Chapter 44
Chapter 44
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: #9 The Capital (3)
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The breakfast table was shrouded in an awkward silence.
Elric shot a sullen glance at Tiria.
How could she not know about such terrible sleeping habits?
And to even shift the blame onto him was too much.
He tried to convey that with a look, but they clearly weren't close enough yet for her to pick up on it.
Tiria finished her meal with her usual blank expression, as if nothing were amiss... no, a little earlier than usual.
“I’ll go prepare for going out. Family Head, you should get ready too.”
“…Understood.”
He returned to his room and changed into his outing clothes.
Elric, who had thrown on some off-the-rack garments, didn’t see her again until about twenty minutes later.
Elric was mildly surprised.
“You’re dressed lightly.”
“Is there any reason to overdo it?”
She wore a gray outing dress topped with a coat and a fur cape.
It was appropriate attire for winter outings, but in other words, it didn’t flaunt the flashy ostentation typical of nobility.
The place they were heading to today was a tailor specializing in formal wear, even in the most glamorous noble district of the royal capital.
As far as Elric knew, nobles visiting such places competed to outdo one another in splendor, dressing extravagantly. So it felt novel that Tiria, who was nobility through and through, showed a different side in this regard.
“Flashiness is best saved for banquets. Even there, too much is to be avoided. It could come off as excessive and unbecoming.”
“Like the beauty of restraint, you mean.”
“Exactly.”
Elric nodded and glanced around briefly.
He was looking for Aldio, but the man was nowhere to be seen.
“What are you looking for?”
“Aldio’s missing. I wanted to at least tell him we were heading out.”
“Oh, I sent him ahead to arrange a bed. There happened to be a letter to send that way too.”
Ah, right.
Elric recalled how she had been furious about the broken bed the day before.
“…Got it. Then let’s just go by ourselves.”
“Yes.”
And with that, the two left the mansion.
*
Ferdin Royal Capital had a district reserved for nobles.
Commonly called No. 1 Boulevard, it was where the capital’s most powerful noble estates clustered, and commerce had developed accordingly to serve them.
The boulevard’s center was lined with resplendent carriages streaming along.
On the sidewalks flanking it, people who were unmistakably nobles moved with the aid of their servants, while estate managers bustled about handling business here and there.
There was a certain liveliness to it.
The awkwardness that surfaced in Elric’s mind stemmed from the disconnect between this and the lives of the western nobles he knew.
‘They all look so at peace.’
Their relaxed expressions made it immediately clear they led tranquil lives.
If he sharpened his senses, he could even catch snippets of their conversations.
-I need to speak with Count Nimrud at this banquet. You’ve looked into his tastes, right?
-This is our daughter’s debutante. Not a single mistake can be allowed.
-I’m going to spend some time alone with Heir Gillian at this banquet! So make sure the robe arrives on time?
These were the conversations of people living in an era of peace.
The west was different.
No matter where you went there, the only voices were serious ones debating the tides of war.
“We’re going in there.”
“Ah, we’re already here.”
Amid it all, the place Tiria led Elric to was a quaint tailor shop tucked away in a quieter corner.
“Oh, it’s got atmosphere.”
The clothes on the mannequins visible through the window were impeccably neat.
Of course, Elric’s tastes ran toward outfits laden with ornaments and chains, but wearing that to a banquet would just make him a laughingstock.
As far as noble refinement went, it passed with flying colors.
“It specializes in men’s formal wear. The previous Family Head patronized this place for banquets.”
He couldn’t help flinching at the mention of his father.
He’d have to change even this someday.
Elric felt pointlessly embarrassed.
‘…Anyway, it’s a reliable guarantee of quality.’
Personal feelings aside, if it was his father’s taste, it was sure to be one favored publicly.
Elric followed her into the tailor shop.
“Welcome… Ah, Lady Portman!”
“It’s been a while.”
A plump madam greeted Tiria warmly.
Then her gaze shifted to Elric.
“And this is….”
“The Family Head.”
“Oh!”
Shock spread across the madam’s face.
Elric gave an awkward smile.
‘Yeah, the rumors couldn’t have stayed quiet.’
Not as Sword Ghost Kasha, but as the runaway prodigal Elric Portman, word must have spread widely within Ferdin.
Nobles were a breed that couldn’t resist gossip about others, after all.
How much entertainment the Portman family drama must have provided, especially as latecomers to nobility.
He felt ashamed but couldn’t show it.
Whatever it was, it was the judgment he’d brought on himself, so he had to face it.
Elric extended a hand for a shake.
“I’ve heard a lot about you. We’re here for banquet attire today, and just seeing the entrance tells me your skills are trustworthy.”
This flattering style was something he’d picked up from Elbus Graham.
Fortunately, the madam beamed with delight at the praise.
“Oh, my! You flatter me.”
Her tinkling laugh was charming.
The madam’s personality was coming through clearly.
“Let me see….”
The madam’s eyes scanned Elric up and down.
But the more she did, the more troubled her expression grew.
Tiria asked curiously.
“Is something wrong?”
“…You’re quite large in stature.”
“Is that a problem?”
“Unfortunately, our ready-made items won’t do.”
Elric broke out in a cold sweat at her words.
It was a predictable crisis.
His body had been honed on battlefields to begin with.
And practicing the Sword Realm had twisted his frame with murderous intent and mana, growing it beyond what eastern nobles living in peace could match.
Even on the street, Elric’s height towered a full head above the others.
Recalling the measurements Elbus had helped him with for a previous imperial banquet, Elric said.
“I remember being about 184 cm tall. As for the other measurements….”
“No. No.”
“Hm?”
“We’ll need to measure you directly. It’d be trouble if it doesn’t match what you remember.”
Fire lit in the madam’s eyes.
It was a gaze infused with peculiar passion.
A craftsman’s spirit, one might say.
Elric looked to Tiria.
Tiria nodded and said.
“Go ahead and get measured. Our morning schedule is just this anyway, so take your time.”
She settled onto the sofa.
Elric felt a bit troubled.
‘Hm….’
He didn’t relish showing his body to others.
Or more precisely.
‘I hope this madam doesn’t have a loose tongue.’
Showing off this body as Elric Portman would be quite problematic.
*
The tailor shop’s madam, Seri, led Elric into the workroom.
“Please stand here. Ah, could you remove your top? It’s hard to measure accurately otherwise.”
There was a hint of excuse in her words.
Seri’s true intent was rooted in professional curiosity and passion.
‘Beautiful!’
She wasn’t talking about his face.
The body of the prodigal Elric Portman possessed the ideal skeletal structure in Seri’s eyes.
Even clothed, it sparked inspiration.
She wanted to see it bare.
Seri couldn’t shake the burning desire to closely examine the form of those carved muscles.
Her eyes gleamed unavoidably.
Elric looked a little intimidated, but Seri was oblivious.
“Um….”
“Yes?”
“…Can you promise me one thing first?”
At the sudden words, Seri looked up.
Elric gave an embarrassed smile, looking troubled, and said.
“I’d prefer no rumors about my body get around. I wouldn’t like you sharing that with others.”
What shameful secret could he have to say this already?
But it wasn’t a laughing matter.
“I’m not bold enough to go blabbing nobles’ secrets. If I were, I wouldn’t have lasted thirty years in this business.”
Did he not know this because he hadn’t lived as a noble?
At Seri’s words, Elric finally relaxed and slowly began unbuttoning his top.
Gulp. A dry swallow went down Seri’s throat.
As the coat came off and the necktie loosened, she felt inexplicably hot. And as the shirt buttons came undone, revealing glimpses of muscle lines, fireworks exploded in her mind.
And then,
“…Huh?”
The moment she saw his shirtless body, Seri froze stiff.
“I’ll ask you to keep this secret once more.”
A sudden thought crossed her mind.
‘Was he tortured or something…?’
Elric’s body was covered in horrific scars.
They were beyond what her imagination could reconcile with survival.
Seri suddenly feared him.
His body so vividly screamed of an extraordinary life.
Her instincts warned her.
‘If word of this gets out….’
Elric Portman might just rip her throat out.
Seri’s fingertips began to tremble.