He"s is like a father who got reunited with his long lost youngest daughter.
"Like a head-over-heels father to his cute daughter… "
“Wah, are you really coming with me?”
The young madam, who happily welcomed the Grand Duke"s suggestion to go out with her was not an ordinary person either.
Even though they"re usually hiding their immense presence, a La Carte is still a La Carte.
Had Dalton had to choose, he would never have chosen to go out with the Grand Duke.
Of course, that was a completely different case from his loyalty to the Grand Duke.
"Isn"t the Young Lady scared of the Grand Duke or the Young Lord…?"
It"s normal for young children to be afraid once they notice the aura the La Cartes are releasing but Ariel is different.
"She"s really amazing. She"s the perfect lady for this house. "
Dalton"s positive a.s.sessment of Ariel was increasing without limit.
If Ariel had known about this, she would have tilted her head.
When it was concluded that she was going out with him, Susan began to prepare Ariel.
Like any child, her wounds heal fast, that"s she has no visible scars anymore.
But Susan couldn"t still feel relieved.
The people in the tailor shop she"ll be meeting today are veterans who have been dealing with a lot of young ladies and madams.
In their keen eyes, it could be seen that Ariel did not grow up to be as well cared for as the usual aristocratic girls.
Susan did her best to make sure that Ariel didn"t show any sign of it.
The pin-tucked dress Susan prepared for her has white flower patterns in a navy background with a thin silk lace ribbon placed in the center of the collar.
It even looks more lovely and cla.s.sy because of the ribbons attached to the bottom of the dress.
It was a decent dress for a spring outing, but it"s important to look aristocratic as much as possible now since we could fit the colorful and pretty ones from now on.
And lastly, she curled her scarlet red hair into rolls on the lower part and covered the top with an outdoor bonnet…
“Hoo, it"s perfect now.”
Ariel looked like a cute young n.o.ble lady.
Mathius, who was waiting for Ariel on the sofa in the drawing-room, stroked her head over the bonnet as Ariel walked out of the room.
“Let"s go.”
He reached out his hand.
“Yes, Sir Mathius.”
Ariel clasped Mathius hand. Ariel"s height was so small and Mathius was so big that the image of the two looks strange, but Ariel felt ticklish and happy.
"It feels like I"m going out with my dad."
Ariel walked lightly to the carriage, striding her big ruby-studded Mary Jane"s shoes pleasantly against the floor.
There was a small window on the spring outing carriage presented by Mathius, so Ariel could look outside.
There was one special thing about that window: Bruno"s magic was cast on it, so it was invisible from the outside.
It seemed that it had faded a little as spring came, but it was a spell cast by Bruno that was directly ordered by Mathius, who didn"t want to throw a useless talk to the social world who was still interested in the new Grand d.u.c.h.ess.
"I like this."
Ariel was also very pleased with the fact that she could look outside without being seen outside.
Small and medium-sized mansions and shops of n.o.bles were seen on the big streets of the capital.
It was also noticeable that the servants who were in charge of the errands of the n.o.bles were pa.s.sing by in small carriages.
“Wow, how pretty.”
Ariel who was still looking outside and exclaimed. She had been in the Grand Duke"s estate and going out like this made all the other things felt small for her.
The downtown area of the Imperial Capital, which is famous for its splendor, looked small compared to the enormous and extravagant appearance of the Grand Duke"s residence.
After a long time, the carriage entered the street where the capital"s tailor shops and jewelers were gathered.
Mathius stopped the carriage in front of the largest tailor shop.
Upon hearing the news of the visit of the Grand Duke and the Grand d.u.c.h.ess, the Madame who owned the biggest tailor shop ran out and greeted Ariel.
“Oh, my G.o.d, it"s an honor to see the rumored Young Grand d.u.c.h.ess.”
Ariel faced the Madame while covering her face with a magic fan that had the same magic as the carriage"s window.
She hadn"t gotten off the wagon yet.
“It seems like I"ll be blinded by the beauty of Grand d.u.c.h.ess. I"ve only heard that you"re a person who has a halo, but I think I"ll see that light today.”
The Madame smiled nervously and praised Ariel even though she hasn"t seen her face yet.
Originally, young guests tended to fall for these soft flatteries.
In fact, until just now she had been dealing with a flood of spring ball gown orders.
As it is the spring ball season in which love blossomed, aristocrats rushed to meet new dresses.
Many male customers ordered dresses for their lovers as well.
It is the season of the seasons, which is why almost all of the tailor shops are so busy that most tailor shops can"t receive other guests.
"But that doesn"t matter right now."
The Madame raised her eyes and examined Ariel"s face through the fan.
"Just being able to see the veiled Grand d.u.c.h.ess was worth putting off the orders she had received."
One of the characteristics of a tailor shop is that it is a place where rumors circulate.
And the ladies who visit the tailor shop were the ones who knew the value of the rumor.
She kept her mouth shut to rumors that shouldn"t be leaked, and made money by asking and offering rumors that others did not know.
The Madame smiled greedily inside and calculated how expensive a rumor about the new Grand d.u.c.h.ess would be able to sell.
Ariel watched the Madam quietly, holding her hands together.
"If I were really a 10-year-old, I might have fallen for it, but….."
She had already lived to the age of seventeen. She didn"t get to be old enough to become an adult, but at least she had a better eye for people than any normal 10-year-olds.
She wasn"t naive enough to be swayed by a few sweet compliments.
Ariel didn"t want to buy clothes from a woman who spoke only with her mouth, while her eyes were full of calculations and disregard for young children like her.
Ariel whispered to Mathius in the fan.
“Sir Mathius, I don"t want to buy clothes in here. Can we go somewhere else?”
“You are the Grand d.u.c.h.ess of La Carte. There"s nothing you can"t do.”
He replied, then he pointed to the most luxurious dress on the window of the Madame"s Shop.
“I"ll send you the measurements later, so send me one with that design.”
The Madame, who became frozen at the cold aura of the Grand Duke, raised his head.
“Y-yes, Grand Duke.”
The dress Mathius pointed at was a dress that had not yet been ordered by anyone ever because it was too expensive.
Its price was equivalent to the price of ten dresses worn by ordinary young ladies.
The Madame felt as if she had captured their interest with just this.
"Now, let"s bring them inside and officially…."
“Let"s go,”
Mathius ordered and the horseman drove the carriage gently away from the tailor shop.
"Huh?"
The Madame dropped her jaw as she looked at the vanis.h.i.+ng Grand Duke"s carriage.
After a while, a murmur ran out of her mouth.
“Why….? Did I make any mistake?”
“Sir Mathius, why did you order that dress just now?”
Ariel asked with pure curiosity. It was obvious that the dress Mathius ordered was a dress for a ball or banquet even at first glance.
Ariel, who has yet to make her social debut, did not need that kind of a dress that much although it was very pretty.
Mathius, who was asked, replied bluntly.
“You need a piece of clothing to wear at home.”
"…C-clothes to wear….at home?"
"I would be scared to sit anywhere wearing that in case it gets dirty."
The mansion where she currently lives is a place she has to spend her daily life, so even if she thought that she has to get used to the luxury, Ariel, who has lived without anything all her life in the past, could not easily adapt to the spending of the people of the Grand Duke.
"That"s why."
While touring various tailor shops, Ariel ended up choosing a small atelier that was neither very famous nor big in the end.
Madame Helen, the owner of the tailor shop she chose, was very quick and skilled, so she was running the place by herself without having staff.
Helen did not flatter Ariel to satisfy the vanity of the young lady.
She didn"t recommend expensive ones just because she didn"t know much because she was young.
“If you"re getting a formal dress, you"ll need a corset and a petticoat first. The quality of the decoration of the dress varies depending on where you are attending. It depends on whether it"s outdoors or indoors dress.”
Helen explained to Ariel in detail about the fabric, decorations, and embroidery.
Nevertheless, there was no disrespect in her voice.
Ariel"s status was far higher, so she would not have been ignored anywhere, but if they knew that Ariel did not know about clothes or accessories, she would have talked behind her.
Are you sure it"s aristocratic?
But Helen didn"t think it was strange that Ariel didn"t know very well.
Instead, she looked at Ariel as herself.
Her eyes that look so gentle, her rare red hair, white jade-like skin, and sweet smile come to Helen"s mind.
Although she"s still looks unmatured due to her young age, and her body is basically thin and slender, this type of body shape could create various moods depending on the clothes.
A spark of pa.s.sion flared up in Madame Helen"s heart.
"Her basics look great, so anything will suit her in any way."
But the thing about Ariel that stimulates her inspiration the most is her scarlet red hair.
Ariel"s red hair was a decoration in itself.
Perhaps even if she made a dress that suits her hair, it will attract people"s attention.
Therefore, if only the color and material of the fabric were selected well to match the hair….
Ariel would s.h.i.+ne like a person made of jewelry.
Helen was already looking forward to Ariel growing up.
"But I shouldn"t be full at the first drink."*
(t/n: means don"t or shouldn"t get ahead of one"s self or something like that. )
She hid her burning eyes and gradually began explaining the basics of the dress to Ariel.
“Corsets usually start at the age of 14. Mature ladies start wearing it at the age of 13. Before that, you should wear corset-shaped underwear. You need to gain more weight because even the smallest corsets are loose on your torso.”
She tried to find something that matched Ariel"s needs best.
Looking at Helen, Ariel was able to adjust to the awkwardness she felt from tailor shops.
And after a while, new enlightenment came to Ariel.
"Oh. The clothes Susan gave me were really indoor dresses…."
The world of dresses was really complicated and vast.
Ahh another addition to Ariel"s fans ♥
Anyway, I"m still having a hard time in translating Ariel and Lucian"s t.i.tle because there"s no accurate english translation to them!!! hngg!!! I guess I"ll stick to Young Lord for Lucian for now, but I"ll be using "Grand d.u.c.h.ess", "Young Lady" and "Young Madam" for Ariel depending on the situation. I" hope I don"t confuse you lols.