Chapter 3 - To be a crazy young man of the district (1)

The road to becoming Crown Princess of Burdan was not easy. Out of ten marriage

candidates, only three passed the exam to become fiancee candidates.

Young aristocrat nominees who are nominated to become fiancee candidates, will compete against each other to show how they have the qualities fit to be the crown princess.

The one who performs the best will become the crown prince’s fiancee.

After the engagement ceremony when they become 18 years of age, the chosen one becomes the Crown Princess in name and reality. After gradually getting used to the path of a crown princess, at the age of twenty, the person enters the Ruby Palace, the residence of the Crown Prince and his wife.

Two days before the fiancee selection, I stopped by Marianne’s Boutique. The workplace of Marianne Isabel, the best designer in the empire.

Her clothes, which are made with new designs every time using new materials, are always the talk of town or hot topic in town, but wearing her clothes does not necessarily attract attention. Most of the aristocratic young children buy clothes at Marianne’s boutique, so wearing clothes from a no name brand is the standard.

The basic principle of nobility is to be able to protect the dignity of a child, and if you want to protect it, you have to wear unusual clothes. The question is whether for it to be criticized or admired.

Some clothes are criticized.*

For example, a countess wore a newly-designed dress from Marianne Boutique’s as soon as she became a widow. The dress was called “The Love of Midsummer Night”. The widow, who did not recognize it, bought the dress. Then, she couldn’t avoid the people’s criticism.

That’s why her dresses cause such huge commotions. And this time, I wonder if I’ll be the cause of one of them.

As soon as I arrived at the boutique, the staff, who recognized the crest of my family, rushed to the carriage, and bowed down.

This was that kind of place. Unlike other boutiques where you could buy clothes if you had the money, it wasn’t the sort of place where you could buy clothes with money alone.

This place won’t sell clothes unless you’re accompanied by the honor of a wealthy noble.

That’s how it was, and aristocrats were enthusiastic about it. Marianne Boutique’s clothes were well-known for being able to show the value of someone’s status just by wearing the clothes engraved with an emblem.

When I held my bag out, a staff member walked over lightly and accepted it.

“I’m here to see what I’ll be wearing to the fiancee selection, would you show me your finest dresses? I’d like to see the ones with the newest and most unique designs.”

The staff began to chatter at the news of Lady Lysigar making an appearance. The Imperial Duchess, Lysigar, is a part of the royal court. So the staff were more excited than I was, looking at the studded-bag with my family crest.

“I’ll go get Marianne. Would you like to go to the VIP room first, Lady Vennita?“

The employees began to hustle and move around. When I entered the VIP room, I sat down on a comfortable chair, and put on a pair of comfortable slippers, while two staff members stayed by the side of my room, listening.

“I’ll bring you something to drink. Kindly tell me, do you have any tea or refreshment preferences?”

“I’ll have a glass of fresh orange juice.”

“As you wish.”

The VIP room I looked around in while waiting for Marianne, drinking the beverage brought to me by an employee, was the same as I had seen in my previous life. The center seat featured a velvet sofa for a single person, with a few clothes on display.

A little later, I could see Marianne walking towards me, with a flushed face.

“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting. I wasn’t quite sure if you paid a visit to my boutique. I didn’t think you would, but it’s an honor to meet you in person. The last time I saw you was a year ago, and you’ve a lot grown taller, Lady Vennita.”

“I saw you at our house. With my mother.”

To my reply, Marianne bowed her head gracefully.

“Yes, yes Lady Vennita. It’s an honor to be remembered by you.”

“I’d like to say. Rather than that. Are these all the designs you have as of now?”

“If you’re here to see the dress you’ll be wearing to the fiancee selection, the duchess has already prepared it for you, Lady Vennita”

I already know what my mother ordered when I tried it on in my previous life. The dress was too elegant and classy to look at. But now, the clothes will be tailored by me.

“Shall I bring the dress in and show you now?”

“No. Just stop making it.”

Marianne’s eyes grew at the demands of my order. It’s not uncommon for a noblewoman such as myself to be interested in fashion trends, but before a big event like a fiancee selection, anybody would listen to their mother. However, it was only natural that Marianne was embarrassed by me, for insisting on wanting to find my own dress.

“Are you saying you’re going to choose your own dress, Lady Vennita?”

“Of course.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you do that, since I’ve already received an order from the duchess, so I can’t make the call.”

“Good. Then let’s make the dress. I won’t wear it, but your deal with my mother is also very important.”

The value of the dress will drop if I don’t wear it. Marianne is firmly convinced I’ll become Karzan’s prospective fiancee. But if I don’t wear it, it won’t be able to see the light anyway, and the clothes will not be sold because my mother has already purchased them.

So the clothes just become dead clothes. No designer in the world wants their clothes to be buried without any rumors. Marianne gave me a faint smile.

“I didn’t know you were so stubborn.”

“Thank you for your decent expression of the word stubborn, Marianne.”

“As well as people say, you are the lumber of mercy.”

No way.

The reason why I asked her to stop mending the dress was because that was as good as it was going to get. If I wore a weird outfit instead of the more fashionable one, I’d officially be able to label myself as someone who wants crazy love.*

I’m going to pick out a nice dress that even Marianne would wear today.

“I can’t. Since all the high-end dresses have already been purchased, it’ll be hard to find a dress that’s more elegant than the dress the duchess ordered.

“I’m going to refrain from looking at high-quality dresses. Would you show me some more fashionable ones? If you were the emperor, choose a very gorgeous piece of clothing that’s dazzling to your eyes.”

It seems to me that I’ve surprised Marianne many times today. Her face showed full embarrassment, after listening to my order.

“You’re going to wear a fancy dress to the fiancee selection?”

“Yes. Please show me the dresses that will stand out between the other candidates.”

Marianne brought three dresses in. One of them seemed extravagant enough to buy a small castle. There were diamonds stitched into the hem of the dress.

If I wore that dress to the selection ceremony, I wouldn’t be able to avoid the label, crazy bitch.

So I liked the dress.

Marianne brought the dress and looked at me with a look in her eyes, saying, ‘You wouldn’t pick this dress, right?’

“I think I brought you the wrong dress.”

I called her up as she was about to take the dress away, which was studded with diamonds.

“No. Leave it. What’s the name of this dress?”

“It’s a dress named Golden Wave.”

Golden Wave. I thought I’d heard of it before, but I couldn’t remember it well. In my last life, I had no interest in such things. Even before I got married, I had no time to look elsewhere except for the clothes my mother bought me. Now that I think about it, it was most likely a nobleman who was crazy about money that bought them for me.

The name seemed to go well with the dress. It’s so gorgeous even nobles are reluctant to buy it. The dress didn’t look overly excessive but also extravagant enough to lure in greedy nobles.

The amount was estimated to be around the price of a small castle. Who would vote for a candidate who wore a dress that’s nearly worth as much as a small castle at the ceremony to select their fiancee? Even if they were to be selected, rumors would have spread instantly.

Even if the candidate is extravagant, they should be given the right to be rejected based off of his or her personality.

“Let me see that dress.”

The staff looked over at Marianne and she immediately signaled them. The staff brought in the dress and stood in front of me. The luxurious dress, tangled with thread that I don’t know whether it was silver or gold plated, matched with my white skin well.

There seemed to be a bunch of diamonds, but it was not heavy. No, it was lighter than the dresses I normally wear.

“Do you really like this dress?”

“Yes, it’s light and good. The selection ceremony is in the next two days, so have it mended to fit my size before then?”

“I’ll make sure it’s fixed by tomorrow.”

“I’ll pay for the dress after the selection ceremony. Is that okay?”

“The Lacy Family pays a general payment on the last day of each month, so you can rest assured.”

Right. I didn’t know that. Even so, not only my clothes, but also my mother’s clothes and the maid’s clothes were custom-made here, so it wasn’t unusual to pay at the end of each month.

Everything was satisfactory, except for Marianne’s disturbing laugh.

_______

End of Chapter 003

*Note 1: In this quick sentence, The Author referenced two different things as the same. Not only would the clothes be criticized by others but so would the aristocrat that would be wearing them.

*Note 2: If she would’ve worn the more exotic or weird dress, Others probably would’ve though her goal with her outfit was to find some on just as crazy with her outfit.