“I’m sorry, Marie.”

Lariella’s face turned red with embarrassment.

“I really meant to wear it today. But this happened again……”

In Marie’s hands was a periwinkle blue dress, the color of cornflowers blooming across a field. It was a very pretty dress with delicate ribbon decorations along the deeply cut square neckline.

This dress, made from precious fabric that was not easy to sew, had been hanging in the Duchess’s room for a fortnight already.

Yet the reason Lariella had not been able to wear this dress even once was because of the lip marks Duke Elmano had mercilessly imprinted on her chest, collarbone, and nape.

After spending the past few days having somewhat calmer nights, the lip marks had gradually begun to fade, so Lariella thought she might finally be able to wear the new dress today.

However, the previous night, Kais had unexpectedly appeared in knight’s attire and spent the entire night biting, licking, and chewing on her, leaving not only her chest, collarbone, and nape, but also the back of her neck, shoulders, and back covered in red marks.

Marie’s face visibly drooped when she confirmed the numerous lip marks scattered across Lariella’s body.

She had thought she could finally dress the Duchess in the new dress today and had prepared amethyst hairpins and shoes decorated with purple flowers to match the dress, but once again, making the Duchess look pretty was completely out of the question.

With such redness extending up above the nape, she would have to choose a simple, plain dress that the Duchess could easily put on by herself, and since the dress would be plain, there would be no need for complicated hairstyling—just a simple braid that the Duchess could do herself.

Moreover, with marks that dark, it would take at least five days for them to disappear, and if the Duke created new marks in the meantime, this dress might remain tucked away in a corner of the room until spring without ever seeing the light of day.

“It can’t be helped. It’s because the Duke loves you so much, my lady.”

Though she tried to sound nonchalant, Marie’s eyes drooped with disappointment.

When she had narrowly escaped the crisis of being inevitably dismissed and was fortunately able to serve the Duchess again, Marie had vowed to perform her role perfectly this time without any mistakes.

And at first, things seemed to be going well.

But somehow, as days passed, she found herself spending more time idly waiting in her room than staying by the Duchess’s side, and even when she was with the Duchess, she often had little to do and would soon withdraw.

Marie felt uneasy, sensing that she wasn’t being much help to the Duchess.

She began to worry that she might be dismissed and replaced with a lower-paid maid, since she was doing so little while receiving high wages.

While she was feeling dejected with such thoughts, Lariella, who was leaning back on the long chair, suddenly asked:

“Marie, I don’t think I’ll have any occasion to go out wearing pretty new dresses until spring, when the ball season begins, do I?”

Marie, who was about to leave with the dress in her hands and a downcast expression, turned to look at Lariella with startled eyes.

“Why do you suddenly say such a thing……”

Marie’s brown eyes trembled anxiously.

“Surely…… surely you’re not really planning to dismiss me?”

This time, Lariella’s eyes widened in surprise.

“What are you saying, Marie? I would never do that.”

Lariella hastily rose from the chair and approached Marie. She firmly grasped one of Marie’s hands that was clutching the dress.

“I consider you my closest friend here at Castle Elmano. Don’t you feel the same?”

During those difficult and lonely times when she had to endure being shunned by the Duke without knowing why, she truly wouldn’t have been able to bear even a single day without Marie.

To Lariella, Marie was not just a lady’s maid. She was a precious friend whom she truly trusted and relied upon.

How could she ever think of dismissing such a friend?

Lariella drooped her eyes in disappointment at Marie’s misunderstanding.

Flustered by Lariella’s dejected expression, Marie shook her head vigorously.

“No! Of course I think of you that way too! But, even so…… why would you suddenly say such a thing……”

Marie couldn’t understand what the Duchess meant by bringing up such a topic. She could only blink with a bewildered expression.

Watching Marie like this, Lariella smiled sweetly, her eyes curving.

“I’m telling you to take a vacation.”

“A vacation?”

Lariella nodded with a smile at Marie, who asked back with a dazed face.

“Yes, a vacation. It seems I’ll be in this state for a while. That means I won’t have occasions to wear complicated dresses or get dressed up for outings. So I’m saying you should take some rest during this time. We’ll be busy again with ball preparations when spring comes. You mentioned it’s been a long time since you visited home.”

As she spoke, Lariella gently pulled the periwinkle blue dress that Marie had been clutching tightly toward herself.

When Marie inadvertently let go of the dress she’d been holding, Lariella grasped both sleeves of the dress in her hands.

“Seeing how a reason not to wear this dress appears every time I try to put it on, I think this dress and I aren’t meant to be. And this subtle color, rather than on me……”

Lariella held the dress open with both hands and placed it against Marie’s body.

“I think it suits you better.”

Marie drew in a surprised breath as she looked down at the expensive dress suddenly held against her.

Lariella carefully examined Marie’s surprised face and the periwinkle blue dress covering her black maid’s uniform, then nodded as if she had expected this.

“It really suits you well. Here, I’m giving this to you.”

After placing the dress back in Marie’s arms, Lariella picked up the amethyst hairpin from the table.

“And this too.”

The elaborate hairpin was placed on Marie’s dark brown hair, which was combed meticulously without a single strand out of place and wound into a simple bun without any decoration.

Lariella clapped her hands together in delight as she looked at the purple jewel sparkling on Marie’s head.

“You look pretty, Marie.”

Finally, Lariella pointed to the new shoes with purple flower decorations neatly placed under the table.

“You know you need to take these shoes too, right? You always told me that a lady’s perfect outfit is completed by pretty shoes that peek out from under the dress with each step. That’s why you should never wear just any shoes.”

Marie, who had been standing in a daze like someone in a trance because it was so unexpected, slowly raised her hand to feel the hairpin on her head. The touch of the hairpin against her fingertips clearly told her this wasn’t a dream.

Marie looked at the pretty dress that had belonged to the Duchess just moments ago but was now hers, and then at the luxurious shoes made of soft lambskin and silk. Her lower lip began to tremble as she started to sob.

“……My lady.”

In all her years serving numerous ladies, she had received dresses they had grown tired of or that had gone out of fashion, worn-out shoes, or hairpins with missing gemstones, but she had never received something this nice as a gift.

Many had called her a precious friend, but no one had ever thought of her and cherished her so sincerely like this.

“Thank…… you…… so much.”

As something hot welled up in her throat preventing her from properly expressing her gratitude, Lariella embraced Marie with open arms.

“Don’t mention it. I should be the one thanking you for always being by my side. So have a good trip, Marie.”

At Lariella’s kind voice, Marie finally burst into tears of gratitude.

With eyes that had grown moist in response, Lariella gently patted Marie’s back.

“But you must come back. I’ll be waiting for you.”

In Lariella’s embrace, Marie nodded her head vigorously.

That was something she could definitely promise.

After all, the Duchess of Elmano was also her most precious and closest friend.