MSS 30

Chapter 30

Hello!
My name is Ellie, and I work at Oberon Dress Shop, which is run by Mrs. Oblonsky.

I love clothes, I love cosmetics, I love hats and gloves, cute socks… basically, I love anything related to getting dressed up!
My dream is to open my own boutique before I turn thirty, so I’m working hard every day.

Of course, the job isn’t easy. There are lots of things I never imagined before actually working in a dress shop—problem customers, problem customers, and more problem customers.
But I can endure it because I love the older sisters I work with.

Among them, my favorite person is Seraphina.

She’s a senior who joined about two years before me, and she’s helped me a lot.

On my very first day of work, I was incredibly nervous. My hands were shaking so badly they were trembling.

I was standing behind the counter, wiping my sweaty palms on my skirt while listening to Seraphina explain how to fill out order forms, when suddenly—

An older man shoved his face right in front of us and shouted.

“Miss! Where’s the measuring tape?!”
“Huh?!”
“The measuring tape! The tape!”
“Oh, um! You can’t come in here!”

Our shop has measuring tapes available so maids running errands or customers buying ready-made clothes can measure lengths themselves. We even had a bundle of tapes sitting right on the counter.

“Where? Here?!”
“Sir! You can’t put your hand in the cash drawer!”

There was a measuring tape right in front of him, and another one by his elbow. So why was he doing that?!

It’s like going into a restaurant, asking for a fork, and sticking your hand into the kitchen. Isn’t it?!

That’s when Seraphina stepped in.

With the file she’d been showing me, she neatly blocked the man’s hand as it rummaged through the coin drawer.

“There’s a measuring tape right here, sir.”

She put one straight into his hand and sent him on his way.

The man took the tape and walked off without even saying thank you, and I felt a little awkward.

I thought for sure I’d be scolded with something like,
“No matter what, you shouldn’t shout at customers,” or,
“You should’ve stopped him from putting his hands in there.”

So I kept glancing at her nervously.

Seraphina just shrugged her shoulders and said:

“Are we really that pretty?”
“Huh?”
“I mean, look. There are measuring tapes here, and here too. There’s even one right between us and him. And yet, instead of the closer tapes, all he could see were our faces. Are we really that pretty?”

Pretty enough to steal someone’s gaze?

“I don’t think it’s that bad.”

She pretended to look at her reflection in the mirror on the wall, then wrinkled her nose at me.

“Being pretty is tiring, right?”
“Pfft!”

It wasn’t even that funny, but back then, for some reason, I laughed so hard.

Before I knew it, all my tension was gone. The panic that had boiled up from that sudden incident on my first day completely cooled down.

That’s what she’s always like.

She loves playing around. Loves joking.
Even when she’s angry and furious because of nightmare customers, she never forgets to joke.

“Ah, Seraphina, seriously!”
“Ah, this is ridiculous!”
“Hahaha.”

An older sister who could make me laugh even when I was furious to the top of my head — my favorite person.

But today…

“This expensive thing—I only bought it because YOU recommended it to me! I never intended to buy this! Then YOU should take responsibility for the refund!”

Does that make any sense?

She bought a corsage made of real, fresh flowers! Real flowers! And that was seven hours ago!

That’s like buying milk from a grocery store refrigerator in the morning and demanding a refund in the evening!

Do we know how she stored it during that time?

For all we know, she left it out under the blazing sun and let it spoil, then brought it back demanding a refund! How are we supposed to know?!

She definitely took photos, used it, and now that she doesn’t need it, she came back for a refund. No doubt about it!

“She has no shame. Earlier she even grabbed Seraphina when she was about to take a break and made her do this and that, not letting her rest at all.”

Hazel whispered angrily beside me.

The other customers in the shop were now watching the argument between Seraphina and the old lady.

“I’m going to report you all! My daughter was a teacher!”

Honestly, if I had been the one to deal with that old lady at first, I would’ve just done the bare minimum and pretended not to know anything else.

Because if you go out of your way to help, you’ll just end up taking the blame like this.

I wasn’t like that before, but after experiencing all sorts of things on this job, I changed. More defensive. More passive.

But Seraphina isn’t like that.

As long as it’s within her ability, she tries to help as much as she can.

“I’m just helping human to human. I’m just helping someone in trouble.”

That’s what she always says.

Not because she’s a staff member.
But because she’s a human helping another human — like helping someone struggling on the street, out of kindness.

And this is what she gets in return?

To people like that customer, employees beneath them don’t even deserve the right to offer kindness, it seems.

* * *

“Corsages made of real flowers, or shoes that have been worn, cannot be refunded. We explained that several times at the time of purchase…”

“Enough with that. I’ve already heard that.”
The woman cut Seraphina off and crossed her arms.

Meanwhile, the little girl she had brought along was fiddling with a lace decoration next to her, squeezing it in her hands.
Her fingertips left stains on the pure white lace.
No one stopped her.

“What I’m curious about is this. Was it really right for you not to issue a refund in the first place? Why?”

“It’s a product made of fresh flowers. Once it’s purchased and taken outside—”

“No, stop repeating the same thing. What I’m saying is, what’s the legal basis for refusing a refund? You’re saying it’s not allowed because it left the store once? It’s not like we came back a week later. We just took it for a bit and brought it right back. Is that legally correct?”

She lifted her chin.

“I used to be a teacher who taught law, you know? Don’t you think I’d know better? In commercial law, it clearly states that refunds due to simple change of mind are allowed. In this situation, you can be held legally responsible.”

Her tone, dragging out every word, treated the other person like an idiot who couldn’t even understand simple speech.

But Seraphina’s expression didn’t change.

She went behind the counter and took out the consent form the woman’s mother had signed at the time of purchase.

Because so many people asked for refunds on worn shoes or fresh-flower corsages, they made customers sign a form in advance acknowledging that refunds would be difficult.

“If you look at the bottom of the form, you’ll find the legal basis there, ma’am.”

“What legal basis? There’s a law that says you have to give refunds.”

“It states the exception to the clause you mentioned.”

“What?”

“Refunds due to customer’s change of mind are only possible if the product’s value hasn’t been damaged. Perishable goods like food and flowers don’t qualify.”

“……”

“Besides, you already signed the consent form, so a refund isn’t possible.”

That’s right!
Ellie clenched her fist in her heart.

The other customers who had been watching were now giggling.

One of the women who had earlier been intensely discussing the identity of the Holy Maiden of Magic with her friend whispered:

“Exactly. How could they refund it? The value’s already gone down.”
“I know. People like that would go crazy if someone tried to sell them a refunded item.”
“That’s why they make people sign those forms. Must’ve been a lot of trouble.”
“Ah, that was satisfying.”

Yes, exactly!

Ellie silently jumped around, cheering.

But what neither the customer nor Ellie realized…
was that this had been a fight the clerk could never win from the start.

“Heh.”

The woman, now unable to win by logic, let out a hollow laugh.
The final weapon she pulled out was:

“By the way.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Are you always that rude in the way you speak?”

“…….”

From that point on, it was a one-sided barrage of insults.

“I used to be a teacher, so even if I don’t remember everything, I still know more than a mere dress shop clerk would. What do you know that you’re talking about laws…”

“Did you even understand the clause you just quoted before spouting it off?”

“Someone like you would later complain about rude customers and how hard your job is.”

A customer who couldn’t stand it anymore stepped in.

“Ma’am, aren’t you being too harsh? Your daughter could end up working at a dress shop someday too. Would you like it if your daughter were treated like this?”

The woman snorted as if she’d heard something ridiculous.

“My child will never work at a place like this for the rest of her life, you know?”

Meanwhile, the real culprit of this situation — the grandmother — didn’t even pretend to stop her daughter.
She just ate the sample pastries laid out for tasting, and along with her granddaughter, touched the dress fabrics with oily fingers.

“Why? Does it make you feel bad? If it does, you should’ve studied harder in school and gotten a good job.”

After stabbing Seraphina with her final words, the woman left with her daughter and her mother.

The way she walked was light and refreshed, as if she’d fully vented her anger at not getting a refund.

The dress shop went silent, like a grave.

“Miss, are you okay?”

Some kind-hearted customers said a few comforting words.

The coworkers. The customers.
Everyone quietly looked at Seraphina.

With a tense, fragile feeling.

Ellie thought Seraphina would burst into tears, or throw what she was holding, or at least go into the back room to calm down.

But the older sister Ellie loved the most…

Lowered her eyes.

Brushed a few strands of fallen hair behind her ear.