39
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But no one answered Aileen. They were all frozen, eyes wide.
Aileen immediately lowered her gaze. She hated fighting because of her, but she knew this reaction would come.
'They'll all tell me to cover my face.'
The disgusting, repulsive eyes her mother hated most in the world.
Aileen suppressed her desire to hide and slowly inhaled and exhaled. Then, she raised her hand and released her hairpin. Swish, her bangs covered her vision, making her feel stifled. It was the world Aileen was most familiar with.
Until then, the owners and employees of the boutique were silent. They were all gaping. The first sound they made was a sigh.
"...Good heavens."
With that breathtaking sigh as a starting point, things began to bustle again. The atmosphere of the boutique, which had been full of despair just a moment ago, was now vibrant. The boutique owners, who had been busy fighting each other, boasted perfect teamwork.
"Innocent. Absolutely innocent. Like a fairy! It's an outdoor wedding."
"Good. We can just replace the sleeves with lace on the current dress. And it shouldn't be too classic, we need a bit of uniqueness."
"Let's go with chiffon. A light feeling so it can flutter slightly in the wind."
"For once, you're making sense."
They exchanged words quickly and gave instructions to the employees in complex technical terms. The employees hurriedly followed their orders and moved busily. A woman in flamboyant clothes stretched out her index finger and shouted.
"Get me a hairdresser, now!"
One of the employees rushed out, understanding that this was the most important thing. The woman in primary colors led Aileen gently. She introduced herself belatedly.
"Just call me by the name of the boutique."
The woman in simple, achromatic clothes was the owner of <Belleza>, the woman in primary colors was the owner of <Roseto>, and the woman in flamboyant patterns was the owner of <Brillante>.
The three women, with their distinctly different tastes, seemed to be on very bad terms. Even in the short time it took to introduce themselves to Aileen, they were busy glaring at each other.
However, they were of one mind when it came to dressing Aileen in a wedding dress. Aileen went inside the boutique and changed into a wedding dress with their help.
"We'll pin up your bangs until the hairdresser arrives."
"We're going to tighten your waist. Breathe in!"
"Let's try on lace gloves on your arms."
They each said a word and dressed her, making her feel dizzy. Aileen felt like a doll as she was swept around by them. After quickly changing her clothes, they looked at Aileen with faces full of emotion. Roseto declared with a serious expression.
"You will be a bride who will go down in the history of the Empire."
They excitedly took Aileen outside. Sir Diego, who had been talking to one of the boutique employees, was surprised and widened his eyes. He was speechless for a moment, then muttered in a flustered tone.
"You're so beautiful..."
He looked truly surprised and praised her repeatedly, saying she was beautiful. He even regretted that he didn't know any better expressions than beautiful. Aileen's ears turned red as Sir Diego praised her endlessly.
"Take a look in the mirror."
Belleza turned Aileen's body toward the mirror. But Aileen quickly looked down at the floor instead of the mirror.
It had been years since she had revealed her face and looked in the mirror. It was an everyday occurrence for others, but it took great courage for Aileen.
'But everyone says I'm pretty.'
It might be empty words to cheer up a customer, but everyone spoke as if they meant it, so Aileen's heart wavered. She had even put on such a beautiful wedding dress, so she thought it might really be okay.
She took a deep breath in secret and prepared herself. Then, she carefully raised her gaze. When she finally looked at herself in the mirror.
"......"
Aileen gave a hollow laugh. It was because she belatedly remembered why she hadn't looked in the mirror all this time.
In the mirror, there was a woman with her face painted black. It was a mess, as if a child had scribbled all over it with a black pencil. She couldn't see the wedding dress worn by the monstrous woman at all.
'I couldn't see my face... even if I wanted to.'
Ever since she received glasses from her mother and let down her bangs, she had thought of herself as terrible. As a result of constantly running away, avoiding, and turning away, Aileen had truly become unable to see her own face.
Her eyes were fine, so something must have been broken somewhere in her head, but she didn't think about fixing it. She didn't want to see her monstrous appearance.
"I like it. Can I change back into my clothes?"
Aileen forced a smile and praised their skills, then changed back into the clothes she had been wearing. Her twisted heart felt a little better.
At that moment, the hairdresser, who had been hurriedly brought by an employee, appeared. She ran over after putting down her late lunch, as she ran a salon right near the boutique.
She had abandoned her meal and everything else when she heard that she had to trim the hair of the future Archduchess of Erzeht. The hairdresser sat Aileen in a chair and draped a cloth over her clothes.
"It's just a matter of trimming your bangs, so it won't take more than 10 minutes."
Aileen simply said okay when they suggested she try on another dress after she got her hair cut. She wanted to escape into the blankets in her brick house bedroom right away, but she suppressed the urge.
However, the moment the hairdresser picked up the scissors, Aileen felt something was wrong.
Her heart pounded as she looked at the scissors. The way she brought the scissors to her felt slow. The silver blade of the scissors gleamed in the light.
Her vision narrowed to black. The words around her sounded unclear, as if they were being spoken from a distance, and only the sound of her heartbeat filled her eardrums. Beeeee, followed by an ear-splitting ringing in her ears.
I'm going to die...
The moment primal fear filled her to the brim, Aileen urgently opened her lips.
"Sir, Sir Diego."
She instinctively looked for someone to help her. As soon as he heard her trembling voice, Sir Diego rushed over. He pushed the hairdresser away and knelt in front of Aileen. He held her hands and whispered softly while looking into her eyes.
"It's okay. Breathe slowly."
"Haa, haa..."
"Inhale, exhale. More slowly. You're doing well."
Aileen trembled and desperately held Sir Diego's hand. She followed his instructions and breathed in and out.
Fortunately, after taking a few breaths, she was able to return to normal. Aileen looked at Sir Diego with a pale face. He smiled and whispered to Aileen.
"Shall we stop trying on dresses and go have a cup of tea?"
The terrace cafe, filled with afternoon sunlight, was peaceful. It was a cafe mainly used by middle-class citizens of the Empire rather than nobles, and it was quiet and not noisy because it was a little away from the road.
An old woman with a wonderful voice like an opera singer took orders with an elegant attitude. She exchanged light greetings with Sir Diego and went into the kitchen.
"I'm a regular here. They make great cornetto and cappuccino. I eat breakfast here almost every day."
Sir Diego, who had finished ordering on behalf of Aileen, brought over the paper and pencil placed next to the table. He quickly drew a cat on a small memo pad and handed it over.
"This is my cat. Isn't he cute?"
Aileen couldn't help but laugh at the picture, which looked more like a tiger than a tabby cat. Sir Diego, who had achieved his goal, smiled back contentedly.
"There's also a white cat lurking in front of my house these days, and I'm quite close to him. He might be coming into my house soon."
As they talked about the fat white cat, the old woman brought over foamed milk, cornetto, and espresso. Sir Diego pushed the milk and cornetto in front of Aileen.
Aileen wrapped her hands around the milk glass. She focused on the warmth transmitted to her palms and tried to shake off what had happened in the boutique.
More than anything else, she felt ashamed. She wondered what the people at the boutique thought of her... She was just glad she didn't fall to the floor in an ugly way.
"Thank you, Sir Diego. You must have been surprised because of me..."
"I wasn't surprised. I see that often on the battlefield. But it's the first time I've known you were afraid of scissors."
Sir Diego waved his hand as if it was nothing, paused for a moment, and then asked.
"...May I ask?"
