episode_0134

“What.”

A dress?

I?

As I pulled away as if it was absurd, Arnold tilted his head and narrowed his eyebrows.

“’What’? Are you really thinking of going in that outfit?”

“… Isn’t that obvious?”

Why should I wear a dress?

… Well, in terms of form, he is the main character of the banquet

What’s important is that I’m going, not what I wear.

There is no need for me to be polite… .

I turned my head slightly and stuck out my lips, and Arnold opened his mouth, hitting my forehead.

“What is obvious…? If another nobleman who comes to that place sees Harangnim… .”

“If you look at it…?”

I gulped and swallowed, feeling nervous at the sight of Arnold being awkward for no reason.

“Most people who come there will probably see Harang as a pervert.”

“What.”

A thief?

He lowered his head and looked at my outfit.

“…”

Of course, it is a very revealing outfit,

It’s for convenience, I’m not really into that kind of thing.

… Now that I think about it, it seems like the saintess also said something about this outfit.

Hmm, that’s not important.

I opened my mouth to refute Arnold’s wrong idea,

Arnold continued to speak rapidly, as if he still had more to say to me.

“And wouldn’t Anonymous be disappointed?”

Arnold opened his mouth with a smile, unlike before.

I couldn’t answer him, so I just pursed my lips.

… is Anonymous disappointed?

I was wondering, ‘What on earth?’

Arnold’s expression was so serious that I couldn’t ask and just let out a sob.

Anonymous disappointment.

“Ugh… .”

Certainly, it was a scene I did not like to see.

Just imagine, an anonymous figure looking down at me with an emotionless face and saying, ‘Master, I am disappointed.’

“Ugh.”

Just imagining it makes my heart ache,

If I actually heard that, I would collapse on the spot.

… That, that won’t do.

He was biting his lips with an expression of utter despair.

“Then.”

Did you notice that I was worried?

Arnold got up from his seat, opened the door to the room, and waved his hand outside.

It was an obvious order to swear at someone, something even a fool could figure out.

“How about we quickly go get the dress fitted?”

He said it with a mean expression,

Feeling a little irritated, I puffed out my cheeks and muttered.

“I don’t know anything about dresses… .”

It was a timid rebellion against going.

But, Arnold somehow wants to dress me up and show me to the anonymous person.

“Of course, you can’t go with me, so I think it would be better to ask Professor Bell instead.”

“… Bell?”

He came up with a solution right away.

…although it was a bit out of the blue.

I tilted my head at the bell that came out of Arnold’s mouth.

“Why Bell?”

“… You didn’t know.”

Arnold nodded slightly, as if he had expected that, and added:

“Professor Bell is also a noble from the Count’s family, so he must be used to banquets.”

“… Really?”

That’s surprising, Belle was a noble.

It’s not that I’m surprised that the guy looks so shabby,

I was surprised because I had never seen the authoritative attitude typical of nobles before.

On top of that, he’s so timid that you can’t possibly think of him as a noble.

Arnold continued speaking as I opened my eyes wide in surprise.

“Of course, the best thing would be to go with Anonymous… .”

“Um… .”

“Isn’t that what Harang would do?”

My fists trembled at the sight of Arnold laughing as if he knew everything,

I held back because it was actually true.

… Well, what can I do?

Since it’s worth losing, let’s go to Belle.

I still don’t know why,

Because I don’t want to see Anonymous disappointed.

* * *

Bell’s study, located in the corner of the library,

After arriving there, I explained the situation to Belle.

“Eek… You still haven’t gotten the dress… ?”

“What are you so upset about… .”

Frowning in an incongruous manner,

He scratched his head with a look of embarrassment at the sight of Belle sticking her tongue out.

Is Bell really that disgusting?

There’s still time left, so there’s no reason to make a fuss like that, right?

“… Can’t you just buy something suitable?”

I asked with a sharp look on my face, filled with such doubt.

Belle opened her mouth in astonishment and shook her head.

“How could that be…?”

“… No, at best I’m just buying clothes-”

Let’s shrug our shoulders and reply,

Belle cut me off unexpectedly and said something rather shocking.

“You should think about Harang’s body type… .”

“What.”

When he answered, Bell avoided my gaze and wiggled his fingers.

What’s my body type?

I’m just a little shorter than others…

However, this does not mean that the body type is completely childlike.

And although I’m said to be shorter than others, that’s by this world’s standards, and considering where I originally came from, I’d be just shy of average.

…maybe.

He sticks out his lips and exhales with his nose,

Bell, with a somewhat embarrassed expression, waved his arms as if to try to resolve the situation and added:

“Ma, I was saying that it was too short to make it custom… .”

“Custom?”

“Neue… .”

If that’s the case, then I understand what Belle said.

Because custom-made clothes are made after measuring your body’s specific measurements and such.

but.

“Isn’t there a need to customize it?”

Of course, I am not saying this without any countermeasures.

If the reason I’m getting it custom made is because I’m a bit short,

Wouldn’t it be better to just reduce the problematic long length?

I made my own clothes, and I can do simple alterations too.

… Well, because it was made, there are some small mistakes and it is loose.

I said this with that in mind,

Belle shook her head slightly as if she was not feeling well and rolled her eyes.

“… Let’s go, shall we go?”

“What… okay.”

I guess I should just go there and assert my opinion strongly.

After all, even the manager of a clothing store can’t make clothes in 3 days, right?

“There’s a place I often go to… I think I’ll go there.”

“Then let’s go.”

* * *

Leaving the Academy and entering the capital of the Empire,

I found a suit store located in the center of the city.

“Okay, let’s go in.”

From the moment I passed through the entrance, I tilted my head at Belle’s strangely pale complexion.

“Oh my, Crownia Youngae! It’s been so long! I almost forgot your face~”

“Ahahaha… Yes, yes… .”

Seeing the store manager’s attitude toward Bell, I immediately understood why he had been so resentful.

I’m not really that type of person either.

She looked ten years older than Belle, with long brown hair that was tied up in a bun.

Do you usually smile a lot?

There are some nice nasolabial folds at the corners of the mouth.

“Why did it take so long for you to come here! Even if you’re a professor, if you bite a man-!”

“Ugh… .”

As the store manager showed no sign of stopping talking, Bell timidly pointed at me.

“But, today it’s not me… here… .”

“Huh?”

The store manager tilted his head briefly and looked at me, then his eyes lit up.

“Oh my, so cute!”

“Ear, cute… ?”

My ears perked up at the sudden compliment.

… I’m not a kid, and I’m not cute, am I?

I can’t say anything to someone who gives me compliments instead of bad reviews.

He avoided eye contact and just pursed his lips.

Perhaps judging my reaction as shyness, the store manager kept talking to me.

“So, what’s up, little miss?”

“What.”

To put it a bit absurdly.

… Kid? Could it be me?

I turned my gaze to Bell with a blank expression.

“Oh, over there, the kid is… .”

Bell, who was constantly sweating, waved his arms and continued talking nonsense.

He was so flustered that his eyes were spinning.

“… Okay, I’ll just see you for a day anyway.”

I felt a little offended by the sight of Belle like that, so I let out a deep sigh and waved my arms slightly.

“I came to look at dresses to wear to the banquet… .”

I got straight to the point in order to get out of this noisy place as quickly as possible.

“Oh my, a banquet?”

Then the store manager opened his mouth with his eyes shining so brightly that it felt rude to compare it to before.

“When is the banquet?”

A very valid question,

I felt awkward answering for some reason, so I slightly avoided eye contact and answered.

“… 3 days later.”

“Ouch, then I have to hurry!

But this store manager doesn’t seem to care much about the limited time,

He came to me with a smile and held up a measuring tape.

“What, what is it?”

“How cute! I guess the little girl was expecting it too!”

For some reason I got scared and stepped back,

The store manager let out a ‘hehehe’ laugh and flicked the tape measure with a devilish smile.

“… What were you expecting?”

“Huh? You didn’t just put on a bandage to measure the size, right?”

It was difficult to answer the store manager’s words, so I just pursed my lips.

Because if I kept doing this here, I thought people would really see me as a pervert, just like Belle said.

Let’s keep our mouths shut at that thought,

The store manager laughed heartily, perhaps thinking that this was a positive thing about me.

“Okay! Little miss? Let’s measure your measurements first and then try on some pretty clothes?”

“Ugh… !”

Anonymous! Save me!