Chapter 40

Annette was very happy when she heard that Raphael would attend the evening party with her. So she didn’t notice his flushed face. She then recalled an unfortunate memory of her past life.

‘In my previous life, I couldn’t attend his Sword Master celebration party. Maybe… This time again.. ?’

In her previous life, Raphael became a Sword Master thanks to his hard work and determination. But Annette was bedridden at that time. As she recalled, she realised that it happened about half a year before Annette died. At that time, a large banquet was held to celebrate his achievement of becoming a Sword Master.

In fact, such a lavish celebration was actually worth it. Across the continent, it was rare to see Sword Masters emerge. It was such a high level talent that only one or two people could become Sword Masters in a generation. They were generally seen in large kingdoms like the Chapelle Empire, so it was quite rare to have one in a small kingdom like Deltium.

Naturally, King Selgratis was not willing to miss this opportunity. It was a big deal to see such a talent appear in his kingdom, and moreover, it was none other than his own son! He wanted to show off Raphael’s presence to establish the status of the kingdom. Thanks to this, grand celebrations were held throughout the entire kingdom of Deltium for a whole month.

As a result, the crown prince’s coronation ceremony became much less significant. However, Annette never attended all of these celebrations. She was very sick and wasn’t on good terms with Raphael. Because of this, she had to soothe her bitterness by hearing about the scale of the celebrations only through words.

‘Can it be different in this life?’

Annette wasn’t sure. She hadn’t even  decided yet whether to Ieave Raphael or stay with him. To make a decision, she had to first find out what Raphael thought of her. As they were now going to the party together, she had a lot of time to ask him. Annette was planning to hear out Raphael sooner or later. She didn’t want to hear ‘I hate you’ from him again.

“Then it’s decided. Let’s go to this party together.”

Just in time, Raphael roughly shook the invitation in his hand. The pretty invitation in his big, hard hand looked like a toy. Annette suppressed her bitter thoughts and smiled brightly. Yeah, just attending a party with Raphael was already changing her life. So she thought she could now have some optimistic expectations towards her new life.

“Okay, then shall we go get ready?”

“Ready? What?”

Raphael asked in confusion. Instead of answering his question, Annette closed her eyes and laughed. There were so many things to prepare to attend such a grand party. Especially as it was the first event that the couple would attend together, it was very meaningful for her.

Fortunately, Annette had a fairly good knowledge about this field.

* * *

“Lady Annette! No, should I now call you Marchioness of Carnesis.?”

A smiling woman walked out of the luxurious dressing room and spread her arms open. She was very tall and thin, with red hair that looked like flames. She gave off a neutral and sophisticated image. Annette beamed on seeing her and also stretched her arms out to hug her.

“Tina! I missed you so much!!”

“Me, too. Oh, you have become more prettier! Look at this glowing skin and eyes as clear as pink topaz! Are you sleeping well these days?”

The two women hugged each other and exchanged pleasant greetings. The designer Tina Hamilton, owner of the luxury boutique, Papillion, was nearly ten years older than Annette. Because of this, Tina had been in charge of her dresses  since Annette was a little girl. For Annette, Tina was like her cousin. She was a friend who always made her feel comfortable.

In her present life, she could not reunite with Tina. Considering the time before her regression, it had been a long time since she had seen her. In her previous life, Annette had stopped socializing completely. So she never had had any reason to visit the boutique. That’s why she was very pleased to see Tina again and rekindle those good times with her.

“This is my husband, Tina. Say hello.”

After exchanging greetings, Annette smiled and introduced Raphael to Tina. Raphael, who was watching the situation with his arms folded behind him, greeted awkwardly. This place was very strange to him as he had only been to private gentleman’s boutiques where men exchanged only necessary words. The colorful fabrics that shone from all sides, the manner of overly clever clerks, and the scent of some unknown powder, everything was very unfamiliar to him.

Tina noticed her customer’s discomfort like a ghost and greeted them with a gentle smile. While smiling, her eyes were busy scanning Raphael’s appearance. Tina’s pupils, hidden between her smiling eyes, widened.

“Oh, my God! You’re as handsome as they say!”

Tina’s boutique, Papillion, was one of the three most famous places in the Deltium. She generally specialized in ladies’ clothes, but the men’s clothes from here were also famous. Since she was close to Annette, she also used to make clothes for Crown Prince Ludwig, as she thought he would marry Annette in the future.

The Crown Prince, Ludwig had a rare luxurious appearance. His long and beautiful silvery hair and delicate features made him look like a work of art. However Tina personally assessed Raphael as the more attractive one.

Raphael was one of the few noble men who only used the private boutiques for gentlemen. So it was the first time Tina had seen him. She was deeply impressed by this meeting. Look at that chiselled, sensual face and those wild, bright blue eyes! The charisma exuding from his whole body was very unique and sexy. He was the type of man that no woman could ever forget after meeting him.

Tina silently looked at Annette and lifted her thumb up, pretending to be indifferent. Recognizing the meaning of the gesture, Annette burst into laughter and slapped Tina’s arm. It  was unlike her usual demeanor. Annette’s face gleamed naturally in front of her friend who she had reunited after a long time.

Raphael, for some unknown reason, couldn’t take his eyes off Annette’s smiling face, Even though he felt awkward in this strange place, his eyes, fixed on Annette, were dripping with honey. Tina smiled slyly seeing this.

“Huh.”

Tina was actually very worried about her long-time client, Annette’s marriage. Annette had a delicate and weak physique like a fine-grown lady. Raphael, on the other hand, was a young and capable handsome man, but the rumours about him were not very good. He was especially famous for his fiery and violent nature. Tina wondered if Annette could have a blissful marital life with such a man.

‘If there’s love, any problem can be easily overcome.’

Tina gazed at Raphael happily. Raphael’s nervousness in a strange place was just like a big beast put in a cage. But seeing him stick very close to Annette, she thought he looked quite cute.

Tina looked at the well-matched couple and somehow felt motivated. The feeling was even more special because she had designed Annette’s wedding dress. Tina, with an excited smile, grabbed Annette’s hand and asked.

“So customer, what kind of dress are you here for today? From the exotic silks from the East to the multi-layered laces from Letan, we have everything, even the dyed fabrics using the latest ombre technique! All the perfect ingredients for the perfect dress are waiting for your choice.”

“Today… I’m here to find a dress for this party.”

Annette showed Tina a thinly folded invitation. It was the invitation that she had  received this morning. After receiving it, Tina took a closer look at it and threw some suggestions.

“It’s an evening garden party. Since it’s an outdoor party that will be held at night, it would be good to make a shawl that goes well with the dress, so that you not only would get moderate exposure but also wouldn’t catch a cold. Is there any color in your mind?”

“Well.”

Instead of saying the color, Annette just smiled. After seeing her meaningful smile, Tina immediately recognized Annette’s intentions. After all Annette had been Tina’s most valuable and oldest regular customer.

“You’re going to make your decision after seeing the dresses of other attendees first, right? Is there anyone who My Lady is particularly concerned about?”

Tina lowered her voice and asked Annette. In the social world, information was equivalent to life. Only after getting a rough idea of the dresses and colors of the other attendees, could one refer their customers to choose a dress that will make them stand out. Having such information was a natural service for a well-known boutique in Deltium.

If the ladies used dresses from less known boutiques that did not provide this information, they could sometimes face humiliation because of overlapping dresses with other attendees or falling behind the new fashion trends. So, a person like Annette, who was the daughter of the mighty Duke of Bavaria, could not afford to deal with such humiliation. In that respect, Tina had never let Annette down.

“Tina, I heard……that Lady Celestine will also be a part of this party.”

“Oh, you meant ‘her’. Of course I do.”

Tina smiled gracefully and understood the meaning behind Annette’s word. Tina herself didn’t like Celestine much, as she had snatched the Crown Princess’ position from Annette. Tina had always believed that one day she would make a dress for Annette’s coronation. She had even collected some fabrics for it. But because of Celestine, who suddenly came from nowhere, it all came to a naught!

Tina’s feelings towards Celestine, naturally, were not quite good. Especially as the boutique which Celestine frequented was her competitor! So Tina pretended to be casual and told Annette what she had heard from the rumours.

“I heard someone say that she was going to wear a dress with a refreshing color, like a summer lemon. The whole fabric is embroidered with gold thread to make it look very bright and luxurious.”

“Hmm, gold on yellow fabric.”

It would be a very good dress for Celestine who had brown hair. Annette was eagerly looking forward to this evening party. In her previous life, she had no chance to meet and talk to Celestine. Her family regarded Annette as an enemy, and made sure she could never approach Celestine again. Well, from their point of view, she was a villain as they believed Annette was the main culprit behind the kidnapping.

‘This time, I must talk to Celestine.’

Annette thought hard about what to wear at the party. Then Tina picked up various fabric samples and showed them, as she had always done.

“It’s an evening party in a green garden, so how about a bright salmon pink color? It’ll make you stand out as the color would be a nice contrast against the vegetation. Or we can go for a refreshing look by harmonising this light blue skirt with a silver bodice.”

It was just then, Raphael, who had been standing awkwardly behind them, opened his mouth.

“What is this?”

Raphael’s tone was quiet, but it held a strange power that could not be easily ignored. Maybe it was because he had been on the battlefield and had fought through life and death, his heavy voice had the effect of making people focus on him. Tina stopped talking and looked back at him.

What Raphael was looking at was a pair of custom-made clothing on display on the side of the boutique. Seeing this, Tina explained with a bright business smile.

“Oh, this is a couple’s dress that is popular in the Chapelle Empire these days. When a couple or pair of lovers want to show off their relationship, they wear matching outfits. Isn’t it lovely?”

The woman’s dress on display was stylish and feminine, with a dark navy skirt and a gorgeous red bodice. Meanwhile, the man’s dress next to it consisted of a navy coat and dark red cravat in the same color scheme. Whoever saw it would definitely come to the conclusion that it’s a set for a pair of couples.

Raphael was staring at the costumes with a gaze full of interest. His eyes were so intense that she was worried that the fabric would be pierced.