Chapter 61

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 61

Chapter Title: Dress Shop Trouble

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She then spoke to another clerk who had been with me.

"I'll order that one. In red."

"But I grabbed it first..."

All the dresses on display here were just sample pieces meant for viewing the designs.

You'd select a design, then add dyeing, fabric quality, decorations, and so on to create the finished product. There was nothing you could buy right off the rack.

But normally, if someone else had picked up a dress first, it was polite to choose something else.

The girl scowled and said,

"I said I was ordering it first. I hate it when designs overlap, so pick something else."

At that moment, a middle-aged noblewoman approached.

"Eugenie?"

"Mother!"

"What's going on?"

"I ordered it first, but this kid is complaining that she grabbed it first."

The middle-aged noblewoman carefully examined my face and outfit.

"Why don't you yield it to her? Our Eugenie has been invited to the Sowing Festival this year. Wouldn't it be better for the dress to shine in a more glamorous setting?"

She must have assumed I wasn't from a family important enough to attend the Sowing Festival, judging by my unfamiliar face and plain dress.

"I'm going to the Sowing Festival too."

"I understand the desire to say that, but you mustn't lie."

"No, I really—"

"Young lady, do you interrupt adults? Your family must have taught you no manners at all. What kind of parents do you have?"

The noblewoman put on a stern expression, and Eugenie let out a snicker.

"Leblain."

"Little one."

Just then, Henri and Ishak approached. Melbein was with them too.

Melbein acknowledged the noblewoman and Eugenie.

"Lady Lyon, I presume? Here to purchase a dress for your young lady?"

"Yes. Our Eugenie will be playing the pipe organ at the Sowing Festival this time."

Pride filled the noblewoman's face. She wrapped an arm around her daughter's shoulders and chuckled softly as she said to Melbein,

"Take good care of it this time too. We'll pay in installments through the summer—"

"Hey, why does our little one's face look like that?"

Ishak cut off the noblewoman and peered at my face.

Her comments about my upbringing and parents had left me frozen stiff.

Henri lifted my bangs and gazed quietly at my face.

"You look upset. What happened?"

The two of them narrowed their eyes at Lady Lyon and her daughter, as well as the clerk who had been with Eugenie.

The clerk, who hadn't noticed us amid fawning over Eugenie, hesitated.

Melbein asked,

"They're asking what happened."

"W-well... The young ladies selected the same dress design."

The clerk pointed at me with both hands and continued.

"The young lady in the yellow dress over there had the sample first, but Lady Lyon ordered it first. Lady Lyon told that young lady to yield..."

Melbein flinched in surprise and glanced at my brothers. Then he began scolding the clerk dramatically.

"And you just stood there watching?!"

"I-It wasn't that, but with talk of upbringing and parents coming up, I panicked and couldn't step in..."

Ishak's face turned ferocious in an instant as he listened. Afraid he might lunge, I quickly clung to his waist.

"No, no! A lady doesn't do that!"

I was still annoyed about earlier, but I couldn't let Ishak turn into some thug threatening a woman.

As I desperately dangled from him, Henri said,

"Ishak."

Ishak ground his teeth and calmed down at Henri's low voice and the sight of me hanging on.

"Ishak? That sounds familiar... Oh!"

The noblewoman, muttering to herself, startled and covered her mouth with both hands.

"Young Master Duvered! Then that girl must be... Ah, you're..."

Exactly the same reaction as with Melbein.

No matter how many regressions, the imperial citizens' response when I was introduced was always the same.

'That fake.'

Even with amplified divine power, the preconception of me being a fake was set. They probably thought something like, 'The temple must have done whatever it took to make her the Child of Destiny.'

The noblewoman smiled awkwardly and said,

"I've been rude. Forgive my ignorance. We'll choose something else for our child."

"Mother!"

Eugenie cried out, but the noblewoman clicked her tongue and dragged her daughter by the arm.

"Very well."

Henri nodded simply.

'Good. Henri's rational.'

I'd been a bit worried he might lunge like Ishak.

He just stood there, arms crossed, watching the mother and daughter pick a new dress.

"How about this one? Our daughter's skin is so fair; it'd look perfect in a deep purple fabric."

"...Yes."

Just as they settled on a design and were about to call the clerk.

"We'll buy that one."

Henri said.

The noblewoman glanced at Henri again and pulled her daughter's hand.

"Then we'll take something else... Oh, this dress with ribbons on both sides is adorable."

"We'll buy that one too."

"...!"

I glanced at him in bewilderment, but Henri just smiled faintly.

"Let's pick the one next to it."

"We'll buy that too."

"Then the one in the back..."

"That one too."

The noblewoman turned to Henri, her face paling.

"Y-Young Master..."

"Go ahead and choose. You won't be able to buy anything ever again anyway."

"W-what do you mean?"

"Not just silk dresses, of course. Homes to live in, food to eat, clothes to wear—from medicine to daily necessities, anything at all."

As the noblewoman stiffened, Henri's eyes curved gently as he said,

"How long can a person starve before they die?"

I froze in place.

'Right. When Henri gets mad, he's way scarier than Ishak.'

Only then did Viscountess Lyon cling to Henri.

"I-I'm sorry, Young Master! We had no idea this child was Lady Duvered...!"

She'd tried to brush it off without a proper apology since we kids were alone without guardians, but Henri's response must have terrified her.

Her hands trembled violently, her face ashen as a corpse.

Henri regarded Viscountess Lyon with a dry gaze.

"You're apologizing to the wrong person."

It goes without saying that I received proper apologies from Viscountess Lyon and Eugenie.

We sat on the sofa in Melbein's fitting room as dozens from House Lyon—Eugenie's grandfather, grandmother, maternal grandfather, maternal grandmother, aunts, uncles, and so on—came to beg forgiveness before we left.

Melbein and the clerks watched the scene trembling.

Melbein's dresses arrived a few days later.

Far more splendid and luxurious than the samples, with several outfits each.

He must have poured his soul into them after getting spooked by the incident.

And they were truly beautiful.

My brothers chuckled as I twirled in the dresses.

"One more spin, Leblain."

Henri said warmly, so I spun to the left—and suddenly, a low hum roared from the image stones around us, whirring madly.

"Don't miss a single eyelash."

Ishak warned the servants sharply, and they gulped, adjusting their image stones.

'Oh no...'

I was starting to worry about the banquet.

Not about making a mistake there, but about someone dying at the venue.

On that thought, I reached for my brothers' sleeves.

And looked up at them seriously.

"Why's our little sister giving us those puppy eyes?"

"Why?"

Henri and Ishak said in turn, so I said firmly,

"No hitting people at the banquet."

"..."

"..."

They fell silent.

I repeated sternly,

"No."

"But in an emergency..."

"With all the great nobles gathered, anything could happen, so a firm answer for now..."

One word wouldn't cut it, as expected.

But I knew just what to say in moments like this.

"I'll hog the blanket in bed."

"That's...!"

"Unfair!"

Ishak and Henri shot up in order, yelling.

A few years ago, I'd gotten the flu from hogging the blanket in my sleep. As a child, I'd hovered between life and death, and my family had nearly lost their souls in worry.

Thinking of how much I'd screamed "Daddy, brothers, I love you!" while abandoning human dignity to save the doctors makes tears well up.

Anyway, it had become a highly effective threat since then.

"Fine! I won't hit anyone!"

"...Got it."

In the end, they relented, and I nodded contentedly.

Henri and Ishak gave Leblain their ironclad promise that they would 'absolutely, absolutely never hit anyone.'

Only then did the child relax and head upstairs to prepare for the banquet.

Ishak grumbled glumly,

"How are we supposed to protect her if we can't hit anyone?"

Though they'd caved to Leblain's threat, Ishak and Henri were good brothers who kept their promises to their sister.

At his dejected tone, Henri said,

"She said not to hit. She didn't say not to kill."

"Aha!"

Ishak's face lit up.

"If we kill them in one hit, no need to hit at all."

Henri grinned wickedly at Ishak nodding vigorously.

"Exactly."

The servants watching swallowed dryly.