Ch. 84
“Lady Crowell, it’s time for breakfast.”
When morning came, Chelsea pulled back the curtains by the window and placed a tray piled high with food beside me while I was still half-asleep.
Warm, fresh bread, fresh fruit, a bit of cheese, and eggs with bacon.
It all looked so delicious.
Staring blankly, I shoved a piece of bread into my mouth, barely awake.
It had been a long time since anyone had taken care of breakfast for me.
When I nearly choked from eating too fast, Chelsea handed me a cup of freshly brewed tea, making me feel a little bit happy.
‘…What is this? This feels pretty great.’
Maybe I’m cut out for being a noble after all.
I was born a noble, but I’d never really lived the life of a typical noble.
I hadn’t even made my party debut at this age, and of course, I didn’t have a fiancé like most do.
Not that I needed one anyway.
‘Ah, but when it comes to the bad parts of noble life, I’ve had them all. Nearly got killed by the anti-noble faction, got treated like a plaything by the emperor’s kid in Elan…’
Still groggy, I sat as Chelsea started gently combing out my tangled hair.
It should have felt awkward, but somehow it was just comfortable and satisfying—maybe I really am the incarnation of laziness.
“Would you like me to prepare a bath once you’re done eating?”
Getting to enjoy a normal noble’s life for once, I realized—this is happiness.
I nodded enthusiastically.
“For the bath additives, we have rosewater and lavender oil. Which would you like?”
Okay, this place is heaven!
* * *
Even the bathtub was first-class.
It wasn’t made of wood but carved from marble, and the water was just the right temperature.
Everything went so smoothly that I didn’t even have time to call Undine to fill the water.
I was only now, at this age, truly experiencing what it meant to be waited on.
Noble life is the best. Bathing is the best!
“Is the water temperature alright?”
“Perfect.”
“If you feel dizzy at all, please let me know.”
When I got out, Chelsea dried me off, dried my hair, helped me into a robe—she did everything with such devoted care, I barely had to lift a finger.
“You must be tired. Please rest over here.”
“Huh?”
All I’d done since waking up was eat and bathe—there was no way I could be tired.
“Should I call a doctor if you feel unwell?”
Something was off.
Watching Chelsea nervously check my complexion, I realized she was under some serious misunderstanding.
“Do you think I’m really frail or something?”
“Pardon? Aren’t you? I was told to pay special attention since Lady Crowell is delicate.”
“…What?”
“The head attendant said so. That the honored guest from Dmitri collapsed as soon as she arrived in Elan…”
“Haha, surely not everyone thinks that, right?”
I asked awkwardly, but Chelsea quietly avoided my gaze.
And that was answer enough.
I felt like crying.
That’s not who I am!
It’s not!
* * *
But regardless of how unfair it was, the party was now right in front of me.
I was still stuck in my old habit of last-minute cramming.
There were only three hours until the party and I’d only managed to read five pages of my book—including the table of contents.
“Should I lay out your dress for tonight?”
“Mm, sure.”
“What color should I bring out? And your jewelry?”
“I only have one set anyway, so whatever…”
With the deadline looming, I answered absently, focused on my book.
I’d learned about dance and etiquette as elective courses at the academy, but it was all theory. I’d never used any of it in real life.
Most of my classmates went home every break to enjoy the full noble experience, but I always stayed at the academy, using training as an excuse to avoid my family home.
If I had gone, would I have gotten a chance to put my studies to use?
A normal first debut at a small party, escorted by my three older brothers…
“Lady Crowell!”
“Hmm?”
“Forgive me!”
Chelsea suddenly rushed over, knelt at my feet, and bowed her head to the floor.
Her fearful face made me instinctively flinch.
What’s going on all of a sudden?
“It wasn’t me! I swear I didn’t touch anything!”
“What are you talking about?”
“There’s been a theft in your room!”
A theft? That should be impossible with Rai here.
“My shoes, gloves, hair accessories, and corset are missing from your bag! The petticoat too!”
Pale-faced, Chelsea was trembling as if something truly terrible had happened.
Startled, I lowered my book, then glanced at it again.
Oh. That’s nothing.
“Those things were never there to begin with.”
“Excuse me?”
“I just didn’t pack them.”
“How could you… Then what about the party?”
Is it really that big a deal?
I glanced at Chelsea over the top of my book.
“As long as I have a dress, jewelry set, and makeup set, that’s enough, right? Even the makeup set was borrowed from Iruze…”
“B-but your shoes?”
“These.”
I wiggled my straw-colored leather sandals.
They were the prettiest ones I owned.
“If my shoes are hidden under my skirt, no one’s going to see them anyway, right?”
“That’s not true!”
“No one’s going to lift my skirt, so what’s the problem…”
“You can’t!”
Did she just shout at me?
“I’ll go get some right away!”
“Wait, hold on…”
Did I pressure her too much yesterday?
Chelsea dashed out of the room before I could stop her.
Left alone in the big room, I sat in a daze for a while.
“I don’t get it. Are shoes really that important?”
[Shoes are a woman’s soul!]
“What are you talking about, for a spirit?”
Rai clearly couldn’t tell when to keep out of things.
[Master! I know my way around the human world pretty well!]
“I’m actually a human myself, you know?”
[That’s true, but you’re so much of a shut-in, you lack social skills…]
He was definitely asking for an early death.
[If I say you’re lacking… you’ll kill me, right?]
“Be honest. There is a way to kill spirits, isn’t there?”
[Nope. No way.]
“You must have a death wish, huh?”
Who knows how long I was shaking Rai by the neck.
Chelsea returned, her arms full of luggage, while I still hadn’t read more than five pages of the party etiquette book.
I was doomed.
* * *
The party dress was constructed in a ridiculously complicated way.
You put on a thin underdress, then a corset, cinching your waist as tightly as possible, to the point where I vaguely feared my organs might burst, and then, over that, all the pieces of the dress were attached.
At first glance, it looked like a single dress, but in reality it was made up of several parts, and to put it on, every seam had to be tightened with laces.
Part of it was probably to show off the figure, but it also revealed the limitations of clothing technology in this world.
That’s why it took an hour just to get dressed.
Without Chelsea, I never would have managed to put this dress on, and I decided to fully respect the diligence of young noble ladies who enjoy parties.
“Gasp… I can hardly breathe.”
“That’s normal!”
“People wear this every day?”
“Some even sleep in corsets, you know. It makes your waist slimmer.”
“Not that it really needs to be…”
“Of course, there are gentlemen who prefer a fuller waist, just like Lady Crowell’s.”
That was even more shocking than the rumor about me being a frail lady.
Chelsea seemed flustered, realizing her slip, but it was too late—I’d already heard it, and I couldn’t forget it.
“Ah, n-no! These days, being slim is… um, it’s the trend…”
“Fuller…”
“I only meant compared to other noble ladies, not that Lady Crowell is fat or anything!”
As I stood there in shock, Chelsea did her best to comfort me while guiding me in front of the full-length mirror.
