CH 51.2

By Antoinette Vanessa June 21, 2022

After that, I was brought by Lumiere to that particular shop. Note that I wasn’t able to finish the donut.

As soon as I entered the store, the clerk who was trying to welcome me stiffened. Immediately, she rushed to the back of the store while calling the manager.

The store manager, who was previously tending to customers, immediately came out.

“L, Lady Elcage… the dress you ordered the other day, it should have already been delivered. Did I make a mistake?”

“Oh no, that dress was excellent.”

“Is that so? I’m glad.”

The store manager was relieved to hear my words. Well, the one who had made the order was a duke’s daughter. Now that I had suddenly appeared, he might have worried that something was off about it.

The store manager, upon regaining his composure, asked me a question.

“Then, what kind of business do you have today?”

“That’s…”

While I was speechless, Lumiere appeared from behind me.

“Do you remember me?”

Is that way of speaking fashionable somewhere? Anyway, it’s unpleasant to hear.

Still, the store manager stared at me awkwardly.

“That’s, well…”

“It’s fine, I know she’s on good terms with His Highness Sazanjill. To put it simply… is it true that they came to rent a dress at that time?”

That was right—if what Lumiere said was true…

As part of his official duties, the king had ordered His Highness Sazanjill to start a new business. Around that time, His Highness Sazanjill began to take note of the dresses ladies wore at parties. Not only were they custom-made, it was also uncommon for wealthy aristocrats to wear the same dress twice. Unless they had some attachment towards their dresses, they’d just disassemble them and sell it off as a fabric. He probably found that wasteful.

As such, His Highness Sazanjill came up with the idea of rental outfits. Dresses would be rented for one night, then be washed, and finally be lent to another lady. That was a lot cheaper than making a dress from scratch every time.

Actually, not all aristocrats came from wealthy houses. Therefore, many were concerned about the dress culture. The Alban family wasn’t the only one. Still, the expense had to be painful for them. Therefore, she suggested the business idea to His Highness.

When asked by me, the store manager nodded while saying, “Please keep this confidential.

“We were again asked for cooperation upon delivering a finished dress. I was surprised.”

“I see… thank you very much.”

When Zafield and I came to see it, the dress was still in its preparation stage. Alright, no more snooping from now on. The dress was probably not publicly available. I was sorry for forcibly inquiring about it.

As a symbol of apology, I purchased two bracelets. They were cute bracelets made of discolored white shells. It wasn’t that expensive but… when I gave one to Lumiere, she bashfully said, “I’m happy.”

I indeed had expected that response.

I wanted her to be happy about the matching bracelets.

Then, we left the store. When we were already inside the carriage, Lumiere began to speak.

“The dress I chose before used to belong to the daughter of a viscount. There’s also another girl who’d like to wear it. As for me, I already have a dress. The one given by Lady Lelouche…”

Oh, she’s going to wear my dress! That makes me so happy!

However, Lumiere’s expression was gloomy.

“Uh, so, can Lady Lelouche please make up with His Highness? Otherwise, I’ll be sad…”

“—If you’re that concerned about me…”

Ahh, I felt a little guilty. For me to ignore the plea of my friend…

…Still, I couldn’t do without eating sweet.

“After this, can you show me the doughnut shop?”

I pretended to not notice her tears and smiled.