Ch#43
‘Pretend nothing happened and face them head-on, right?’
In truth, she still lacked confidence in following Edel’s advice to the letter. She felt like she’d end up glancing nervously at others again, shrinking back if she went.
Until now, to hide that fear, she’d deliberately worn expensive, flashy clothes and jewels, but the dress Edel had laid out was utterly plain. And for jewelry, just a single choker necklace.
*‘What do I do? I need to decide quickly...’*
It was already cutting it close even if she started getting ready now.
Marsha had come an hour ago saying it was time to prepare.
But Linia had sent her away and agonized until now. Edel’s voice from last night lingered in her mind.
*‘Yeah. The way I’ve been doing things might have been wrong all along. I might get ridiculed again today, but one more time won’t change anything.’*
*Spoils of war*
Linia took a deep breath and called for Edel.
“You called for me, miss?”
*Duchess*
Even as Edel bowed her head in greeting before her, Linia couldn’t reply right away and just chewed her lips.
Truly written by Lemon Frog
Her fingertips anxiously drummed the chair armrest until Linia finally seemed resolved and spoke.
“I’ll leave today’s preparations to you. That’s why you did all that, right?”
Linia pointed to the tea table.
“If by some chance I come back humiliated again today, you won’t get off easy either. ...Still want to do it?”
“If you’ll allow it, I’ll do my very best.”
Edel didn’t flinch at the threat, which strangely made her seem reliable. Linia rose and held her arms out at an angle.
- 2 -
.
“I thought your slender figure would suit a simple yet elegant design perfectly.”
“Then let’s start. No time.”
“Slender? Me? Not burly?”
“Yes, miss.”
“There’s not a single place on your body, miss, that warrants calling it ‘burly.’ If you keep your chest out and head high, you’ll look very poised and refreshing.”
Edel rolled up her sleeves, removed Linia’s robe, and promptly helped her into undergarments and corset.
It was the first time she’d ever heard such words. Linia’s cheeks flushed slightly.
From then on, Linia realized the care she’d received from Marsha all this time had been utterly incompetent.
“Ha, but in high society, small, pale women with big chests and tiny waists are popular, aren’t they? I’ve heard that around my age, looking cute is better.”
*‘It doesn’t make my body uncomfortable. It doesn’t cinch stupidly tight.’*
“I don’t know who told you that, but in the high society I experienced from age fourteen, there was no such formula.”
“Really? Then what kind of woman is popular?”
When Marsha dressed her, she’d sometimes get scratched by nails or pinched by folded fabric. The corset was laced so brutally tight that she’d occasionally wonder if she’d suffocate.
“A woman who plays to her strengths well. Such a woman always wins.”
Yet Edel tightened it firmly without causing pain.
Edel smiled brightly.
“Is anywhere uncomfortable?”
Linia’s heart fluttered at that smile, even from another woman.
“N-no. Not at all.”
Edel returned to her expressionless face, but the smile’s afterimage lingered, making Linia feel she could show a little weakness too.
“Then I’ll help you into the dress now.”
“Uh, yeah.”
“Do I even... have strengths...?”
“You have so many strengths, yet you’ve been trying to appear the opposite—that’s why it’s been so hard until now.”
Each calm, kind word gradually eased Linia’s anxiety.
So she even started talking to Edel.
Edel pulled the dress’s back laces while speaking, then neatly adjusted Linia’s attire with deft, unhurried movements.
“Why... did you pick this dress?”
“Look in the mirror, miss.”
She’d asked her biggest question first.
Linia, startled by each of Edel’s touches, snapped to attention and looked in the mirror.
There stood a completely different version of herself.
“I wasn’t sure if you’d be upset, miss, but I thought this design suited you.”
“Where?”
“It’s rare to find someone as tall with such perfect proportions. Plus, your posture is good, no excess flab, and your skin looks elastic and healthy.”
“You’re tall with a great frame, miss. Very slen...”
“R-really?”
“Are you mocking me now, calling me big and bulky?”
“You resemble Count Criserus in this. You both have fine bone structure.”
Wrinkles formed between Linia’s brows.
Until now, from Marsha, she’d only heard things like ‘no man likes a woman with such a big build,’ ‘you need the cutest, flashiest dresses to hide your flaws,’ and ‘you should lose more weight.’ Edel’s words felt good yet suspicious.
But Edel shook her head and continued.
“Are you lying to butter me up by any chance?”
.
“Luckily, there’s a necklace that matches the dress perfectly. Who picked out this dress and necklace?”
Edel gazed at Linia in the mirror with an impassive face and spoke.
“Hm... Not sure if it’s coincidence, but I picked both.”
“Really?”
“I don’t want anything that badly.”
“Uh, s-sorry.”
Edel looked genuinely surprised. Linia, mischief sparked, made a teasing face.
Only after apologizing did she realize they were upside down, but it was too awkward to point out.
“Why? Is it tacky? Weird?”
Edel sat Linia at the vanity as if nothing happened.
“N-no. Quite the opposite, actually...”
“Opposite?”
“Look closely at your face in the mirror. Your usual makeup doesn’t suit you, miss.”
“Yes. You have a good eye for items, basically.”
“Really? I don’t know much, so I just let Marsha do whatever.”
“Really?”
Linia tilted her head, seeing Edel seemingly grit her teeth.
This time, Linia asked in surprise.
But Edel soon resumed her usual face and explained methodically.
“I used to pick my own dresses and jewels, but Marsha said every one was ‘too commoner-like,’ so after that I wore what she chose.”
“You already have good coloring, but adding more blush makes you look drunk at first glance. Your features are already sharp, so thickening your brows and eyeliner on purpose looks awkward.”
“Ah... She said it was trendy...”
Edel’s expression cooled again. This time, it wasn’t her imagination.
“Truthfully, miss, you don’t need trendy makeup at all. Just show your natural charm.”
Linia noticed Edel was angry at Marsha. But Edel was skilled at hiding her expressions too.
Edel applied toner and cream to Linia’s face, dusted on light powder, and lightly groomed her brows.
“The items you picked are more noble-like. Of course, you should refine your eye further, but it’d be good to trust your instincts more, miss.”
The only color added was to the lips—a light shade closest to Linia’s natural lip color.
With that, Edel finished Linia’s preparations.
“This is enough.”
Linia felt a slight thrill gazing at herself in the mirror.
The dress she wore was the first one she’d agonized over at a noble tailor the year her brother became count.
Linia thought it was practically bare-faced, but somehow it looked far prettier than bare-faced, so she didn’t complain.
The necklace was from that year too. Back then, it had felt so expensive she’d hesitated several times.
After applying a bit of camellia oil to Linia’s hair and brushing it smooth, Edel pinned half up in the back and let the rest flow naturally.
*‘I couldn’t sleep for days, just admiring the necklace.’*
“It’d be nice to curl just the ends, but I’m no good with a curling iron...”
“Then I’ll have Marsha do that later.”
But after being ignored at every party she attended and even having her taste criticized by the house’s head maid, she’d deliberately shoved away the dresses and jewels she’d picked.
Yet the duchess, praised as perfection itself, had acknowledged her ‘good eye.’
Edel then clasped the necklace around Linia’s neck last.
Her shriveled confidence seemed to slowly inflate again.
- 6 -
.
