Chapter 8

“No, that’s too much!” I cried out, fisting the material of Marianne’s dress in an attempt to stop her.

“Spending this much is quite expected for your first shopping excursion, dear,” she said. “Worry not. I’m also quite rich, you know.”

But I’m not rich! I’m not even blood-related to the duke! I wanted to persist and restrain Marianne, but I hesitated, not wanting to embarrass her.

Meanwhile, the tailor shop staff began running around in a flurry. The women surrounded me, fervently determined to boost their commissions.

“I’ll put this away for you, my lady.”

“Wait, my balloon—”

“Don’t worry. I’ll tie it securely over there.”

I nodded vaguely as I watched the employee tie the balloon’s string around the window crank. Soon after, everyone in the store swarmed around me, holding various fabrics up to my body and flipping through different designs. There were floral fabrics, colorful fabrics, fabrics patterned with clouds, and those woven with forest scenes…

“Bring us something more expensive, something that reflects House Lewelton’s prestige,” Marianne said. She placed the tailor’s catalog on her lap and began shouting instructions excitedly. “This one’s out of fashion! Were you really planning to let this lovely young lady wear such a drab design?”

I quickly tired amidst the shop’s bustling environment.

“Your Holiness, I have a sample of the dress in the picture you’re looking at. Do you wish to have the young lady try it on?”

“Yes, absolutely. Look alive, darling.” Marianne gestured for me to follow the employee.

I straightened my slumped form and turned around.

“Let me show you to the elite dressing room,” the employee said politely.

The ladies opened the door and led me into another room. Carpeted in red, the room was partitioned in several places in order to privately try on clothes. Two of the ladies assisted me in getting dressed, though I was embarrassed to show my body to strangers.

“As you can see, young ladies’ dresses have a drawstring that can be tightened around the waistline. That way, even when you grow taller, the same dress is still wearable by attaching new sleeves and adjusting the size.”

The ladies continued to talk while rearranging parts of the gown.

“What you’re wearing now is a party dress. The princess placed an order for something very similar, in fact.”

The dress was fashioned out of a sparkling pink fabric and had been embellished with over ten bows.

A dress fit for a princess...? It felt almost surreal to have such opulence draped over my body. I was startled out of my reverie by the sound of a door opening. It appeared that another person had entered the dressing room.

“You’re telling me there’s a commoner in this boutique?”

“Yes, Lady Rosé.”

“Hey, keep your hands to yourself! I have my own maid to attend to me. Anyway, it’s appalling. Why now, right as I planned to begin courting the duke? A son like Lord Jade is advantageous, but to think his adopted daughter is a commoner! She doesn’t even have magician’s blood like Duke Lewelton. What use is she?”

“Everyone in high society is talking about it.”

“If I become the duchess, educating her will be a daunting task. Can you imagine training a vulgar commoner to behave like a human?”

“Perhaps you could marry her off early and send her to the countryside.”

“Why yes, what a brilliant idea! I hope she’s pretty. Otherwise, I may have to live with her for the rest of my life. Why would a man be interested in a hideous girl?”

“I’ve heard nothing about her being ugly, my lady.”

“But the duke is rather unusual. He may have taken in an odd-looking child to match his own odd tastes. He does have excellent taste in the opposite sex, however. In any event, if she looks like a monster, I’ll simply pass her off to the circus.”

For a split second, my blood ran cold. When I looked around, the employees who had been helping me had also frozen in place, their cheeks pale.

“Don’t listen to such nonsense, my lady,” one of them whispered.

I didn’t cry. Instead, I felt nothing. I had met many people like her, people who treated me with contempt because I was a beggar. It wasn’t that their words and gazes didn’t wound me, but I had simply accepted them as a by-product of being alive. I tightly bit my lower lip.

“You won’t cross paths with her if you leave now,” the employee whispered again.

I nodded and left the dressing room.

Fortunately, Lady Rosé was nowhere to be seen. I had no idea what she looked like, but her voice was one I would never forget.

“Oh my, how adorable!” Marianne squealed when she saw me. She appeared to be genuinely happy, as strange as that might seem.

Thank goodness. I smiled softly to myself. In the aftermath of hearing such harsh words, Marianne’s beaming face brought comfort.

“What if we wore matching dresses?” she asked.

“That sounds like an excellent idea, Your Holiness,” the shop assistant said. “Would you like to try on this sample we have? It’s a gown of similar design.”

“Fantastic! I’ve always longed to have another lady in the family to match dresses with.” Marianne pranced into the dressing room with a wide grin.

“Have a seat,” an employee said to me warmly. “I’ll serve you some refreshments.”

After she’d left, I turned my head toward the window to check on my balloon.

Wait… Huh? My heart skipped a beat. The window was open.

It’s gone! I jumped up from my seat and dashed over to the window.

“My balloon…!”

Since I’d been born in this life, it was the first gift I’d received. Though I liked my princess dress well enough, I liked my balloon even more. I found myself scuttling out the boutique door, wondering if it had deflated and sunk to the ground. I searched around frantically.

Nothing. When I composed myself, I realized I found myself standing on the street in a fancy dress.

“I can’t get this dress dirty,” I said, clutching the skirt in grief over my loss. I sighed deeply. I was so upset that I felt on the verge of tears.

What do I tell Jade?

“You there, young lady,” a hoarse voice rang out from the alley.

Me? I raised my head to look around. An emaciated hand beckoned me from inside the dark alley.

“You appear to be the daughter of a distinguished family. Come here. Wouldn’t you like your fortune told? Your hair is such a beautiful color.”

The wrinkled hand tightly gripped my left wrist. Chills suddenly raced up my spine.

“You must understand your fate from a young age, the better to chart your course for the future. I’m a quite famous fortune-teller. Come. You only need five silver coins.” The mysterious figure stepped closer. It was a woman, her deep hood shrouding her face in shadow.

I wrenched my hand from hers. “I-I’m all right, thank you,” I said, and fled.

Her hand snatched at me like a sharp rake, but I had retreated already. I ran mindlessly for a few blocks.

Is she gone? I slowly turned around, my heart pounding, when my eye caught on the window of a toy store. I stared at it, captivated. It was the toy store of my dreams, but nothing inside looked particularly appealing.

I like my balloon the best. I sulked and walked away, only to come to a halt—I was lost.

Which way was the tailor’s shop? A white roof, a white roof… I looked around for a white-roofed building as smooth as marble, but every structure looked the same.

This dress isn’t even mine. I looked down at the dress, remembering that I’d put it on and then run away without saying a word. My heart dropped abruptly.

Wh-what should I do? As we passed each other, someone collided with me, knocking me back three steps.

“Watch where you’re going!” the man barked meanly.

Ouch… I wanted to cry. I needed to find my way back to the boutique.

But how? I stood alone on the street, feeling adrift. Then something black brushed against my cheek and I gasped.

What was that? A bird? A carriage stopped in front of me, as if from a dream. It was a gilded, pitch-black carriage. Just as I recalled seeing it somewhere before, the carriage door swung open.

Kallen? The person who had stepped out was the duke. I rubbed my eyes, unsure if I was hallucinating. Is that really him? It must be. There’s no room in this world for two of the same ridiculously handsome men.

“So it was you,” Kallen murmured, looking down at me. “I thought I saw a young angel standing alone on the street.”

“Your Grace…” I swallowed down my tears. I knew he was joking but, rather than laughing, I wanted to cry. After a brief pause, his gloved hands lifted me up.

“Running away from home already, are you?”

I was surprised he’d recognized me, especially since when we’d last met, I’d still been a beggar girl who resembled a bedraggled pigeon. I merely blinked, not knowing how to respond.

“I heard you were visiting the tailor,” Kallen remarked.

His words brought me to my senses. “Yes, I… I left while Lady Marianne was in the dressing room to find my balloon.”

“Your balloon?”

“Jade gave it to me this morning. I promised to take it with me everywhere, but I lost it…”

“Don’t be so silly. We can simply buy you a new one.”

My heart continued to sink. But you can’t buy a new promise… Still, I was relieved to have crossed paths with Kallen.

Cradled in his arms, I soon found myself back at the tailors. It was my first time being held by an adult man. When the clerks noticed us standing outside the door, their mouths hung open in surprise. They rushed over and ushered us inside.

“There you are, my lady! I was shocked to discover you had disappeared. I even considered calling the police.”

“She said she went outside to look for her balloon,” the duke explained.

“I’m most sorry, my lady. A new guest arrived and, without informing us, instructed her maid to open all the windows to let in some fresh air.”

I had a feeling I knew who the guest was because, at that exact moment, a beautiful blonde lady bee-lined straight for Kallen.

Wait, could it be? My instincts told me that the woman was indeed Lady Rosé.