Chapter 9
Valentina, who had looked admiringly at the dresses and shoes that were enough to make a boutique of their own, paused and looked back at me. A subtle smile bloomed in her cat-like green eyes.
"Well… Wouldn’t it be better to ask a Lady, who owns a salon specializing in aristocracy, rather than me?”
“I am not an aristocrat. I hate old-fashioned tastes either.”
“Certainly, there are no crinolines here.”
It was natural that there weren’t. Benya was the one who couldn't bear to see me uncomfortable in those steel cage-like clothes.
Fortunately, crinolines are slowly going out of fashion in the social world these days.
A dress that falls naturally with shoulders exposed, as well as naturally hanging hair and light makeup, is becoming the new fashion.
And I am the one who will actively lead that trend. To be exact, the original Sasha.
The original Sasha had a miserable end, but that doesn't mean I have to give up her strengths. All I have to do is teach her another lesson.
And the biggest mistake she made throughout her entire career was turning her would-be allies into enemies. For example, the Fiest siblings.
Valentina made a 'hmm-' sound with a thoughtful look on her face for a while, then smiled and came over and put her hand on my back.
“Now, how about doing this? Pick and choose what you like, try it on, and decide for each other. It's a waste to just look at all these dresses.”
“That’s fine.”
I used to wear two sets of clothes alternately for months. There was a time when I was forced to borrow Estelle's dress.
Thanks to that memory, I've always bizarrely craved clothes, and the guy who gave me this dressing room as a gift knew that.
After our fashion show, which lasted about half a day, the two of us got our makeup done.
It was admirable to see Valentina in a dark green dress with layers of ruffles and black shoes, with her voluminous caramel curls pulled back in a braid and her pearl pins poking lavishly.
Whew, I'll pay a moment of silence to pay tribute to my hands for making this...
“Does that school in Vibrato teach you these things too?”
“This is from an elective class. Did you like it?”
“It’s at that point where I’m speechless.”
I swallowed a proud smile while Valentina looked into the mirror as if she were possessed and admired it.
They say that clothes are one’s wings, and Valentina being herself was great, but when she dresses up like this, she really looks like a lady from a noble family.
“Don’t you think you're ready to debut in the social world now?”
“… the same goes for Sasha. What can I do for Sasha in return for this?”
“To return that favor… Just do me a little favor later.”
A subtle smile passed through her green eyes again.
“If you want anything from me, you can just tell me anytime. That's my job.”
“Anything?”
“Anything.”
Really?
I was going to tell you later, but I thought it wouldn't matter if I told you now that this happened. So, I pretended to look in the mirror and threw it in a hint.
“Then can you teach me some marksmanship skills?”
A moment of silence passed.
As I kept my eyes fixed on the mirror, brushing my hair with a brush, Valentina stared at me with an indescribably strange expression. Soon, that enigmatic smile lingered on her lips.
“What makes you think I know how to handle a gun?”
“Because I think you cannot not know?”
“… You know everything. I thought they'd hide it somehow. I thought they'd let you wander only in the flower garden.”
Her tone felt skeptical as if she were scorning herself for not predicting accurately.
“To be exact, they were caught trying to hide it.”
As soon as I made a pointless correction, a sharp rebuttal immediately followed.
“If the Ducal Prince had really made up his mind and tried to hide it, there would be no room for him to be found out.”
That was right. If Benya had made up his mind and tried to hide it, I wouldn't have even gone to see the hotel as soon as I returned home.
Couldn't a guy so meticulous have predicted his own brother’s pattern of behavior?
He didn't know that the attack would happen, but he wouldn't have given any clue anyway. He would even send someone else than the man who picked me up at the port.
Of course, as long as I remember the setting of the original, it will be of no use. Tsk, it doesn’t matter if it’s such a cheat.
“Benya is more self-aware than letting me wander alone in that flower garden. Didn't he ask you to accept my invitation today in the first place?"
“He did. Because he cares about Sasha's safety to the extent of it being strange. I don't think anything dangerous would happen in a place like that, other than a few unnecessarily bold gentlemen flirting with Sasha.”
Now Valentina was speaking in a completely sarcastic tone, and I was seized with a sense of mirth.
"Looks like you don’t like the mission Benya gave you."
"Well... Whatever he entrusts me with is a matter of interest between the two of us. It’s not that the emotional part of liking it or not liking it gets in the way.”
“For something like that, I’m overflowing with emotions, right now. It makes me want to ask what kind of “interest” exists between the two.”
Her green eyes seemed to shake a little, but the coral-painted lips gently pursed, creating a unique teasing smile.
“Excuse me if it looked obvious. I knew you would want to know. As much as I do towards Sasha.”
“Then, do I have to get annoyed and kick you out, and then run to Benya and ask what the relationship between the two of you is?”
“… Haha, I can't stand it. I’m sorry. I'm just being mean. I'm a little bit like this sometimes.”
I also laughed quietly following Valentina, who seemed to smile more casually.
“Well, I understand. As you said earlier, it would have looked like I was running around in the flower garden.”
“Well, I hope you don’t pay too much attention to that expression. It's just because since I was born, I just got into the habit of looking at everything fraudulently...”
“Anyone would have seen it that way. It’s also a lot more convenient that way.”
Then silence passed again. While I pretended to play with my hair, Valentina slowly came to my side and knotted a pink chiffon ribbon right around my shoulders.
“I don't think Sasha needs to learn how to handle a gun, even if she's not just in the flower garden. You won't be alone under any circumstances."
“My experience of the first night back home was so impressive.”
“… I had nothing to say about that since it was our side's negligence, but if you just want simple self-defense, you'd better find another teacher. I don't know what it will be like if the prince hears that I teach Sasha how to kill people.”
It's a way to kill people.
If Lethias or Benya heard it, they would have laughed. Because we all don't need instruction on that... It was me who decisively killed Harris at that time.
His blood was on my hands, so it wouldn't make any difference if I buried another one’s blood.
“Then, wouldn’t it be fun to keep it our secret for the time being?”
“A secret between the two of us?”
"Yes. Even if we get caught, we'll laugh it off... Just in case someone says something, you can just say that you couldn't help it because I was begging you so repulsively. It's true, though, so how is it?"
A meaningful light flickered once again in those green eyes that were peering into my eyes.
“Oh, Sasha… You don't know him well yet. There's a big difference between leaving the flower garden alone and throwing you completely out of the fence."
* * *
When I was young, I would always hide far away and only peeked at these kinds of banquets.
Shining accessories along with beautiful chandeliers, an orchestra boasting elegant melodies, a buffet table piled with delicacies from all kinds of delicacies, people dressed up like they are main characters in those fairy tales and greeting each other, and attendants with trays rushing through the gaps...
Only the people in those clothes have changed, but it feels like not much has changed. However, there seemed to be a lot more people than the ones I remember.
“Ah, Miss Sasha…”
The chief aide, who was standing with the butler at the end of the hallway, turned toward us gladly and immediately blurred the end of his words. Dark blue eyes stared at me with a blank light.
Ahem, ahem, I'm used to this kind of reaction, but it's still embarrassing.
In the meantime, our butler showed a more expert response.
"Heh heh, this punk seems to be going crazy. Please excuse him for acting like a dunce here..."
"No, wait a minute, butler, who are you calling a dunce?"
"Yeah, in the past five years, I haven't seen him exchanging even the most common love letters..."
"Isn't it natural that I have no time for that? I haven't even been able to take sick leave, which is common here. So, if I go out on a date even once because of that ridiculous mindset, then when will I have time to date?! Especially if His Excellency gets into another trouble, then when will I have time to handle all of that?"
Comments
Post a Comment