Chapter 54
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 054
Chapter Title: Tailoring (3)
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‘He'll say it's fine... at least that much, right?’
Rose thought she looked pretty good herself.
The gold embroidery was luxurious and flashy in all the right places. Her red hair cascading over the serene navy-blue dress created a perfect harmony.
‘Madam, you look so beautiful!’
‘It suits you perfectly! His Excellency will be stunned!’
The maids were flattering their mistress as usual, but it was hard to detect any falsehood in their enthusiastic reactions.
Besides, Lucesi had declared it would surprise Duke Dane. If anyone knew, it was him.
That was when it happened.
"Was the budget short?"
Duke Dane's unexpected words caught everyone off guard.
The fireplace was roaring, yet the room suddenly felt much colder.
"...Pardon?"
Even Lucesi looked flustered, clearly unprepared for such a remark.
"If the budget was short, you could have requested more."
Dane continued in an angry tone.
"To skimp on the fabric like this."
"I don't understand what you mean, Your Excellency. I never—"
"The neckline is too low."
"……."
Lucesi froze in place.
‘With those cold eyes unleashing such fierce criticism, who could endure it?’
Memories from the past came boomeranging back. There was truly no way to withstand it.
"……."
Everyone fell silent.
Complaints about using too much fabric would have been one thing, but this kind of criticism was a first even for Lucesi's staff.
Rose was bewildered too.
‘Is this what they call meticulous?’
It was bolder than her usual attire. The neckline plunged all the way to her collarbone.
But everything else was modest. Besides, accentuating the feminine curves by gathering at the bust was a weapon every noblewoman wielded.
"...If I may, Your Excellency."
Lucesi quietly spoke up. Even as a tailor, he had lines he wouldn't cross.
"This level of neckline is standard in high society. If anything, it's on the conservative side."
"This is conservative?"
Lucesi didn't yield to Dane's curt retort.
"Isn't the modest dress Your Excellency envisions something straight out of an etiquette book? In truth, noblewomen of Madam's age wear theirs even lower without hesitation."
"Shameless……."
He reacted as if Lucesi had stripped Rose naked.
Lucesi clicked his tongue softly and shifted his defense.
"But look. With Madam's fair skin and elegant shoulder line revealed, doesn't it look beautiful?"
"That I admit."
Dane answered so readily it made Lucesi's efforts seem pointless.
"It's excessively pretty."
Thump.
The unexpected words made Rose's heart pound hard.
‘...What did he just say?’
His single remark had knocked the wits out of her, yet Dane frowned as if dissatisfied.
"But exposing so much shoulder—won't my wife catch another cold?"
"Your Excellency, this is indoor attire. There's an outer layer separately."
Dane and Lucesi clashed once more.
"I've never seen His Excellency complain like this."
"He always wore whatever we gave him without a word."
Lucesi's staff whispered among themselves, stifling their voices.
"He's awfully picky about Madam's dresses, huh?"
"This isn't picky; it's just old-fashio—"
"Shh!"
Rose had no attention to spare for the staff's murmurs.
Pretty... excessively... pretty...
The words spun endlessly in her mind.
‘Am I... pretty?’
It was praise she'd never dreamed of receiving.
‘Hehe, today the young lady is a wallflower again.’
‘Wallflower is too kind. That's a weed on the wall...’
‘Shh, she'll hear you.’
The barbs she'd overheard at tea parties. They whispered just loud enough for her alone, fanning themselves coyly.
‘Dear, please do something about that frizzy hair. And what's with that outfit?’
‘Ah, Mother! I saw Sis this morning when she brushed her hair. Even after brushing, what can you do?’
Her stepmother and stepsister mocking her with gleeful laughter. Their eyes brimmed with pure malice and petty amusement.
So Rose had always believed she was hopelessly ugly.
But for the first time,
‘Maybe... I do have some pretty parts...’
She began to think it might not be true.
"Sigh, then shall we ask Madam's opinion?"
After bickering endlessly with Dane, Lucesi caught his breath. He was so worked up his neat hair was slightly disheveled.
"What do you think, Madam?"
"...Huh?"
The arrow turned back to her.
Dane stood with arms crossed, leaning awkwardly, while Lucesi glared with a flushed face. Both looked at Rose.
"...My thoughts too,"
Rose pondered briefly before voicing her honest feelings.
"This neckline seems pretty standard."
"Standard?"
Dane questioned skeptically.
But Rose liked this dress. It was the first one Dane had called pretty on her.
"You said it looks pretty. Doesn't Your Excellency like it too?"
Dane's icy demeanor softened ever so slightly.
"But what if you catch a cold wearing this."
"Ah, about that."
At Rose's glance, the nearby maid Sonya brought over a shawl.
"How about draping this over?"
It was the shawl Lucesi had prepared earlier, saying it would suit her. Made of white fur, it exuded the dignity of a northern archduke.
Swish.
As she draped it on, Rose's shoulders and collarbone were covered.
"...Hmm."
Only then did Dane step back.
"Very well, as the Duchess wishes."
It was an anticlimactically swift concession.
His ironclad stance against Lucesi's defenses crumbled at Rose's few words.
Snap!
Lucesi smacked his forehead—hard enough to redden it slightly.
"Understood, Your Excellency. Shall we move to the next dress?"
He seemed to have grasped how to handle the duke before him.
After that, things proceeded smoothly.
"What's this on the sleeves? You've layered some net over them."
"It's not a net... sigh, it's mesh. Woven as thinly as possible to subtly reveal the skin beneath."
"Subtly? This is blatant."
"...What does Madam think?"
Lucesi deftly passed the buck to Madam!
"It makes my arms look slender, so I like it. And it's not that chilly."
"Then we'll buy that dress too."
The effect was tremendous!
Thus, Lucesi successfully passed all five dresses.
"This is the unit price?"
"...Yes?"
But it wasn't over.
"Look at my wife's wardrobe. It's practically empty."
"Well......"
"We need to fill it, yet only five pieces?"
At the sudden criticism, Lucesi's face darkened. The wardrobe's emptiness wasn't his fault to begin with.
"Your Excellency... Today I brought these on a whim without knowing what would suit her. Now that I know Madam's style, tailoring the next ones will be easy. You can browse the catalog and order ahead."
"What about spring dresses?"
"Those are for next season. Why would we do spring dresses already......"
Lucesi's patience hit its limit; his face flushed red and purple. His speech had grown noticeably lax.
"Dress fittings are usually one or two per day. We've already pushed it today."
"Is that so? I've worn ten in a day."
"Men's clothes aren't as complex as women's. Besides, do you think Madam is a steel superhuman like you, Your Excellency? If we fitted all those today as you say, she'd collapse from exhaustion."
"Then we'll stop here."
"……."
Lucesi pressed his forehead and swallowed a deep sigh.
"Ruthless... utterly ruthless......"
Dane ignored him, staring piercingly at the wide-open wardrobe and jewelry box as if searching for flaws. The maids involuntarily shrank back under his sharp gaze.
"Accessories? Didn't you bring any?"
"Of course I did."
Lucesi groaned as he stood, gesturing to his staff.
"Go fetch them from the carriage."
"How many?"
"All of them!"
Lucesi replied wearily, then cautioned Dane just in case.
"A word in advance: What I brought are just to check against the dresses, not the highest quality. I recommend commissioning jewelry separately from a jeweler later."
"Got it."
"Then we'll take a short break."
Lucesi flashed a smile where only his lips curved, eyes unsmiling. His gaze screamed exhaustion.
"Madam needs rest too. Is that alright?"
"Make it so."
Lucesi and his staff filed out of the room. The maids, who had been busily attending Rose nonstop, followed suit.
Now only the two remained. Silence settled between Rose and Dane.
"……."
Dane examined the dress from behind Rose, as if seeing it anew.
Rose caught his face in the front mirror. It was different from before—a look only she knew.
Soon,
"Do you... really think I'm pretty?"
Rose's lips moved.
**
‘Why ask?’
Was my voice too quiet? It was loud enough for everyone in the room.
But more importantly, I sensed the critical moment approaching instinctively. The moment to cure Rose's terrible affliction.
So I replied without hesitation.
"Pretty."
Meeting Rose's eyes in the mirror. And added immediately.
"Very."
"Ah......"
Rose's face flushed crimson as she averted her gaze. Clutching the dress hem tightly, she murmured in a thin voice.
"A... a lie... right......"
Her tone begged denial, yet a tiny spark of hope glimmered within.
"Why would I lie?"
Stepping closer, Rose reflexively looked up. Ripples stirred in her green eyes like a tranquil pond disturbed.
"Well, because I'm......"
Rose started her habitual self-deprecation but suddenly stopped. A well-fitting luxury dress seemed to instill confidence in its wearer.
"Just the two of us. No need to act."
Seizing the moment, I drove the point home.
"The Duchess is pretty."
I declared it, staring straight into her eyes.
"She has been from the start."
Straight from my mind, unfiltered.