CH 19.6

At the same time, Lila was running her fingertips across the corners of her mouth.

“Wow, that was embarrassing.”

It had been done in the heat of the moment, but the shame was hers alone. Not that she regretted it, but she felt ashamed nonetheless.

“What is it, my lady?”

Jessie asked, overhearing her muttering to herself. Lila shook her head.

“No, nothing.”

Jessie took the lead and led her to Kate’s dressing room.

“Madame, please come this way.”

“Okay.”

Soon, they were in front of Kate’s dressing room and were about to open the door and enter.

But then the door swung open.

“Get the hell out before I call security!”

Kate’s voice boomed. Lila stepped back, panicking.

It was Kate who grabbed someone by the arm, and it was Doreen who was being dragged out by her firm grip.

“Aren’t you going to let go of me? Why don’t you fess up before I call the guards, you’re the one who got me into this mess!”

“Fess up to what? Oh, I’m well aware of your delusions, if you’re referring to your ridiculous delusion that I’ve ruined your life by messing with your little dress!”

“What? Delusions? Have you finished talking?”

“No, I didn’t finish! Hey, Doreen. Why don’t you stop copying other people’s designs? And even if you did, do you really think you’d be able to copy my dress?”

“What nonsense! When did I ever steal your dress design!”

“Pfft! You’re even shameless about the subject of making the same dress, in the same colour, in the same material, season after season.”

“Don’t make me laugh! You should stop abusing me. I’m so sick of it.. I’m begging you, Kate.”

“Who the hell wants to say…”

Kate, who hadn’t noticed Lila and Jessie’s arrival and had been arguing with them, looked up.

“Duchess?”

“…Kate?”

“Duchess?”

Doreen, whose head had turned with Kate’s, spoke up. But she couldn’t continue. The sight of Lila’s transformation had left her speechless.

Kate let go of Doreen, who moved like a fish with her mouth open but no sound. No, it was more like a shove.

“Kyaaah Duchess!”

Kate greeted her enthusiastically, like a puppy meeting its master.

“When are you coming? Even if you’re not, there’s a dress I’ve been meaning to show you! The winters in the north are very harsh. I didn’t want the frail lady to catch any cold, so I made a dress of my own accord, so would you like to see it? Actually, the Duke gave me a heads-up about it. He’s a real… charmer when he thinks of the Duchess, and I’ve managed to get some good furs, so don’t you see how excited I am?”

Doreen grabbed the hem of Lila’s skirt as she walked into the shop, naturally drawn to Kate’s rapid-fire gushing.

“Duchess, help me!”

Doreen flailed helplessly, as if the hem of her skirt were a lifeline.

“Oh, oh, merciful Duchess. Please clear my name. I am innocent. Someone must have touched the dress to spite me.”

Unable to move any further due to the strong tugging, Lila let out a small sigh. She couldn’t figure out why this was happening so soon after arriving in the North.

Of course, she was well aware that there was more than one person tinkering with her dress, but apart from that, Lila didn’t like Doreen’s attitude.

She was acting like she was the victim, when she was the one who had messed with the dress in the first place.

Doreen remembered Lila, whose face had changed completely, but who had remained unperturbed. She had no doubt that biting and squirming would bring about a solution.

Lucas was the reason she was in this mess in the first place. He was the one who had made her puke up all the money he’d paid for the contract.

On top of that, she was accused of mocking the Duke. Luckily, she was only fined, not jailed, but she was left penniless and destitute.

Doreen firmly believed that the foolish duchess would help her. She had to.

“You must have caused the misunderstanding.”

But the voice she heard was icy cold.

“… Yes?”

Jessie forcibly removed Doreen’s arm from her dumbfounded retort.

“Do you know who you think you’re touching!”

Doreen’s eyes shook violently, as if she’d been hit by an earthquake.

“Duchess…?”

Still, Doreen wanted to fight against the unbelievable, so she lifted her fluttering eyelids. But the cold cobalt gaze that stared back forced her to lower them again.

“You dare lie to my face! You know very well that you were playing tricks on my dress, and I have overlooked it. Do I have to turn a blind eye to your lies as well?”

A shiver ran down Doreen’s spine at the harshness of Lila’s voice.

“It’s hard to imagine how anyone could be so contemptuous of others that they would dare to pull off such a prank, especially when they knew they were dealing with a noble. Even among the highest-ranking duke in the north, such mischief is frowned upon, let alone among commoners!”

“No, no, no, Duchess!”

Doreen replied hastily, her face white as a sheet.

“Indeed, it was a mistake, just a mistake, believe me. I would never knowingly send the Duchess’s dress to…”

“Enough!”

Lila’s eyes grew cold at the continued lies and excuses. She no longer felt worth listening to.

After what had happened to her at the hands of Louie, Becky, and Charlotte, she remembered an adage she’d often heard from a dear friend back in the old days.

“Several people have proven that you can’t fix a person.”

Lila had long since forgotten about Doreen’s dress, and she didn’t want to waste any more emotional energy on it.

She was running out of time, she had to hurry up with the wedding preparations. She was curious about the winter preparations in the north, and last but not least, she wanted to sell cosmetics in the north.

She wanted to sell affordable beauty creams, not unlike those in the capital, to the commoners here in the north.

‘Moisturisers and such are more necessary in the north. Should I give away hand creams?’

Lost in her business plan, Lila’s ears didn’t hear Doreen’s cries. She was ushered into the dressing room by Kate.

Jessie, alone, began to berate Doreen. For Jessie, Lila was a benefactor and an object of admiration before she was a duchess in her service.

The look in Doreen’s eyes as she mocked Lila was not lost on Jessie. Jessie glared at her to make sure she didn’t look at him funny again.

Meanwhile, back inside the shop, Lila followed Kate’s lead and sat down on the sofa.

“So, what did the Duke mean when he said he was ready?”

Lila asked, not forgetting what Kate had said earlier in the day.

“The Duke took me aside before you left the capital, and he handed me a fur that had been trimmed, saying that he was worried about his wife, as it was your first time through a northern winter. Ho-ho, how nice it is for you, Duchess.”

Kate continued, with a dreamy look in her eyes as if recalling the moment.

“It really is true love…”

“Mmm, hmm.”

Lila blushed at her words. Sometimes Kate embarrassed her in this way.

“Oh, look at me. Give me a minute.”

Kate quickly wiped the envious, ecstatic look off her face and scrambled to her feet.

Quickly darting in and out of the workroom, she held in her hand a gleaming silver fur cape.

“Would you like to try it on?”

The cape, which looked like a bundle of curled fur, was cosy and cute.

She slipped it on and pulled on the attached hood, which looked like it would provide perfect protection from the wind.

“It’s very light, isn’t it? Silver fox fur is famously light. But they’re quick to escape and hard to catch. Plus, I don’t know who trimmed it, but they’re very skilled, and it’s almost weightless.”

“…Yes. It’s so light.”

Lila replied as she stood in front of the mirror, fiddling with the hem of the cape. It felt so soft in her hands that she couldn’t stop touching it.

“Duchess, the winters in the north are so harsh, and autumn hasn’t even ended yet, and the winds are already chilling, so you must be careful. I’d be very upset if you caught a cold.”

Her concern sounded genuine, and Lila couldn’t help but smile.

“Okay, thank you.”

“I made a winter dress, do you mind if I show it to you?”

“Sure.”

“Well, then, just give me a minute!”

Kate ran into the workshop once more with an excited look and gesture.

Instead of sitting down on the couch, Lila stood in front of the full-length mirror and swept back her puffy cape. She couldn’t help but smile at how fluffy and cosy it felt, just like Lucas’ heart.

“Madame!”

Just then, Jessie came into the shop, looking like a cat chasing a mouse.

His eyes, slightly upturned, were even more pronounced.

“Oh my, silver fox fur, so beautiful, madame.”

“Haha, thank you.”

“I’ll have to match your shoes and gloves, too. I’ve been in the capital longer than I thought, and I’m having a hard time now.”

“That’s okay, now that we’re back in the north, we can take it one day at a time, and no one will bother us…”

“I hope so, and I just want to make sure you stay safe and sound.”

Jessie’s sincerity made Lila smile, but her eyebrows furrowed.

“Well, it was a bit like that in the capital, wasn’t it?”

“You know how worried I was, but now that you’re back in the North, you don’t have to worry! Your power in the North is no match for that in the capital, and there will be no harm done to you in the future!”

Lila was grateful for Jessie’s gesture, but she thought of Hilda, whom she had met since.

‘Come to think of it, the Senate might object to the marriage… that woman said that then, didn’t she?’

Lila rolled her eyes as she remembered the woman, the way Hilda had called Lucas Luca.

‘I feel bad.’

Inwardly, she wondered if she’d ever have to see her again. Meanwhile, Kate came out with a dress.

Lila’s mouth dropped open in admiration at the material and colour, so different from her summer dresses.

“You’re definitely good at this…”

Sitting mesmerised on the couch, Lila began to nod her head as Kate showed her the dresses. She had a lot of work to do today, especially since she was going to let Kate pick out her wedding dress.