Chapter 20
“Sisters, look at this!”
Ever since she got rehired after being fired, every day had been a good one for Ellie. Our atelier’s talented youngest spread out a theater poster on the counter.
The poster was big enough to cover half the counter. It showed a half-portrait of a woman wearing a honey-colored dress, gazing up at the ceiling. Her wide eyes, tiny lips, and naturally loosened reddish-blond hair created a beauty so stunning it made you sigh just looking at her.
“Woooow…”
My coworkers gathered around, letting out murmurs of admiration.
“She looks like a princess.”
“A friend of mine who works at another atelier helped with her fitting once. She said the real person is even prettier.”
“So this is the actress, right? That Rosena from Opera Cernier?”
“Yep.”
“Hmph.”
I inspected the face of my target—whom I had never seen before—very closely. Beside me, my coworkers kept chattering.
“She must’ve been pretty since birth, right? Probably never had a single moment in her life where she wasn’t beautiful.”
“Look at her wrist. It’s so delicate. What can someone with hands like that even do?”
“What does it feel like to be born talented and beautiful!”
“Isn’t beauty her talent too? A talent that perfectly expresses the rest of her talents.”
“It’d be amazing to make a dress for someone like her.”
Ellie, who dreamed of becoming the empire’s greatest designer, clasped her hands with a dazzled expression.
“I want to see her in person at least once.”
“I bet it’d feel like the whole world just lit up.”
While they chattered away, I just stared blankly at the poster with Rosena’s portrait.
‘Well… someone that pretty would definitely cause a stir.’
But calling beauty a talent?
A talent that fades no matter what over time? That’s just sad.
“I’m so jealous of Seraphina. I really wanted to see this show.”
“Want to go together?”
“I want to, but I’m working late today.”
“Oh, right—Seraphina. Madame Oblonsky said that to enter Opera Cernier you need to wear something appropriate. She said you can wear a sample dress from the storage if you want.”
“Really?”
“Mm-hmm! There are a few little issues since it’s a sample, but…”
“Going somewhere?”
“Arden.”
Here we go again. I turned with a soft laugh. Today again, Arden was in his full knight-order uniform. I greeted him.
“Nice weather today, huh? It was warm outside.”
“Yes. But where are you going today?”
“Oh—right. I’m going to watch the show at Opera Cernier.”
I gestured toward the poster still spread out on the counter.
“It’s at 8 tonight. Madame Oblonsky said I can leave early. I can clock out at 7 and go straight there.”
“I see…”
Arden glanced at the poster, looking completely uninterested.
‘Even if he looks like that, who knows.’
Maybe he was secretly Rosena’s fan.
“So, Arden, what about you? Do you like this actress too? They say she’s ranked number one among men in their twenties in the empire—the actress they’d most want to meet privately.”
Rosena’s shows were so popular that people said not even bribes could secure tickets. I was thinking of offering him my spare ticket if he wanted it.
“Do I look like the kind of person who tries to meet actresses privately?”
“Uh? Not really, but—”
“I do not use my position to request private meetings with actresses. Ever.”
You don’t even have a position…
But Arden was firm.
Expression hardening, he cut sharply:
“I have absolutely zero interest in this actress. Not even a little.”
“Oh.”
“Not one gram. Not a grain. Not a speck. Not a single particle.”
“Wow, that much?”
“Yes.”
“That’s too bad. If you were interested, I was going to ask if you wanted to come with me.”
Because everyone else was busy. When I added that, Arden shut his mouth tightly.
“Well, if you’re not interested, nothing I can do.”
Then see you later! I handed him the bundle of handkerchiefs he always bought, waving as he left.
“……”
“Bye!”
Night. I ended up coming to Opera Cernier alone.
I pushed past the line of carriages parked in a neat row at the entrance and stepped inside.
“…This is uncomfortable.”
The sample dress I’d borrowed today was a deep green dress with a rounded neckline. A black ribbon tied at the waist tightened in the back.
It was fashionable. The problem was…
‘This dress is a sample.’
And the trailing ribbon in the back was extremely, extremely, extremely long. It didn’t bother me much when I tried it on at work, but on my way here I learned the truth.
‘This outfit is flawed.’
The ribbon wasn’t just long—it was too long. At least ten times on the way here, someone stepped on it and almost made me fall.
I wanted to cut it off, but it was borrowed, so I couldn’t.
“I’ll just be careful.”
If worst came to worst, I could transform and jump across rooftops on my way home!
Short or long! Why are my bottom lengths always so extreme?!
Muttering, I stepped into the central lobby of Opera Cernier.
And immediately gasped.
“Wow…”
The octagonal ceiling painted with delicate, segmented artwork, and the chandelier hanging in the exact center—
“The building itself is the performance.”
You could wander around without watching the show and never get bored.
‘When else would I ever get to come here in my life?’
Determined to explore before the performance started, I wandered around—
And ran smack into Arden in the hallway, fully dressed in his knight uniform.
“……”
“……”
“…Didn’t you say you weren’t interested?”
Arden gave me a tired look.
“I’m here for work.”
“Work?”
“The Capital Guard requested support due to the expected crowds.”
“Oh.”
So that was it.
“Why didn’t you say so earlier?”
“I was called suddenly.”
“I see.”
“Anyway…”
What are you wearing? Arden’s eyes were fixed on my dress.
“The atelier lent it to me. They said I needed a dress to enter.”
“There’s a footprint on your ribbon.”
“Exactly. I think it got stepped on at least ten times…”
I’d have to wipe the marks off somewhere before going home. Hearing me complain, Arden looked thoughtful.
“There’s a powder room next to the downstairs restroom on B1. It’s quiet. No one uses it.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes. It’s out of the way, so most people don’t notice it.”
“That makes sense.”
He must know the whole layout. He probably studied it for work.
I casually asked,
“Arden, where are the dressing rooms and actor waiting rooms?”
“Why?”
To spy on Rosena.
“I’ve never been here before. I’m curious about the building. And how actors’ waiting rooms look.”
Maybe I could catch sight of some actors! I clasped my hands with sparkling eyes.
Arden narrowed his eyes at me, then answered obediently:
“Follow me. There’s still time before the show, so I’ll guide you.”
“No, just tell me the way. You’re working.”
“My shift hasn’t started yet. I have time.”
“Really?”
Then I won’t refuse.
“…The dress suits you.”
“Thanks.”
We exchanged trivial chatter as we turned into a quiet hallway.
“Sorry!”
Someone burst out of a dressing room, rushing past us. I stepped aside—
And the staggering person stepped right on the ribbon trailing from my dress.
The ribbon tying my waist instantly loosened.
And the real problem:
I had just lifted my foot to step aside.
“Ah!”
Because I moved with the dress stepped on, the ribbon came completely undone.
I quickly grabbed the dress and prevented disaster—
But the ribbon had already come undone!
“What the—!”
At the same time, someone yelled angrily from inside the dressing room.
The fleeing person vanished.
My ribbon was undone.
Arden grabbed my elbow, opened the door to a nearby storage room—
SLAM!
“If I catch them, I’ll kill them…!”
Right as another person burst out of the dressing room, we slipped inside and shut the door just in time.
“……”
“……”
“Arden.”
“Yes.”
“Why are we hiding?”
There was no reason to hide.
“I don’t know.”
“…….”
“…I moved without thinking.”
“…….”
“Shall we leave?”
“No.”
If we hadn’t hidden at all, it’d be fine, but now it wasn’t.
The person who ran out must have caused some kind of trouble in the actors’ dressing rooms. We could get blamed for it.
Why were a man and woman hiding together in an empty storage closet?
And the woman’s waist ribbon was undone.
“We should wait a bit.”
“Yes.”
“……”
“……”
“Arden.”
“Yes?”
“There are three problems right now.”
First: my dress ribbon was still undone.
Second:
“Where are they!”
The staff member—or whoever they were—kept stalking around the hallway in a bad mood.
And lastly…
The place we’d ducked into wasn’t a storage room. It was basically a tiny wardrobe-like space barely big enough for two people to squeeze in.
Stuck face-to-face with Arden, I blinked.
‘Great. There’s not even a light.’
All I could feel were Arden’s warm arms braced on either side of my waist, the floral scent from the chest I had unintentionally bumped my nose into, and his breath falling lightly on my head.
Thump, thump.
Oh. His heartbeat too.
“……”
“……”
This was extremely awkward…
I didn’t know what to do with my body, so my eyes just darted around.
I felt Arden slowly lower his head.
Close enough that his lips brushed against my hair, he murmured:
“…Are you going to?”
“Huh?”
“…Do it?”
“Huh? Do what?”
“Can you move away a little?”
“……”
