Episode 10

“You want to become my escort?”

With eyes widened in surprise, John shrugged his shoulders at me.

“It would take time to find another escort right away. I’m quite skilled, so please use me as your escort.”

It seemed like a not-so-bad proposal after all. John was also a talented graduate of the military academy with excellent grades.

Moreover, an escort would get to know my every move. It was better to be cautious around one person rather than two, in case they noticed my investigation.

“Then, about the extra fee…”

“No need for extra payment. Let’s include it in the price of the loyalty that the Princess has already paid.”

I blinked at the unexpected benefit.

“Are you sure it’s okay? Being an assistant as well as an escort won’t be easy.”

“Just because I’m an escort doesn’t mean I’m not capable of doing other tasks.”

“It’s good for me. I can discuss my schedule with Martha.”

As I brightened up, John nodded as if to confirm the deal and prepared to leave.

I remained seated, slightly raising my arm to bid him farewell. At the door of the reception room, John suddenly turned around.

“Please eat heartily. What is that, your wrist?”

John suddenly rattled off some nagging and then whisked away.

“……?”

I stared at the door through which he disappeared with a dumbfounded look, then glanced at my stopped wrist.

John’s red fingerprint stood out against my pale, delicate skin.

“Well, it really is frail.”

After a moment of looking at my pitifully thin wrist, I slowly got up from the chair.

*

The next morning, Martha made a fuss.

“Thinking of finally going dress shopping with the Princess, I couldn’t sleep all night from the excitement.”

“I slept well, so stop making a fuss.”

A chuckle escaped me at Martha’s jesting. As I left the room, John, standing by the door, nodded in greeting.

“Then, let’s ensure your safety today.”

“Sir Watson, you must protect the Princess for sure.”

Martha said as if taking a promise.

She frowned slightly upon hearing that John would be my escort but smiled broadly at the mention of his ‘no fee’ work. A true attitude of a Princess’s budget keeper.

How long had we been riding in the carriage?

The owner of the quite famous dress shop in the capital greeted me with a very nervous demeanor.

“Sha, Charlotte, Your Highness. Thank you for visiting our store.”

He didn’t look thankful at all. I gave a wry smile.

“Please take good care of me today.”

The bowed head of the shopkeeper flushed with a look of dismay, as if he had heard something offensive.

Once again feeling the weight of Charlotte’s karma, I was about to enter the store when John asked me.

“Should I wait here?”

“It’s hot outside. Come in as well.”

“Do I come in too?”

John rolled his eyes in surprise. I chided him with a laugh.

“As an escort, you should stick close to the person you’re protecting.”

Martha squinted at the undue kindness to a commoner escort, but I just laughed it off.

The dress shop attendant led us to a spacious private room with a full-length mirror.

As I sat on the soft and long velvet sofa, the attendant handed over the lookbook with a terrified face.

“You can choose from the designs not marked as ‘sold out’.”

After reciting the scripted line, the attendant tightly closed her eyes, bracing for what usually came next—lookbooks flying over her head.

However, I quietly opened the lookbook. The attendant stumbled backward, taken aback by the unexpected turn of events.

“Martha, can you take a look and see which of these designs would suit me?”

Martha took a seat next to me, chattering excitedly with her opinions.

“Your Highness, with your porcelain skin, any color will suit you! You have a great figure, so fitted or flared styles will all look good on you… Hm? But are these the only designs available?”

Martha’s raised eyes turned towards the attendant, who made excuses with a frightened face.

“The truth is… Count Mosston’s debutante ball is not far away, so… many of the prepared designs have been sold out.”

“It seems we are too late, Your Highness.”

Martha made a face upon seeing the almost depleted list of dress options.

“It can’t be helped. It’s fortunate that we’re able to buy new things at all. We should at least choose something elegant and simple.”

The attendant looked at me with eyes wide as if I had cursed, considering all the dresses I’d bought from this shop had been far from ‘elegant’ or ‘simple’.

I chose a few designs that seemed the better among the remaining dresses.

The attendant, with a face as if in a dream, took the lookbook and went out, then reappeared with five or six dresses on a long hanger.

“Your Highness, are you really satisfied with the designs you’ve chosen?”

“Alright, I’ll try it on to see if it suits me.”

“If… if you damage the dress… there… there will be civil liability…”

The attendant seemed afraid that I might rip the dress while trying it on.

I smiled reassuringly at the attendant and gestured to John.

“John, don’t just stand there, come and sit here.”

“This is my first time in such a place.”

John was awkwardly surveying the room from a distance. He gingerly seated himself on the orange sofa.

Following the attendant’s lead, I entered the changing area behind an elegant purple velvet curtain.

Then I raised my voice towards the outside of the curtain.

“I will try each one on, so you two take a look!”

The first dress was a simple navy one with a somewhat modest feel.

After I put on the dress, John and Martha, seated side by side on the sofa, scrutinized my outfit intently.

Eventually, Martha shook her head.

“Hmm, it doesn’t seem to capture Your Highness’s loveliness perfectly.”

John’s eyebrows twitched at Martha’s critique, as if challenging the premise that I had any loveliness to begin with.

It didn’t look that bad to me, but given Martha’s ambiguous reaction, I compliantly went back into the changing area.

When I emerged in the second dress, which was adorned with lots of pink lace, Matha and John each had a cool fruit juice in front of them.

After taking a sip of his fruit juice, John shook his head from side to side.

“Hmm… buried in lace, it’s like a cupcake topped with too much cream.”

I scrunched up my nose at the sharp critique.

Next, I tried on an old-fashioned grey dress with buttons up to the neck and had to turn back before even fully stepping out from behind the curtain.

This was because both of them simultaneously made an ‘X’ sign with their hands.

The off-the-shoulder, body-hugging mermaid dress was also a failure.

Because John, looking horrified, waved his hand dismissively.

“Ahem. This one seems far from elegant.”

I sighed deeply. Choosing even one dress was not easy.

John and Martha also yawned continuously, seemingly bored with the ongoing try-ons.

The last dress I chose was an aqua-colored dress with a bell-shaped skirt.

Thinking that if this one was also rejected, I wouldn’t ask or argue further and would just buy the first one I tried on, so I stepped in front of the curtain.

As the velvet curtain opened, the gazes of the two people, who were sprawled out on either side of the sofa with their chins on their hands, turned to me at once.

And as if on cue, they both sprang up from their seats.

“My goodness, Your Highness. It’s perfect! This is truly a dress for a princess!”

Martha finally seemed satisfied, making a fuss.

Only then did I look at my reflection in the mirror.

Delicate pink curls cascaded down the elegant neckline, revealing my slender throat.

And the rustling texture of the dress, in a mysterious shade of blue, made my pale skin stand out even more.

“John, what do you think?”

John, who had been wearing a slightly stunned expression, snapped to attention at my call.

“That’s… truly lovely… I mean… what I’m saying is, you look human.”

“Oh, what a relief!”

I beamed at the thought of finally being freed from choosing a dress by their unanimous decision.

Having never been treated properly, Charlotte found the praise of being ‘like a person’ quite satisfactory.

John coughed awkwardly at my laughter and then gulped down the cold fruit juice in front of him.

“We will tailor the dress to your measurements and send it to the princess’s palace.”

The owner of the dress shop still seemed unable to believe that our transaction had gone so smoothly.

Just as I was about to leave after completing the payment, a group of noble ladies burst out from the next room amid a clamor.

“So, both Grand Duke Killian and Duke Adler are attending Miss Mary’s debutante ball, aren’t they?”

“Kyahaha, that should be quite a sight to see.”

“Indeed, I wonder who will be the object of such great attachment?”

“Lady Blair, you must be more than a little worried about having such a person as your new sister-in-law.”

The subject of the ladies’ conversation seemed to be me. They fell silent as soon as they encountered me.

I stared at them intently. They were the young ladies I had seen in the noble registry.

Christina from the Earl of Abigail’s family, Celine from the Marquis of Rialto’s family, Tiffany from the Baron of Hartley’s family.

And ‘Blair Adler’.

They hesitated, gauging my reaction, then curtsied to me.

“We meet Princess Charlotte.”

“It seems you all came for Miss Mary Mosston’s debutante preparations.”

“Yes, then please have a good time as well, Your Highness…”

The ladies quickly bowed to me and moved on, clearly eager to leave the place.

“Wait.”

I called out firmly to the young ladies intending to leave the shop. Taken aback, they turned around with stiff expressions.

Christina, who seemed to be the leader of the group, reluctantly opened her mouth.

“Yes? Do you have some business with us…?”

“Since we met by chance, why not have a cup of tea together?”

I smiled elegantly at them.

‘Blair Adler’, the younger sister of my suspect and a link to the first victim, was an opportunity I couldn’t miss to investigate.