Chapter 25

Translator and Editor: Effe and Nabi

Catherine, who was excited to be able to raise sales to the fullest, returned, leaving only her and Estelle.

“Don’t worry, the Madame of the dressing room has the fastest hands in the Empire. Both the wedding dress and the reception dress will probably be finished before the wedding.”

Estelle seemed to know that she was worried about the dress schedule. She knew from the start that the seat next to Damon wasn’t hers. However, she only accepted this because she knew it was her destiny.

“What if the bride can’t embroider?”

At Estelle’s words that she had to embroider herself on the veil, Elysia realized that this place was not really hers. The meaning of this embroidery was not simple. In commoners’ marriages, the bride did not embroider the veil.

First of all, it was because there was no family pattern, and there was not enough time to prepare for the wedding to be able to complete the embroidery.

And, in the beginning, embroidery was a noble hobby of noblewomen. Naturally, commoners working in the dressing room can also have high-level skills. Nonetheless, the reality was that neither threads nor fabrics suitable for colorful embroidery were available.

“In marriages of commoners, we do not embroider veils.”

“Your Grace.”

“It is a tradition to embroider veils only on weddings of nobles.”

It was a different league. It meant that this world was only for the high nobles. It was to filter out brides who did not meet the qualifications.

Now, Elysia realized why the Countess had not taught her to embroider.

“Not all brides are good at embroidering.”

“But, there is no bride like me who can’t do it at all.”

“….”

From her childhood, she knew that Rowena received various educations. Rowena and her were only one year apart, and even though they were the same age and of the same gender, their real life was very different.

When Elysia woke up in the morning she had to do the cleaning, and she mostly stayed in the kitchen or spent time with the maids.

Meanwhile, Rowena was busy getting an education surrounded by tutors. So did Edward. He received a different education from Rowena because he was a man, though he also received the basic education that nobles should learn.

…Only Elysia learned nothing.

She thought back then that she wouldn’t mind those things. Rather, she considered it lucky that she did not learn anything.

“You can learn from now on.”

“I can’t embroider at all. Did Estelle hide that fact, lest Catherine finds out?”

Estelle said she didn’t care when she asked if she was worried about Catherine because of her embroidery.

“That… Your Grace, not all brides are good at embroidering. Although everyone completes the best embroidered veil for a wedding.”

Elysia stared at Estelle quietly, waiting for an answer.

“If all the noble girls were good at embroidering from the beginning, there would be no expert like Madame Catherine. Usually, the basics are left to the experts. Of course, I don’t leave it openly. So, that’s why Madame asked about it earlier.”

“She’s leaving the groundwork?”

“Yes, the bride just needs to complete the veil with the base completed.”

To interpret Estelle’s words now, it meant that she would complete the designs in advance so that she could only fill them with colors.

“If the finish is clumsy, you can get help. Don’t be too shy. In the end, it is meaningful for the bride to do it herself, even a little bit.”

“Then, why did Catherine….”

Then, she should not have turned down when Catherine tried to help her…

“Needless to say, you could get help from Madame. However, Madame is the owner of the capital’s best-selling dressing room. That means there are many regular customers and among those regular customers… Is there really no one interested in Your Grace’s wedding?”

Obviously, Damon’s marriage was unusual. Everyone’s attention had to be focused when he said that he would never marry, and now that he would marry her.

“There will be none.”

“Madame Catherine is not yet on the Grand Duchy’s side, so I was just being careful. I’m sorry if it ever offended Your Grace’s heart.”

There was nothing wrong with her words. Still, there were uneasy feelings to believe in Catherine whom she met today.

“No, Estelle is right.”

“Thank you for your understanding.”

“By the way… I won’t get help from Catherine?”

“Ah! That’s what you were worried about. If that’s the case, you don’t have to worry. Even though I look like this, I tend to embroider a little. Don’t worry about asking me for the final part. The final part will be commissioned by Madame.”

Elysia let out a sigh of relief at that moment. The plan had already been drawn up in Estelle’s head.

“Your Grace.”

“Yes?”

“I know what Your Grace is worried about.”

Estelle’s behavior when she suddenly knew what Elysia was worried about made her a little perplexed.

“Your Grace, I have seen for a few days is comparable to other noble girls. Rather, you are more mature.”

“Estelle…”

She realized it by listening to Estelle.

Certainly, she was feeling a sense of disqualification that she was not educated like other noble girls. She was actually envious of Rowena and Edward as they had several educations. Elysia had an adult mind, but her body belonged to a child.

Obviously, she couldn’t be unaffected.

She was dissatisfied with why she had to be treated like a maid. Instead of opening a book, she hated that she had to pick up the mop and cleaning tools first…

“And, you’re smarter than any ladies I’ve ever seen.”

***

Like Countess Arianne, of course, she thought Estelle would ignore her. Elysia seemed to have been obsessed with the idea that she shouldn’t look down on Estelle in the slightest. However, Estelle was a completely different person from Countess Arianne.

She reassured her, and she was not in a hurry despite the tight schedule. It didn’t mean she couldn’t meet the deadlines on schedule.

Clearly, Estelle was a veteran of this job. She didn’t seem to be in a hurry, though she did everything skillfully.

“It seems that you have completed all the basic training now.”

“Thank you, it’s all thanks to Estelle.”

For several weeks, Elysia has had a very busy day. It was hard for her to learn things that she had never learned before—social etiquette, dining etiquette, and social dancing. As a mistress, she learned everything, even how to take care of the household.

“I’m worried that it might not be enough to learn in a short amount of time.”

“Your Grace, you learned it all with great skill.”

“Still… The embroidery is not yet done.”

But, no matter how hard she tried, there was one thing that didn’t get better with time. That was just embroidering.

Unlike other things that she gained with effort, strangely enough, her skills did not improve in embroidery.

“I still can’t embroider directly on the fabric.”

It was too much to dare to embroider directly on the fabric because her skills did not improve. Even though Estelle had already completed the base, Elysia was still unable to touch it.

“It’s a big deal. The wedding was only ten days away….”

When the wedding dresses and reception dresses were almost finished, the veil was still in place.

“You can finish that… I’m sure.”

“Estelle doesn’t think it’ll work too either, right?”

Elysia glanced at the fabrics she had embroidered on, one by one. The tangled threads, like her sloppy sewing skills, made her frown. If it was just a little kid, it wouldn’t be strange for her to do things like that.

“Besides, the pattern is not monotonous.”

The embroidery she had to put on was a dragon pattern. The black dragon had a menacing appearance and had sapphires in its eyes.

The sparkling blue sapphire just reminded her of someone.

“…With this skill, I can’t even dream of a veil.”

“If you keep working hard, you will be fine.”

“But, why a dragon?”

Even before she was educated, Elysia knew that dragons didn’t mean anything in Caesar’s Empire. Among the people, dragons were regarded as ominous, and if anyone talked about dragons, they were condemned.

At the time, she didn’t know why. She just thought it was because they were scared.

However, she learned from Estelle about the history of the Empire, and that the dragon was inextricably linked with the Caesar Empire.

In the early days of the Empire’s founding, Caesar’s Empire had suffered heavy damage from the Black Dragon. It was written that the Caesar Empire itself was almost gone. For the people of the Empire, dragons were not simply a target to avoid.

“Dragons are considered ominous.”

In particular, among dragons, black dragons are known as the most ferocious and ferocious races.

“Why a black dragon?”

“That….”

“To use an entity that everyone hates and avoids as a family seal… It’s hard to understand.”

At first, she was in a rush to learn embroidery, so she didn’t care, but now she had a question.

“Your Grace, did I tell you about the existence of Grand Duchy Raphael?”

“Yes. Grand Duchy Raphael is the only Grand Duchy of the Empire, and they are said to be the power that represents the Empire…”

As she spoke her words, Elysia felt somehow strange. Why did Grand Duchy Raphael have the power to represent the Empire when there was an Imperial Family…?