Chapter 55

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Chapter 55

When she followed Pompa up the stairs of the annex and entered a bedroom on the second floor, there were already maids with familiar faces waiting for her. The maids greeted her Min-ha first, then immediately pushed her into the bathroom next to the bedroom.

Shouting, she stopped the maids from skillfully trying to undress her while clinging to her side as if encircling her in the narrow bathroom filled with suffocating steam.

“I, I’ll do it myself!”

“How can the noble Duchess bathe alone! In the Persen Territory, you could do whatever you want, though this is Loengram Castle. Aren’t you familiar with the imperial saying, ‘a nobleman’s mansion has ears to hear and a mouth to spread rumors’? What would be the Duke’s face if rumors spread that the Madam was bathing alone with no attendant? Please, follow our wishes here…!”

“…Ah, I see.”

However, at the words of Pompa, who mentioned Seth’s reputation, Min-ha quietly surrendered her body to the hands of the maids. She went into her bathtub and quietly waited to be served.

With skillful hand movements, the maids washed her long hair and rubbed her body with foamy cotton wool. At every moment, whenever the hands of the maids touched sensitive areas, she would avoid her body. Nonetheless, the maids’ hands persistently followed her.

“…Ha.”

After being washed in every corner in the hot water for nearly forty minutes like that, Min-ha came out with a towel served by the maids.

They then brought her mirror, dried her wet hair, twisted her hair up, and adorned it with her flowers and jewels. Min-ha could barely stop them from trying to put it up higher and higher, so it ended up being a decent half-updo.

“You have to put it up more…”

“…No, please, this is enough. If you do more, I think I would break my neck.”

When the hair was done, what awaited her next were several sets of clothes.

From chemise gowns to under petticoats and corsets — Before leaving the mansion, Min-ha gave a tired expression to the various kinds of clothes that she would not have been able to express other than that if it had not been for the knowledge she learned from Wanda’s sewing lessons.

‘No way… Do I have to wear all of that? Really?’

Watching the maids picking up the clothes, she opened her mouth to Pompa.

“Perhaps, it’s all mine—”

“Then, whose dress would it be, Madam?”

“….”

‘Should I just scream now? If I do that, Seth will come…’

Now that she had spent two hours so far like this, Min-ha was truly pondering it.

Nonetheless, she could only think so without actually putting it into practice.

With the help of the maids who helped her get the clothes on, she put on many layers of the clothes one after the other.. Somehow, all those clothes were just her underwear. It was because the next moment, the maids put a wire ring floating around her waist called a pannier and put a dress over it.

Min-ha was surprised by the actions of the maids filling her own body with structures, though she could not show it and only grumbled to herself.

The long grooming was finally over after putting on all her clothes and putting her necklace with a waterdrop-shaped diamond around her neck.

“Well, how do you feel?”

“Madam, you’re so beautiful.”

“Perhaps, the most beautiful person at the dinner will be the Madam.”

“It would have been nice if her hair had been put up a little higher. That’s a bit disappointing, but I can’t help it.”

“….”

After that, Pompa and the maids took Min-ha to her mirror with satisfied faces. The maids gazed at her with expectant eyes as if they were asking her to praise them for their hard work.

Although when Min-ha faced her reflection in her mirror, she only let out a sigh that seemed to blow out the sunken ground.

‘…What is this?’

Even though she compromised on her hair a hundred times, the skirt was grotesquely inflated, the waist was pulled in so tight that it was difficult to breathe, and the skirt was wide enough to sweep the entire floor.

‘What is so beautiful about this…?’

Thinking that, she glanced back at the maids who put on the uncomfortable clothes and made a soft impression on her.

‘I think it would hurt the hearts of these people who worked hard to dress me up if I was being honest and said it was not good… As expected, should I say that it is good?’

In the romance fantasy novels she read in her previous life, the heroines were busy admiring themselves when they saw themselves, but after all, was it all just dramatic exaggeration?

Min-ha thought so and forcibly raised the corners of her mouth.

Knock, knock.

Suddenly, a knock was heard.

Seth, who let out a short cough, spoke from outside the door.

“Mrs. Pompa, aren’t you done yet? It’s been three hours already.”

“Oh…!”

“His Excellency is here!”

“Ah! I can’t wait to show him how the Madam looks!”

“Oh, my! Don’t be so frivolous!”

When they heard Seth’s voice, the maids trembled. At the same time, Min-ha was also delighted.

Stopping the fussy maids, Pompa walked to the door and answered Seth, who was outside the door, “No, Your Grace. The Madam has just finished dressing up.”

“Then, can I come in?”

“Yes. Please, come in.”

As if waiting for the answer, Seth opened the door and entered the bedroom. Min-ha gazed at him as if possessed with a smile as he walked towards her.

He had a handsome face that stood out without any makeup and a solid physique. Needless to say, he was a man who attracted people’s attention. With slicked back hair with camelia oil, Seth was wearing a knight’s medal on a neat black uniform and a dark blue cloak on his shoulder.

Min-ha couldn’t take her eyes off him.

“It was worth the long wait outside the door. It’s very beautiful.”

“Yes. The maids and I all worked together and dressed her up.”

“It must have been difficult.”

The moment he saw her, Seth, who admired her briefly, also immediately came to her side, who was surrounded by the maids.

He stared at her with the same gaze as she looked at him.

Min-ha thought that it was exactly the same as the day he returned from an expedition, smiling softly as she thought of that time before immediately wrinkling her brow. Somehow, it was because Seth’s expression was more serious than then.

‘…Is this kind of outfit his taste?’

As he approached Min-ha, who thought she would never be able to sympathize with this taste, Seth said as though whispering in her ear.

“But, you must have suffered the most.”

“…Haha. What about Noah?”

“He slept a while ago, but he’s awake now and eating a light meal. In a little while, Lancelot will change his clothes and bring him back.”

“…I see.”

“By the way, you don’t look very good. As expected, is it very uncomfortable?”

“…Yes. I can’t even breathe properly. The clothes and hair… Do you really think this is pretty?”

“As I said before, in my eyes, you’re a beautiful person no matter what you look like. Seeing you ask such a question, it seems that it doesn’t look pretty in your eyes?”

“Yes… I don’t think so. It’s really not… though if I say no or I don’t like it, it seems disrespectful to Mrs. Pompa and the maids who have suffered so much.”

“…Well. That’s what you think.”

Seth, who whispered to Min-ha, looked as if he was thinking about something and then nodded, saying he understood. The next moment, he suddenly hardened his expression and turned to Pompa.

“Regardless, I don’t like it very much despite the hard work.”

“…Yes? Your Excellency, what do you—”

“I’ve been thinking about this for a while, though this ridiculous pannier doesn’t suit her. Wouldn’t it be better to take it off? And, the corset was too tight. If you’re not going to kill this person by making her breathless, I think it’s better to loosen it up a bit. Also, let her hair down, so it’s naturally loose. I think I’m going to catch someone like this.”

“…Yes?!”

“Your Excellency! What’re you talking about!”

Seth’s words that followed were enough to surprise Min-ha even more. It was enough to shock not only her, but also the maids in the bedroom and Pompa, who was always strict and calm.

Min-ha whispered, turning to Seth who was standing next to her, still with a cold expression on his face despite the people’s astonished gaze.

“What, what are you saying so suddenly! People are surprised, Seth.”

“You said you’ll speak casually whenever we’re alone so that no one would hear. I thought you’re still embarrassed, though you speak up like a habit, dear?”

“That’s not the point now!”

“Well. Nothing’s more important to me than being comfortable with you.”

“…Yes?”

“If it makes you uncomfortable, no matter what it is, I don’t want to force you.”

Despite Min-ha’s bewildered remarks, Seth responded with a calm smile. After that, he turned to Pompa, who now looked as though she still had no idea what she had heard.

“Even though it took a long time to put it on, it should be easy to take it off, right? I hope you do it as soon as possible. At least, I want it before Grand Duchess Blaine comes to the banquet hall.”

“Your, Your Excellency! That’s absurd!”

“What?”

“How, how can a noble lady go to a banquet hall without a pannier and her hair down…! You can’t send the Madam out to the banquet hall with such a rustic look!”

“Is that so? I think she, who doesn’t wear such a ridiculous outfit, would look more sophisticated.”

“That…! Sophistry. Your Excellency, it’s perfect to say that you don’t even have the ability to dress up the Madam, let alone look sophisticated, or that the Duke of Persen is neglecting his wife! Even now, it’s noisy that Your Excellency had filed for divorce…”

“There’s no one who doesn’t know about the wealth of the Duke of Persen… To say I’m neglecting her, well…”

Arguing with Pompa, who protested with her face turning red, Seth abruptly stopped his words and took Min-ha’s hand as if to show her.

“Such nonsense. Once they see me with her like this, you don’t have to worry.”

“…Ha. Though seeing a lady dressed like that, the nobles will surely say bad things about you.”

“Regardless, the aristocrats who are going to the party today will talk about me as a lowly, half commoner, no matter what my wife wears. Would it make any difference to add a few more words there?”

“…Your Excellency.”

“If she was dressed like this not because she wants it, but for my own taste or face, then don’t do it. It’s more important that she’s comfortable than my taste or reputation.”

“…I see, Your Grace.”

After Seth’s persistent persuasion, Pompa finally bowed her head with a resigned face. As she gazed up at Seth, she was grateful and sorry for him, who had to say uncomfortable things to the people around her.

Noticing Min-ha’s gaze, he smiled sweetly and spoke.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Is it uncomfortable to be dressed comfortably, wife?”

“…No, I’m thankful, and I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be thankful for and nothing to be sorry about. As your husband, it’s only natural to make you comfortable.”

“…What if they say something bad?”

“I don’t care what people, who don’t even know me or you, say. Again, the most important thing to me is you.”

“…Yes.”

“Then, I’ll wait outside. Hurry up and get ready again, then come out.”

Lowering his lips briefly to Min-ha’s cheek, Seth immediately left the bedroom.

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Again, thank you so much for always supporting the novels I translate, even if you don’t buy me a coffee, I really do appreciate it a lot. ❤︎

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