CH 17

In reality, her taste was much more bizarre than I had imagined.

‘Ugh…’

I shook my hand in disgust.

Aside from being a laughing stock, I couldn’t even move around wearing a dress like that.

“Lindy, is there anything simple?”

“Pardon? If you mean something modest…”

Lindy tilted her head to see if she could think of anything in particular.

“This one is very modest, isn’t it?”

“Are you kidding me?”

When I saw the dress that Lindy had chosen after a long time, I had a headache.

Because it looked like a wedding dress with a long tail hanging from the back…

It was a design in which jewels and frill decorations were hung on the skirt hem.

Seeing that nothing had changed, I sighed.

“I don’t mean something like this. I want the design and decoration to be as modest as possible with a much simpler color!”

“Umm… You said you wouldn’t wear it even as a nightgown, so I thought about using it as a mop, but…”

Lindy seemed to remember something.

“The fabric itself is of the highest quality, so it’s a pity to throw it away.”

“Really? Show me.”

“But you hated it, you said it looked like a rag.”

I firmly shook my head.

“It’s alright, I’d rather wear a rag than this.”

Lindy searched the last closet and finally pulled out a dress.

“This is it, my lady.”

“Ah, it seems the prettiest?”

My eyes widened.

It was much more beautiful than I expected.

It was a simple design that emphasizes the waist and shoulder lines as a whole, the light blue color fabric swayed gently.

Jewels and frills were neatly attached only to the ends of the skirt and sleeves.

“Because it was given to you by His Majesty the late emperor, the fabric and jewelry are really luxurious. It’s a pity that the design is boring.”

“Who gave it to me?”

“It was given to you by His Majesty the late Emperor. So, the one who will be my lady’s father-in-law?”

I was stunned for a moment at those words.

Are you saying that Leah treated the gift from her future father-in-law as a mop?

Leah Prezis, the more I knew, the more wonderful she was…

“It’s the prettiest. Let’s go with this one.”

“Hmm, wouldn’t it be too simple?”

Lindy didn’t seem pleased, but she had to move quickly to make it on time.

“I’m sure there’s a hair ornament too somewhere…”

Lindy searched the jewelry box for something. She even left the room and came back in, perhaps because she couldn’t find it.

“Hmm, where is it?”

“Just decorate it with this crystal or whatever.”

I lifted the most plain headdress out of the ones in front of me.

But Lindy frowned as if she was trying to recall her memories to the end.

“Oh, yes, that’s right! You kept it there, didn’t you?”

As if her thoughts suddenly came to mind, Lindy’s toes sped up.

‘… Was there a door over there?’

My eyes widened as I followed the movement.

Lindy pushed aside the clock tower on the wall. What was revealed after that was a small door.

The doorknob creaked a few times and the door opened.

“Cough!”

Lindy went inside, whipping up the rising dust.

The damp air from the basement room spread all the way here.

‘Is it in the basement? Did you leave what the emperor gave you in the basement?’

I looked at the scene as if possessed.

Why was the entrance to the door covered with the clock tower?

I heard that most old aristocratic houses have a secret passage or study. Is this an example of it?

“My lady! Don’t move. Your dress will get dirty.”

I wanted to follow her, but I couldn’t move because of her warning.

So in the end, I just listened to Lindy’s footsteps from the dressing table.

“C-cough1 There you are!”

Lindy didn’t leave the basement room until a long time later. What she held in her hand was a small wooden case.

‘What is this?’

There was something else that caught my attention.

It was the letters engraved in English on the case.

‘Remember me.‘

I quietly reconsidered the meaning.

‘Remember me.’

I repeated the meaning in silence.

As I was looking at the engraving with puzzled eyes, I heard Lindy’s voice.

“Is there something wrong, my lady?”

“Huh? It’s nothing.”

Well, that’s probably a common phrase.

I stopped staring and asked Lindy.

“Why was it there? Did I put it in there?”

Lindy was meticulously wiping away the dust that had accumulated on the case.

“You cherished this headdress so much.”

It was a nuance that Leah had collected her favorite things there.

“…”

I didn’t ask any more questions.

Instead, once again, the door behind the clock tower was engraved in my memory.

‘I’ll have to take a look later.’

As Lindy unlocked the lock, the old case creaked and made a noise, ready to open.

“My lady, you have to keep your posture straight. Your hair is getting messy.”

I was curious about the inside of the case, but I had no choice but to turn my head at Annie’s nagging.

At that time, I heard the sound of the spring loosening, and the clear sound of the music box came out.

“Oh… ”

I turned my head involuntarily.

“You must have remembered it again. It’s a song that you loved very much when you were little.”

“…”

It was an unfamiliar song to me. My body just reacted unconsciously.

“You used to wear this decoration until the stone fell off. Hoho.”

“That’s right. You insisted on doing that.”

Lindy and Annie looked excited as they remembered memories they had forgotten.

“…”

I couldn’t answer anything because the memory was not mine.

Until the faintly shining pearl ornament was placed next to my ear.

“Oh my god, looking at you like this, you really are the same as you used to be.”

“The shape of the golden leaves is beautiful even now.”

When I saw my reflection in the mirror, smiles appeared on Lindy and Annie’s faces.

“As expected, His Majesty the late emperor had a great eye. He made it for the young lady himself, didn’t he?”

“This is the first time it gets worn after the death of His Majesty, isn’t it?”

“It’s been a while since we took it out, but how is the gloss the same?”

I could hear Annie and Lindy talking to each other.

‘It’s beautiful…’

I just looked at my reflection in the mirror.

I felt strange.

Maybe it’s because I met Leah from a young age I didn’t know.

“Still, I think it suits you more now than it was back then.”

Lindy shrugged her shoulders as if she was proud of me.

Over the loosely braided pink hair, pearl decorations shone. Now all I had to do was put on the dress and that was it.

As soon as my makeup was finished, the tension in my body relaxed.

“Now all I have to do is put on the dress, right?”

I’ve been struggling, not knowing how many hours I’ve been sitting, my shoulders ached.

Oww, my back hurts.

As I was about to get up, Lindy’s eyes widened.

“Oh, we must finish it!”

“Huh?”

In the end, my body couldn’t get out of the dressing table. It was because Annie and Lindy held my arms together.

“Why are you procrastinating? Hurry, hurry. Still not moving? We only have three hours left, so hurry up and move.”

At Lindy’s words, the maids who were standing in a line quickly surrounded me.

“My lady, what color would you like your blusher? Among the new purchases at this Pania Salon, this one—”

“My lady, what scent would you like to use today? Overall, it would be better to be elegant, so how about mixing rose water with fruit powder? Or—”

“My lady, which one of the new shoes would you like to wear? The one from Ronenia Salon or Darian Salon?”

My lady, my lady, my lady!

This time, my legs trembled in a different sense.

‘Argh! Please, just stop!’

***

“Oh my god, the angel must have descended!”

As I walked out of the dressing room, the maids burst into exclamation.

“Aaaaah, my lady!”

“Mhm, I’m so proud of you.”

Aren’t you guys overreacting?

“When did our little girl become such a beautiful lady…”

Lindy and Annie, who had followed Leah since childhood, seemed particularly emotional.

“I’ve never seen such an innocent face before… How beautiful.”

“That’s right. I think her ladyship’s original charm has been revived.”

The rest of the maids were surprised as if seeing me for the first time. They covered their mouths and exclaimed.”

Unlike me, whose expression was like how I normally react to Director Choi’s pointless jokes, that is, with doubtful eyes, everyone’s eyes were full of sincerity.

“With light makeup, the clean feeling of our ladyship shines brightly!”

“You are wearing sheepskin shoes today, so your feet will hurt less. I placed a special order, and it came out really well.”

I had to wave my hand at the continuous compliments.

You guys are so cute.

“I’ll give everyone a big bonus this time…huh?”

Only then did I look at myself in the mirror, and I was surprised.

I even thought that the maids’ words might not be exaggerated.

A light blue dress with soft curves, and pearl decorations that go well with neatly tied hair.

It felt clean and pure.

It was completely different from the woman I first met in this world and the woman I knew.

‘Young Leah.’

The Leah I didn’t know…

Leah Prezis in the mirror was beautiful and dazzling. It looked more natural and comfortable.

“Anyone would fall in love at first sight with the current ladyship.”

Lindy smiled brightly.

‘Anyone will fall for it.’

I suddenly wondered.

Leah Prezis had a life where she would have enjoyed all kinds of praise and love for granted.

But why was she so desperate for and obsessed with Davan?

‘Why did you do that?’

As I asked the question in the mirror, amethyst-colored eyes looked back at me.

‘…’

But no answer came back.

I spoke to the reflection again.

This time, I brought out the words in my mind, not questions.

‘I was on your side.’

When everyone curses your love, when you stand on the patio looking out over the view, when you walk down the dark hallway…

‘I will always be on your side.’

I was always on Leah’s side.

If I had to endure so that her life would not become someone else’s means, so as not to be thrown into the gutter to make the protagonists shine, if I had to endure and fight, I would fight.

Therefore…

‘I will not live like you.’

I would not beg for love, pretend to be strong to hide my weakness, or be used foolishly.

That was the difference between you and me, the Leah of yesterday and the Leah of today.

‘Yes. Absolutely don’t…’

At that moment, Leah answered in a low voice that only I could hear.

‘Don’t live like me.’

That’s why God sent you to me.