episode_0086

The persistent rain clouds that had lingered recently dissipated, and today, after a long time, the bright sun was fiercely revealing its face.

The sun, encountered after a long time, seemed to be announcing the end of the season with the vigorous spring rain it had just finished pouring down.

Under such intense sunlight, the gardeners tidying up the garden full of greenery were dressed very lightly and thinly.

But that wasn’t all.

Inside the black fence surrounding the mansion, the greenery, the attire of the servants, and the atmosphere of the mansion itself. It all now distinctly resembled summer.

The long and eventful spring, marked by various incidents, was relentlessly running towards its end.

The elegant and beautiful townhouse of the Beauregard family was also preparing to welcome summer in accordance with the season… No, preparations for the upcoming foundation day celebrations were well underway even before summer.

Lord Albreis announced that on the night of the foundation day, he would host a small party in the mansion’s annex for his beloved younger sister, gathering the servants to convey this message.

Perhaps due to the recent events that unfolded. Even if the incident at the mine was just that, Eleanor found it difficult to go out due to the kidnapping incident that had caused quite a stir in the capital.

Thanks to this, this year’s foundation day required more preparation than usual.

The mansion’s servants, including maids, butlers, gardeners, cooks, and even stablekeepers. These days, the mansion’s servants were busier than ever.

The word “small” that came from the Lord’s mouth was entirely different from their own interpretation of “small.”

Despite the sudden increase in tasks, no signs of dissatisfaction or negative emotions could be found on their faces.

To those people, Eleanor was their precious young lady.

Eleanor still retained a modern mindset in her head, pretending not to notice the servants working for her. If she happened to come across them, she would awkwardly smile back when they greeted her first. If she looked tired, she would ask the maid accompanying her to bring a refreshing drink, behaving like such a lady.

Rumored to be a completely different kind of noblewoman compared to the other nobles known for their arrogance, Eleanor was stunningly beautiful and elegant.

Naturally, Eleanor had deeply ingrained herself in the hearts of the servants.

Anyway, let’s return to the story.

On the second floor of the east wing, next to Eleanor’s bedroom, her dressing room was filled with people after a long time.

However, these busy women moving around in the room were not the usual mansion servants. They were the people from Olivie’s wardrobe room.

In the center of the dressing room, there was a small platform. Eleanor stood frozen in place on it. The white dress draped over her stiff body beautifully illuminated her figure.

“Wow! It suits you incredibly well!”

“Indeed, your fair skin complements white fabrics so nicely.”

“Look at that figure, how can someone be so beautiful?”

As high-toned compliments echoed around her, Eleanor’s face began to blush slightly.

No matter how many times she heard it, Eleanor never got used to such praise. Fortunately, unlike before, she could now move her body somewhat amidst the compliments.

Eleanor gazed at her reflection in the large full-length mirror brought before her by the wardrobe staff, examining her body from different angles. Today’s dress, like the previous one, featured a design that elegantly exposed her shoulders.

Upon the white lining, akin to sugar powder sprinkled on top, the snowy flesh that surged prominently at the collarbone immediately captured their gaze. Below, the slightly protruding chest modestly showcased the woman’s volume through a small valley formed in between.

Honestly speaking, even in Eleonore’s eyes, her current appearance seemed remarkably beautiful. The fair skin and pure white dress complemented each other exceptionally well, not unlike the flattery of women.

However… no matter how much… sigh.

Even though it was just a small sigh behind the mirror, Eleonore gazed disapprovingly at the white flesh atop the swaying dress with discontented eyes and uttered softly.

“Um… Isn’t this a bit too revealing?”

The descending neckline of the dress hinted at eventually exposing that precious area in pink. While others might not see it to that extent, to Eleonore dressed as she was, it appeared so.

Eleonore knew all too well what response such words would elicit. Yet, she brought it up anyway because otherwise, she felt she wouldn’t be able to bear the embarrassment.

“Oh, what are you saying, Miss? Your purity shines through so much that even if you were to reveal more, you’d only exude elegance, not vulgarity.”

Responding with a grin to Eleonore’s words, the woman beside her, with brown hair and a ruler in hand, awkwardly smiled while looking at Eleonore’s face filled with shyness.

Eventually, the woman, concealing her excitement beneath a composed smile, cautiously asked the still bashful Eleonore.

“Miss, what do you think?”

This time, it was this woman, not Olivier, who was in charge of this dress. She had mentioned that if Olivier didn’t like it, she would make a separate one herself.

Of course, the current dress wasn’t bad either. No, honestly, aside from the increased exposure, it was quite pleasing. With this, she could easily captivate the agile Dimitri.

The somewhat subdued white fabric’s color wasn’t too flashy, and the feeling of the lining against her skin, wrapped inside once more, felt rather nice.

“I like it. You’ve done a good job.”

Upon hearing those words, the woman with brown hair broke into a bright smile.

“Well then, I’ll finish it up as is.”

“Just a moment, please.”

As the brown-haired woman tried to quickly give instructions to the nearby women, Eleonore called out to her.

“Um, excuse me… Could you add some accents? It feels a bit plain with all this white.”

It seemed she wasn’t quite familiar with women’s clothing, especially dresses. Responding hesitantly, the brown-haired woman approached Eleonore with a grin.

“That’s a good idea, Miss. Where would you like the accents? Do you have a preferred color? Hmm… Since it’s a clean white, adding accents in primary colors rather than pastels might look lovely.”

Startled but holding the color in her heart, Eleonore spat out the color she had in mind.

“Uh, I don’t know about anything else, but could you go with navy blue?”

“Navy blue… You mean navy blue, right? Understood, Miss. I’ll add the color to the ribbon and waistband areas without making it too overwhelming.”

With sparkling eyes, the brown-haired woman suggested a thoughtful idea, her face beaming with delight.

“Miss… If it’s navy blue.”

Eventually, a voice from behind, belonging to Oujeni, was heard. Without a word in response, Eleonore simply nodded her head in agreement to the calmly settled voice.

Her first knight was a woman who had never attended such an event before.

However, the fleeting discomfort at her nose did not last long. Soon, the women who had just been making small talk approached Eleonore, surrounding her and placing their hands on her body.

Although it was meant to be the end, it was not over yet. The position of the needle used for fitting had to be checked again. Before sewing, she had to make sure there were no uncomfortable areas or unintended exposures.

And behind the women surrounding Eleonore, Olivier cautiously observed their actions.

“Lady Eleonore, are you not planning to attend the Imperial Ball of Geongukje?” Olivier’s voice was filled with disappointment as he asked.

For over 30 years since her girlhood, she had been deeply involved in this matter. It had been about ten years since she had put her name on the dressing room, and countless young ladies had passed through her hands.

In all those years, the woman before her was undoubtedly the most beautiful.

No matter how beautiful a woman might be, there was always something lacking when she put on a dress.

A dress was not just a simple piece of clothing. Merely being slender did not do justice to the garment. However, excessive volume would only make it look bloated.

For a dress to fit well, the figure had to be slender, and the woman’s curves had to be just right.

And the woman before her possessed all of these qualities.

Her face was beautiful, and her figure was incredibly stunning.

She was slender yet had the curves of a woman. Thanks to this, there was no need to artificially lift her chest.

The gentle curve below her waist was also like that. The softly curved line was enough to evoke fantasies in men and jealousy in women.

She was truly the perfect mannequin.

Despite being busy with Geongukje, and even though it wasn’t a dress she was responsible for, there was a reason why she visited personally.

The platinum-haired lady responded to Olivier’s question with a somewhat troubled expression.

“I’m terribly sorry. I’m fine, but my family… Especially Orabi is causing quite a stir.”

Eleonore lowered her voice slightly.

“Still, I plan to host a small party at the mansion’s annex.”

“Oh, is that so? Are you thinking of inviting anyone?”

“Dmitri… Grand Duke Dmitri and Sir Yulrian Vallatier, who have helped us in various ways this time. You must be familiar with them, right? How about Domi?”

Olivier struggled to maintain composure at the names Eleonore mentioned.

North’s Grand Duke Dmitri Verbrüts, known as the Empire’s sword and the guardian of the North.

On top of already being recognized for his abilities, the recent kidnapping incident had significantly raised the status of the Emperor’s illegitimate son, Yulrian Vallatier.

Moreover, with the investigation by Edmund Ga, the Crown Princess had emerged as a strong candidate for the imperial succession?

Just hearing those names made Olivier’s heart race.

Living off the nobles’ money, she had naturally become accustomed to the nobles’ backstories and the political stories circulating in their circles. The tales told by the noble ladies who visited the dressing room were always such stories.

Thanks to this, unintentionally, she had developed a more political insight than most nobles.

However, she was unaware of the ambiguous relationship between Yulrian, Dmitri, and Eleonore.

That Eleonore, or rather, from Beorn, inviting the Crown Princess to the Geongukje night meant that the Crown Princess would attend a party in Beorn, not the Imperial Ball hosted by the Empress.

West now stands by the side of the princess. Does that mean the North too? Even Yulrian Valatie as a confidant of the princess?

If this happens, it was no different from the end of the throne competition.

Mechanically, behind her smile, Olivia began to naturally recall the names of the noble families she would have to cut off one by one in her mind.