“How much opportunity do those two even have to see each other now? It’s only because it’s the festival season that I might suggest they attend a party or something, but afterward, she could just return to her territory, and even if she stays in the capital, they’ll both be busy with their own affairs!”
“Hmm, that makes sense.”
“If they don’t see each other, their feelings will naturally drift apart, won’t they!”
The Emperor cried out in despair, and Pope nodded with a serious expression. Probably so. He hadn’t known her for long, so he didn’t fully understand Countess Illoud’s personality, but she certainly wasn’t the type to be affectionate or coquettish.
The Emperor flung the documents aside once more and lay back down, groaning in agony. Pope, accustomed to this, gathered the papers and said.
“If their hearts are drifting apart simply because they don’t meet, then it’s not meant to be. Don’t worry too much about it, Your Majesty. Another suitable match will come along soon enough.”
Someone like Countess Illoud was rare, but there were plenty of beautiful and refined young ladies.
“A destined connection will appear quickly! The capable and decent men in the domain aren’t blind! I’ll soon hear news of engagements and weddings, but none of them will be with my son!”
“…You’re still unable to let go of your obsession with Countess Illoud.”
It wasn’t about marrying off his son, it was a fixation on bringing Countess Illoud into the family. The Emperor didn’t respond and pulled the blanket over himself. Anyone seeing him would think the sky had fallen.
“Sulking like a child won’t change anything, will it? If those two have no feelings for each other, any meddling from the adults would just be nosy interference.”
Pope admonished him gently, but the Emperor waved his hand dismissively. Pope set the documents down once again.
“Do you think they both have feelings?”
“At the very least, Cheshire does. He just doesn’t realize it yet.”
Knowing him so well because of their identical personalities, the Emperor was convinced. In fact, Pope thought the same. With that temperament, if there were no real emotions involved, he wouldn’t have gone out of his way to banish her to the West annex.
“Well, in the end, won’t the two of them figure it out on their own? I’ve never seen His Highness give up on something he truly wants.”
“He’d obtain it even if it meant hurting the other person. —Just like I did.”
The Emperor’s voice was subdued. It seemed the vivid memories of his own past, over a decade of clashing due to misunderstood feelings and wounding each other, were resurfacing.
No one had expected the Empress to pass away so young. The two had quarreled for a long time, and enjoyed happiness for an even shorter period. They had a child, and just when things were going well, the Empress died in a sudden accident.
Pope, who had once scolded the Emperor for meddling in his old age, sat on the edge of the bed and comforted him.
“…His Highness the Crown Prince will handle it better, at least.”
“Better than me?”
The Emperor mumbled, but Pope pretended not to hear and changed the subject.
“In any case, since Your Majesty is taking this so seriously, I’ll try meeting with Countess Illoud myself.”
“? You?”
The Emperor sat up abruptly and stared at Pope.
“Don’t we need to meet the person first before deciding to bring her into the family?”
“Family? Bring her in as family? Are you coveting Countess Illoud too? You don’t even have a son!”
The Emperor’s eyes blazed as he demanded, and Pope, with a huff and cheeks puffed out, replied.
“No daughter either. You’re deliberately pointing out that I have no children. That’s true. Anyway, I’ve always considered adopting a foster son or daughter from among my relatives. If someone Your Majesty is so keen on becomes family, it would secure my position, so why not consider it?”
“!”
As the Chancellor’s adopted daughter, that would involve some complicated calculations, but it didn’t sound bad. She would become part of the closest family to the imperial house. Pope getting ambitious might be annoying, but it was better than other schemers trying to adopt Sahara. Moreover, though Pope spoke of securing his own back, as the highest authority excluding the imperial family, he could support her and elevate her abilities to the utmost heights.
“That sounds like a good idea?”
“—Of course, it would depend on whether my wife approves.”
“Uh…, but your wife…”
The Emperor, who had been warming to the idea, trailed off awkwardly. Pope’s wife, Countess Sigott, was, to put it kindly, a rather… peculiar person.
“Well, in the end, everything will fall into place naturally.”
Even if it didn’t go smoothly, that too would be fate.
“The problem is arranging a meeting with my wife first.”
It was only natural that the Emperor clutched his forehead again at Pope’s words, which foreshadowed a arduous process.
§ § § § §
I thought for sure that Chloe’s sharp fangs would tear Kiek to shreds, but surprisingly, it was Sahara who ended up crumbling into dust.
“Countess! Countess, you have to buy this one!”
“If you buy that dress, you’ll need this waist ornament too. Look at this. It goes well with this dress, but with that one, it’s a match made in heaven. It slims the waist while enhancing the cuteness.”
“Oh my, it’s so pretty. What should I do? If the Countess won’t buy it, then I’ll take it! What do you think? Isn’t it lovely? Oh, you haven’t tried that one yet?”
“Well, since you gave me so many…”
“If you keep trying them on like this, you won’t even get through half by the end of the day. Oh, is this dress a set with ear muffs? How adorable—”
Sahara clutched her head, trying to recall how things had spiraled into this mess. When they first arrived at 17th Street and Kiek’s shop, Chloe’s expression had been far from pleased.
She seemed to regret coming all the way to this dark, secluded alley just to hurl insults at someone. As they navigated the narrow lanes, it felt like they might stumble into another world altogether, and that’s when the sign for <Kiekie’s Dress Shop> appeared.
If business was booming in a place like this, that would be the real surprise.
The sign and the shop were surprisingly sophisticated, mismatched with the surroundings. With the money spent on such elegant decor, he could have afforded a spot in a better neighborhood—what kind of confidence was this? Chloe must have thought the same, grumbling as she dismounted her horse, “I haven’t even seen the dresses yet, and already it feels like a waste of time.”
“The dresses are probably as shabby as this alley, right?”
She waved her hand as if the street reeked. When Kiek opened the shop door to welcome them, two neatly dressed attendants greeted the visitors.
“Oh, everything you’d expect in a place like this is here. Not a waste after all?”
Chloe sneered as she sat in the chair guided by an attendant. Her legs must have ached from the horseback ride, as she plopped down the moment she saw the seat.
“Everyone who comes here must love this chair the most. The path to get here is just too rough.”
She spoke in a bored tone, but she looked comfortable leaning slightly against the armrest of the plush long chair. The attendants brought tall glasses filled with sorbet. The bowls were as pretty as ladies’ dresses.
“We came to see dresses, and they serve snacks? Since there’s no point in trying them on anyway, it’s probably just to quench our thirst on the way out?”
“That’s… made with pumpkin-infused water to reduce swelling. You don’t have to drink it if you don’t want to.”
Kiek rolled his eyes, gauging their reactions. With a scoff, Chloe crossed her arms without even glancing at the sorbet bowl, her gaze demanding he produce those supposedly impressive dresses. Kiek swallowed his tension and lifted his head.
“First… I’ll show you some garden party dresses that would suit the Countess. Perfect for this transitional season.”
He clapped his hands twice, and the attendants wheeled in a rack on squeaky casters. Six dresses hung on a golden cart. The moment the dresses entered the room alone, Chloe, who had been seated, twitched noticeably. Leaning on the armrest, she leaned forward slightly and said.
“These must be your most confident pieces?”
“Not yet, Your Highness. These are just for garden parties.”
“Hmm.”
Chloe narrowed her eyes, her face prim and proper.
“They seem a mess compared to your confidence, but even so, in my eyes… that one at the far end might suit the Countess. The one next to it isn’t bad either…”
“Try it on first. It’ll look better than it does from afar.”
Leaving Chloe’s slightly softened tone behind, Kiek recommended a dress to Sahara. It seemed the dresses weren’t lacking in Chloe’s discerning eye after all. Thinking that, Sahara entered the fitting room with one attendant.
The garden party dress Chloe had selected was more comfortable than a full party gown. No corset, and the underskirt that puffed out the skirt was relatively light.
“How is it? Any discomfort?”
At the attendant’s question, Sahara lifted the skirt slightly to test her movement. The fabric wrapping her arms was soft, and the stitching was barely noticeable. Of course, compared to wearing pants and a tunic, it felt like being wrapped in armor, but it was much lighter than the dress she’d worn to the recent victory banquet.
“Let me braid your hair a bit. This dress comes with hair accessories.”
The attendant, after adjusting Sahara’s attire and pinning a few needles, brushed her hair smoothly and secured it with a ribbon adorned with flowers and stamens. In an instant, Sahara’s long hair was twisted into a lattice pattern, cascading down to her waist. After tying on a headband with the same pattern as the dress, the attendant looked Sahara up and down.
“Oh my, even though I did it myself, I’m really proud. —Now, go show them.”
She won’t just try one or two. With the attendant’s confident tone, Sahara thought she could get away with buying three or four similar ones and stepped out alone. She expected Chloe to be waiting with a bored face, but the Princess was nowhere in the hall. Dresses that hadn’t been there before she went to change were now piled up here and there, and from the dress room connected to the hall came clattering and thudding sounds. Even the ivory dress Chloe had worn when they arrived was discarded on the floor.
“Your Highness?”
Sahara picked up the sword she’d set aside and headed to the dress room. In the slightly dimmer space than the hall, thuds and rattles continued.
“Your Highness!”
Surely nothing had happened? Alarmed, Sahara called once more, and the princess burst out from the dress room. In her undergarments, she was clutching a bunch of dresses.
“Countess, this is a disaster!”
Sahara pulled her back and drew her sword. What was going on? A burglar? She scanned the surroundings, but there was no attack.
“What happened? Are you alright?”
Sahara checked Chloe over as she asked. The Princess still looked flustered, her face flushed with excitement. Her eyes were shaking uncontrollably.
“This is a disaster, what do I do! The dresses…!”
“The dresses?”
“All the dresses are beautiful! —Oh my, the one you’re wearing is so pretty too! Goodness, Kiekie! Is there another one of this?”
Leave a Reply