“If you feel bad about just receiving…… Caleb, would you escort me at the banquet?”

Caleb pondered for a moment. But he needed to chase away the flies!

He turned his head to look at Rudbeckia.

She was already nodding repeatedly toward Caleb. It meant for him to accept quickly.

“……I’ll do that. Thank you.”

“Really? Haah. Thank you so much. Without a partner, I would have had to enter with the prince. Since it’s a victory banquet, with the victorious general, the Emperor won’t say anything at this level. Thank you so much.”

Elfleda forgot she had a fan in her hand and cupped her cheeks with both hands, smiling brightly and repeatedly saying thank you.

“Ah right, Elda. Wasn’t it supposed to be next spring? It’s only autumn now, why are they asking you to prepare to enter the palace already?”

“They want to use me as a hostage to pressure our family. Since we oppose every time they start a war, how could they look upon us favorably?”

“If they hate the family that much, wouldn’t breaking off the engagement be better?”

“Rude, if that happens, wouldn’t I become free to form an alliance with another family?”

Rudbeckia felt a bit sorry for Elfleda who answered so matter-of-factly.

“Alright, conversation over! Let’s stop such gloomy talk! Let’s go quickly!!”

“R-right now?”

“Well, the banquet’s right around the corner, what, should we have a spoonful of soup first? Change your clothes and come right now!”

At her commanding tone, Rudbeckia and Caleb went to their quarters to change into outdoor clothes.

“If I escort Dame Elda, what about you?”

“I can ask Zeno.”

“You…… don’t care about my feelings at all?”

His baritone voice dropped even lower.

Rudbeckia stopped mid-way through opening the door and looked at Caleb’s face.

He was gripping the doorknob as if he might crush it.

“Uh…… um…… but Dame Elfleda is a good person, and you’re close, right?”

“Still doesn’t change the fact that she’s Pergosian.”

“Think of it as a honey trap, could you please help just this once for this banquet? Hm? You learned about it too, Caleb.”

“You’ll have to give me a very generous reward after the banquet.”

“Okay. Okay.”

When she smiled with a wink as if making a promise, Caleb took a deep breath, recalling what his mother, Yuli Sanders, had taught him.

“Some people look down on honey traps, but it’s a strategy that’s always included in numerous ancient military texts. Though people say it’s a strategy used when defeat is expected, I don’t think so. I believe honey traps are the best victory strategy that can achieve victory with minimal bloodshed.”

* * *

The elegant parasol matching the dress seemed more like a sign declaring ‘A high noble house’s lady is passing, please make way’ than a sunshade.

The three arrived at Elfleda’s regular dress shop without stopping once.

「Lily of the Valley」

Not only Madam Goretti of the Lily Dress Shop but all her employees were eyeing the unfamiliar guests who had arrived with Elfleda, their eyes sparkling with curiosity and excitement. How should they refine these raw gems?

The first gem was Caleb Sanders.

Though Caleb declined, saying it was fine, Elfleda insisted that matching outfits between partners was trendy.

“Oh my, oh my, look at this broad chest. Oh dear, ready-made clothes wouldn’t fit at all. Is he your boyfriend, Dame Elfleda?”

“Madam, how could you say such a rude thing? He’s just a fellow knight.”

“Ohoho, you have such a handsome colleague. With this height…… you have such long legs. My, how nicely you’ve built your muscles. A perfect inverted triangle.”

Though the idea of him being called her boyfriend sounded nice, Elfleda quickly dismissed it with a cool demeanor, worried that Caleb might feel burdened and run away in the middle of the fitting.

Madam Goretti, who understood Elfleda’s true meaning even when her regular customer spoke bluntly, put aside the fuss for a moment and immediately changed her approach, choosing only necessary words so the stiffly standing man wouldn’t feel uncomfortable.

“Then I’ll make it like this.”

Caleb’s clothes were a pure white suit decorated with navy buttons matching his eyes.

The hem was left unfolded to highlight his long legs, a single pleat was added to the thigh and front pelvis, and the jacket was designed with a sleek one-button style.

Madam Goretti insisted because his broad and firm upper body couldn’t be hidden.

“Now then, it’s the beautiful knight’s turn. What kind of dress would look pretty?”

“Please show me halter neck styles.”

“What?”

Not even ‘covering the neck’ but ‘halter neck’ — Elfleda’s eyes widened.

“I may lack an eye for choosing dresses, but I’m not ignorant about them.”

“But you seem not to know what suits you? Halter neck…… when you have perfect skin and figure. Hmm, rather than a halter neck……”

Elfleda picked up one of the completed dresses on display that would suit her style while speaking. It was a dress that started from the chest with no sleeves or straps.

“This style would suit you. Try it on.”

“I hate it.”

“……We’re not buying this, just looking at the style. Just try it on for a moment.”

“I hate it.”

“Hey! Just put it on once! Some people want to wear things like this but can’t because of their figure!”

“You’ll regret it.”

“What regret? Go in and put it on! Come on! I’m still your senior! Listen to your big sister!!”

Rudbeckia changed clothes behind the curtain with an indifferent expression.

“Uh, um… that……”

As the flustered employee’s voice flowed from behind the changing curtain, Rudbeckia pulled the curtain open herself and came out.

She was beautiful. Her beauty, starting from her white shoes, made mouths drop open more and more as gazes traveled upward. Dressed in a perfectly fitting dress that clung to her perfect figure, she deserved to be called the embodiment of beauty.

However, those gazes stopped at her chest.

“Oh my……”

Elfleda covered her mouth in surprise. Then, unable to find words, she just rolled her eyes around.

There was a scar on her chest. A wound large enough to draw attention.

A wound she had created herself while tightly embracing her mother for the last time.

A female knight’s wounds were treated more as blemishes than badges of honor, so most rushed to hide them.

Elfleda felt dizzy at the thought that she had committed the atrocity of exposing her colleague’s scar to the public. She was deeply loyal to her comrades and strict with herself about maintaining propriety, so she began to fidget nervously while glancing at Caleb.

“Ah, that… um, s-sorry……”

“Didn’t I say I would only wear a halter neck?”

“That… if you had said beforehand……”

“Even if I had told you beforehand that I had a scar on my chest, you would have thought I was lying, thinking I just hated exposure.”

She hit the mark. Saying one had a chest scar was often used as that kind of excuse.

“And I didn’t want you to know about the scar itself, Dame Elfleda.”

“……Why?”

Rudbeckia came out wearing the dress Madam Goretti had selected and slowly opened her mouth.

A dress with a silhouette that clung tightly to her body without a single pleat, completely opposite to the fashionable voluminous dresses with plenty of pleats these days. What did fashion matter? Whatever she wore would likely become the trend.

With the dress on Rudbeckia’s sculpturally perfect silhouette, she truly looked like a goddess.

“Because it would make you uncomfortable. I didn’t want to make the person who was showing me kindness feel uncomfortable.”

A fresh smile with a response full of consideration.

Despite her outstanding appearance and innate memory, she never acted arrogant, and despite leading battles to victory with tactics she had devised, she knew how to be humble. She’s the kind of person even other women couldn’t help but adore.

“It suits you well. Thank you, Elfleda.”

Caleb, who had been staring blankly at Rudbeckia, conveyed his gratitude to Elfleda at her eye signal. Knowing what her scar meant, Caleb had never once been ashamed of it like Rudbeckia was.

Therefore, he had never thought of this as an atrocity like Elfleda did. Elfleda, who had been fidgeting alone, finally seemed to relax as she let out a small sigh of relief.

“Madam, show us accessories that match the dress too!”

Elfleda shouted with gleaming eyes.