Chapter 7

Chapter 7

“This is Allen. I’ve been running here after Your Majesty’s calls.” The man who grew his mustache nicely greeted exaggeratedly and smiled brightly at Declan.

Declan glanced at him up and down, and frowned.

“You’re always loud.”

“Oh, you’re upset. Your Majesty, I’m so sorry. The one who is at the forefront of fashion is me, Allen.”

“Yes, yes.”

As if he was annoying, Declan responded roughly, but Allen gazed at him and made a pouty face.

“Your Highness, how are you? You are still beautiful today.”

Allen, with his delighted expression, greeted Declan and me. A smile was painted on his lips as if he was pleased by the greeting.

‘You’re a good pleaser. That’s why Declan has entrusted him with the job.’

Allen said he likes flashy things, and he seemed to be a proud person in his work.

“I heard you need a uniform.”

“I would like to get a uniform with the same design for Chloe and me.”

“You two wear the same designs? That would be cool. Then, will your Majesty only match the uniform?”

“No, I need a marten coat and a few more thick clothes.”

“Are you traveling to a cold area, Your Majesty?”

“Since I might go out to the battlefield.”

Allen’s expression stiffened for a moment after hearing the word ‘war,’ but he turned into his smiling face like nothing happened.

‘The tyrant’s exclusive designer is also an extreme job.’ I gazed sadly at Allen’s mustache, trembling like a dragonfly’s wing. Since they don’t know how and when they’ll be offending the tyrant’s feelings, it must have felt like they are walking on thin ice every time.

Didn’t he quickly hide his true feelings revealed by the mention of war?

‘Looking at Allen’s face made me realize again that I must stop the war, but I don’t know how.’ I sighed at the worries that came up again.

“Is that so. I’ll have to make clothes that are comfortable and cold-resistant, then.”

As Allen clapped his hands, an employee who came with him brought the catalog towards Declan.

“Now, then, shall we choose? If there is something you like, please tell us right away.” Allen looked at me and said, smiling, as if he was used to it. Even so, the catalog opened to the Declan side.

“Well, I wish it had a more colorful and strong impression than this one.”

Declan spoke, pointing to one of the uniform designs.

“If so, how about this one?”

Allen handed over the catalog and showed the next page.

“Hmm, this is much better.”

Intrigued, he began to look carefully at the designs.

“Chloe, what do you like? Just let me know if you see something you want.”

He whispered quietly into my ear, pointed at my right hand with his glances. ‘No, you said to keep it a secret. How can you tell me to move like this in front of others again?’

What should I do about this man?

“He won’t see it because I’m covering you. So, don’t worry.

“…Ah, yeah. That’s a great plan.”

I scoffed sarcastically over his plans.

“All right, Chloe, I’ll go over the design, so tell me if you like anything.”

“Oh, Your Highness, are you choosing on your own? I’m looking forward to it. Which one will you choose?”

Allen laughed with sparkled eyes.

“How about this, Chloe?”

The clothes Declan pointed to wear uniforms with chains hung on the top and full of sparkling gold embroidery.

‘What? Am I seeing this wrong?’ What’s this crazy uniform? I let out an embarrassed sigh.

“Why, Chloe? You don’t like it?”

After seeing him being so clueless, I decided to express my dislike as intensely as I could.

‘I should make your eyes normal.’ Burning my will, I squeezed each finger with strength. Then, I prayed earnestly and focused all my nerves on my fists with energy.

Hit, hit, hit, hit.

“Chloe?”

Confused, Declan gazed down at me blankly.

Then, with a long puzzled expression, he pointed to the design with an extra addition next to it.

“What about this?”

Hm, that would be better.

I gently struck him with a calm heart.

“…Allen, I’ll take this.”

“I guess Her Highness chose this one.”

“Yeah, she likes this one.”

When he said so, Declan muttered so that only I could hear him. “The one earlier was cooler, though.” Hearing so, I hit him once more, who still couldn’t give up his strange taste.

“Well, I’ll prepare with this design.”

Allen marked the design in the catalog and handed it over to the staff standing behind him.

Even after that, I continued to have a scuffle with Declan. No matter how good I looked at them, it was really terrible.

“Don’t you need more casual clothes or dresses?”

When all the cloaks and coats were chosen, he asked Declan.

“Let’s look at them, too.”

“I knew it, I’ve been preparing for this.” Allen smiled brightly and clapped hands eagerly, and the staff came in with a hanger. There were also dozens of small clothes that fit the doll.

“Your Majesty, how do you like this outfit? It looks like it would go well with the color of her eyes.”

He uttered as he pulled out a purple dress. Even at a glance, it seemed shiny and soft.

“All that’s here is a gem. It’s a mixture of diamonds and amethysts.”

He explained with a proud face.

‘I thought you would have put beads on it!’

Small jewels were hung in the middle of the chest and the hem of the dress the size of an adult palm. No matter how small the size is, if there is a lot of it, the price of the dress will be… Of course, it will be expensive, right?

“It’s fine.”

‘Hey, what doll clothes have jewelry on it? That’s probably why this might be a possessed doll.’ If you had to spend a lot of money now, it would come back as a curse.

I took a breath and waited for Declan to ask me. However, he was just looking at the clothes Allen showed.

“Which one do you like, Your Highness?”

After all the explanations, Allen just politely smiled at me.

“Okay, let’s buy everything.”

‘…Yes? What? Hello?’

The clothes in front of us now seemed to be around 100 pieces. Yet you still want to buy them all? It seemed as if I could hear the people swearing and cursing at me.

“As expected of Your Majesty. It’s worth preparing plenty of clothes. Your Majesty would look wonderful.” Allen spoke as he was causing a fuss.

‘Would you like it? The death flag right in front of you?’

What should I do with him? I rolled my feet and gave strength to my hands, and struck Declan slightly.

“Why?”

Declan immediately noticed and bowed his head towards me.

‘Why? What why? Stop this nonsense.’

“Do you like it too, Chloe?”

A satisfying smile was on his face.

‘No, it’s not a good thing. I hate it. I don’t like it!’ I moved my hand quickly again.

“You seem to like it very much. I really like you expressing your opinion like this.”

‘Oh, no. I didn’t like it!’

I couldn’t do anything else, so I gathered all the strength of my body and struck him alternately with my hands.

“Chloe, do you like that?”

On the contrary, he learned the exact opposite of my sign, and bought jewelry, shoes, and even a hat at an instant.

“Do you like it? You need something else?” Frustrated with Declan, I moved my hand in a hurry with the conviction that I had to stop him from trying to buy something again.

Suddenly.

Hit!

Perhaps because of my concentration, I hit his chest differently than I intended.

“Ch…loe?” Declan grabbed his chest and peered at me with a shocked face.

‘It’s not on purpose. No, I did it deliberately to try to stop you, but why is my hand so…’

Though, fortunately, he finally came to his senses.

“Well, let’s stop here.”

He concluded his words, after understanding me properly this time. I quickly moved my hand as though I agreed with his decision.

“It’s enough for today.”

Finally, when the words I wanted came out, the feeling of relief made me mentally exhausted.

“If you need anything else, please call me anytime.”

‘Shhh, don’t come again.’ After Allen’s words, I screamed earnestly as I watched him leave the parlor.

“Chloe.”

As Declan called softly, fear filled my body. ‘What should I do? He wouldn’t be mad just because I hit him, right?’

I waited nervously for his words.

“…Thanks for hitting me.”

Huh? What is this kinky word? He had such a taste, after all?

“I really can’t believe you’re able to express your intentions like this.”

Afterward, he said nothing and just idly held my hand.

It’s nice to be able to move, but I was anxious about how this would affect Declan.

***

Since then, Declan has asked me to move my hand whenever I have time, and I only listen when I feel good about his requests.

Then, one day, while lying blankly looking at the ceiling of the canopy, a headache suddenly struck me again, but it was different from the last time. A crackling noise was heard, and it gradually became clear to fully hear a human voice.

[ “…Protect our brother.” ]

After saying that, the voice could no longer be heard, and the headache disappeared as if washed away in an instant.

Overwhelmed, I was blank for a moment. ‘Why is that voice so familiar…? Who is it? Is that the voice I’ve heard before?’ While contemplating that, the illusion that I had seen a few days ago came to mind.

Chloe.

Even then, a little girl, presumed to be Chloe, asked the doll to protect her brother.

‘If the owner of the voice is Chloe, then why did she…?’

Declan was the only one that Chloe will call brother. That means, she was asking me to protect him.

‘No way, are you telling me in advance that Declan is going to get hurt?’