17
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Aileen opened her mouth blankly, then made a short sound, "Ah." She was flustered by the change in address as soon as he said he would marry her.
"It's not yet..."
She blurted out the thought that came to her mind, too surprised.
Cesare chuckled as if he was dumbfounded. Instead of answering, he took Aileen's hand and crossed the drawing room.
When he opened the door to the drawing room, Sonio, who was standing outside, immediately held it open. Even though Cesare had suddenly appeared, his face was calm.
"We're going out to the outskirts, so prepare the carriage."
"Yes, Your Excellency."
Upon receiving the order, Sonio disappeared in a flash. Cesare took Aileen to the dressing room. Aileen was startled when she saw the dressing room.
All sorts of dresses, women's accessories, hats, shoes, and the like were prepared. It was a space that didn't suit his unmarried home. While Aileen was looking around, Cesare quickly picked out clothes.
A simple skirt and blouse, gloves, and a hat were placed on the sofa. Finally, he picked out a hair ornament and gestured to Aileen. Aileen approached him.
Cesare used a hairpin to sweep back her bangs and pin them in place. Then, he took Aileen's glasses away.
Aileen groped her bare face with her hands. She felt awkward with her face so exposed.
"Shall we go like this?"
"But..."
"It's a place where you'll attract more attention if you wear glasses."
Cesare soothed Aileen and left, telling her to change her clothes. Left alone in the dressing room, Aileen hesitantly took off the clothes she was wearing.
She carefully folded the old clothes and placed them in a corner, then put on the new clothes he had chosen. It was truly amazing how all the clothes fit her perfectly. She marveled at the smooth texture of the fabric and inadvertently looked in the mirror.
"...Ugh."
Aileen squeezed her eyes shut. It was difficult to face the mirror with her face exposed. Unpleasant memories kept coming to mind.
"You're disgusting!"
When her mother was angry, she would look Aileen straight in the eye and scream that she was disgusting and unpleasant. She even often held scissors in front of her eyes. Even on good days, she would sometimes suddenly make an uncomfortable expression while looking at Aileen.
One day, her mother gave Aileen glasses as a gift. From that day on, Aileen wore glasses even though her eyesight wasn't bad, and she grew out her bangs to cover her disgusting face. Even when she washed, she tried not to look in the mirror as much as possible and washed quickly.
She had lived like that, but now she was in a situation where she had to face her face head-on. Aileen put on a hat with her back to the mirror. Then, she quickly put on gloves and shoes to finish changing.
She ran out of the dressing room as if fleeing, and Cesare was giving instructions to a servant. Both of them turned to look at Aileen at the sound of the door opening.
"...!"
The servant's eyes widened. He opened his eyes so wide that they seemed to pop out, and even opened his mouth. Feeling uncomfortable, Aileen subtly averted her gaze.
'I wish I could wear glasses.'
As she awkwardly groped around her eyes with her hand, Cesare grabbed her wrist. He was telling her not to touch it anymore because her eyes were red and swollen from crying earlier.
Aileen, who had lowered her head, stuck close to Cesare's back and went outside. Aileen only looked at the ground until she left the front door.
"Aileen."
Before getting into the carriage, Sonio called Aileen. Aileen hesitantly met Sonio's eyes. Fortunately, Sonio didn't show any surprise or strange reaction when he saw Aileen's bare face. He smiled kindly as usual.
'Well, Sonio has seen me since I was a child.'
He had seen her since she was a little kid, running around without knowing anything, so Aileen's bare face must have been familiar to him.
"I will send you the cake you couldn't eat today soon."
"No, you don't have to."
"I can't allow it. Are you going to make this old man unable to sleep at night?"
He almost threatened her, saying that he would be upset all day because Aileen couldn't eat the cake. When she reluctantly told him to send the cake, Sonio was finally satisfied.
"Please come often, Aileen."
"Don't worry, Sonio. You'll be seeing her often soon."
Cesare, who answered instead of Aileen, nodded lightly.
"I think I'll be late."
"Yes, Your Excellency. I will prepare accordingly."
While being seen off by Sonio, Aileen rode in the carriage with Cesare. The carriage, which diligently sped through the streets, headed to the outskirts of the capital.
It was the street where Aileen had gone to find her father before. It didn't have a formally named name, but it was called Fiore Street among the people.
Fiore Street was a place where night shops such as bars, gambling, and prostitution were gathered. Merchants selling illegal goods were also hiding, and there were even rumors that there was a shop that took on murder requests. But all of them were just rumors and had not been confirmed.
'I've come to a place like this twice now.'
Aileen, who had lived a life a million years away from Fiore Street, swallowed hard and clung to Cesare.
After getting off at the entrance of the street, Cesare had Aileen link arms with him as if escorting her. He moved forward without paying attention to the solicitations around him.
Because he was acting too confidently, Aileen looked around instead. Cesare glanced at Aileen and asked.
"Why?"
"I was wondering if anyone would recognize Your Excellency."
Thanks to the Grand Duke's popularity, dyeing hair black was a huge trend in the Empire. Men with their hair dyed completely black were all over Fiore Street.
However, even among the countless black hairs, Cesare was unique. His raven-feather-like, shiny black hair was a color that could not be expressed with dye.
"It doesn't matter if they recognize me. They'll think I came to drink with my lover."
That was exactly what Aileen was worried about. She didn't want to give unnecessary fodder to the imperial citizens who were already so interested in him. Maybe it was because of Cesare, but she felt like people were looking at her more today.
She tried to push up her glasses, but only groped her bare face with her hand. Aileen suppressed her desire to hide somewhere and walked with her head down.
The place they arrived at after a while was the largest bar in Fiore Street. There used to be an even bigger bar than this, but for some reason, it suddenly went bankrupt recently and disappeared overnight.
There were two burly guards standing in front of the bar. The guards, who were giggling and smoking among themselves, immediately put out their cigarettes and straightened up when they saw Cesare. Cesare threw them each a silver coin and went inside the store.
"Gasp."
Aileen was so surprised that she grabbed Cesare's arm tightly. She had vaguely heard that there was a famous bar here, but its scale was beyond imagination.
The interior was entirely covered in red velvet, and there was a large dance hall under the chandelier-studded ceiling.
Dancers were dancing in the dance hall. They wore dresses made of shiny red silk and satin, black lace, and decorated their heads with red feathers.
Aileen's face turned red at the sight of their chests and legs exposed up to their thighs. Every time the hem of their skirts fluttered with their intense dance moves, their smooth stockinged legs were clearly visible.
Except for Aileen, everyone here was enjoying themselves. When the dance music ended, the music changed to a new one. At the same time, glittering pieces of paper poured down from the ceiling.
Along with the fluttering pieces of paper, a dancer appeared in the air, swinging on a trapeze. Dressed in a sequined costume, she shone like a jewel in the light.
She must have been a very famous dancer, as people cheered enthusiastically and called her name as soon as she appeared.
"Malena!"
Malena swung around on the trapeze and sent hand kisses to the people who were calling her. The hem of the dancer's dress spread out long in the air. The music stopped, and she was about to get off the trapeze.
"...!"
Malena and Aileen's eyes met. Malena's eyes widened. Aileen's eyes also widened in the same way.
She was Aileen's customer. She had been buying birth control pills using the name Lena, and she had also seen Aileen's bare face.
Malena, with surprised eyes, looked next to Aileen. Her eyes widened even more when she confirmed Cesare.
It was a look of astonishment, but soon Malena changed her expression as if nothing had happened and started singing. When she started singing, the other dancers and musicians showed signs of embarrassment. It was because she had started an unscheduled song.
However, as experienced people, they all quickly matched Malena's song and added harmonies. Malena swept back her luscious golden hair and sang while looking directly at Aileen.
"Men, men, trashy men. A woman who trusts a man is foolish. Heinous lies, sweet talk, trashy deceivers."
It was a song with bones in the lyrics.
