🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter : 44
“Fufufufufu!”
“Eeek….”
My laughter, filled with joy, must have sounded terrifying again—Sophie flinched and stepped back, her face scrunched into a worried frown.
“L-Lady, is there some good news or…?”
“Good news? Of course! That’s why I’m out and about today, isn’t it?”
I got off the carriage and walked proudly, beaming from ear to ear.
“I-It’s good if it’s something nice, but, my lady, y-you can’t go in there!”
Despite Sophie’s horrified protest, the place I boldly entered was—
“Welcome to Florence Boutique!”
The most luxurious and expensive dress shop in the entire shopping district, specializing only in high-end gowns.
Sophie clearly knew where we were and why it was a problem—her face had gone pale.
“My lady…”
She looked as if she might faint at any moment, but I didn’t dwell on it long. A slender woman with her hair tightly pinned up approached with a mechanical smile.
“Greetings, Lady Ulmer. I am Maria, assigned to assist you today. What can I help you with?”
Though her words were polite, her cold gaze made it clear she harbored no goodwill toward me.
What the—? I’m pretty sure this is our first time meeting…?
“Isn’t that the daughter of the Duke of Ulmer? What is she doing here?”
At that moment, whispers from some noblewomen nearby floated over.
“Indeed. Surely she’s not here to buy anything on credit? The Ulmer Duchy is too poor to afford even one dress from this place.”
“Hohoho, she must just want to try things on for show. All for appearances!”
Ah, right. The Ulmer family is infamous across the Bregenz Empire for being broke.
Only then did I understand why Sophie had been so desperate to stop me.
She was worried about the duchy’s finances…
“Dear, don’t look at her. Didn’t you hear? That vicious lady recently broke the Marquis of Vente’s tooth!”
“Oh my, that was the Marquis of Vente? How terrifying!”
As if being poor wasn’t enough, I was also infamous as a villainess.
In short, Maria’s frosty attitude stemmed from viewing me as a broke troublemaker.
Honestly, it was a little unfair—but who cared? It’s not like I didn’t have money.
I confidently spoke up.
“I came to look at some dresses. Could you show me around?”
“…Of course. This way, please.”
Though she hesitated, Maria quickly led me to a room filled with dresses.
True to Florence Boutique’s reputation, the place was packed with gowns made from the finest fabrics.
But after a while, something started to bother me.
‘The colors are so dull.’
At least compared to what I remembered.
At the recent spring ball, girls my age wore much brighter and livelier colors.
I stepped back and asked Maria, “Don’t you have anything else? What about that room over there…?”
“Hmm…”
Maria stared at me for a moment, and I caught a faint smirk pass over her lips.
“Would you please wait a moment?”
She then turned to her assistant and spoke, just loudly enough for me to hear.
“Lena, those dresses in the other room—weren’t they all new arrivals for this month?”
“Yes, they are, Miss Maria.”
“And the starting price was…?”
“I believe they start at thirty thousand dalings.”
“Ah, I see. What a shame.”
Maria covered her mouth dramatically, then turned to me with an apologetic look.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
She gave a strained reply.
“Those dresses are… quite expensive, my lady.”
“I’m sorry, but since they’re brand new, we don’t offer credit or installment plans. Absolutely none.”
The ambiguous glances they exchanged and the tension in the air—yeah, you didn’t need to be a genius to know they were looking down on me.
“Hah.”
Seriously now.
They really want to play like this?
“The customer service here is awful.”
“Excuse me? If anything was unsatisfactory, I sincerely apologize. That was never our intent, my lady.”
Maria offered her apology like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth—but there wasn’t a trace of sincerity.
Judging by the glint in her eye, she was hoping I’d make a scene.
So she could spread rumors, huh?
‘Well, it would only boost my fearsome reputation, but…’
Now I was genuinely annoyed—and that made me not want to give her what she wanted.
“You step aside. Bring me Madame Florence.”
“And may I ask the reason? Madame is quite busy…”
Crack.
The fan in my hand shattered with a sharp noise.
My strength control had been a little off lately, probably because I’d been leveling up my core power…
[SYSTEM] You have instilled intense fear in ‘Maria’ and ‘Lena’, the boutique attendants! They recall your infamous reputation as the Bregenz Empire’s most terrifying villainess! Infamy +5
The two who had been mocking me clearly weren’t thinking that now.
“Busy, was it?”
I asked with a sweet smile, and Maria, now ghost-pale, stammered out:
“N-No, I-I’ll go get her right away!”
Not long after, an older woman entered the room.
“Lady Ulmer, welcome. I am Madame Florence, the owner of this boutique. You asked for me?”
She was much more skilled at hiding her feelings than Maria or Lena, but even her eyes betrayed a trace of annoyance.
I pretended not to notice and spoke in a firm tone.
“I’d like to see the dresses in that room.”
Having already been briefed by her staff, Madame Florence obediently guided me to the new arrivals.
Compared to the earlier batch, these dresses had better colors, fresher designs, and clearly targeted my age group for the spring season.
“I’m sorry, but trying them on is not allowed.”
“No need.”
I casually pointed at a white gown that looked like a wedding dress.
“I’ll take this one.”
“That dress is fifty-five thousand dalings—”
“No. I meant, I’ll take everything except this one.”
“Pardon?”
“I said, everything except this one.”
I coolly dropped a heavy coin pouch onto the table and asked:
“Is this enough?”
Clink!
There were so many gold coins inside that the pouch popped open the moment it landed.
“O-Oh my…”
Maria and Lena gasped unconsciously.
And at that moment—
[SYSTEM] Madame Florence feels a dazzling aura from you! Charm +1
Wait, what? Sure, having money is attractive… but my charm stat went up from this?
I was briefly baffled by the unexpected system message, but Madame Florence quickly answered in a totally different tone.
“Certainly, my lady. We’ll need to take your measurements—please wait a moment.”
Even the previously indifferent staff began bustling around me like bees.
“My lady! Please enjoy these chocolate cookies while you wait. We also have luxury caramel candies!”
“What drink would you prefer? Sparkling rosé wine? Iced floral tea?”
“Do you still not want to try the dresses? We’ll be happy to help you try anything on!”
…You know what they say:
If people are treating you poorly, check whether your wallet is empty.
I now understood the meaning of those words, perfectly.
When all the fuss died down, Madame Florence approached me with a bow.
“We will have all the dresses tailored to your size and delivered by tomorrow, my lady.”
“Good.”
“And if you ever need more dresses, you don’t need to trouble yourself by visiting personally…”
With a warm smile, she handed Sophie a crisp card.
“Just send someone with this, and we’ll come to the duchy directly. Hohoho.”
Ah, so this is what VIP treatment feels like.
Spending money and getting pampered—it really is a wonderful feeling.
