CHAPTER 16
「Could you please turn around and face us?」
Hearing this from Luna Mare, Aurora turned around and as expected, she was startled to see her face. The Marchioness Clavis eyes went wide behind her fan while the other woman gasped and closed her mouth. All because around Aurora’s eyes, there were visible red marks and heavy eyebags surrounding her green eyes.
It was a very quiet afternoon at the elegant guest room of House of Clavis. In the room which was filled with Marchioness Clavis luxurious decorations, there were four ladies surrounding a wonderful and glossy lacquer table. Marchioness Clavis, the wife of the lord of the House of Clavis, their daughter who has come to visit her parent’s residence, the lady who is the fiancé of the heir of the House of Clavis, and a tailoress.
Not far from where they are, stood the ladies-in-waiting, the assistants of the tailoress and a few number of servants of the house—all were drowning in silence just like the four ladies—so quiet that only the sounds of the chirping of the birds could be heard outside the window as if marking the start of the summer.
Speaking of it—she had the bloodshot look in her face, something that no one could avoid. In the first place, it’s not right for a noble, a daughter of a high-ranking family of a Count, to meet any nobles with that kind of face. But for the Duchess Luna Mare, she knew of such a phenomenon quite well. The Duke was rumored to have dislikes for socializations but the truth is just was that his face is too scary for him to go on any occasions that Duchess Luna Mare had to go as a substitute. The next day, his face would show up like this in the mirror. Once he finds it on his face, he would end up struggling to get rid of it.
In other words——it’s those one of those congested face that one would have due to lack of sleep.
「Wha-What happened to you, Aurora-san?!」
「Yes! This happened!」
Had Felix heard the tone of his sister, he’d be surprised and would go silent and stunned. Duchess Luna Mare who’s about to say something more trayed away from her words as her eyes glare at Aurora. However, after she spreads out what she had in her hand, all the worries from the three ladies including the Duchess were blown away, leaving the three gasping at the same time.
「That is——!」
「Oh my!」
「Isn’t that——?!」
What Aurora showed was a white cloth about the size of a handkerchief. A slightly bleached cream-colored fabric that’s often used in temporary needlework and when practicing embroidery, and although the quality of the fabric isn’t that inferior, it’s something that even nobles could obtain.
But an indescribably form appeared over the white cloth.
It was a gorgeous rose which resembled an arabesque pattern which had gaily white background as if it was spreading its scent. There’s a bird which has settled on it that’s sucking the rose’s nectar while another one is preparing to fly in the sky. Yet another one is also spreading its wings that’s about to descent down on another rose. And then, there’s the leaves of the roses beneath the birds’ feet which were enriched by the morning dew with the summer sun shining.
——All of this were expressed in just a single embroidery.
The smoothly sewn black silk thread on the fabric looked as brilliant as the lacquers of the East and the black color shone beautifully like the potteries. Not only the silk thread but also the black crystals that were scattered, gave life to the embroidery. It was an embroidery technique that could only be described as brilliant, although the roughness was visible in some places, perhaps due to the fact that it was a hastily finished embroidery.
「This is——」
「Rose vines and Gray Thrushes——both of which are the usual sample of embroidery for people in Porta’s territory.」
「It’s wonderful.」
「Aurora-san, this is———」
「Yes. Yesterday, I had my fortune told by Felix-sama and told me that the color black and these small birds would bring me luck. And so I was inspired in doing this design while I was sitting in the carriage on my way back home.」
The ladies who were awestricken and scrutinizing the embroidery stopped moving. Does she mean that she finished this embroidery overnight? Is that why her eyes were like that? Aurora kept on talking without noticing that the other three ladies were looking at her.
「As soon as I got back to my room, I couldn’t help myself anymore as I started drawing near to my needlework, where I wasn’t able to stop as I picked up the needle and thread.」
Aurora breathed deeply as she saw the other ladies gulped audibly. The young lady with the bloodshot eyes finds this strange and was very afraid of what they were going to say.
「I thought that it would better to wear a black dress embroidered with white thread at the evening party.」
Once again, the room went silent. In front of the three ladies who looked at her with a glassy stare, Aurora continued to talk.
「The white thrush that’s sucking the nectar in a flower in the garden during summer would be very conspicuous. Then with the forest, the white and black color of the birds feathers would show a contrasting effect between the beautiful flowers. So I thought, wouldn’t I stand out if I wear a black and white dress between other gorgeous dresses?」
「But Aurora-san, don’t you know that black and white dresses aren’t accepted well at evening parties?」
Marchioness Clavis states with her beautiful face but sorrowful voice. Of course, knowing this Aurora nodded deeply. In the Kingdom of Wellbum, white dresses are known as formal dresses and black dresses are mourning dresses. White represents birth and marriage, while black represents sadness and silence. As for men’s evening suits, they are colored dark blue and black, but this was a culture from other countries, and even then, men’s evening suits were once considered taboo.
Hence, although pseudo formal dress is required, except for those debutants, nobles don’t wear black nor white dresses in “Great Social Halls” and it would natural for her to know this as a lady brought up as a daughter of a Count.
However———
「Of course, wearing black or white dress will be considered out of the norm but unlike Felix-sama who stands out and draws out everyone’s attention, I’m sure I’ll go unnoticed if I wear the same style as every other ladies.」
Aurora remember what happened at the previous evening party where she stood among other ladies and dressed as much as she could in colorful and beautiful dress, and yet she saw how unnoticeable she was to anyone. It was as if her existence was overlooked just like other ladies. After all, Aurora’s face doesn’t stand out as a lady. The egg-cream colored hair and luscious green eyes are not rare, and her face with a slightly slanting eyes isn’t too beautiful either. She’s proud to say that she’s not ugly, but she has the kind of appearance which is not so attractive to someone’s eyes. If there is a man standing next to such a daughter who isn’t that eye-catching, most of their attention will shifted to him. If anyone would say something to Aurora, then her fiance might help her but knowing her fiancé’s character is, she doesn’t think that serious man can do it. Felix might breakdown and things wouldn’t end up with a good result.
「But it wouldn’t leave any impression on the opposite faction. On the contrary, I’m sure I’ll be a target of ridicule, they might say that 『you are plainer than your fiancé.』 So I think that『winning』for me is to stand out in the evening party with these white thrush and bright flowers.」
In order for a quiet person to leave an impression, speaking skill is indispensable. However, it won’t be easy to start any conversation at a night party of the hostile faction, and skills which fascinates nobles are still dancing, music, and instrumental music, while the topic of embroidery is a rare topic of conversation in evening parties.
「Well… That may be plausible.」
It was Luna Mare who broke the silence.
「Don’t get me wrong. I think that you’re a lovely lady and I prefer the idea that you are doing your best for that foolish brother of mine as a lady who will soon be related to the House of Clavis… but from an objective point of view, isn’t Aurora quite more foolish than that foolish brother?」
「Luna.」
Marchioness Clavis wants to compliment Aurora but sees Aurora repeatedly nods her head and acknowledge Luna Mare’s words.
「Rather, I think you’re quite modest. You would make a difference with the silver crystal beads and the threads on the dress. As for that faction we’re talking about, I don’t really think we’ll get acquainted each other so it’s better to make it like this. This is it! An impact game! We have no choice but to take this challenge!
Ban.
Aurora made a fist with her hands.
「It’s not bad being assertive. By wearing a similar dress as other ladies, you’ll surely be buried among the rest. You don’t have to wear anything out of fashion either. And so, you have to attack by using colors and design…」
「Well, that’s not too shabby.」
「My, why do you say so, Emma?」
Aurora turned to her side where she heard a low voice. It was from the tailoress who was standing next to her staring at Aurora’s embroidery.
(Oh no, what should I do? This isn’t something I could show to the eyes of a professional!)
Perhaps, after receiving attention from a professional, Aurora staggered at the roughness of her handiwork. But instead, she spoke with a nodded of interest.
「It’s a great design. It’s quite impossible to believe that a lady of a Countess family embroidered it overnight. I think only skilled craftsmen could do this overnight… My lady my think that I am saying this to flatter you but I am also a professional. We are proud of our Maison who is one of the best tailors in the Royal Capital. I wouldn’t compromise you nor flatter you with this kind of thing. I wonder how wonderful it would have been if you have more time and flourished more of your skills. My chest is pounding just by imaging it. My lady, this design and embroidery, there’s no one who wouldn’t take advantage of it!」[1]
(Huh… Really?!)
Aurora’s mouth hung wide open. The truth is, embroidery is just hobby for Aurora and she had been doing embroidery during occasions for her family or for people in Porta’s territory that’s away from the capital. Her family praised her for her great skills and people from the territory so she thought she’s quite skilled too. In fact, she had no idea that her embroidery was seen as a great skill in the capital. It was only when she received a request to embroider from the Crowned Prince that she recognized the extent of her skill as a noble.
(Oh no, what should I do? I feel so happy…)
When she saw how Aurora’s cheeks were dyed red, Marchioness Clavis eyes widened as she also sees Luna Mare’s cheeks brightening up.
「Then do you mean that it’s all because of her skills that it turned out to be as wonderful as this?」
「Instead of white, let’s go with the color of cream in the background. Fortunately, it’s in fashion now to change the colors from hem to chest, so how about making it look like a gradation of the colors white to black from a distance? In addition to the thread, if you embroider different kinds of black silk, then it will shine despite being in black color and so, it will look gorgeous.」
「Oh my, isn’t that perfect?!」
To the question of Marquis Clavis’ wife, the tailoress answers———then one who promotes it to the social circles is the fashion leader, Luna Mare.
「Instead of dyeing, you’re going to make the color change with embroidery! But then, you’re not going to call it a ‘white dress’ or ‘black dress’. I bet it’ll be a topic of conversation!」
「But isn’t these colors a taboo on evening parties?」
「Well, that was the trend of the past, mother. In fact, only a few years ago, dresses on evening parties were supposed to be quite plain but now, it won’t be uncommon if nobles embroider the same colors. Well, I was the one who made it popular—and two hundred years ago, it was part of fashion to make dress out of silk woven with floral patterns! The fashion starts with a surprise———you know what, Aurora?!」
「Ye-Yes?!」
Just like how she did before, the beautiful lady leaned towards Aurora and grasped her hands tightly. Stunned by the tailoress’ words, Aurora who was watching the conversation progress with her chest above her throat, didn’t foresee Luna Mare’s momentum as she let out a loud voice. The face in front of her was just too dazzling.
「By all means, please wear the dress on the evening party! We’ll make a white dress and put it up front Emma’s store in the next evening! Let’s make it a popular dress, sister-in-law!」
(A-Aren’t I being treated like a sister-in-law now?!
On the other hand, Aurora’s eyes were dazzled by Luna Mare’s bright smile.
NOTES:
My lady — Okusama/Okusan — Althought the right translation should be wife or the interior (lit.) in Japanese, I find it awkward so I stick with my lady. The one who speaks here is Emma calling Aurora as ‘Okusama’ so this is why Aurora felt how they all became quiet close now.