CH 73

“Y-yes, understood.”

Dennis nods in confusion. It seems like the area under her eyes is slightly red, but I decided not to dwell on it too much.

I didn’t want to cause too much confusion.

“Well then, I’ll go back to my room for now.”

“Yes.”

Dennis nods and walks in front of me. She still seems a bit awkward, but she heads towards the room while keeping an eye on her surroundings as usual. Watching her back, I decided to continue writing the letter.

I had planned to send it out earlier, but I was too tired yesterday and only managed to write the part for Dorothea.

Anyway, I was able to accomplish the main goal of “settling things with Paolo.” I smiled inwardly, feeling relieved and decided to take it easy for a while.

◇

However, it wasn’t going to be that easy.

“Lorraine, can I talk to you for a moment?

I heard that the Duchess of Borj is holding a night party to kick off the social season in five days. I thought I’d buy something small since we’re going anyway. Come with me since I’m going out now.”

Paula suddenly visited my room just before noon and said that.

“…A night party, you say?”

I stopped my hand, which was scribbling on paper with a pen, and looked at Paula with a puzzled expression.

“W-Well, that’s sudden.”

“I told Jeremiah to tell you about it. Did he not?”

I had absolutely no idea.

However, it’s unlikely that Jeremiah would forget to mention something like this. There must be a reason.

I immediately realized what it was. After all, my head was so full of Lucia yesterday that I felt like screaming that I would explode if anything else was added.

Even this morning, I had to muster all my courage to finally talk to Paolo. It’s not hard to imagine how he judged my state of mind.

“Yes. I had a few things going on yesterday, so I’m sure he was just being considerate.”

“Well, whatever. Anyway, both of you come with me. You’re temporarily chaperoning her, and since I’m here to accompany you, there’s no problem,” she said with a very pleasant expression.

In my mind, memories of being mentally beaten up in a carriage vividly resurface. Even though I understand that it’s true, there’s a world of difference between criticizing myself and being told by others. It’s a memory that I felt too much to the point where it was ingrained in me.

However, I couldn’t refuse.

Above all, it was a great opportunity to distract Lucia’s attention.

“Y-Yes. We’ll prepare right away.”

“Fufufu, I’ll change that hat that looks like a lump of dust into a proper lady’s hat. And that girl with that too embarrassing outfit, yes, tomorrow I’ll call the people from the shop that I favor to make her clothes. Is that okay?”

“Y-Yes.”

If someone with such a terrifyingly beautiful smile approached me like this, I had no choice but to nod like a puppet once again.

I secretly thought that this must be how it feels to be stared at by a goddess.

“I’ll tell her later.”

“Okay~.”

Paula gave me a satisfied smile as if I was completely stared down by a snake, or rather a goddess, and left in a swashbuckling manner.

An unbearable silence descended in the room.

However, Dora, the maid who heard it, suddenly shouted, “Oh, changing clothes! We need to prepare clothes for going out.”

Yes, that’s right. Changing clothes again… It’s such a hassle, I thought while taking a deep breath. It felt like a storm had come. My mood was like a scattered tree.

I regained my composure and returned to the letter.

I really wanted to write to my family too, but I didn’t have time, so I decided to write only to Dorothea.

When I finished writing, I headed to Lucia’s room. As usual, I attracted her attention by saying that we were going to see a play and went to see the clothes and accessories for it. Then we made a promise and had some light refreshments.

After changing clothes, we followed Paula’s invitation and went to the city of the royal capital with Lucia and Dennis.

◆

When I went outside, the scenery of the capital city was not much different from yesterday when I went out with Jeremiah.

Unlike yesterday, the sun was out and it was a little warmer.

In the midst of that, we got on a large and luxurious carriage and arrived at a street lined with shops in no time. I was impressed by how comfortable the ride was.

After Dennis dropped us off, Lucia and I followed Paula to the shop. There weren’t many people on the street, but occasionally there were gentlemen and ladies.

Because it was cold, I wrapped a large woolen stole around myself as I entered the shop.

Inside the shop was much warmer than outside, and there were many hats lined up.

“Wow, amazing…so beautiful,” Lucia murmured in a manner of speaking.

Even a maiden in love couldn’t help but be fascinated by this sight. Her eyes were sparkling. For now, I felt relieved that she seemed to be okay for a while and looked at the hats too.

From extravagant ones decorated with many artificial flowers to those adorned with colorful bird feathers, the elaborate hats were enjoyable just to look at.

I used to visit places like Dorothea’s often, but I never bought anything. Of course, it was because I didn’t want to stand out.

Then Paula looked towards the back of the shop and said, “I have a long-standing relationship with the owner of this shop. She’s very skilled…she’ll definitely make something that suits you.”

“Eh, don’t we choose from what’s here?” Lucia said in surprise, and Paula looked disappointed and said incredulously.