Chapter 10
“Oh my, welcome.”
As Aiden and I stepped into the dress shop side by side, a woman dressed in a feather-decorated dress introduced herself as Madam Boura and smiled overly brightly.
“There is no one in the Empire as sensitive to trends as I am. Hehe. Now, if there’s any design you like, feel free to tell me.”
Madam Boura brought out a catalog thicker than my arm and spread it across the table.
“Hmm. I’m not very good at choosing dresses. I’ll just leave it to you, Madam.”
I wasn’t really interested in dress designs, so I tried to brush it off casually…
“Oh my, leave it to Madam Boura!”
That seemed to ignite Madam Boura’s enthusiasm.
“I’ll find a dress that suits you perfectly, young lady. I’ll bring some samples, so please wait a moment.”
A fighting spirit began to burn in Madam Boura’s warm eyes.
“By the way, what are you here for?”
Aiden, who was flipping through the catalog while waiting for Madam Boura, asked in confusion.
“Because of the party. I need to get a dress made.”
I already knew from the original story that no matter what Aiden did, Agnes’s feelings wouldn’t change. But honestly, watching Aiden behave somewhere between indifferent and rude was making me uneasy.
Agnes is the only reason she’s tolerating this.
If it were me, I would’ve already cursed him out and left.
My dress was just bait to bring Aiden here. The real purpose of coming today was Aiden’s formal outfit.
So that even if he acted like a terrible regret-filled male lead at the party, his good looks would soften Agnes’s anger quickly.
He would never know.
That I even used my emergency savings that I had carefully saved for ten years just for him.
Honestly, where else would you find a friend like me?
“Hmm, just… I thought maybe I was falling behind in fashion and people were avoiding me.”
Feeling a bit guilty about lying again, I mixed in a bit of truth this time.
“I just… suddenly thought that. If I end up alone later, it might be really lonely. So I thought I should try getting closer to other young ladies. So…”
“Wait.”
Aiden suddenly cut me off.
“…Huh?”
“Alone?”
“Yeah, alone. Why?”
I asked awkwardly, and Aiden’s eyes darkened.
“That’s a bit upsetting. Why am I not included in your future?”
Well…
“You’ll get married someday, right? Then we won’t be able to meet like this anymore.”
“Why would you think that?”
“It’s obvious, why are you asking? Do you think the future Countess of Crofton would be happy seeing her husband hanging around laughing with other women?”
“Hmm. We’ll see.”
If he ends up with a happy ending with Agnes, he won’t care about me anyway.
Even though I knew it was probably just a polite lie, I still felt a little better.
“Thanks for saying it, at least.”
I lightly tapped Aiden’s shoulder.
“You’ve waited a long time, right?”
At that moment, Madam Boura returned with dresses stacked higher than her head in both arms.
“What is all this, Madam?”
I asked in surprise as she dumped the dresses onto the table.
“These are the dress samples for you to try on. Now, shall we begin?”
With Madam Boura’s cheerful laughter, what felt like an endless fashion show began.
“This emphasizes the shoulders and gives a more elegant feel. The soft sky-blue tone matches your clear skin. What do you think?”
Aiden, who had been boredly flipping through the catalog, glanced at me.
“You…”
He stopped speaking and just stared at me quietly.
“W-what? Why are you staring like that? Is it that bad? I think it’s actually okay…”
Feeling embarrassed, I asked.
Aiden returned his gaze to the catalog and said flatly,
“Yeah. It’s not good.”
“I-I see?”
Even after that, I changed dresses several times, but Aiden’s answer was always the same.
“Not good.”
Madam Boura looked flustered by his cold reactions and gave an awkward smile.
“M-maybe I should just come back another time…”
Just as I tried to naturally move on to Aiden’s formal outfit, Madam Boura seemed to get fired up by his reactions.
“Oh…! I’ve got it!”
With determined eyes, she grabbed a deep green dress and pulled me back into the fitting room.
“Now, how about this?”
She asked Aiden confidently.
“This highlights the bust and gives a seductive atmosphere. It also makes your red hair stand out beautifully. It suits you perfectly.”
“Hmm.”
But contrary to her expectations, Aiden still wasn’t impressed. In fact, he frowned even more deeply.
“I think this one suits her even less.”
Does it really not suit me that much?
“Is it really that bad?”
I asked weakly, and Madam Boura shook her head vigorously.
“No! Not at all! You are the most perfect model for this dress I’ve ever seen.”
After thinking deeply, Madam Boura suddenly clapped her hands.
“Ohhh, I think I understand now. Hehe. How adorable.”
She left and soon returned with a meaningful smile.
“Madam, do you really think this suits me?”
What she brought was a chiffon dress with ruffled sleeves covering everything from neck to wrists, almost like a priest’s robe.
Isn’t this a bit too heavy for early summer?
“Hmm, I’m not sure, but it seems your partner will like it very much, right?”
“Partner?!”
I shouted in shock.
“It’s not like that!”
While I was denying it frantically, Aiden only smiled as if he was enjoying the situation.
“Not bad. As expected of Madam Boura. This might be the best one.”
“Huh? Hey, you should say we’re not a couple!”
“Explain? Explain what?”
Aiden asked casually.
Just as I was about to correct Madam Boura—
Suddenly, commotion broke out at the entrance of the shop.
“No, I only wore it once!”
“I’m sorry, but we cannot refund dresses after one year from purchase.”
“That makes no sense!”
A woman was shouting angrily, waving a dress in the air.
Madam Boura sighed awkwardly and excused herself.
“Please take your time looking at the remaining dresses…”
While she went to handle the situation, I quickly slipped back into the fitting room to take off the dress.
“I still think that one suits you best.”
“Hey, I actually have taste too.”
As I argued back with Aiden, I tried to change again—but it was harder than expected.
So this is why they help you put it on…
Undoing it alone is really difficult.
How many hooks are there on this thing?
While struggling to take it off, something went wrong.
My hair got tangled in the hooks at my back.
Oh no.
I’m doomed.
No matter how much I tried to pull it free, it only got worse.
Every movement made it feel like my scalp was being ripped apart.
“Ahh…!”
At this rate, I might go bald.
Not wanting to lose my hair just because I came to buy a dress, I finally peeked out through the curtain.
Unfortunately, Madam Boura and the staff were busy dealing with the angry customer.
That left only one person.
“Aiden…”
I called quietly.
“What is it?”
He looked up.
“Come here for a second.”
“What happened?”
“My hair is stuck in the hooks.”
“You’re telling me to go inside the fitting room?”
When I nodded, Aiden sighed and covered his face with one hand.
“I’m going insane.”
