CH 178

Once Bellonet finished drawing a rough sketch of the suits for Sevi and Nova, she approached Julieta. It wouldn’t have been strange for the tailor to resent me for adding three more jobs at once. All she showed on her face, though, was the smile of a capitalist—or feudalist, should it be said? Her face didn’t hold even a hint of unhappiness.

“The combination of gray-yellow hair and blue fabric is a kind of principle. Nowadays, people often prefer dove color as well, but as shades of gray give off a genteel impression, they aren’t very favored for a debutante dress.”

Bellonet held up all kinds of different cloth against Julietta as she talked. Although the latter would be wearing the dress, the explanation was for me. I tapped my chin with a fingertip as I gazed between the awkwardly standing Julieta and the fabrics. “Hmm…I feel like a brighter color would look good as well. How about red?”

“Red is good too. Eye-catching, and intense. However…” Bellonet trailed off, and Julieta misunderstood the tailor’s hesitation, believing that red did not suit her. She timidly gave her opinion. “Wouldn’t, wouldn’t it stand out too much? I think it’d be a bit… unfitting for me.”

“Not really? It would match you well. As for standing out, well… I wear red myself, so it’d be nice to overlap,” I replied indifferently, then beckoned to one of Bellonet’s apprentices who was holding fabrics. “Excuse me, bring me some of that red wine cloth. And the scarlet velvet I wore earlier.”

“But Vice-captain, it’s customary for a superior and subordinate to not wear overlapping colors,” Bellonet objected cautiously.

I was well aware of what she was concerned about, that I would end up a laughing-stock in my first debutante for being ignorant of socialite rules. If that happened, then the first person to take the blame would be Bellonet, the one who fitted our dresses. To make matters worse, I was the vice-captain of the Dark Knights. I was trusted by Mayer Knox to the degree of personally bringing me to have my clothes tailored. It would be terrible for Bellonet if she gave the wrong impression of having left me to be ridiculed. However, I wasn’t as ignorant of this society as she thought.

“Normally, that would be the case. But it’s often the case that sisters, or mothers and daughters, wear the same dress regardless of their standing. And since I think of Julieta as my sister, it won’t matter.”

Julieta jumped in shock at that, looking at a loss for words. While I did favor the three kids in my unit, it was slightly different from family affection. It was probably why she looked so taken by surprise. Bellonet’s reaction wasn’t any different either, showing startled wide eyes. She didn’t seem to have expected that I would know of such subtle socialite convention. But, despite my words, she didn’t seem completely reassured as she added anxiously, “But… It’s not like you can explain that to everyone, can you? You won’t be able to avoid people gossiping behind your back.”

“There’s no need to bother explaining to everyone, Bellonet,” I replied, shaking my head with a small laugh. At the very least, only Julieta’s parents needed to know that their daughter was being given the royal treatment in the corps. It would put to shame their efforts in trying to land their beloved son a place among the Dark Knights, throwing a huge sum of money down the drain in the process. With slightly lowered eyes, I finished in a firm tone. “As long as the people that need to understand get it, it’s enough. Don’t worry, no trouble will come to you regarding the color we wear.”

Since I said this much, Bellonet had no choice but to nod heavily in understanding. As for the person involved, Julieta, she hung her head and mumbled something indistinguishable. “…ress.”