CH 16.1

Lila, Lucas, Gale, and Karin, who had come from Branch 3, stopped at the dessert shop first. Joshua, of course, sat down with them.

He’d only followed because he was curious about the prospective duchess he’d heard so much about from Owen.

As Lila ordered various cakes and teas, Gale, Karin, and Joshua looked at her questioningly, but Lucas merely looked at her with honeyed eyes.

Joshua was dumbfounded by Lucas’s unexpected behavior, which he had assumed was either cold or expressionless.

“Um… by the way, why the dessert suddenly…?”

Karin asked curiously then. Lila tilted her head, watching the street through the open window.

“Ah, you came without saying a word. Shall we first take some sugar and then get moving?”

Karin was fine, but the look on Gale and Joshua’s faces said otherwise. They looked tired, and Lila knew they needed sugar.

And she’d come in to explore beforehand. The dessert shop they were in now was a popular spot in the Commoner’s District.

It had a lot of foot traffic and was frequented by women, so it was a good place to get a feel for the atmosphere.

Lila stuck to the window and scanned the street. As she expected, many women found the dessert shop and roamed the nearby streets.

“Hmm…”

Lucas asked Lila, who wasn’t paying attention to the desserts that came out.

“What kind of event is my wife planning…”

Lila tore her gaze away from the window to answer his increasingly curious question.

“It’s a flash event. I’m going to select people and get their makeup done. And…”

“And.”

“And as a bonus, I’ll give them some of the beauty creams I brought with me.”

“I see.”

Lucas squinted as he agreed with her. His pale freckles glistened in the sunlight.

Lila laughed bashfully and told him what she had planned.

“I’ve decided on a name.”

“What is it?”

“Pretty Ugly, I made it, but what do you think, Pretty Ugly Cream, or something like that?”

“That’s very good.”

“Right?”

The three people sitting across from the two who were having a conversation, sprinkled with gossip, looked on with awkward expressions.

“Then we’ll need a place to hold the event.”

“Even if we don’t, I’ve been looking around for a place to set up shop, and I don’t see one.”

“Well, that’s for me, your husband, to figure out, isn’t it?”

Lucas let go of Lila’s hand, stood up, and headed toward the counter.

After talking to someone for a moment, he casually took her hand again and sat down.

“The owner of this store said it’s okay to have an event here.”

“Really?”

Lila’s eyes widened at the idea that he’d gotten permission when they’d only been out of town for a few minutes.

She’d actually been thinking about having an event at the store.

“Yes, the boss said that from now on, he will ask the incoming customers first, so we can just wait. Is there anything else we need to prepare?”

Lucas didn’t seem to mind helping her out, even though it was unannounced. It was reassuring. Lila had a newfound appreciation for his abilities.

“I’ve been preparing, just in case.”

Lila pulled out the palette she’d prepared from her vesperite subspace ring. The palette, made at Lucas’s request, sparkled with crystals.

It was a crystal version of the make up palettes she’d seen so often when she was Yoon Seol. It was convenient to hold and large enough to contain a variety of cosmetics.

From color cosmetics to foundation, she was ready for those moments when she couldn’t reach her incognito pouch.

Karin’s eyes widened at the palette she pulled out.

“Oh my…”

Lila smirked at Karin, who couldn’t keep her mouth shut and her eyes glued to the palette.

“Karin, do you want me to do your makeup?”

“What? Me?”

“Yes, Karin, let’s start with you.”

Lila was giddy with excitement. It had been a while since she had done makeup.

For a moment, she wondered if she’d lost her skills, but then she realized that she was more excited about doing makeup than anything else.

Lila moved over and sat next to Karin, a little disappointed that she couldn’t use what was in her makeup box to give her a more complete look.

Picking up a palette and a brush with a limited selection of cosmetics, Lila put pressure on her eyes.

“Keep your eyes closed for now.”

Karin gently closed her eyes at her words. The idea of having her face painted by Lila, the future Duchess, made Karin extremely nervous.

Lila scrutinized her face and gently touched it with her hands. Once she was satisfied with the basic skincare regimen, she applied a makeup base.

Lucas watched her curiously as she tapped it with her hand. Gale and Joshua were no different.

As Lila brushed on the foundation, she tried to think of an eye makeup look that would suit Karin.

The options were limited. For starters, she had to avoid anything that couldn’t be easily removed and she could only use the products in the palette.

No mascara, just eyeshadow, lipstick, and blush.

With her light brown hair and green eyes, she thought gold would be a good choice on Karin.

Lila finished applying her foundation and used a thin brush to apply dark eyeshadow to the tips of her eyes, tailing it out. She then applied a gold eyeshadow with pearls, starting at the front of the eye and meeting the darker eyeshadow she had already applied.

She added a touch of orange blush to her cheeks and finished with a coral lipstick.

The makeup was done in a flash. The three men, who had been watching in stunned silence as she moved her hands quickly, let out short groans.

The transformation of Karin’s face after only a few movements was mysterious.

Lila took out her handkerchief, wiped her hands, and pulled out a colored thread. She untied Karin’s hair, which was lightly tied back, and began to comb and braid her hair with the colored thread.

The so-called centipede hair was braided with the red thread and pulled out to the side. After carefully tying it off with thread, Lila tidied up Karin’s bangs and stray hairs.

Karin was lost in thought, but the three men had no time for such things.

Her skill was unbelievable. Even Lucas was amazed at how quickly the makeup and braids were done.

“I didn’t realize you were that good.”

With an exclamation, Lucas stood up, walked over to the counter, said something, and returned to his seat.

“Karin, wait a minute.”

Lila spotted Karin looking at her distantly and pulled out a hand mirror. Karin took the mirror and checked her face.

“Oh my!”

Her face in the mirror didn’t even compare to what she looked like without makeup. First, she noticed that her eyes and lips were more defined than usual.

Then she marveled again at her hair, which fell in harmony with the red threads.

“What the hell happened?”

She was stunned. She closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them, she couldn’t believe how different her face looked.

“Hehe, you have good skin to begin with, so the makeup must have worked very well on you. Karin, I’m going to give you these two things, and this is what you need to remove your makeup later. Scoop out a small amount, put it in the palm of your hand, mix it with water and rub it together, and it will foam up. Gently rub your face with it, like a massage, and then wash your face with water, and the makeup will disappear.”

“… Yes?”

Karin’s mind reeled at the unfamiliar product description, and the container of beauty products she was handed was severely overwhelming.

The sparkly things looked like real jewelry. She thought she could have just given it to her in a wooden container.

To Karin’s dismay, Lila handed her a second jar.

“This is a cream to wash and apply to your face. It’s supposed to be good to put on before bed.”

“…Uh, do you mind if I take this? No, first of all, are you going to use this at the event today?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Lila meekly affirmed. Just then, a woman who appeared to be the owner of the store approached with quick steps.

“Here’s the water you ordered.”

Lucas listened to Karin and Lila’s conversation, then quickly received the large bowl of water.

He snatched it from Joshua’s hand before he could take it and caught Lila’s hand.

He wiped her makeup-stained hands before drying them with his own handkerchief.

“Lucas…”

Lucas simply smirked at Lila, who looked impressed. Indeed, his wife is often impressed by little things.

“I think the next customer is already here, so please show your skills again. And I’ll wash your hands.”

“Yes?”

Lila, who had been staring at Lucas, jerked her head around to find the owner of the dessert shop, who had brought her water earlier, standing right next to her, eyes shining.

“Can I get it, too?”

“Yes, of course.”

Lila was thrilled and quickly set up a table. The mysterious dessert shop owner struck up a friendly conversation with her and Lucas.

“Where are you from? Is it the new beauty shop?”

“Yes, that’s right, we’re not open yet, we’re doing an event first.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

As they talked, Lila studied her face. The shop owner had a square face.

The dessert shop owner shyly said, “I have an angular chin, and it makes my face look big.” Lila’s expression told her that.

“An angular chin can be an inferiority, but with the right makeup, it will disappear perfectly, trust me.”

She couldn’t hide her delight at her reassuring answer.

“Please close your eyes for a moment.”

Lila skillfully applied the foundation and shaded her jawline. After blending it out, she added highlights to her chin and nose.

She applied eyeshadow to match her pale red hair and lined her eyes.

She dabbed blush in circles to make her angular face appear more rounded. For the lips, she used a matte textured lipstick to match the overall red color scheme.

After applying two colors to make the center of her lips even redder, Lila began to braid her hair.

Weaving it together with black thread, she twirled it into a bun and secured it with pins.

“Okay, I’m done, would you like to take a look?”

Lila held out her hand mirror, and the dessert shop owner’s mouth dropped open.

“Is this really me? How can my angular chin disappear?”

“Do it for me!”

Behind her in admiration, the crowd swelled. People from inside the store and those who had seen her through the window flooded into the store.

Just as she was about to open her mouth to say something with a happy smile, a man’s voice filled her ears with a mixture of panic and disbelief.

“What are you doing here?”

Heinrich asked, looking back and forth between Lucas and Lila.