No, wait—aren’t you all forgetting the important part?
‘……As if my fiancé would ever bother coming to a place like that.’
I scowled, a sharp, ugly expression. The lady-in-waiting, mid-approach, flinched and ground to a sudden halt.
“……Neither my grandfather nor that man is of any help.”
The air turned brittle and icy at my muttering. My irritation was palpable, a jagged edge I couldn’t smooth over. They were the architects of this chaos, tangled in every mess, complicating the simplest of matters!
I lifted my head, my jaw set.
“Take this off. I’m going back.”
“……Yes, Duchess-To-Be.”
As I shed the heavy garments, my gaze snagged on a designer huddled among the group, her head bowed in deference. I paused, the silence stretching, before I finally spoke.
“What is your name?”
The imperial designer lifted her head slowly, her eyes wide with shock.
“……It is Rona.”
Rona. A commoner, perhaps? I tilted my head, studying her.
“The dress was pretty.”
I realized I hadn’t offered a single word of praise after seeing such exquisite craftsmanship. I offered a faint, fleeting smile.
“I didn’t think much of imperial designers, but I suppose the Empire is the Empire. They truly only gather the best.”
I swept out of the room, leaving them behind. I remained blissfully unaware of the lingering, haunted look the designer fixed upon my retreating back.
* * *
The next morning, I woke late—much like the day before. Perhaps I was earlier by a mere heartbeat, but the difference was negligible.
“Did you sleep well, Duchess-To-Be?”
“You look breathtaking today!”
“Truly, you are the most beautiful person in the world, today and every day.”
……For some reason, the maids’ greetings were growing more fervent by the day. It was bordering on stifling, yet I found I couldn’t quite bring myself to dislike it.
‘Is it because I promised them a raise last night?’
Yesterday evening, I had officially appointed Susan, Anna, and Beth as my personal maids. With that promotion came a salary increase—roughly threefold.
‘Honestly, if my boss tripled my annual salary overnight, I’d be willing to lick their boots at least once.’
Thinking like a jaded corporate employee for the first time in a while, I gave a sage nod to myself. Even if coin was the thread stitching us together, this cloying, affectionate morning air was not entirely unwelcome.
However, my good mood evaporated the moment I stepped into the drawing room.
“Duchess-To-Be! It is a supreme honor to gaze upon your beauty.”
“We are truly humbled!”
I scowled at the crowd stuffed into my parlor.
‘Look at them, all dressed in such gaudy, desperate finery…….’
The room was suffocating, overflowing with fabrics, dresses, ornaments, and crates I didn’t recognize. Ten minutes ago, my grandfather’s adjutant had summoned me, insisting I head to the drawing room immediately.
A summons from my grandfather—was he intending to finish the lecture he’d been interrupted from when Loxidian arrived?
‘I hate being scolded.’
I had arrived with my defenses up, but the scene before me left me utterly dumbfounded.
‘I was told my grandfather wanted to see me.’
But there was no grandfather to be found. Only these people.
“Who are you?”
I stood in stony silence. The group exchanged frantic glances, then scrambled to introduce themselves, tripping over each other’s words.
“Oh my, that—that would be me. Duchess-To-Be! I am the head designer of Ab Dress Shop! Forgive my previous lack of respect.”
“A pleasure to meet you. I am the proprietor of Biark Dress Shop. Ours is the fastest-rising establishment in the Empire……”
“I am Beone from Lepapa Dress Shop, Duchess-To-Be. Did you receive the limited-edition bag we sent you?”
They chirped like a flock of frantic birds, their voices soon bleeding into a cacophony of overlapping chatter. I couldn’t make heads or tails of it. But from the frantic display, the conclusion was obvious.
‘A gift from my grandfather?’
I was floored. What was this? An apology for dragging me away from my fiancé by force?
I stared at the mountains of clothing and ornaments.
The sheer volume was staggering. I’d been told my grandfather ordered them to buy everything, but the scale was absurd.
What sat in this drawing room was barely a tenth of the total.
……What a colossal waste.
“Hohoho, the Duchess-To-Be truly has a wonderful grandfather. Duke Alzbeit cares for you so deeply!”
“…….”
“All the clothes, bags, hats, and shoes here today…… every single one of them will become a limited-edition item exclusively for you, no longer available anywhere else in the Empire.”
From head to toe, everything I touched would now be a limited edition. I listened to the designers’ effusive explanations, tilting my head with a listless air. While the maids looked on, eyes wide with shock, I felt nothing.
‘I’m on the verge of death if things go wrong, and my fortune is about to vanish—what use is any of this?’
If I couldn’t change my fiancé’s heart, death was the inevitable sequence of events. Furthermore, if my grandfather arbitrarily reversed his decision, chose another fiancé, and forced an annulment, I would die all over again. In this situation, a gift from a grandfather who might change his mind on a whim was neither welcome nor needed.
Besides, although I hated to admit it…….
The clothes the tyrant brother had gifted me were much prettier. Since seeing that dress, nothing else could catch my eye. It was exactly like how, after seeing my fiancé and Loxidian, no other man could look handsome by comparison.
As I stood there with an indifferent expression, the designers grew flustered. When I dismissed them without showing interest in a single item, they clung to me with pale faces.
*Is something lacking? Just tell us! Duchess-To-Be, is there a specific design you desire?*
When I scowled, they all clamped their mouths shut as if they had made a pact.
‘So they do remember Charlize’s history of tyranny.’
That was when a knock sounded at the door.
When I gave my permission, a maid I had never seen before stepped through the gap. She approached me hesitantly, holding out a letter on a tray.
‘A letter?’
I tilted my head, picking up the envelope. When I saw the name written on it, my eyes widened.
“Askin?”
Askin Remut.
I blinked. I looked again, and there it was—my fiancé’s name.
“Everyone, get out. Now.”
“D-Duchess-To-Be!”
“……Do you not want to leave on your own feet?”
It was a suggestion that perhaps they wanted to be carried out by the knights. The designer who had gathered the courage to speak turned ghostly pale. Realizing she had misinterpreted my mood—pleading for me to at least spare her ankles—I stared her down until they all vanished in a blur, as if they’d made a pact to flee.
The room was silent, save for the piles of goods. I walked between the racks and sat down nonchalantly. I maintained a relaxed posture, but inside, I was coiled with tension.
‘……Don’t tell me, is this finally the moment he calls for an annulment and a clean break?’
My heart didn’t ache, but given our history, it certainly wasn’t a cause for joy. With trembling hands, I opened the letter and read.
“……Holy crap.”
I covered my mouth, the murmur escaping before I could stop it. The reaction was only natural; the letter contained shocking information.
“……He’s going to attend the banquet with me?”
Amazingly, he was going to accompany me to the Goddess’s Blessing commemoration banquet as my partner. Why? Why on earth? Was the sun rising in the west tomorrow?
I looked up at the sky in a daze. I confirmed the sun was shining, swallowed hard, and returned to the letter.
「……Therefore, the Remut family acknowledges your assistance, and we do not intend to ignore that grace.」
Does this man always write with such stiff formality?
It was surprisingly romantic. He possessed such precise, tidy handwriting, too.
Tracing the ink with my fingertips, I felt a strange intimacy, as if his very presence lingered in the script. A small smile tugged at the corners of my lips.
「I will officially attend as your fiancé for this Goddess’s Blessing commemoration banquet. I believe this will not only aid in repaying the grace for helping my younger sister but also result in no loss for you.」
I see. It would certainly be helpful to have him attend the banquet with me. Though, it would be even better if he changed his mind and simply maintained our engagement for the full year.
I touched the strokes of his script.
Why was that? I felt as though I could sense the elegant, cold chill that matched the color of his hair.
「Please send your reply through the knight who delivered this.」
I couldn’t help but laugh at the brusque closing—it was so entirely like him.
He didn’t even offer a word of thanks at the very end.
Isn’t that a bit much?
I was the one who risked my grandfather’s ire, summoned a personal physician, and drained my own coffers to hire an expensive healing mage. Even if he was the model of politeness and fairness in the original book, this cold treatment felt harsh.
……But then, this is the karma of Charlize, isn’t it? I have no right to complain. It’s entirely self-inflicted.
Tragically so.
“Um, Duchess-To-Be.”
I stopped chuckling and looked up.
I flinched mid-action.
The maids were all staring at me with expressions that were equal parts cautious and sparkling with curiosity.
“Um, I don’t mean to pry, but is that, by any chance, a letter from Duke Remut?”
“……And if it is?”
“Ah!”
Susan clapped her hands, her face flushed with excitement.
“W-well, it’s just that you were reading the letter with such a bright expression—smiling the whole time, Duchess-To-Be.”
“Y-yes, it even made my heart race!”
“Pardon the intrusion, but you looked truly lovely, Duchess-To-Be!”
At those words, I touched my cheeks, startled.
Was I smiling? While flushed?
That was news to me.
When did I even…?
Could it be that I was already counting my chickens, thinking I’d recovered my investments thanks to the progress with this man?
Had my obsession with my coins finally been laid bare?
I pondered for a moment, then lifted my gaze with renewed focus.
“Susan, go out and bring the designers back in. Right now.”
“Yes? Yes! Duchess-To-Be!”
Susan scurried out the door.