Chapter 105: Chapter 105
Unlike Elise who was so worried, Rubica finished her meal in a happy mood. Her mood had been down to hell just the day before yesterday, but today she was happy. She had to face the angry relatives soon, but she wasn’t afraid at all. She felt like she could smile no matter what they would say to her.
She went to her dressing room after having breakfast. When she met Khanna yesterday, she felt like the dresses piled up in there were enough to wear for more than a year. But today, there were too few dresses. No, there were many dresses. It was just that there was nothing to wear.
“I cannot wear anything too splendid or with too many jewels.”
If it had been some other time, she wouldn’t have missed an opportunity to be criticized. But now, it was different. Edgar had stabbed his relatives’ back as Rubica wanted, and now she had to play defensive. She couldn’t wear the wrong dress and have people tell Edgar he should manage his wife first.
“But I must look elegant and in fashion to some extent as I cannot be called a dowdy girl from the countryside. And, if I decide on something too plain, they will say I don’t try to represent the family’s honor.”
It was difficult. Deciding on a dress was way too difficult. Rubica turned serious, but it wasn’t like she could decide to not go down just because she didn’t have a good dress. She put the dresses that had belonged to Edgar’s grandmother first. Wearing one of them for a good occasion could make people recall the good old days, but today it was going to have her compared to Edgar’s grandmother.
She didn’t have much of a choice. After leaving out the ones with too much embroidery and jewels, there were less than a dozen left. She decided on a pale jade-colored dress among them.
“But this one is made of expensive silk, so I think they will criticize me for that…”
“Still, it’s the best we have. We cannot perfectly avoid being criticized.”
“Okay, I’ll wear this.”
She couldn’t choose a dress that matched her well for today. Instead, she had to decide on one that would let her be criticized the least, so it wasn’t fun at all.
Then, she spotted Elise waiting for the next order quietly behind the hard-working maids.
“Elise! You must choose a dress as well.”
“What?”
Elise hadn’t seen that coming, so she was quite surprised.
“Me?”
“Aren’t you coming with me when I go to the reception room?”
“Oh…”
“Or were you planning to make me go alone?”
“No, of course not.”
Elise quickly waved her hand. A noble with a lady-in-waiting and a noble lady without any lady-in-waiting were very different. The duchess needed to look like someone with authority to those relatives who came to attack her.
“Then let us pick a dress for you.”
“But the dress I am wearing is enough.”
However, Elise thought there was no need for her to get ready as well. There couldn’t be a single reason for a lady-in-waiting to look more splendid than her mistress.
However, that turned out to be her own thoughts and her thoughts only. All the maids who had been helping Rubica yelled in shock at once.
“No!”
The dress Elise was wearing was too plain. She could think it was fine, but it lacked a certain dignity.
“What?”
She was surprised to see everyone say it wasn’t fine. Explaining it in the wrong way could hurt the sensitive girl. The maids saw that and regretted yelling.
“I cannot wear anything splendid, so you should wear a pretty dress to break their spirits.”
Rubica didn’t want to miss the chance to decorate Elise again and replied quickly.
“But how can I look even more splendid than you?”
“No, no. I think that’s exactly what you should do this time.”
Her head started to spin fast.
“You will wear the most splendid of Edgar’s grandmother’s dresses. Then, they will not be able to criticize me for the dress I am wearing.”
“Oh.”
Elise looked really impressed. And so were the maids. They would not be able to call Rubica extravagant if there was someone to be compared with her. Saying the silk of her jade-colored dress was too expensive would be also criticizing the splendid embroidery in Elise’s dress. Moreover, that dress had belonged to Edgar’s grandmother. Right now, Rubica was a stranger to them, but Edgar’s grandmother was not.
“I haven’t thought of that.”
“Oh…”
Everybody was so impressed. Actually, Rubica just didn’t want to miss the opportunity to make Elise wear a pretty dress and had desperately thought of something.
‘Now that’s clever…’
Rubica kept getting adjectives she didn’t want. It was too much, but she decided to follow her desire to make Elise pretty. Judging from the girl’s character, it looked like it would be impossible to get another chance.
“Okay. Then Ms. Solana, are you ready to be as splendid as possible?”
“Yes.”
Elise determinedly nodded at the maid’s question. Thanks to that, Rubica could now have all the fun she wanted.
“We can do my hair simply. Let’s start with Elise.”
The maids surrounded the surprised girl. They had tasted the joy of transforming an ordinary girl into a beautiful flower. It felt so good to see someone become splendid with your own hands. Creating something, especially something beautiful, is one of human’s basic desires. That is why we call people who make beautiful stuff artists.
“We can do this, madam!”
Soon, Elise’s torture began. The maids were really determined. They put on ten dresses on her, and she had to try three different dresses until they found the one that looked best on her. Moreover, her corset was pulled tighter than usual. The maid who did her hair styled her hair twice just because she didn’t like it. Rubica, instead, sat down on the sofa to watch everything comfortably.
Meanwhile, Linda simply rolled up Rubica’s hair and put a few pins with Claymore’s symbol. They were warm pale-green peridot pins that matched her jade-colored dress. Linda looked at Rubica’s dress after finishing working on her hair.
“Your Grace, you should order more dresses. There are many calm dresses that don’t look expensive but actually are even harder to make than splendid ones.”
Rubica realized she was talking about the details such as embroidering with white thread on white fabric that only those who were interested would notice. Although the dress she was wearing had been made with the best silk, it looked way too calm to represent the duchess’ dignity.
“But Khanna’s boutique still lacks people.”
Khanna had worked really hard to make five dresses in time, and she had help from the Claymore’s seamstresses with the dresses for walks.
“Then you must tell her to hire more people quickly. And, why did you make her leave empty-handed yesterday? I think you should get about twenty more dresses. The dresses made by our seamstresses and dresses that used to belong to His Grace’s grandmother are not bad, but dresses made by Madam Khanna suits you best.”
Linda didn’t give up and kept trying to convince Rubica, and it made her smile.
“But she needs money to hire people. She might be able to hire one or two, but she will hire more tailors after getting orders from the others as well and being financially stable.”
“She has gotten work from you, so she will be famous in no time.”
Rubica smiled awkwardly at that. Of course, Duchess Claymore’s designer wasn’t a bad title at all. However, the society was merciless and the ladies were cold. It wasn’t like an unknown designer could become immediately famous after making a couple of dresses for the duchess. Plus, Rubica had never been officially introduced to society. Even the nobles in the neighborhood didn’t know whether she had a good discerning eye, much less other nobles in high ranks. Even though Khanna had gotten a few more customers, it was a little too early for the ladies who led trend and fashion to look for her.
“Your Grace, it’s done.”
Rubica was wondering how she should explain that to Linda when she heard Jennie say that. She quickly looked just to find that Elise was even more beautiful than before. Of course, the maids had done their best to transform her last time, but they didn’t have Khanna at that time.
Although Rubica had failed on ordering splendid dresses that matched Elise, it let them find out that she was wearing undergarments that didn’t match her. Changing to the right undergarments had brought a remarkable change.
Elise had always been slouching. She had tried standing while straightening her back and shoulders, but she kept going back to slouching.
But now, her chest didn’t feel tight anymore even when she stood straight. It had brought many changes. In addition to that, the purplish-blue dress, that was in contrast to her bright blond hair and huge diamonds attached to it, highlighted her small and pretty face even more.
“Wow.”
Rubica couldn’t help applauding. Elise was taller than most boys her age. She seemed to be a little ashamed of it, but it was a strong point for a lady-in-waiting. Rubica wanted her to look down on the relatives with a cold and arrogant expression.