BDBF 11

It wasn’t hard to figure out what event Hail had been postponing. From the next day onward, the household staff of the mansion began moving busily.

There were only five days left until the guests arrived. Within that time, they had to prepare both the guest rooms and the banquet.

It was an absurdly short amount of time to prepare so many things, but Rita said there was no need to worry about that part, since the White Dragon Family had more than enough manpower and resources to finish it.

‘Well, if anything, they should be worrying about me instead.’

Because I was the main character of this event.

The banquet held five days later would be an official ceremony revealing me to other families and recognizing me as the successor.

So there was a lot to prepare. On the first day of the five, Hail brought in three of the most renowned designers in the world to create a custom dress.

On the second and third days, I was quickly taught etiquette for meeting other noble families, along with the characteristics of those families that I hadn’t yet learned.

Etiquette was similar to what I had learned in my previous life, so I picked it up quickly. As for the traits of other families, Eve explained them in an entertaining way, so memorizing them wasn’t too difficult either.

“…All of this?”

“Of course!”

And then came the final day. I thought most of the important preparations were done—but that was not the case.

The three designers who had measured my body two days earlier had each brought over more than ten dresses.

It was already surprising enough that they had made so many dresses in such a short time—but I was apparently going to try all of them on today.

How could I not feel completely exhausted by this?

“J-just let me wear anything…”

Before I could even finish, I trailed off and glanced at the designers’ faces.

Their eyes, which had sparkled when they entered the room holding the dresses they had made, were now dimming. Seeing that made my heart soften.

Sigh… it wasn’t like I had asked for this, but they had stayed up all night making these dresses for me.

Thinking about that, I decided it was only right to at least try them on once.

“N-no, that won’t do! We should try them all and pick the one that suits you best!”

As I quickly changed my stance, the designers’ faces brightened again.

And so, the fitting began. The total number of dresses I had to try on today was thirty-two. Even in my previous life, I don’t think I had ever tried on this many dresses in a single day.

The only relief was that all the dresses were different colors, so at least it was visually interesting. But that didn’t make it any less exhausting.

“Ugh… can I rest a little?”

When I was exactly on the twelfth dress, I said tearfully to Rita.

Rita, who had been leaning against the wall watching quietly, nodded and walked toward me.

“Let’s take a short break.”

The designer holding a pale pink dress with almost feverish enthusiasm stepped back reluctantly.

As soon as Rita declared the break, I headed straight for the bed. One of the benefits of doing fittings in my room was being able to lie down during breaks.

Flopping onto the soft bed, I finally felt a bit alive again. But then I immediately felt gloomy again at the thought that I had only tried less than half the dresses.

I complained to Rita, who had followed me to the bedside.

“I’m so tired…”

“There are quite a lot of dresses.”

“Yeah. Can we cut them down a bit?”

“Hmm…”

Rita looked like she was thinking for a moment. I seized the opportunity and rubbed my face against her hand, acting even more childish.

Even adults would struggle with this kind of thing—why was I being made to do it like a child?

“Alright. You did grow a bit since your measurements were taken, so I’ll check if there are any that don’t fit and eliminate them.”

“Rita, you’re the best!”

I knew it. Rita would give in to me.

It seemed even she thought making a young girl try on thirty-two dresses was a bit much.

Soon, Rita left to sort out the dresses, and I finally got some peace. Or so I thought.

Because not long after Rita left, two of the designers approached me.

I opened my eyes and sat up as I felt unfamiliar presences drawing near.

It was Designers 1 and 2—the ones who had been giving me strange looks during the fittings.

“…What?”

“Lady, you are more beautiful than anyone we have ever seen in the world!”

“That’s right! We’ve met many noble young ladies, but none shine as brightly as you!”

I wasn’t exactly someone who liked flattery, but I didn’t dislike it either. Still, something about their praise felt… off. I couldn’t accept it as pure sincerity.

“So?”

“Well… we have a small favor to ask.”

“A favor?”

“It’s nothing difficult at all!”

This felt suspicious. People usually say that when they’re about to ask for something difficult.

“That’s right! You just need to sit still!”

They also said that in situations where “just sitting still” was definitely not all that was required.

I stared at them suspiciously, and they glanced nervously before continuing.

“It’s true, my lady! We’re not lying.”

“Yes, yes! And we’re very skilled, too!”

This had nothing to do with skill.

Their evasiveness was starting to irritate me.

“So what is it?”

“W-we would like you to be a model for our dresses!”

“…Huh?”

“It’s a very popular job among noble young ladies in the capital these days!”

“There’s even a magazine now filled entirely with photos of noble lady models!”

They seemed to mistake my reaction for interest.

It wasn’t interest—it was disbelief.

I didn’t really know what a model did, but I guessed it was meant to help promote dresses.

Still, that assumption wasn’t entirely wrong. I wasn’t just any noble girl in the capital—I was the successor of the White Dragon Family.

So that’s why they were looking at me like that earlier.

“I don’t want to.”

“…Pardon?”

“I said no. Why should I do that?”

“That’s…”

“And it’s rude.”

“N-no, that’s not what we meant—”

“I’m done resting now.”

I jumped down from the bed and walked back toward Rita.

I thought their suggestion was extremely disrespectful. Even if they phrased it nicely, they were only thinking about their own benefit. They didn’t care about my opinion at all.

Honestly, part of it was also just that I didn’t like them.

So first impressions really did matter, huh?

“Lady? You could rest more if you’d like.”

“No, I want to do it now.”

“Really?”

Rita glanced behind me. She probably saw the two designers awkwardly standing there.

But she didn’t ask me anything. She would probably ask me privately after they left.

I’d just make it sound a bit worse then.

“We’ll resume the fittings.”

And so, the fitting began again. I still hadn’t fully recovered, but after dealing with Designers 1 and 2, I decided it was better to finish quickly.

The fittings proceeded smoothly, and fortunately the number of dresses was reduced from 32 to 24. Many didn’t fit properly, which I considered a relief.

However, there was one disappointment—I never got to try on the platinum-colored dress that had caught my eye from the beginning, the one that matched my hair.

Other colors were nice too, but I felt that one would suit me best.

“This is the last dress, my lady.”

Hearing that made me genuinely happy.

Soon after, Rita, the three designers, and I held a vote on which dress suited me best.

A white dress and a pale pink dress tied for first place, with a 2–2–1 split.

For reference, I deliberately chose the black dress that suited me the least.

“Hm, what should we do?”

We all stood there 고민ing over the two winning dresses.

If I couldn’t wear that platinum dress and had to choose between these two, I thought white might be better.

I had worn pale pink recently, so I wanted to try something different.

“Should we ask Father?”

“Oh, that’s a great idea!”

At my suggestion, Rita quickly brought Hail to the room—along with Joshua.

It seemed Rita had already explained the situation, because as soon as they entered, they scanned the dresses.

Then Hail stepped forward, knelt on one knee, and brought himself to my eye level.

“Senica, which dress do you like?”

“….”

“You don’t have to choose between just those two.”

Hail noticed me glancing at the platinum dress hanging on another rack and spoke as if giving me permission to speak freely.

“…I want to wear that one.”

I chose it not because the other two were bad, but because I thought it would suit me best.

At my answer, Designer 3’s face lit up. He had been quite discouraged since his dress hadn’t made it into the final selection.

That was understandable—most of the dresses he made had not fit my updated measurements.

“The two finalist dresses are too extravagant. They would overwhelm Senica.”

Hail said this while looking back and forth between the two selected dresses and the one I chose.

“However, the dress Senica picked seems fine.”

“I agree!”

Joshua, always sharp in moments like this, supported Hail’s opinion.

Rita also nodded in agreement.

However, two people opposed the result.

“That dress seems a bit small in size.”

“And it’s too plain…”

Designers 1 and 2 seemed dissatisfied with my choice.

Why were they so fixated on this? Even if I didn’t wear those dresses, they would still sell well to other noble ladies.

Hail turned slightly toward Designer 3.

“What do you think?”

“The size can be adjusted here!”

“And the claim that it’s too plain?”

“Well…”

It was true that the platinum dress didn’t have any particularly flashy features.

I preferred simpler dresses like that, but maybe no one here understood that—except perhaps people from my previous life.

In the heavy atmosphere, I raised my hand and said,

“I like plain things.”