Chapter 7

“So will you do it?”

“Lin…… my ears hurt.”

“Then give me a clear answer!”

“Ugh……”

Mel squeezed her eyes shut and tried to take a deep breath. As Lin’s voice grew higher, the laces tightening her dress pulled so taut they threatened to cut off her breath.

“I can’t, can’t breathe……”

“Oh! I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

Lin hurriedly loosened the laces only after Mel pleaded for breath with a bright red face.

“Whew, I’ve never heard of someone dying from respiratory failure while trying to tie a ribbon on a dress. I almost experienced it firsthand today.”

“I’m so sorry, on such an important day……”

“You almost killed me.”

“Gasp, no, that’s not…!”

Mel burst out laughing, giving up on teasing Lin further as she saw her turn pale white with panic after a long time. Only then did Lin realize she had been teased, and her face turned red instead.

“Oh my! Are you really going to be like this?”

“Sorry, sorry. But you were so excited, I thought a little joke might help you calm down.”

“Phew…… I’ll try to control myself.”

At Mel’s words, Lin took deep breaths to calm her excitement. Mel watched her with a smile and said,

“Let’s forget the ribbon. This is fine as it is.”

“Yes.”

Lin went to put the ribbon back in the box, looking somewhat disappointed. Meanwhile, Mel fixed her slightly disheveled hair.

The hair ornament, with small diamonds woven into silver threads, sparkled brilliantly on her neatly pinned-up hair. The dress, made of thin silk with silver pearls layered multiple times to accentuate her body’s silhouette, made Mel’s fair skin appear even more translucent, creating a delicate atmosphere.

Her appearance, styled to be as pure as possible, closely resembled Amelia who used to be at the center of parties in Reibritton. TThough she had often dressed in Amelia’s place, it had never felt this unfamiliar before.

‘It’s my first time going to a party alone without Lady Amelia.’

Today was the day. The day Mel would step into Raon Empire’s social circles. Mel smiled awkwardly, imagining what expression Amelia would make if she saw her current appearance.

Her deal with Genoa would officially begin today. From now on, how she conducts herself there would determine whether she could gain freedom or fail and be disposed of by the Duke’s hands.

Lin, having returned, tried to lift Mel’s spirits—who stood nervously swallowing in front of the mirror—by making a fuss.

“Anyway, you look truly beautiful today. When you’re dressed up like this, you look even more like a princess than usual!”

“Thank you.”

Mel smiled slightly at Lin’s flattering words. Thanks to that, her body, stiff with tension, relaxed a little.

“This feels strange.”

“Well, the Raon Empire is an unfamiliar place for Your Highness after all.”

Lin responded brightly to Mel’s words while hiding her sympathetic voice.

Perhaps Lin felt sorry for the princess who had to enter social circles while leaving behind a failing kingdom. But Mel had simply expressed her pure impression of what she was wearing.

Although it was a completely different style from Amelia, who loved extravagance, Mel felt she looked too much like a princess. It was fascinating how simply changing what she wore could make her appear this way.

She stroked the lace of the dress and tapped the jewels with her fingernails.

“I wonder how much all this costs?”

“Probably enough for my family to live on for life if you gave it to me?”

“Then I’ll give it to you.”

“Please don’t joke like that. I’d be arrested by the guards the moment I try to sell it anyway. These jewels are too grand for a maid like me to own.”

Lin shook her head firmly without showing even a hint of greed.

It wasn’t that there weren’t maids who took nobles’ jewels. But to sell them, they had to find secret auction houses that dealt in stolen goods or sell to unsavory characters. Of course, in such cases, most either met unfortunate ends or had their jewels taken without receiving payment.

“Give me cash instead. Or if you don’t need that dress later, give it to me slightly torn. It would sell well if made into handkerchiefs or gloves.”

“Alright.”

Mel nodded with a smile at Lin’s overly practical words.

These occasional remarks from Lin were accumulating in Mel’s mind. After all, when she regains her freedom someday, Mel would need to earn money to survive too.

While she might know how to survive without starving for days by making thin soup from dried grass, she showed weakness in such practical matters of living in the real world.

She had spent too many years either living as a slave who only ate food thrown by masters and labored, or studying noble etiquette and knowledge while living as the princess’s shadow.

“Could I sell this since it doesn’t have any jewels?”

Mel asked, holding up the thin silver bracelet on her wrist. Though it had no jewels, it looked like twisted silver threads with patterns carved into thinly cut silver.

“I can’t sell it, but you might be able to sell it yourself later by visiting a jeweler or calling them to the mansion, Your Highness.”

“Is that so? That’s disappointing.”

Mel put down her wrist with a regretful click of her tongue. Watching her, Lin cast a meaningful glance and said,

“Are you perhaps short on money from what Duke gave you?”

“Why?”

“It just seems that way.”

At Lin’s words, Mel looked at her reflection in the mirror again. A princess who shouldn’t need to worry about a mere bracelet or jewel stood there with a straight posture. However, Mel had no intention of taking anything she wore out of this mansion.

‘Why would I want to take anything from a man who hates me.’

Genoa’s shows of kindness were nothing but false illusions. None of it belonged to Mel. So she planned to leave with nothing but her freedom, except for what she earned through her own efforts.

“I wonder how much Duke Ivanstein paid for this dress?”

“Probably an incalculable amount? I heard the seamstress bragging that she made a year’s worth of income from this one dress.”

“That much?”

She turned around in surprise. Lin shrugged as if to confirm it was true. Mel looked back at the dress in the mirror and heaved a big sigh.

‘He probably wants to maximize the value of Reibritton’s princess.’

Mel’s face automatically darkened as she recalled Genoa’s smiling face when he sent the dress to her room. The beautiful dress made specifically for Mel, which only she could pull off, brought her no joy at all.

“It’s almost time to go.”

“That’s right…! Your Highness! Please answer that first!”

“About what?”

“The tea party! Are you really going to accept the head maid’s request?”

Mel clicked her tongue regretfully when Lin brought up the topic she thought had been forgotten. Remembering how she almost died from having her waist squeezed while discussing this earlier, a hint of fatigue settled on Mel’s face.

“I’ll handle it myself.”

“You shouldn’t handle it, you should refuse! There’s clearly something suspicious about this!”

“That’s true.”

“Then why won’t you firmly refuse?”

“……Are you curious?”

“Yes!”

Mel steadily gazed at Lin, who stood firmly with her chest puffed out as if she wouldn’t let Mel pass without an answer. Feeling Lin’s unwavering determination, Mel couldn’t help but laugh softly.

“I didn’t refuse because it’s too obviously suspicious.”

“What?”

Lin’s eyes widened in disbelief, so round that they reflected Mel’s mischievously smiling face.

“Aren’t you curious? What she’s aiming for while acting so blatantly suspicious.”

“So you’re going to play along just to find out the head maid’s true intentions? Even taking the risk of keeping it secret from the Duke?”

“Yes.”

“Sigh, Your Highness……”

Lin’s expression showed she didn’t know where to begin to dissuade her. But perhaps sensing the stubborn determination in Mel’s faintly smiling lips, Lin finally said with a deep sigh,

“If the Duke scolds you when this is discovered later, please tell him I knew nothing about it.”

“Yes, I will.”

Mel’s mother once told her a saying from a far eastern country. Something about not being able to spit at a smiling face. She headed toward the door with a bright smile.

“Could you set aside some food from the party for me?”

“Handle that yourself, I’ll pretend not to see.”

“Then I’ll take some for my family too. If we’re caught, please protect me, Your Highness.”

“What power do I have?”

Mel’s face looked more peaceful as she opened the door while chatting with Lin. She felt the heavy weight on her solar plexus slowly lifting.

However, that peaceful feeling lasted only briefly, as Mel stopped in her tracks the moment she stepped out of the room.

“Indeed, you are as beautiful as I waited for, Princess.”