it?"
A midnight dress with a simple top-to-bottom silhouette — simple, except it clung to every curve and made absolutely sure nobody missed them.
"Even I'd be a little embarrassed in this one, you know. Forget the rest, a dress that leaves my thighs completely bare is a bit...."
"...Yeah. I don't think this one should leave the house. ...It is pretty, though."
A fairy-style piece with a high exposure rating — sheer fabric layered over sheer fabric, topped off with a very short skirt.
"...Personally, this one's the most comfortable, I'd say. It's closest to what I wear every day, after all."
"Now that's the spitting image of a noble daughter, Lilith."
"No need to go so far as hollow flattery, Ethan."
"It's not hollow...."
And then, the definitive noble-daughter dress — richly appointed with trimmings and frills, flaring out into a grand A-line skirt.
Only after four or five outfits had gone on and off did the impromptu fashion show at the store finally draw to a close.
Changing clothes this many times really is exhausting, I'll admit.
Even back in my old world, this much outfit-swapping would've worn me out.
But in a medieval fantasy setting, most garments used buttons instead of zippers, which meant every single dress cost that much more time and energy to put on and take off.
Not to mention that noble clothing tended to be a dress plus some enormous, rustling something draped over it, which made for a long list of things to be careful about.
By the time I'd finished cycling through everything, Ethan seemed to have quietly made up his mind about which outfit he liked best.
So, wearing the final outfit — the noble-daughter dress — I asked for his verdict.
After all that changing, surely at least one of them had won him over.
"So? Have you decided?"
"Yeah."
"Personally, the one I have on now is the most comfortable, I'll admit. But of course, your opinion matters most of all, Eth...."
"...Everything from the first dress this young lady tried on to the one she's wearing now. We'll take them all."
"...I'm sorry, what?"
"Yes, thank you!"
Ethan, cheerfully declaring that he'd purchase every single garment — dresses that were worth several gold coins apiece, by the look of them.
Watching several months' worth of my salary change hands right before my eyes, so casually, made my brain briefly short-circuit.
"Let's go, Lilith."
"Ah — yes. I'll carry the packages, so...."
"They'll deliver everything to the Academy dormitory later, so we can just go. All that changing got you tired, right? Shall we get something to eat first?"
"Ah... yes...."
The sheer naturalness with which Ethan bulk-purchased dresses I couldn't imagine ever wearing more than a handful of times in my life left me momentarily stunned.
...Well, it's not my money anyway, so it's really none of my concern.
Though for some reason, the suspicion that I was being awfully easily swept along today did begin to smolder quietly at the edges of my mind.
And so the weekend outing continued, me having traded my maid uniform for a noble dress, walking at Ethan's side.
It wasn't a date, strictly speaking.
No, really. It wasn't.