Chapter 15
15.
“Lobelyn Dines, you’re late.”
“Ah, I received a telegram saying my parents are coming home. I was busy tidying up the house.”
Lobelyn gave a dismissive wave of her hand as a half-hearted apology to the grumbling Ian.
At the sight, Ian’s eyebrows arched in disapproval.
“How arrogant. Who do you think you have to thank for the Viscount and his wife being able to return—”
“Oh, over here! Over here!”
Ian was about to take credit for thoroughly shaking down Count Preston’s family just a moment ago.
However, his words were drowned out by Lobelyn calling for a public carriage.
“Lobelyn Dines, I haven’t finished speaking—”
“Are you not getting in? If you’re worried about your clothes, would you rather walk?”
Ian was dressed in commoner’s clothes, just like last time.
Lobelyn asked without any ill intent, remembering how he had said he wouldn’t take a carriage while in disguise when they were returning from 6th Street.
“……I’m getting in.”
Ian quickly climbed into the carriage behind Lobelyn.
His original plan had been for the two of them to walk side by side, but for some reason, it felt like Lobelyn would simply leave him behind if he didn’t.
And so, carrying the two of them, the carriage moved toward 4th Avenue.
Centerfield 4th Avenue, a bustling district packed with various shops, was not very far from the Dines Viscounty.
Before long, the coachman’s voice announced their arrival.
“By the way, where are we going? There’s something I want to check, so could we look around there first?”
“Later. My business comes first.”
Ian stepped out of the carriage with long strides.
The weather was fine, and many people were strolling along the streets of 4th Avenue.
Yet, even among the crowd, Ian stood out the most as he planted his feet firmly on the ground.
Passing women blushed and stole glances at his face.
However, their expressions soon filled with disappointment when they saw Lobelyn taking Ian’s hand to step down from the carriage.
“I could have gotten down by myself.”
“I may not look it, but I’m one of the top gentlemen in the Empire.”
“Does a gentleman go around taking other people’s portraits whenever he pleases?”
“Wasn’t that given to me as a gift?”
When did I ever?
Lobelyn’s mouth hung open in disbelief at Ian’s brazen response.
But Ian didn’t care; he merely gave her a mischievous smile.
“I’m grateful for it, as it’s a gift I quite like. So today, let us have some time for me to repay you.”
Ian held out his hand to escort Lobelyn.
She felt like she was being lured into something, but she took his hand nonetheless.
And a short while later.
“……May I ask why you brought me here?”
Prom Sabina.
Lobelyn stood in utter despair as she looked at the boutique sign that, along with Daphne, was a constant topic of conversation among the ladies of the capital.
It had only been a short while since she escaped that dress hell!
‘I should have at least asked where we were going!’
Lobelyn regretted taking Ian’s hand earlier.
“Surely, the gift you mentioned earlier isn’t…….”
“That’s right. Let’s go inside.”
“Excuse me!”
Lobelyn hurriedly tried to stop Ian as he moved to enter without hesitation.
However, Ian’s steps as he opened the door were a bit faster.
“Oh, welcome! You’re the guest named Ace from Newerie, correct?”
As soon as the door opened, a staff member checking the reservation list approached them quickly.
Ace?
Lobelyn looked up at Ian with an absurd expression.
“What on earth are you thinking?”
“I can’t exactly announce myself as the Crown Prince. I used a pseudonym that could appropriately maintain my dignity.”
The staff at Prom Sabina seemed to think Ian was a wealthy merchant of commoner origin.
Ian looked back at the staff who would be assisting today with an nonchalant expression.
“Everything is prepared as reserved, I assume?”
“Ah, yes! We have all the female assistants standing by.”
“Mmh, good.”
What was all this about?
Lobelyn looked back and forth between them, looking bewildered.
Noticing her gaze, the staff member smiled and whispered to Lobelyn.
“We occasionally get orders like this. From gentlemen who dislike other men being near their wives. It seems your husband loves you very much, Madame. Ho ho ho.”
“Pardon? It’s not like that!”
“Oh my, are you two only engaged then? My apologies.”
It’s not that either!
But behind a horrified Lobelyn, Madame Sabina’s assistants came swarming in.
Just as Ian had pre-ordered, they were all women.
They all moved with perfect discipline at a single clap from Madame Sabina, as if they had been trained for this.
“Wait, just a moment…….”
“My lady, please do not move. We must take your measurements accurately.”
The scene from not too long ago was repeating itself.
‘Ugh, someone save me!’
While Lobelyn was being frantically moved this way and that to be measured.
Ian was leaning back on a sofa, leisurely drinking tea and reading a newspaper.
A portrait of a young man was printed on one page.
‘Is this the new Marquis Maxwell?’
Though the court painter had likely applied some beautification, the Marquis was a strikingly handsome man with mysterious eyes.
Next to the portrait, it was written that the title of Marquis Maxwell, which had been vacant for a while, had finally found its owner.
‘It’s already been half a year since the previous Marquis passed away.’
The Maxwell family had amassed great wealth through generations of trade and commerce.
However, since the previous Marquis had no children, the succession issue had been quite noisy, if he recalled correctly.
In the end, he heard they had adopted a suitable child from a distant branch of the family.
It seemed that child was the owner of this mysterious portrait.
‘Well, as long as the succession issue is neatly settled. It’s something the Imperial Family can be grateful for.’
The most headache-inducing problem for the Imperial Family was the inheritance issues of the nobility.
Since everyone would strongly claim their share with their own justifications, the Imperial Family, which had to maintain neutrality in the middle, was always put in an awkward position.
Ian looked again at the face of the problem-solver who had handled that complicated matter on his behalf.
‘There will be a title succession ceremony soon, so I’ll see his face then.’
Having finished his thoughts, Ian folded the newspaper and set it down beside him.
At that moment, Lobelyn, having finished her measurements, approached him with an exhausted expression.
“I tried so hard to avoid this. To think I’m doing it again…….”
Lobelyn muttered in a drained voice as she slumped onto the sofa.
Ian rested his chin on his hand and looked down at her.
A faint smile played at the corners of his mouth, which had been tightly shut until a moment ago.
“Well? Do you like Madame Sabina? Isn’t it better than that Daphne fellow?”
“No, regardless of whether I like it or not. If we’re going to make dresses anyway, we should have done it where I already had my measurements taken…….”
“No, I can’t have that.”
At Ian’s firm interruption, Lobelyn looked up at him with a huff.
Seeing him grinning, it seemed this was some new form of bullying Ian had come up with.
‘I can’t even punch him because he’s the Crown Prince.’
If it weren’t for the crime of harming royalty, she would have landed at least two hits.
Since she couldn’t, Lobelyn merely vented her frustration by thumping the sofa with her fist.
“My lady, you must come this way.”
“Ugh, again?”
At the call of the staff member who came scurrying to get her, Lobelyn’s face fell once more.
The only saving grace was that Prom Sabina had several sample designs.
Based on these, they could create a dress by changing a few details or the lace.
It was a much easier method for the one choosing.
As soon as Lobelyn picked six suitable designs, she jumped up from her seat.
She was sick of dresses by now and wanted to leave this place quickly.
“Lobelyn, come here for a moment.”
But unaware of her feelings, Ian called Lobelyn over to one side again.
He was carefully examining the shoes displayed in a corner of the shop.
When Lobelyn approached, Ian pointed to a pair of shoes.
They were shoes made of green silk, as fresh as lush greenery.
“These are the exact same color as your eyes.”
“Ah, you’re right.”
“Let’s buy these too.”
“It’s fine. The shoes are hidden by the dress anyway, so you can barely see them…….”
However, unlike Lobelyn who tried to stop him, Ian picked up the shoes.
“Sit down over there. Try them on.”
“No, I’m really fine.”
“Take them when I’m giving them to you. Don’t let that woman with the bright red hair intimidate you.”
No, I told you Natalie has green hair…….
Sitting down on the stool Ian pointed to, Lobelyn asked.
“Your Highness, why are you buying all this for me?”
“Why? Do you dislike it?”
“No, I’m very honored, of course, but I still want to know the reason.”
“The reason…….”
Ian thought about it for a moment.
But then, he reached out and grabbed Lobelyn’s ankle.
“I don’t know about that, I just want to buy this for you right now.”
“Wait, a moment! If you grab my ankle like that, my leg will be exposed!”
Lobelyn instinctively tried to pull her leg back.
But Ian held her ankle firmly and wouldn’t let go.
“Why? It’s not like we haven’t seen more than this.”
At Ian’s bold remark, the surroundings suddenly went silent.
Feeling the gazes of the Prom Sabina staff, Lobelyn’s face turned bright red.
“W-W-What! I told you, that absolutely wasn’t me!”
“Is that so?”
Ian looked up at Lobelyn with his eyes half-closed in a smile.
The moment she saw those eyes, Lobelyn felt as if time had momentarily stopped.
‘It’s cheating to look like that with a face like that.’
No matter how much of a trashy man Ian was, she couldn’t deny the fact that he was handsome.
He wouldn’t pale even standing next to Brian, the original male lead.
……Actually, to be honest, he was a bit better.
Lobelyn, momentarily dazed as if possessed, found herself waiting for the next words to come out of his mouth.
