The Trap
Virginia declared, “First of all, we must get you out of those clothes that violate every rule of etiquette, my lady!”
Marion nodded in agreement. “The royal family must display dignity before the people, but practice frugality for the sake of the nation’s finances, Your Majesty. No matter how fine the ceremonial robes may be, you must wear garments that conform to proper protocol.”
“What kind of nonsense is that….”
Of course, he was wearing the red silk and gold-threaded dress that symbolized the Zylan royal family. But that was only because he had attended the council and needed to maintain proper decorum and authority. The reason he still wore it now was simply that he had been too pressed for time to change, and he felt embarrassed about undressing in front of others and exposing his naked body.
Regardless, Virginia and the maids stormed into Richard’s office like a hurricane. The senior maids swarmed around him in a flash, while those of lower rank who could not approach the queen carried garments, and those even lower still brought mirrors, stools, and other items to transform the office into a makeshift dressing room.
In an instant, Richard found himself completely surrounded and unable to move.
“Prince Rio?”
“Yes, Dame Virginia?”
“Even if you are family, a man and woman should not be together like this. Would you please step outside?”
“Wait a moment, Virginia!” Richard protested.
Not only Virginia, but everyone—Marion, Rio, and even the maids—turned their gazes toward him. He said, “Then what about Marion?”
“That is a fair point, my lady.”
Richard looked at Marion with a relieved expression. “Did you hear that, Marion? Please leave.”
“Pardon? Why should I do that?”
“Because! I am not a man in relation to you!”
Richard said this while shooting Virginia a pleading look, seeking her support. But Virginia merely sighed and did not grant his request. Instead, she turned her gaze to Rio and said, “I shall repeat myself, Your Highness. No matter how close the family tie, you are still an unrelated man. Would you please leave?”
Rio knew that no words would work. So he eventually gave up resisting, turned around, and began to walk away.
“Wait! Rio! Do not leave me!” Richard cried out desperately.
Rio muttered in a voice so small it could barely be heard. “…I am sorry, brother. Please forgive me.”
Rio bowed his head and walked toward the office door. Richard reached out toward him. “Do not go! Rio! This is a royal command! Do not leave! Halt at once!”
He tried to chase after Rio and leave the office. The maids grabbed his arms, but they could not possibly match his strength, and soon they were being dragged along behind him.
The maids chattered frantically. “Prince Consort Marion! Help us!”
“Dame Virginia! Are you just going to stand there and watch?”
“Your Majesty! You mustn’t!”
Marion joined the maids and seized Richard around the waist. But even with three maids and Marion combined, it was difficult to hold him completely. Richard was still pushing forward.
In a wretched voice, Richard shouted, “Rio! Do not leave me behind! Please!”
“Will you not stop this, my lady?”
“Virginia?”
What three maids and Marion could not accomplish, Virginia achieved with a single move. Of course, to Richard, the meaning of the name Virginia carried far more weight than the other four combined.
She said, “Really, how long do you intend to keep behaving like this? Relying on a younger brother who is so much younger than you. Can someone who acts this way truly call herself queen?”
“But Virginia, this is—!”
“I will not listen. I have no idea how long I have been waiting for this day. Today, I will not overlook it, my lady! Today, of all days… No, from today onward, no matter what happens, I will make sure you possess the dignity befitting a queen. Prince Consort Marion has promised to cooperate as well!”
Richard turned his head to look behind him. Marion was wearing a sly, thoroughly satisfied smile. In contrast, his own face was dyed with despair.
He said, “Marion, you cowardly…!”
All of Marion’s previous remarks that had bordered on insulting the royal family had been part of this conspiracy. That explained Rio’s displeased reaction earlier. He must have realized what was happening. But if he knew, why had he not stopped it or warned him in advance?
Richard wondered about that, but he could not continue the thought. Virginia had begun scolding him.
“Even if you are the queen, you must show proper respect to your husband, my lady! I have given up on trying to make you behave like a proper woman, but I cannot tolerate you acting like a ruffian!”
Richard shot back without yielding. “Then what exactly are you trying to do right now? If not to turn me into some kind of girl?”
Marion interjected. “It is quite simple, Your Majesty.”
She answered Richard’s question in Virginia’s place. “Dame Virginia, no—both she and I, and everyone here, have gathered to give Your Majesty a properly feminine appearance.”
It was utterly surreal.
Countless women surrounded him, chattering about things he could barely understand.
“How can Her Majesty’s skin be so flawless!”
“Perhaps there really is something special about the Martyr’s Crimson Heart bath?”
“Betty, Patty, what do you think of this headband with Her Majesty’s short golden hair?”
He felt like a complete doll. He could not move his own body as he wished.
“Your Majesty, please try on these hose. They have little wool pom-poms at the ankles.”
“Which chemise would suit her better?”
Richard barely managed to utter a single sentence in protest to the maids. “What does it matter what kind of underwear I wear?”
“Pardon?”
At his words, the maids’ chatter stopped all at once. They stared at him as if they were looking at something that could not possibly exist in this world.
“Did I say something wrong?”
“You spoke incorrectly, Your Majesty.”
“Hic?”
From behind him, Marion placed a hand on his exposed shoulder and spoke. When Richard flinched in surprise, Marion pretended to be startled and withdrew her hand.
She said, “A woman’s undergarments are different from a man’s. They are designed so that their shape is inevitably revealed from somewhere.”
He took a chemise from one of the maids and said, “For example, like this.”
Marion dressed Richard in the chemise with practiced hands. Her movements were so swift and skillful that not only could Richard not react in time, but even the maids let out gasps of admiration.
“Incredible, Prince Consort Marion.”
“It is nothing. I am simply used to it from helping my cousin sisters many times.”
While exchanging lighthearted jokes with the maids, she skillfully placed a corset over Richard’s chemise and pulled the laces tight.
“Hup!”
Richard sucked in a sharp breath at the pressure around his waist. Even though their queen was letting out a pained cry, the maids simply gazed at Marion with eyes full of awe. Virginia’s expression, visible in the mirror, was not much different. She spoke in a voice full of admiration.
“Putting a corset on Her Majesty…!”
“I only dressed her in it to teach Your Majesty just how important undergarments are. In truth, Your Majesty already has such an excellent figure that a corset is hardly necessary. See for yourself.”
Marion pointed at Richard’s waist. “I did not even tighten it that much, yet look how slender it has become.”
Richard could not believe those words. She had pulled the laces with all her strength until he could barely breathe, yet she claimed she had not tightened it much. It made no sense.
He complained, “Marion! I cannot breathe. It is far too tight.”
“But this is all the lace that remains. If I laced it properly, it would come up more than twice this length over Your Majesty’s shoulders.”
Marion showed him how much lace remained above his shoulders. Richard said, “I really cannot breathe! What am I supposed to do!”
“Prince Consort Marion.”
The maids approached Marion and whispered something in her ear. Marion’s expression changed at once. She looked at Richard with barely contained amusement and said, “Oh dear, I am truly sorry. I never even considered that. As you know, I have no chest of my own.”
Marion loosened the laces of the corset around the chest area. Only then did Richard feel his airway open again. At Marion’s half-joking remark, the maids burst into laughter all at once, finding it endlessly entertaining.
Virginia picked up one of the dresses the maids were holding and asked Marion, “Then would this dress not suit Her Majesty perfectly?”
“It would suit her very well indeed.”
“Virginia!”
Richard’s face flushed red. Not only did his face turn red, he shot up from his seat. He said, “You tell me to behave modestly, yet you want me to wear… that kind of clothing!”
It was no wonder Richard was so shocked he nearly jumped. The dress Virginia held had a neckline cut so deeply it was practically scandalous at first glance. He could not even imagine himself wearing such a garment.
“No.”
It was Marion who answered him. She continued, “This is simply the current fashion. And did I not tell you? Undergarments are always meant to be visible beneath outer clothing. This dress is perfect for teaching you that very lesson.”
Virginia chimed in as well. “Those words are exactly right, Prince Consort Marion. Besides, it would truly suit Her Majesty beautifully.”
She took the dress from Marion, held it up in front of Richard, and said, “How is it that you have such an excellent eye for women’s clothing?”
“Me? Not at all. Is it not simply that Her Majesty’s beauty makes any garment look perfect on her?”
Though she spoke as if offering humble praise, it was clearly a joke aimed at Richard’s chest, and he knew it perfectly well. With his face still burning, he shouted, “How dare you make such a jest about the queen’s body?”
Without realizing it, he had referred to himself as “the queen.” It had come so naturally that even Marion felt no sense of incongruity.
Whatever the case, after shouting those words, Richard tried to bolt from the office that had been turned into a dressing room. In the past, this had worked many times. Whenever Virginia and her maids tried to “dress up” Princess Richelle even a little, she would grow irritated by the stifling atmosphere, invoke her royal status, and escape.
But this time was different.
“My lady!”
Of course, Virginia and the maids had once again been on the verge of defeat in that same manner. But this time, the presence of Marion changed everything.
“Where do you think you are going, my adorable queen?”
Marion caught Richard’s shoulder with impressive skill. Her training had been harsh, but its effects were outstanding, and she had diligently learned the fundamentals of how to steal an opponent’s balance.
Having had his center of gravity stolen and been forced back down onto the stool, Richard let out a high-pitched scream and immediately clapped a hand over his own mouth.
“Kyaa?”
Virginia and the maids did not miss the moment. Virginia shouted quickly, “Surround Her Majesty at once! Do not let her escape!”
“Yes, Dame Virginia!”
Richard tried to stand again, but with his balance taken by Marion, it was impossible. He was now completely immobilized.
He muttered words of regret. “I should not have done that…!”
Something with no sense of reality whatsoever. Something over which he had not a single shred of control. And no matter how desperately he struggled to break free, he could not escape.
It was a nightmare.