“Today’s lesson content is related to speech.”

A warm spring afternoon.

It was exactly one week since lessons with Teacher Bartier, which had been temporarily suspended after Arthe awakened, had resumed.

The etiquette lessons that had been conducted consistently with Teacher Bartier’s slow tone for the past several years were experiencing unexpected difficulties.

“Um, Teacher Bartier. Are you alright?”

Mel, who usually detested Teacher Bartier, glanced at the teacher and inquired about his well-being.

That was because Teacher Bartier’s under-eyes had been getting increasingly sunken for the past few days.

At Mel’s concern, the teacher wiped his cold sweat with a handkerchief and opened his mouth again.

“Speech is very important in people’s daily lives.”

“That’s right.”

“Speech is a window that directly shows a person’s character and heart.”

“You’re absolutely right a hundred, a thousand times.”

“……You don’t need to respond.”

At Teacher Bartier’s words refusing reactions, Arthe nodded with clear eyes.

At a glance, she was still a diligent student itself, but…

“Because of this, profanity is something that pollutes a person’s heart. The more you use curses, the more you become defiled, that’s what I mean.”

“No, Teacher. Profanity is a good thing.”

Arthe answered with round eyes.

“No, where exactly is it good?”

“It’s good for mental health.”

“That’s not it! It taints the mind badly……”

“But if you accumulate negative emotions, doesn’t your heart rot?”

The disciple who had never talked back to him in her life had started rebelling. This type of lesson had been repeating continuously lately.

Due to this, Teacher Bartier’s mental health was being seriously strained.

To make matters worse…

“If you’re a daughter of a noble family, negative emotions should be relieved through hobbies like needlework……”

“But Teacher. Recently your complexion hasn’t been good. Could it be that you haven’t been able to relieve your emotions and your heart is hurt? This student is deeply concerned.”

Arthe suggested as if genuinely worried.

“Though I’m lacking, I know a good method.”

“What, what…… Such a thing is not necessary……”

“Now, Teacher, please try following along once. Like this, damn it!”

Thud. At those words, Teacher Bartier’s thin wrist dropped powerlessly to the floor. Teacher Bartier, who had been trembling from mental shock, finally lost his temper.

“Miss! Didn’t I say that speech is a window that directly shows a person’s character and heart! This absolutely won’t do.”

After arguing for a while, Teacher Bartier finally brought out the rod.

It was commonly called the ‘rod of love.’

Teacher Bartier, who had fiercely swung the switch on the table, opened his mouth.

“Write this down. Low-class words like ‘bullshit’ and ‘damn it’ are language used by commoners. If you use such words, the ducal house’s dignity will……”

“But Teacher.”

“Oh no! Interrupting while your teacher is speaking! Immediately lift your skirt and your calves—!”

“Teacher.”

Regardless of the scolding and threat of the switch, Arthe opened her mouth with a clear voice.

“But when the statement is such utter nonsense that it can only be expressed with the word ‘bullshit,’ what should I do?”

“Even, even so, such words are very vulgar, and also……”

“Very appropriate. More so than the words of someone steeped in prejudices like ‘women can’t’ or ‘nobles can’t.'”

While Teacher Bartier, who met Arthe’s clear but subtly sharp eyes, only trembled his beard, Arthe, who sighed, closed her book.

“It seems it won’t work.”

“What, what won’t!”

“I’ve absorbed Teacher’s teachings, filtering out only what should be filtered, into my body and mind. I will maintain etiquette when etiquette should be maintained.”

Teacher Bartier looked at Arthe in surprise.

“However, I must now live speaking my mind even if it’s vulgar.”

Arthe’s eyes looking directly at Teacher Bartier were no longer the eyes of an innocent young lady.

“Teacher, you should also learn profanity as soon as possible. If you wish, I’ll introduce you to a good teacher.”

“Huh…… Huh!”

“Teacher, you’re fired.”

Arthe stood up and bowed deeply.

It was a greeting befitting Teacher Bartier’s disciple, who valued etiquette.

Teacher Bartier sat down helplessly in the middle of the classroom.

“The lady…… The lady has definitely gone crazy……”

The few days when she lost consciousness after falling from the horse, no, for 20 years.

This was the end of Teacher Bartier, who didn’t know that Arthe had received education from a new teacher.

***

After firing Teacher Bartier, Arthe, enveloped in a strange sense of liberation, decided to carry out the things she had been thinking about.

The first place she headed to was the 7th district of the capital, the most prosperous area of the Sable Empire.

At that time, in Madam Cerneiz’s dress shop located in the 7th district of the capital, the owner, Madam Cerneiz, was only sighing with the door of the dress shop locked.

“Madam. This is a cake from Newport House.”

The maid offered dessert, but Madam Cerneiz shook her head.

“I have no appetite.”

“Don’t be like that and try just one bite. Someone swept up all the desserts today, so I waited quite a while to buy this……”

“No fun, no motivation! I don’t want to do anything.”

Madam Cerneiz’s dress shop was one all the women in the capital most envied.

When rumors spread that she had rejected all reservations from haughty noble ladies, her popularity actually increased, but Madam Cerneiz herself had fallen into mannerism.

“What is fashion…… Being able to cry when sad…… is a good thing……”

It was when she dropped a tear and looked out the window forlornly.

Outside the window, two noble young ladies were passing by leading their attendants, and one young lady’s outfit was extraordinary.

“Oh la la! How could such a thing!”

Madam Cerneiz’s eyes widened as if they would flip over, and a scream filled with shock flowed from her mouth.

What caught her attention was a young lady of very beautiful appearance.

However, unfortunately, the dress that young lady wore was the worst choice.

“Terror! That’s terror!”

The hem and sleeves with shirring packed tightly without gaps.

The back was covered indiscriminately with expensive lace and huge ribbons.

What kind of sense were those fist-sized jewels hanging everywhere they could be hung!

Actually, people passing by on the street were gradually distancing themselves as if threatened by that young lady’s dress.

“Madam? What’s wrong?”

The maid who approached, startled by Cerneiz’s scream as if she would faint, looked at the young ladies outside the window and opened her mouth.

“Oh my. Those young ladies bought all the desserts at Newport House earlier! This time they seem ready to completely ransack the hat shop.”

Watching the young lady selecting hats displayed in the shop, the maid shook her head.

Madam Cerneiz, who loved fashion, could no longer stand to watch that sight.

“Jessie! Bring those ladies here immediately!”

“What? Suddenly?”

“No, I should go myself.”

Madam Cerneiz opened the door of the dress shop she had locked with a face burning with motivation for the first time in a while.

“How can I stand to watch such beauty being used like that?”

***

“You want to buy everything from here to here?”

The jewelry store employee’s mouth fell open.

From diamond necklaces polished with thousands of cuts to sapphire rings that exactly resembled Arthe’s eyes.

“Miss, is this really alright? You seem to have become a different person suddenly.”

“I’ve just gained great enlightenment.”

Though Mel glanced at Arthe restlessly, Arthe just smiled benevolently.

“I’ll take everything.”

“All, all of this?”

“Everything.”

Putting rings on her finger joints, Arthe smiled contentedly.

‘So thrilling! Indeed, among all pleasures, spending money is the best!’

How much had she lived restraining herself in her past life to become a proper lady?

Frugality and thrift—believing only Teacher Bartier’s words that this was the virtue of noble women, she had pretended to decline despite having so much money, pretended to have no interest in luxury goods. How much modesty she had shown.

She didn’t know how bitterly she had regretted not being able to wear, eat, or use things during her time in prison.

Eventually, after legally ransacking the jewelry store, Arthe stood in front of the hat shop and declared dramatically.

“I’m going to spend 5 years’ worth of allowance today.”

“But I don’t recommend that hat.”

It was a delicate and coquettish voice.

At the suddenly offered voice, Arthe turned her head sharply.

“The dress seems expensive, but there’s some regret in terms of details.”

A sophisticated but somewhat fastidious-looking lady stood before her. The lady swept her swaying bob hair modestly behind her ear and spoke.

“How about using that 5 years’ worth of allowance more elegantly and beautifully? Young lady.”

The lady, who had already snatched the hat with feathers stuck mercilessly into it from Arthe’s hands, smiled.

“Who are you?”

“Ah, I was rude. I’m the owner of the dress shop over there.”

“Oh my! It’s Madam Cerneiz, Miss.”

Mel whispered in surprise.

‘If it’s Madam Cerneiz, she’s definitely famous for being haughty…… But is my dress really that bad?’

Unfortunately, Arthe, who had never bought anything of her own will for the sake of proper comportment, had a severely lacking basic understanding of fashion.

Arthe glanced at her own appearance in the hat shop’s mirror.

‘……Is it strange? It’s pretty though?’

When Arthe said nothing, Madam Cerneiz, whose face had somehow become anxious, opened her mouth.

“Our dress shop is a bit expensive, but since I made the first proposal, I’ll give you a sufficient discount……”

“No! You must receive full payment. I learned that beauty cannot be converted to money, but you must pay a corresponding price.”

‘I can’t come out to spend money and then buy a dress at a discount!’

Arthe, who had decided to spend money like water, quickly refused.

“Oh my……”

Though Madam Cerneiz seemed unintentionally moved, Arthe followed her to the dress shop regardless.

“Certainly, covering body flaws with lace decorations is the latest trend in the empire these days. But since you have a sufficiently slender figure, there’s no need for such deception. Rather……”

She removed the flashy jewels and left only a small pearl necklace that enhanced the neckline.

She removed the excessive lace and large ribbons, and minimized the shoulder padding by adjusting the stitching.

She emphasized and enhanced the thin waistline and left only the necessary amount of shirring on the hem and sleeves to add elegance.

Even to Arthe, who lacked discernment, she could see that the more Madam Cerneiz worked on it, the more her hidden body curves and original beauty came to life.

“Miss. You’re truly much more beautiful!”

“Indeed. This is also more comfortable to move in.”

Along with Mel’s fuss, Arthe looked at herself in the mirror and nodded.

Certainly, if she had looked like a puffed-up male peacock before, now she looked like an elegant swan.

The details that subtly concealed flaws and highlighted strengths were truly the work of someone deserving to be called the empire’s best designer.

Moreover, since the fabric itself was so expensive, removing decorations was much more elegant and luxurious.

After that, Madam Cerneiz’s eyes sparkled as she selected various dresses from the dress shop’s wardrobe filled with dresses.

Repeatedly exclaiming, “Yes, this is it!”, Cerneiz stirred up the entire dress shop, and when Arthe returned to the ducal mansion, she had a carriage full of Cerneiz’s dresses—pieces even renowned nobles found hard to acquire.

***