CH 86

Time flew by. Leone had become very close to Adler these days, visiting him often in his makeshift office. That was her break time.

Just like now, sitting in her temporarily paid room and looking out the window. For a while, the sadness was relieved when he thought that she couldn’t know everything about Leone. On the contrary, if she asked to know everything, she would block Leone, who was trying his best. Puppies grew, but guardians needed to grow too. She realized once again the truth that relationships were interactions. Still, she continued to closely observe Leone and keep her heart in suspense. It was nice that Leone was changing, but it was because she was worried about an unexpected crisis situation. She even had nightmares because of that worry. Gorgeous and beautiful banquet hall. Ladies in colorful dresses, handsome young men, and Emperors with benevolent smiles. Leone standing in it. Her dream was that he suddenly went on a rampage and bit a man’s neck, the soldiers rushed in and subdue him, and Leone resisted. That’s how the banquet hall became a mess. Her words did not reach Leone, who was excited in her dream. However, unlike the nightmares she often had, he became more stable and spoke more gracefully as the banquet day approached, but showed no abnormalities.

Everything was in her mind. Reality was peaceful. She knew these were useless worries. But still, she felt uneasy. She felt like she was missing something.

“…Ricky.”

Fortress Leone was so unstable that she even became docile. He could now see a smiling face that she had only seen once in a while before. There was indeed joy and tenderness in his softly curved eyes. The life in his eyes, which were always sharp, was quite drained. As a result, the ladies-in-waiting, who were afraid of Leone’s bluntness at first, began to blush.

“Why are you laughing like that, really?”

When she thought of Leone’s smiling face and the ladies’ eyes shining at him, she felt a little stuffy. She murmured in a low voice. She thought she trained hard, but didn’t it work? Then, all sorts of people get mesmerized, and what if she get entangled in a strange infatuation?

“Crack-“

“Ugh, everyone is watching, why the hell are you doing that? I have to teach you properly again.”

She couldn’t help but worry.

“Trixie. What do you teach me?”

“Mom!”

A large hand wrapped around her shoulder with a low voice and close warmth. She was so shocked that she almost fell backwards in a chair.

“Mom?”

“Ah, Leone. I was surprised I almost came to see my grandmother in heaven.”

“Grandma…?”

“It means I almost died.”

“If you are surprised, will you die?”

“People can die if they get too frightened.”

Leone nodded his head with a serious face at her words.

“I have to be careful. I’ll keep it in mind.”

“Yes. That, yes. When did you come?.”

“I knocked on the door. Called several times.”

“…really?”

Concentrating on her thoughts, she didn’t know that Leone had come in or that he had called. Besides, the content she complained to herself was not about Leone. No matter how worried she was as a guardian, her face immediately heated up when she thought that she had been caught thinking about Leone.

“Teach me what, Trixie?”

“Uh? No I have something to tell the ladies-in-waiting!”

“Are you laughing?”

“Uh?”

“Ah, why are you laughing so much? You did.”

Leone asked with a face like a white drawing paper. Fortunately, looking at her face, Leone didn’t seem to notice that she was thinking about him.

“Uh, something like that.”

Lately, whenever she saw Leone, her heart raced, so the lies gradually increased. Thanks to that, her shamelessness leveled up even more, and thanks to that, she could now not blink an eye every time she told a lie. Sometimes not knowing was medicine. The fact that she lost her composure whenever she got close to Leone these days.

“Trixie, today I. You tried on the clothes.”

She never wanted to tell him but she didn’t know why either. Only the desire to turn away came up.

“Oh. How did you get the date right? A small banquet is tomorrow.”

“I know. A week would have been short.”

What? Anyway, Leone had something to hide from her, so why not hide it from him too? She rationalized that and stood up following Leone.

* * *

“The latest fad of the Empire is a masterpiece with all the fads in place! I barely slept because I had to do this in a week.”

“Oh my God. It’s so cool.”

“Hey, too. The prince tells you. It’s so beautiful…!”

The proud smile of the royal tailor, who was said to be the golden hand among golden hands, and the amazement of many people. While everyone was happy, she was the only one shocked.

“Trixie? I don’t like the expression.”

In the middle of the noise, Leone approached her as if he had noticed.

“Eh? Wait a minute. Leone. Don’t come.”

“Huh?”

“Ah, it’s not that I hate Lord Leone. Therefore… Please wait a moment. Wait. Don’t come any closer.” she said reflexively. Leone stopped on the spot, tilted his head slightly, and replied plainly.

“Um, yes. In a little while.”

What could she do? She looked at Leone and held his trembling hand.

‘Really, a frog…!’

Leone’s formal suit was said to have been made by staying up all night for a week, and it was beyond words to her eyes, who were used to the modern formal style. From a robe made of shiny golden fabric with red and golden thread points, her eyesight was dazzled. Yeah, but how could she get past the color? But those swollen shoulders! A necklace with huge gold ornaments dangling from it, like something you’d see in a history book! A golden tunic that matches the tone of the red robe. The blouse peeking out from under the tunic was full of frills. On top of that, white tights and shorts puffed like pumpkins. Even the shoes that wrap your feet tightly and look like the indoor slippers you wore when you were in elementary school in Korea!

If Leone got any closer, she felt like she was going to tear all those clothes off without even realizing it.

‘Come to think of it, I remember an episode like this.’

In the meantime, there wasn’t much to dress up, and it was Adler’s butler, Jen, who prepared the clothes Leone wore for the march. A person who did not know the fashion of the capital because he spent 5 years at the foot of Mount Meto. So she forgot. In the original… The male protagonist, the Marquis, was dressed like that. It was the first banquet he attended in the capital, so he prepared diligently and dressed in the fashion of the capital. However, it’s good to follow the trend of Leila, but they prepared different clothes and changed them to change the trend. Marquis Baek had a good appearance befitting a male lead, so he became the object of envy the moment he appeared at the banquet. Thanks to this, the terrible fad ended and neat tailcoat-style suits came into fashion.

The author must have deliberately chosen an era in which clothes that would not look pretty to modern people like her were popular in order to dramatically show the broadening influence of female and male leads. 

‘I get it, I get it. That means we’ll have to see an endless number of men dressed like this from now on.’

This… Thanks to Leone’s good looks, it ended at just ‘Grim’. If the banquet hall was teeming with people dressed like this… She was already feeling dizzy.

‘Wait. But isn’t this an opportunity?’

Leone’s radiant appearance could bewitch anyone. If so, wouldn’t they be able to change the trend too?

‘Leila… she’ll be able to change the fashion again.’

She was sorry to do what the female lead did, but since Leila was such a great person, it should be possible. And if Leone really ascended to the throne, there wouldn’t be any need for the main couple to come to the capital to play an active role. It would be something that never happened.

The novel had already been twisted as much as it could be twisted. As for her, she hoped that Leone would be safe as a person to stand against the Grand Duke right now. Changing the fashion would increase Leone’s status in the social world, and as a bonus, she could protect her eyesight, so it really killed two birds with one stone.

“Trixie, can we go now?”

She raised her head at Leone’s question.

“You worked hard.”

As if Leone’s fitting was over before she knew it, Adler was seeing off the tailor. Only her, Adler, and Leone, dressed in casual clothes, were left in the room.

“Ah, yes. You can come closer.”

Since he was not wearing “the clothes,” the urge to tear them was gone.

“Really. Trends in the capital are so fast. Even when I left, I was just puffing up the coat’s shoulders, but now I’m covering Rob’s shoulders like this…”

As if Adler was curious, he checked Leone’s clothes that the tailor had left behind.

“Well, Lord Leone shines so much that her clothes die! haha!”

“Hey, Adler.”

“Yes, Trixie.”

“Please listen calmly. I have an idea. Please listen to the end and consider it.”

“Yes?”

“This is an opportunity to appeal to the aristocratic society. Let’s make Lord Leone the prince of fashion! Wouldn’t it be nice just to hear it?!”

It’s been a while. With three chi tongues, persuading Adler. In the meantime, she could say anything with the thick iron plate while dealing with Leone. Indeed, Adler’s eyes were already shining. Leone was leisurely standing next to her.

* * *

“His Highness the Prince is coming.”

A fanfare came from inside, along with booming voices. It was said that it was a simple banquet, and it seemed very fancy. She became Leone’s handmaid, Benjamin, who had to be near him, and Adler, who was his escort knight. In this way, the three followed Leone. Soon the door opened. A bright light flooded in, causing her eyes to squint.

“Before the prince- Huh.”

“That is the young sun of the Empire…!”

“He is beautiful…!”

The voices were a mixture of embarrassment and emotion. Standing with his back to her, Leone straightened his back, entered, and walked through the crowd. Her heart skipped a beat every time his outstretched legs landed on the floor. Since all she could see was his back, she couldn’t tell exactly what Leone’s condition was. Seeing how natural his walking form was, he seemed fine. Fortunately, there weren’t many people and we quickly got out of the way. The place Leone had to go to get away from the crowd was the podium in front of the banquet hall. In the center sat the Emperor.

Leone’s steps stopped for an instant as he passed through the crowd and faced the Emperor.