Chapter 94 - Time Has Come

After eating and freshening herself up, Nathalie was in her room, strutted to the edge of the bed, where she laid down her attire for her to wear at a special event. With her hands immediately reaching the dress, she slowly slid her legs on it and up to her chest. 

Her alabaster sheened and bore great contrast on the golden hues and sparkling amethysts along the edge of her donned fabric.

Hands slinked the straps to her shoulders, supporting the dress.

After a slight adjustment on her chest pad with a huge slit that revealed her cleavage, she turned around and glanced at the backless form of the dress that popped beautiful imagery of her slender back. The slit traveled down and met the fitted waist of the dress. From there on, a silk fabric in sequins topped with a tulle layer was seen and fully cascaded down, swaying with ease whenever she turned around.

The dress dripped with gold sparkles and purple linings, and Nathalie screamed luxury.

Ears of Nathalie perked up when another knock came through the door with Keith's queries.

"Have you finished dressing up, my lady?"

She then sent out a signal to come in; he let the door ajar and peeped his head, only to have her eyes gaped.

Keith was fast to turn his back at her.

"My lady, you don't have to make fun of me like this," he groaned while his tail slightly wagged and ears went straight up.

Seeing how a little steam rose from his head, she pressed her lips for a while before she replied.

"Look at me."

Her sultry voice made him unable to resist her command. His gaze was rather shaky, and he continued to bite his lip as the redness continued to flush his face.

With the formal white suit and ruffled tie, one wouldn't be able to tell he was a mere knight that served the Blackwell Household but another noble of high and prestigious roots.

"I need your help with this." She twisted her torso, left and right, as she looked at the mirror in front of her again. "Not that I brought a few maids with me, yes?"

"But—"

"Oh, cut me off some slack, Keith. Not that we have much time here, do we?" Nathalie sighed and peered at his meek countenance. 

"Come closer."

As per her instructions, he then shuffled close to her. Almost every inch of her skin had tingled when his large presence got closer to her back.

"Now, tighten me with those lace over there," she said while pointing at the lace intertwined in her back. "You do that while I work on—this damn—zipper."

"Alright."

Keith gulped hard, and his large, callused hands carefully moved like she was a treasure not meant to be tarnished. Reaching the lace had him clench his jaw from doing it.

Meanwhile, Mystique had deep stares at him; somehow, she felt bad that it made him awkward.

But on the flip side, she thought that it was almost fine, as this wasn't the first time they saw and recognized each other—even with their naked bodies and whatnot—let alone seeing a few slits of her dress with her skin showing.

She couldn't help but admit, and she wasn't this assertive type of person too—she knew she had dignity; after all, it was just a man and a woman alone in one grande room, but such concerns like shame weren't just for her. 

After she felt it was eons, Keith finally finished with the lace. She then asked for a pair of glass heels that she had to wear for the day.

"Thank you, Keith. I can do this myself—"

"No, allow me to do this, my lady. I apologize for being too hesitant with this."

Nathalie then smiled from his initiative, and this time there was no malice. He focused on slipping them to her feet in one fluid motion. 

"Does it hurt wearing this now?" he mused.

[None at all. I already had the artisans make the dress as I instructed.]

Foremost, she was glad that the castle wasn't in dire need of skillful people. As she was into the trend of modern fashion, all hope wasn't lost for her when she realized she could give instructions to special dresses that needed to be sewn for a particular event. 

Even if she didn't have the luggage with her, as only her clutch was present, it wasn't much of a problem with the newly manufactured 'otherworldly dress' stored in the dimension pocket.

'I still remember how impressed the servants and the footmen were, even Ar—Father was bewitched; seeing his reaction fascinates me.'

Her hair was already in a side ponytail with a fascinator of the same motif as her dress.

[Let's go.] She grabbed her clutch before she donned the bland cloak she had.

He smoothened down his golden epaulets before tugging the golden linings of his lapel. 

"We shall, my lady." Then the suave outfit he shrouded with the cloak on him.

It was rather normal to wear robes and hoods on top of their outfit in the street as they saunter wherever they want to go, so they didn't attract much attention.

Moreover, the place they temporarily stayed was near the establishment of Auctio Royale.

Nathalie, during her stay, had worked with her creative and innovative mind and started a business for her personal income generator. With the constant flow of money and Arnold's influence, she could stand on her own.

Even if Arnold insisted, which occurred she lost count of it, she still declined.

During the visit to Marquis Edelweiss, the problem she had was it became a setback for her. So much she wanted to ask help from Arnold, but it would defeat the purpose of proving she can stand on her feet once more.

Nathalie must take the initiative, and she had to double her effort for a buffer—not to deviate from her demise and butting heads with Athan.

Thinking about her plans, time flew fast for her, reaching the Auctio Royale, and her eyes squinted when Athan stepped out of the magical carriage he had.

Veronica beside him.

As usual, he looked so good.

Almost at the same time, she couldn't help but arched her eyebrow behind the loose hood she had.

Nathalie wanted to shrug it off when she saw his subtle smile, ever-so-warmly, in the distance. 

'He's up to something….'

Withal, she rolled her eyes.

'Yeah right, coincidence, my ass…'