…Is This Really Okay to Wear?

"Ta-da!"

Lili proudly held up the Blood Thread Clothing with both hands.

What she presented was a gothic black dress covered in frills.

A huge ribbon was tied at the chest, and as the finishing touch, a brooch set with a red jewel hung at the collar.

W-What is this…!?

In a word, full-on gothic lolita.

It was the kind of fashion you’d usually only see on cosplayers online.

How am I supposed to wear something like this…!

I wasn’t very interested in fashion.

I was the type who just liked simple, comfortable clothes.

Even now, I was only wearing a plain black T-shirt and shorts.

But this outfit was a long way from comfortable.

And even farther from simple—about as far as the Andromeda Galaxy.

On top of that, the matching Ink Shadow Parasol was ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠also packed with frills to match the dress.

Its inside was red, its outside black.

It was every bit as flashy as the dress itself.

"Um… would it be difficult to make a few design adjustments?"

I asked as gently as I could, while keeping up the tone of Noble Bearing.

I wanted to preserve my masterly dignity while desperately finding some way to swap out the clothes.

However—

"Huh? Once I make something, I can’t change it."

Lili tilted her head.

"Ah… Wait. Master, do you not like it…?"

Then, as if she’d suddenly realized something, her face fell in an instant.

Her shoulders drooped, and she pulled the dress in close to her chest.

She looked almost exactly like an abandoned puppy soaked through by rain.

She looks unbearably pitiful…!

My heart softened at once, and I hurried to comfort her.

"No, no. Do not misunderstand. It is not that I dislike it. I was merely startled, for this is not an outfit I usually wear."

"…Really?"

"Of course."

"Hehe. I’m glad!"

Lili’s face brightened again.

Phew.

At least I’d smoothed things over.

But was that actually a relief? Maybe I should’ve just told the truth.

For now, I decided to inspect the clothes with Appraisal Eye.

But then—

⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙

Blood Thread Clothing (A)

Ink Shadow Parasol (A)

Both were rated as A-grade items.

And that was despite being made from the lower-grade blood of C-class gate monsters.

Holy crap.

I got chills at Lili’s ability.

I’d heard that production-type classes usually needed more than a month and a huge pile of materials to make even a single A-grade item.

But Lili had just whipped up two A-grade items in an instant from low-grade materials.

That was honestly insane.

Not S-class… SS-class, Lili?

And that meant she’d worked really hard on them for my sake.

Ugh…!

The effort was good, the grade was good.

The problem was only the design.

It was awkward not to wear it, and awkward to wear it too… what was I supposed to do?

While I hesitated—

"Oh. This is a garment most fitting for my lord."

Katarina, who had been watching from behind, spoke up.

"The design could not be more perfect for my lord’s dignity."

"Is that so…? But it feels a little too flashy…. Siyeon, what do you think?"

Katarina always flattered me, so of course she’d say it was great. But Siyeon was cool-headed; wouldn’t she be different?

I looked at Siyeon with pleading eyes, but she quietly nodded too.

"It is flashy, but that actually suits Master’s atmosphere."

"Hmm…."

"If you try it on, it’ll look even prettier, Master!"

Finally, Lili grinned brightly and handed me the dress and parasol.

"Hurry and try it on!"

Guh…

All three of my familiars were saying it was fine.

In that atmosphere, I couldn’t keep refusing.

In the end, I had no choice but to surrender.

"A-Alright."

I took them awkwardly and headed to the bathroom.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

After locking the bathroom door, I spread the dress out.

……But how the heck do you put this on?

It was my first time ever wearing a dress, so I had no idea where to even start.

Where was the zipper?

What even were these strings?

Were the frills meant to be on the inside or the outside?

I couldn’t even tell whether I was supposed to put it on from the top or step into it from below.

Just as I was groaning over it—

Knock, knock.

"My lord. Would you require assistance putting on your garment? This humble one can serve you, so please give the word."

Katarina’s respectful voice came from outside the door.

……!

For a second, I was tempted.

Honestly, it would probably be much easier if she helped.

Besides, I was a woman now too, and Katarina was my familiar.

It wouldn’t be weird to ask for help.

But—

…Still, that’s a bit much.

No matter what, showing my naked body to someone else was embarrassing.

When I was a man, I hadn’t cared much, but ever since becoming this body, I seemed to have gotten sensitive about that sort of thing.

I always bathed alone, and I always locked the door when changing clothes.

Little things like that had piled up until now, and the idea of undressing in front of someone had become instinctively uncomfortable.

And, most importantly—

The clothes I was wearing now only exposed my arms and legs, but if I showed them my bare body too, they might realize I had zero muscle and was just a soft, weak, strength-3 loser…!

"F-Fufu. No matter. Something like this is nothing to me. I can handle it alone."

I replied, trying to sound as composed as possible.

"As you command, my lord."

The presence outside the door withdrew.

Phew.

Having escaped that crisis, I returned to my battle with the dress.

In the end, I had no choice but to pull out my phone and rely on a search.

After looking up how to put on a dress on YouTube and grinding through video tutorials for ages—

I finally managed to get dressed.

Haaah, that was hard….

No joke, that was the hardest and most exhausting thing I’d done since awakening.

And even after putting it on, the ordeal wasn’t over.

The corset part clung to my body too tightly and felt suffocating.

The fabric was scratchy.

And the frills and ribbons were incredibly fussy.

How do people even wear stuff like this?

I suddenly felt respect for gothic folks all over the world.

Anyway, after all that trouble, I’d gotten the clothes on, so I switched my phone to selfie mode to check myself in the mirror.

The moment I saw my reflection—

……Huh?

I froze without meaning to.

Thick ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠silver hair.

Crimson eyes like blood and pale skin.

My small frame and the gothic dress covered in frills somehow matched absurdly well.

If a normal Korean person wore this, it would look like awkward cosplay without question.

But with fantasy-looking clothes meeting a fantasy-looking face, the combination actually worked.

At least, that was how it looked to me.

Surprisingly… not bad…?

My confidence began to rise little by little.

Good.

Let’s go out and show them.

"Ahem. Ahem."

I cleared my throat once, opened the parasol, and stepped out of the bathroom.

As soon as I came out, the eyes of my three familiars all locked onto me at once.

Ugh.

Showing off a dress to other people was even more awkward and embarrassing than I’d expected.