Chapter 10

Ellen watched Leonid grow distant, and the moment he disappeared from sight her legs gave out and she sank to the ground.

“Miss! Are you all right?”

“No……”

Ellen got up from the road with Hess supporting her. The coachman pulled the carriage around in the meantime and helped Ellen in.

“I’m sorry. It was my carelessness that let something like that happen to you, Miss.”

“Something like that.”

“Yes. And of all times for the escort knight to be away……”

“He said he had urgent business, there was nothing to be done. And this isn’t your fault either.”

Ellen leaned back deep into the seat inside the swaying carriage.

“How could you have dealt with those nobles. Especially ones with that kind of power.”

“When you say power……”

“I mean they come from families of considerable standing in the Empire. If they were powerless, they wouldn’t have dared to accost me like that on the main boulevard.”

“Ah.”

“And Prince Leonid……”

Even saying his name made her chest ache. Whatever his reason, he had saved her. If Leonid hadn’t appeared, there was no telling what worse things might have happened there.

“He was never someone you could have done anything about.”

“I thought so. That was Prince Leonid after all. I thought it might be him when I saw his eyes. The cursed prince.”

“Cursed.”

In her previous life, Ellen had met Leonid after he had already become Emperor. So no one had ever dared speak of him as the cursed prince in her presence.

But having come back in time, even her own maid spoke of him as the cursed one. She had no intention of blaming her for not knowing the truth, but the ache in her heart, like a blade cutting through it, was something she couldn’t help.

‘It’s because I know the truth, I suppose……’

It isn’t because of my feelings for him. No, it has to not be.

Ellen pressed down on her still-racing heart. In that moment, a fact she had been too shocked to notice came back to her.

‘He helped someone else? A stranger, at that?’

Why on earth……

At least the Leonid she had known was not that kind of person.

“Miss, what’s wrong? Were you hurt somewhere?”

“No.”

“Then are you feeling unwell? Your color is very poor. There’s still a little time before the debutante, so perhaps we should return to the lodgings and rest a while before……”

“I’m fine. We’ll stick to the schedule.”

Ellen reassured Hess and turned her gaze to the carriage window.

‘Whatever the reason, I won’t think about Leonid anymore.’

The more I do, the more unsettled I become.

Nothing has changed at all…… and that’s not how it should be.

She had only just barely lifted one foot out of the mud. If the plan failed, she would have to crawl back into the rot of the Nockton county.

Ellen struggled to collect herself as she thought of her situation. But her restless heart refused to settle easily.

“The carriage seems a little slow. I do wish we’d arrive at the dressmaker sooner.”

Better to have my attention pulled somewhere else. So I stop sinking into my thoughts.

Hess heard Ellen’s voice and answered brightly.

“Yes! Understood.”

Hess quickly turned and knocked firmly on the wall of the coachman’s box three times. It was the signal to go faster. The street outside the window began to pass by a little more quickly.

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

Thanks to having the coachman pick up the pace, they arrived at the dressmaker sooner than expected.

Since designers had always come to her in the harem, this was her first time visiting a dressmaker. She turned her head quickly, taking in the scale of it, which was far larger than she had imagined.

“Doing something I’ve never done before, even this is its own kind of work.”

Ellen let out a quiet sigh as she looked at the dresses on display.

Not only during her time at the Count’s manor, but even in the harem, she had never put herself on display before a large number of people. And now the very first event she was attending happened to be the most splendid ball in the Empire.

The closer the date came, the more nervous she felt, and there was nothing to be done about that.

“I don’t mind at all. I get to look at all the clothes that would suit you, Miss.”

“Oh my, of course! A debutante only comes once in a lifetime, you should enjoy it! Speaking of which, what do you think of this one?”

Bori, the owner of the de Bori dressmaker, turned the catalogue’s pages enthusiastically at Ellen’s side. Hess couldn’t take her eyes off the thick book, brimming with curiosity.

“It’s lovely.”

“Isn’t it? You have a figure that is a gift, any dress would suit you beautifully. Those dresses hanging over there are designed to emphasize the body’s lines, and not just anyone can wear them. But even I can see that you would carry them off immediately. Truly, as a designer, it’s a figure I covet!”

The Madam’s eyes swept over her body.

De Bori was one of the top three dressmakers in the capital, where ateliers lined every street. That meant it was not only skilled but one of the places that set the trends in fashion each season.

In the eyes of such an expert, Ellen’s figure inspired an admiration that was difficult to put into words. Enough to spark a fierce desire to dress her in every piece she owned.

‘But beyond the figure, how can anyone be this beautiful?’

She was said to be the daughter of the Count’s family in Esrod. Had she been anywhere near the capital rather than the borderlands, men would have been going mad chasing after her.

‘No. Simply making her presence known properly would certainly……’

Bori quickly ran through the measurements she had taken of Ellen and calculated what to dress her in.

There was no doubt that this young lady would draw the most attention at this debutante. In that case, she absolutely had to make her debut wearing her clothes.

“Now, let’s choose quickly. It will take quite some time to try things on and have them fitted. There’s no time to hesitate like this.”

Ellen had asked Count Nockton to arrange the finest presentation possible for the debutante.

Among the nobility, dressing expensive goods in elegant packaging before negotiating was practically an unwritten rule, so he had squeezed the tight finances of the County to reserve a high-end dressmaker and jeweler. That meant there was no budget to buy many dresses.

Since everyday clothes and accessories to wear before the debutante had all been taken from Tera Nockton, there was no need to purchase those separately.

“There’s really no need to try on that many……”

Ellen had made that request to the Count in order to meet Countess Huan.

She was the one and only younger sister of the head maid of the imperial palace, and she was an essential connection for Ellen, who currently had no ties whatsoever to the imperial palace or even to society, to gain entry to the palace.

Madam Bori’s dressmaker was one of Countess Huan’s favorite establishments, making it an ideal place to establish a connection to the Countess.

“No, Miss. There are so many beautiful clothes here. There’s nothing to lose by listening to the Madam.”

“Ho ho, this young lady and I are of the same mind.”

Hess’s enthusiasm made Madam Bori cover her mouth and laugh with pleasure. Ellen curved her lips watching the delighted Hess.

She had only ever been in the countryside and this was her first time in a dressmaker like this, so of course she was excited. Had the circumstances been different, Ellen herself might have been able to enjoy the moment just as Hess was.

But……

“Oh dear, this really won’t do. We’ll have to help Ellen a little, won’t we?”

“Yes!”

The Madam and Hess joined forces and got Ellen to her feet. They brought out the dresses hanging along the wall and began dressing her in them.

And a little while later.

Hess walked out of the dressmaker carrying a neatly wrapped dress. It was an evening dress for wearing to a lighter party.

The dress for the debutante was to be collected four days later.

“What a shame. From the Madam’s attitude, I think we could have negotiated a much better price.”

“We got something better than a lower price, so don’t be disappointed.”

“Come to think of it, it looked like you had a word with Madam Bori before we left the dressmaker.”

“Ah, that?”

At Hess’s words, Ellen smiled with meaning. While Hess had been busy attending to Ellen and helping her change, she had entered into an enthusiastic negotiation with the Madam.

The Madam’s attitude had been quite cooperative. Her determination to dress Ellen in her clothes at all costs was burning bright.

Setting aside the expensive price of the clothes, considering that the young ladies of Kadin waited in line with reservations just to get a de Bori dress, it was an enormous gesture of goodwill.

‘Well then, how about this price? This is a price our atelier has never offered before……’

‘No. That isn’t what I want, Madam.’

‘Then, is there something else you’d like?’

‘Yes. This isn’t the right place to discuss it, so I’d like to step aside for a moment.’

‘Of course, young lady.’

After only a few exchanges, Madam Bori grasped that Ellen wanted something other than a lower price and invited her to speak freely. Only then did Ellen lay out the terms she had in mind.

If the debutante ended successfully, she would purchase the dress at the exceptional price Madam Bori had offered, and Madam Bori would introduce her to Countess Huan.

In the opposite case, she would buy at the original price, and would have to negotiate separately for the introduction to Countess Huan. It was a deal where either side has nothing to lose, as long as it succeeded.

If Ellen drew the most attention at the debutante, the reputation and popularity of Madam Bori’s atelier would soar even higher.

And Ellen would gain a connection that could reach the one and only younger sister of the imperial palace’s head maid.

‘That’s the reason I persuaded the Count to come here.’

Hess spotted the carriage waiting in front of the dressmaker, quickly loaded the dress, and came back down. Then she hurried back to Ellen.

“I don’t know what you discussed with Madam Bori, but it’s something important to you, isn’t it, Miss?”

“Of course.”

“Then now that the important business is taken care of, why not truly enjoy the debutante?”

“Hm?”

“You’ve never been able to do anything like this at home. This is your chance to experience it properly.”

“Hess.”

“I don’t know much, but. A debutante only comes once in a lifetime. You deserve this, Miss!”

Listening to Hess, she realized something. She had been so focused on the plans ahead that she had failed to enjoy what was right in front of her.

Perhaps that was only natural. She had no memories of happiness.

‘When this is all over, maybe then I can be happy?’

Me. And Leonid too.

That felt far more real to her than the grand reason of preventing the Empire’s ruin.

Ellen looked at the sunset spreading beautifully across the sky and let her eyes shimmer.

With an expression so wistful it would make anyone who saw it ache.