This Body's Fashion Show
He set Seira down on the ground, straightened her clothes once more, and cleared his throat again. Then, as if nothing at all had happened, he offered a dazzlingly charming smile.
"Miss Seira, I—"
"Ugh."
Alper extended his arm toward her with gentle courtesy. It was nothing more than upper-class etiquette—the natural gesture when escorting a lady of standing.
But—
"I'm good."
Seira glanced at his offered arm, her face wrinkling slightly, and slipped away as if brushing lint from her collar.
"Are you seriously going to keep doing this? You pulled the same thing on day one. What even is that? I'm not some guest you're entertaining."
"I merely wished to offer a lady—"
"A lady? I'm the person who just had nothing on under that robe—the one you carried down here, Young Master."
Alper froze at the reminder. She was already striding ahead toward the clothing shop's signboard.
"...But I..."
The words died in his throat. His arm still hung in empty air, and from where she walked ahead he had already vanished from her sight. All that remained was the tableau of his rejected courtesy.
Seira peeked through the glass at the shop's interior, then shoved the door open and stepped inside.
"Whoa, better than I expected?"
She said it that way, but the corner of her mouth was already curling up.
Inside, garments of every unidentifiable kind hung limp along the walls and display racks, and the fabric colors alone marked them as cheap.
"Is this... actually a clothing shop?"
Alper, following her in, stared blankly at the walls and asked in a very small voice.
To him, a dressmaker's was always a space of tidy mannequins, neatly hung gowns, silk and linen—places where labels never even appeared, because the name itself was the price.
"Yeah, that's how it'd look to you, Young Master. But I like places like this."
Seira gave one of the shelves a couple of taps as she spoke, then started rummaging through whatever caught her eye. Tops in every color, bandeau bras, thin skirts with no waistband at all, single-piece looks that screamed two-hundred-percent mobility at a glance.
Meanwhile, lost among what looked like half-finished sewing projects, he resolved to find her something as decent as possible.
Whether that resolve paid off or he simply got lucky, he managed to extract a demure pale-beige dress without having to paw through anything unsavory, and turned back with a bright expression.
"Miss Seira, how about this? It looks neat... and clean."
Seira glanced at it and snorted.
"Ooh~ Young Master's taste. Innocent little sister type, the kind that blows away if the wind picks up?"
"Th-that's not what I—"
"I sweat a lot, my blood runs hot, and I heat up easy."
Then, draping the clothes she'd picked over one arm, she declared with complete confidence,
"Hmm, I could actually go out in these. Let me try them on."
Draped over her arm, they were a jumble of sheer fabric and mesh, leather and tough cloth—a heap of rags whose designs you could barely even make out.
Alper stood there speechless for a moment, then hurriedly put on a gentleman's smile.
"...Yes. If that's what you prefer, Miss Seira."
Not long after, the fitting-room door creaked open.
"Hmm... it's tough. This is gonna trap more sweat than I thought?"
The thin mesh cape leaving one shoulder bare was little more than decoration, and what was actually holding up her torso was a handful of leather straps. Below that, the cords of a triangular bra dug honestly between her taut abs and her enormous breasts, gleaming without a hint of sweat. The wrap skirt looked, at a glance, shorter than her thighs, and from any angle it wouldn't have been surprising if something showed the moment she wasn't careful.
Alper, standing in front of her, looked as if he might open his mouth or start clapping—then hurriedly slid himself onto a nearby battered chair.
"...Ah. Ahem."
He sat. First, he had to sit. Then he straightened his shirt cuffs and smoothed his slightly mussed bangs.
The pointless fuss looked like he was playing it cool, but if even a single strand of hair could block his view, he could steal a little distance from that dangerous spectacle. It was a terror known only to those who had seen, head-on, just how flimsy that outfit was. If she so much as moved and a strap loosened—no, if a strong breeze simply blew, it looked ready to slip right off.
Seira tilted her head and ran her hands up and down the fabric. The leather clinging tight to her body looked hot, but actually wearing it, there was no give, no stretch, and every corner was thoughtlessly constricting.
"I picked leather, but... nnngh."
Hands on her hips, she tipped her upper body back slightly and gave her chest a bounce. The leather bra followed the motion, swaying precariously, and the mesh cape draped over it glittered on her shoulders, ambiguous as to whether it was decoration or clothing.
Then she spun around and glanced at her own backside in the mirror.
"...The ass isn't bad."
"Ahem...!"
Alper, who had been trying to compose himself, thumped his own chest and squeezed his eyes shut to drive off the filthy thoughts.
Seira glanced at him, then walked straight over and planted herself in front of him.
"What's your take, Young Master?"
At her voice coming from above, he cautiously opened his eyes—and Seira slowly bent forward as she asked. Her long hair spilled over his knees, and beyond it the cleavage between those tightly cinched straps threatened to spill out entirely.
"......!"
The look of a man trying to hide what he really thought, and the reactions that kept bursting out anyway. Maybe she found that amusing, because Seira playfully tilted her head in front of him and struck the pose one more time. She popped her left hip out with a little bounce, planted a hand to the side, and tipped her torso—and the cleavage inside the mesh cape hung so precariously it looked ready to pour out.
"Ah, you are beautiful... I mean, yes."
Even the two hands he'd thrust forward, as if this really shouldn't be right in front of him, looked more than a little suspicious. His one conviction was that he had to preserve a gentleman's dignity here and now—never mind that he'd been that spectacularly virile all the way through this morning.
"Aaah. Yeah, I'm~ not feeling it."
Seira straightened up at once, spun around, and started browsing the next round of clothes. What she was thinking by then was that women's clothes really did come in a lot of varieties, but since you couldn't just walk around with your top off, it was a hassle.
Still—if not now, when else would she get to try this stuff on?
"...Miss Seira."
Speaking to her back, Alper this time lifted an ivory blouse—using it to completely block his frontal view.
"If you haven't decided yet, how about this? As you mentioned earlier, a thinner, cooler fabric..."
"Look at you having some backbone, Young Master. Then my answer's the same: pass!"
Seira turned back to the hangers beside where she'd been looking and plucked something out with a deft flick of her fingers. What hung from her hand was a slim top with a strangely racy fit, short leggings in a body-hugging material, and a leather pocket with straps that bound around the thigh.
"I'll try these on."
From inside where she'd gone, the sounds of clothes being changed began.
A moment later she slid the curtain aside and emerged looking more mobile than before. The sexiness didn't seem to have changed much, but the satisfaction on her face was different. She gave her waist a little twist to show it off.
"Oh, this is perfect. Doesn't look hot, it's sturdy... doesn't cling. Tight, though."
"Those are... truly important criteria..."
Only then did Alper feel a measure of relief. Even a lady's ordinary chemise would have covered more than this, but at this point he was grateful it was even this much.
Seira stood there, chin in her hand, slowly scanning the other garments. Her belly and thighs were still boldly exposed, and though the straps running along her waistline looked like they ought to make her sweat, she seemed fully prepared to wander around in that outfit as-is.
"Ah. But, Young Master. Now that I think about it—is your reputation gonna be okay, walking around with me?"
She asked it with just a flick of her eyes, and Alper couldn't hide his fluster, offering an awkward smile.
"Yes... it's fine. I'll take responsibility."
"Take responsibility, haaah— that's funny."
Seira snorted a laugh, then turned and walked to the counter. She set down the clothes draped over her arm in addition to what she was wearing.
"All of these. Ah, and—"
She glanced back casually and picked up that innocent little dress from earlier.
"I'll buy the one you picked out, too. I might wear it someday, who knows?"
"Really?"
Alper's eyes lit up. At that unexpected word of affirmation, he nearly stood ramrod-straight and started clapping, and only barely held himself back.
"Yeah. Someday."
Seira gave a careless jerk of her chin and turned away again. The sleek waist and firm curve of her ass visible from behind even drew the eyes of other customers who'd come into the shop.
"Pay for that, and... where's the carriage? I want these loaded up. I'm ready to go, so you handle it."
With that, she opened the shop door first and walked out, as if she had no further business here. Watching her, Alper pressed a hand lightly to his chest and thought to himself.
This is why... I can't take my eyes off her.
To think that something as small as one garment he'd chosen making her final cut would make him this happy. With a strangely buoyant expression, he finished paying, called for the Coachman through the shop's contact network, and immediately followed after her.
"Miss Seira, the Coachman—"
Alper was about to tell her the Coachman would arrive shortly when he heard Seira, already waiting out front, muttering as she frowned down at her chest.
"If I stand still... this is gonna be close."
She was genuinely contemplating the things that looked ready to spill from between that tightly stretched top.
"...I'd be grateful if you could please endure that."
Alper responded a beat late, desperately—but Seira was already looking at him with a twitching eyebrow, as if she found it entertaining.
"I picked this so I wouldn't have to bother with underwear, but I can't actually wear it like this."
"Miss Seira...!"
"I'm kidding, kidding."
It was obviously the truth, though. She shrugged and stretched her arms straight up overhead. And a passing pedestrian's gaze caught right along the waistline revealed beneath that short top.
"So please, even more so, endure it..."
Alper quietly took his place at her side, shifting into a stance that gently framed her body, moving into a position that naturally screened her without her even noticing.