Chapter 4.4

As soon as the carriage stopped, Ellie clapped her hand over Feroza’s mouth.

He just shrugged with his mouth covered.

With Rozelia showing no response, Ellie felt embarrassed for obsessing so much over the original story.

‘Honestly, the moment I got involved, the original plot line disappeared anyway…….’

Feroza got off the carriage first and offered his hand to her.

She took his hand and carefully stepped down.

“You must be tired, so get some good rest, Ellie.”

“You too, Feroza. Thank you for bringing me home.”

After saying goodbye to Feroza, Ellie entered the mansion.

Roni, noticing her arrival, came out to greet her.

Seeing Ellie’s hair, Roni gasped in surprise.

“Miss, your hair…!”

“It’s not dyed. It’s just a temporary effect, so it’ll go back to normal by morning.”

Roni followed her upstairs.

“Miss, is it really temporary?”

“Yeah. It was just for the event……”

“That’s a relief, then.”

Roni let out a shallow sigh.

Ellie grinned mischievously.

“What? Does it not suit me?”

“No, it’s not that… But you’re most beautiful with pink hair and green eyes.”

“…Really?”

Roni’s earnest answer made her feel a little embarrassed.

After removing her makeup and changing clothes, Ellie flopped onto her bed.

“See you tomorrow, Miss.”

“Yeah, good night.”

Roni bowed and left the room.

No sooner had she gone than Ellie’s communication stone began to buzz.

She quickly picked it up and heard Feroza’s voice.

-Ellie.

“Feroza! Did you get home safely?”

-Yes. I just arrived. What about you?

“You saw me go inside after you dropped me off. I’ve already washed up and am lying in bed.”

-Good. You must be tired, so get some sleep.

“You too, stop working and go to bed.”

She heard Feroza chuckle softly through the stone.

-How did you know? I just started looking at documents.

“I know everything. Didn’t you know? Don’t stay up all night again, just lie down now.”

-Mmm…….

“Right now!”

When she raised her voice, Feroza replied.

-Okay. I’ll sleep.

Soon she heard the rustling sounds.

There was no video call function, so she couldn’t tell for sure, but from the sounds, it seemed he really was lying down.

“Are you lying down?”

-Yes.

“Really?”

-Of course. I never lie to you, Ellie.

“Hmph. I’ll believe you.”

Now that he was lying down too, it was really time to sleep.

-Good night, Ellie.

“You too, Feroza……”

-I love you.

“Me too……”

Drowsily mumbling her reply, Ellie heard Feroza’s low laughter in her ear.

Using that laughter as a lullaby, she closed her eyes.

* * *

A few days later, Ellie headed to a boutique with her mother to have her wedding dress made.

She’d insisted on going alone, but her mother insisted on coming along.

“Ellie, are you really going here?”

“Yes.”

Ellie nodded.

Her mother spoke with a dissatisfied expression.

“Let’s just go to the place I reserved. Do you know how hard it was to get a reservation there?”

“This place is much better.”

“I’ve never even heard of this boutique……”

As her mother kept complaining, Ellie finally played her last card.

“If you don’t like the boutique, you can go. I’ll handle the dress fitting alone.”

“Alright! Why are you being so stubborn?”

Her mother finally nodded and followed Ellie into the boutique.

Inside, it wasn’t spacious, and there weren’t many dresses on display.

Ding, the bell on the opening door rang, and a woman hurriedly ran out from the back.

“Welcome— Oh my!”

“Hello.”

The woman, upon seeing Ellie’s face, was startled and her eyes widened.

Despite being a nobody, the Madam was quick with social news, so she must have already known Ellie’s face.

Ellie smiled softly.

Madam Tiahren. She was the owner of this boutique.

And a designer recognized by the world.

Of course, not yet, but she would be in the future.

The reason for that was none other than the making of Rozelia’s wedding dress.

Now that Ellie had taken that place, it was her turn to make Tiahren a world-class designer.

‘Honestly, the dress Tiahren made in that magazine was so beautiful.’

A while ago, while worrying about where to commission her wedding dress, Ellie had flipped through a fashion magazine.

There, a dress made by Tiahren was introduced in a small corner.

Only then did Ellie remember that Tiahren was the one who made Rozelia’s wedding dress in the original story.

She almost gave the commission to the wrong person, but fortunately, she remembered in time.

Tiahren stared at her blankly for a moment, then hurriedly approached.

“Wh-what brings you here…?”

“I’d like to commission a wedding dress.”

“F-for me?”

“Yes.”

Tiahren, looking very flustered, stammered her words with a dazed expression.

Her tightly clenched hands were trembling slightly.

“Why me…?”

“Uh, well… I just have a feeling a really beautiful wedding dress will be born?”

Beside her, Mother looked at Ellie with an expression that said, ‘What on earth is that nonsense?’

Ellie continued with an awkward smile.

“Actually, I saw your dress in a magazine.”

“You saw it in a magazine? But… it was just a tiny feature.”

“But that dress was so beautiful. That’s why I wanted to entrust my wedding dress to you.”

Ellie took Tiahren’s hand and gazed at her with sparkling eyes.

“I just couldn’t get the dress you made out of my mind.”

“Ah… I see.”

Tiahren’s cheeks flushed slightly.

“Will you make my wedding dress?”

Tiahren looked at Ellie and swallowed.

Her pupils shook slightly behind her glasses, but only for a moment.

Then, with a determined look, Tiahren replied,

“If you’ll have me… I’ll do my very best!”

“Thank you!”

Ellie beamed.

“Then, I have a book of all the dresses I’ve designed so far. Would you like to see it?”

“Yes, of course!”

Tiahren’s design book was as precious as gold!

Ellie nodded eagerly.

“Then, please have a seat here and wait just a moment.”

Tiahren led them to the sofa and then disappeared inside again.

Mother sat on the sofa, glancing around the boutique with a look of disapproval.

“Ellie, isn’t this place going to go out of business at this rate? The boutique is old… I just don’t like it.”

“Mother. I’m the one who’ll be wearing the wedding dress. Not you.”

Mother grumbled at Ellie’s words, saying she was being too blunt.

Ellie pretended not to hear and waited for Tiahren to return.

Fortunately, it wasn’t long before Tiahren came back, holding a thick book.

“This is my design book. Please take your time. I’ll bring some refreshments.”

Tiahren stood up again and disappeared.

Mother clicked her tongue briefly and spoke.

“Ellie, open it up quickly. I need to see your taste for myself.”

Glancing at her, Ellie saw her mother’s eyes blazing.

If there was even a single thing she didn’t like, she looked ready to insist on changing boutiques immediately.

‘But that’s not going to happen.’

Ellie confidently opened the design book.

“Wow…”

Of course.

The very first dress design instantly grabbed her attention.

From there, Ellie looked through the design book from start to finish as if she were entranced.

After seeing the last dress and closing the book, Tiahren’s voice reached her ears.

“How was it…?”

Ellie had been so absorbed in the design book that she hadn’t noticed Tiahren’s return.

She glanced at her mother.

Her mother, snapping back to her senses, cleared her throat and spoke.

“The dress designs… are truly beautiful.”

“Really? Miss, what do you think?”

Tiahren’s smile, which had brightened at Mother’s compliment, quickly turned tense as she looked at Ellie.

“I…”

Ellie paused for a moment, then answered brightly.

“I think they’re really beautiful too.”

“Really?”

“Of course. Since I’m having a wedding dress made, I’d like to commission some other dresses too… Would that be possible?”

“Of course!”

Tiahren nodded vigorously.

They spent a long time in the boutique discussing dress designs.

As an expert, Tiahren had extensive knowledge about clothing, and even though she had only seen Ellie for a short time, she knew exactly what kind of dress would suit her.

“Shall we wrap up for now?”

“Alright.”

Ellie nodded at Tiahren’s suggestion.

They roughly decided on the wedding dress design and ordered several other dresses at once.

“I’ll send the dresses as soon as they’re finished.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

Ellie smiled and nodded.

As they left the boutique, Tiahren followed them out.

“You don’t have to see us out.”

“To be honest, you’re my first customers this week. So I’m even more… happy and grateful.”

Tiahren smiled brightly.

Ellie gently took her hand and said,

“The dresses you make are more beautiful than anyone else’s. So have confidence.”

“Ah…”

“And you’ll be famous soon, so you should hire a few assistants. I’m sure you won’t be able to handle all the dress orders alone.”

When Ellie said this playfully, Tiahren laughed, thinking it was a joke.

Ellie happened to turn her head and saw a familiar face not far away.

‘…Rozelia?’