It was so quiet that she belatedly wondered if Jayden had left too.

Come to think of it, his usual corner seat seemed empty.

While frantically looking around, she found him sitting on the music box she usually used, rather than his usual spot.

Their eyes seemed to meet briefly, but soon his body turned away on the music box.

Whew. A sigh of relief escaped.

That position was perfect for her plan today since it offered a good view of everything. Larien turned off the lamps, leaving only one or two on, pretending to save oil. When she lowered the lighting, it created a subtle atmosphere.

Before changing clothes, she walked around checking every corner to make sure no dolls remained.

She even locked the entrance, though no one would return until after the fairy fireworks that would start in a few hours.

Of course, a strong doll could break in, but she could buy time by hearing that sound.

Larien returned to her room, threw off her usual chiffon skirt and wrapped bandage, and took out a top with a deep neckline and a skirt fixed with fishbones that she had prepared for today. It was a ballet skirt that was full and spread out in all directions, but rigid inside.

The inside of the skirt was so sturdy that it wouldn’t break even if touched firmly. They said it was the costume used when ballet first appeared. Despite being worn for a long time, it remained firm without any bent parts.

All done!

After changing clothes, when the music box turned the other way so he couldn’t see her, she squeezed her upper body into the gap of the wooden shelf she had been eyeing for days.

It was a place where the owner had roughly reinforced the broken shelf with thick plywood. There was a gap big enough for a child’s fist to pass through in the wooden plywood that was set up merely as a screen in a position hard for customers to see.

It was perfect for today’s plan as it was just big enough for Larien’s small upper body to fit tightly. The height was also just right at waist level for hanging halfway through.

She pressed one shoulder almost folded against her body to pass through after her head, then barely managed to insert the opposite arm as well.

When she pushed her body through, as expected, her upper body barely passed through, but her hips, which were large compared to her body, got stuck in the hole and couldn’t pass through. The stiffly spread skirt also played a part.

Larien, dangling with her body stuck in the wall from just below her chest to her waist, raised her toes to hang more comfortably.

Finally, she firmly gripped the feathered hairpin she had prepared to make an excuse to him.

Clearing her throat, Larien screamed loudly.

“Kyaaa!”

She did her best to make her delicate voice reach where he was sitting across the floor.

“Help! I’m stuck in the wall!”

After repeating the same words a couple of times, footsteps approaching with a thump and the sound of crutches tapping came closer.

Though it was Jayden’s familiar footsteps, they were twice as fast as usual.

He arrived unbelievably quickly and stopped nearby.

“La…rien?”

Perhaps because he could only see her lower body stuck in the wall from his direction, he asked in an uncertain voice. His rough breathing at the end of his words showed how much he had hurried.

“Is that you… Jayden?”

Although Larien was certain it was him, she deliberately asked back in a pitiful voice.

“…Yes.”

Along with the sound of slowly swallowing breath, his low voice penetrated her eardrum across the floor. Somehow, her toes tingled.

“Please help me.”

Larien squeezed out a voice pretending to whimper as pitifully as possible.

“Sigh, how did this happen?”

His voice was heard from behind her back, indicating he had come closer.

“My hairpin fell into the gap, and when I tried to pick it up, my body got stuck in the wall. I managed to get the hairpin, but I can’t pull my body back out. Sob.”

Only a gap big enough for one finger remained around her slim waist. Moreover, every time her lungs moved up and down from heavy breathing since he approached, her chest touching the plywood caused subtle pain.

Her large chest, which had been a disadvantage during ballet, was helpful today.

“How can I help you?”

If it had been another man, he would have already been all over trying to pull her out with physical contact, but as expected, Jayden stood still and gentlemanly asked for her opinion first.

She grew even more fond of him for that.

“Well…”

Though she needed to follow the plan, she crossed her legs awkwardly, finding it difficult to speak.

“What is it?”

Unlike her shy self, Jayden’s voice was quite calm.

“I tried several times, but going back is impossible because my chest gets caught. If you could remove my skirt from behind, I’ll try to get out through the front. Looking from here, I can see there’s a gap on that side. I should have gone in through there to pick up the pin, but I didn’t notice earlier because I was in a hurry.”

Larien bit her lips hard and swallowed her embarrassment.

“Remove your skirt?”

His voice cracked slightly, as though her request was quite startling.

“Yes, that’s right.”

She decided to be bold once again.

“That’s a bit difficult. I can’t do that.”

Though it wasn’t an unexpected situation, Jayden’s cold response came without a moment’s hesitation.

“Why?”

She couldn’t help but sound resentful.

“I can’t touch you. Even now, your appearance is quite… No… Anyway, wait until someone else comes. I’ll go find your friend.”

His voice, breaking off in between, grew lower and lower. Then came the sound of footsteps turning away. Larien, unable to see him, felt her heart burning black with anxiety.

Growing desperate, she banged on the wall with her hands and called out to him.

“J-Jayden. Don’t leave me alone. I’m scared. Who knows who might come. And if my friends see me like this, I’ll be teased for the rest of my life. Then I’ll just die!”

The tapping sound of crutches stopped at her terrified voice.

She was sincere. If her friends saw her in this state, she would want to die from shame.

Though she had somewhat prepared for him to refuse in his heart, she hadn’t expected such an immediate rejection, so she turned pale at the thought that he might really leave her.

Also, since this was the first time she had directly experienced Jayden’s firm rejection, tears welled up in her eyes.

The fear wasn’t a lie either, as nothing was visible under the shelf except for the light coming through the gap on the opposite side.

What if a mouse appears? Her eyeballs trembled finely as she looked around, struck by belated fear.

“Larien.”

He called her name gently, as if soothing a small child.

“What?”

“As you know, since I’m using crutches, I can’t close my eyes while trying to maintain balance. To help you in this situation, I’ll have to keep my eyes open while removing your skirt. I refused because I’ll end up seeing your entire back view.”

That was exactly what Larien wanted, but the oblivious Jayden was trying to refuse for that very reason.

“Jayden, I’m fine with it. Someone will have to see anyway if they’re helping. I feel more comfortable entrusting this to you than showing this state to others. The others might spread rumors, but you won’t, right?”

“……”

A brief silence followed her desperate response. Soon, his approval came with a deep sigh.

“Sigh… Alright. Then what should I do first?”

He turned around, seemingly resigned, and came closer again.

“Remove the tutu.”

“Tutu?”

“Ah, I mean the ballet skirt. If you put your hand inside the spread skirt, you’ll see white tights. Untie the string inside those and the skirt will come off. The strings might be tangled because I was practicing turns before getting stuck in the wall.”

Though the upright skirt would make it easy to find the strings, she had deliberately tied them complexly below her lower abdomen. So that he would inevitably have to put his hands underneath to untangle them.

Since she had put on the leotard first, tied the strings, and then worn the tights over them, the tights would have to be removed to untie the ends. This was all knowledge learned from seniors over the past few days.

They told her that stripping and throwing herself at him wasn’t attractive. That subtle seduction was much more effective.

“Okay. I’ll try first.”

His sigh noticeably deepened.