A bright afternoon like any other.

Dalia, who was lying in bed, clutched her head as she sat up.

“What on earth was that kiss!”

Unfortunately, she had been in this state ever since returning from the garden party.

Was there something about her actions, done out of awkwardness when they were left alone, that stimulated Clayton?

When their lips unexpectedly met, it felt as if the whole world had stopped.

As the memory of that day’s kiss resurfaced, Dalia’s face reddened again and she shook her head vigorously.

“This won’t do.”

Her expression was rather solemn.

“At this rate, it’s only a matter of time before we spend another night together.”

She was already comfortable holding hands, and they had even brushed lips outside. Who knew when he might knock on her door at night again.

She had to prepare in advance before such an unfortunate incident occurred.

With that thought, Dalia rushed to the wardrobe and picked out the plainest-looking outfit.

“Let’s go out today and find a doctor.”

She couldn’t put it off any longer.

Although the possibility of pregnancy seemed extremely low, she needed to get tested to be sure. She also needed to get a prescription for contraceptives for future occasions.

Just as Dalia was rummaging through her wardrobe with busy hands, there was a knock and someone came to her room.

“My lady. It’s Jason. May I come in for a moment?”

Startled by the butler’s sudden visit, Dalia moved away from the wardrobe and quickly tidied her clothes.

“Come in.”

As soon as she gave permission, Jason appeared.

“My lady, there’s been a call from Madame Louise’s dress shop.”

“The dress shop?”

“Yes. They say the fitting for the dress you’ll wear at the upcoming birthday celebration is ready.”

“Birthday celebration…?”

Ah!

Dalia’s eyes sparkled as if she remembered something important.

‘That’s right, the Emperor’s birthday! I forgot about it with everything else going on!’

“When exactly is the party?”

“In two weeks, my lady.”

“Two weeks, huh.”

It wasn’t the time to be leisurely choosing dresses at a shop, but a dress for the birthday celebration was a different matter.

‘While at the dress shop, it might be good to look for a suitable doctor too.’

The thought gave her a burst of energy she hadn’t felt before.

I need to take care of this as quickly as possible.

For that reason, she was brimming with more energy than ever since possessing this body.

But as soon as she arrived at the dress shop, Dalia froze in disbelief.

“So… you’re saying this is the dress I ordered?”

“My goodness, you chose it with me that day. As I mentioned last time, this is currently the most fashionable design in the Empire.”

“Fashionable…?”

At the confident words of the madame, Dalia looked over her reflection in the mirror with a sour expression.

While the exaggerated silhouette with its enormously puffed-up skirt was one thing, the fact that it was covered in fabric up to the neck gave it a strong impression of being more like a nun’s habit than an evening party dress.

‘Come to think of it, all the clothes have been rather stifling, haven’t they?’

The social gatherings Dalia had attended so far were mostly outdoor activities. Because of that, she thought people wore layers of clothes in case it got cold.

It seems that was just the fashion itself.

“Hmm…”

Dalia tilted her head as if deep in thought and examined various parts of the dress.

‘Despite the suffocating silhouette, only the color scheme is excessively flashy.’

Perhaps that’s why. Rather than looking pitiful, it just looked stuffy and old-fashioned.

As a duchess, she should wear designs that were fashionable in the Empire, but…

‘To pretend to be a pitiful heroine and shed tears in front of the male lead wearing clothes like this.’

It was unthinkable.

But unaware of Dalia’s feelings, the madame was excitedly choosing decorations to add to the dress.

“If we add a ribbon made from imported fabric here, I think it would look even better. What do you think?”

At a glance, it might seem like the designer’s effort to make the dress more beautiful, but Madame Louise had a different motive.

‘The dress will become more extravagant, but adding this ribbon will increase the price by 500,000 darks? I’ll add these ribbons and raise the cost.’

It was her scheme to make a profit from the dress. Madame Louise smiled slyly.

Although she was the one who had popularized those dresses, even Louise couldn’t say they were pretty.

She hadn’t expected the dresses she made with the intention of swindling naive noblewomen to become so fashionable.

Her standard for beautiful dresses was solely based on money.

100,000 darks for a piece of lace, 500,000 darks for a ribbon made from high-quality satin imported from the Eastern Empire.

The more expensive, the more beautiful the dress – that was Louise’s standard.

In that sense, the Duchess of Sayer was the perfect mark for her.

Unlike other noblewomen, she didn’t interfere much with the design, just sitting quietly and nodding her head.

Her pretty face made anything she wore look good, so Louise’s creations didn’t look too shabby on her.

Moreover, the Sayer Duchy was one of the wealthiest families in the Empire, second only to the Emperor.

On top of that, the current Duke of Sayer didn’t care at all even if his wife’s dress cost as much as a house.

That’s why Madame Louise was now putting all her effort into selling an even more expensive dress. However.

“My lady. If we just add this, it will complete the perfect dress…”

“We need to remake the dress.”

Dalia’s following words were enough to make Louise’s heart plummet.

“…Pardon? What do you mean…”

“I want to change everything from the color scheme to the silhouette. Let’s make it simpler. We’ll use as little fabric as possible.”

What an unexpected bolt from the blue.

Remaking the dress was one thing, but using as little fabric as possible?

Louise asked urgently, as if such a thing were impossible.

“W-why so suddenly, my lady? If we do as you say, the dress will look shabby. If the Duchess of Sayer attends the imperial party in such a plain outfit, you’ll surely be laughed at!”

Previously, Dalia would have backed down with just one mention of ‘It will bring shame to the Sayer family.’

Thanks to that, Louise had been able to sell many luxury items to the Sayer Duchy. But today was different.

“No matter what you say, this won’t do.”

Dalia spoke more firmly than ever before.

“This is just too ridiculous as it is.”

Thud.

Louise’s head felt numb, as if someone had hit it hard.

“R-ridiculous…? My dress…?”

The Duchess of Sayer was the first person to call the dress made by her, the undisputed top designer in the Empire, ridiculous.

Even the Empress was busy praising her dresses as beautiful.

But Dalia’s bombardment wasn’t over.

“It’s cumbersome and uncomfortable. It feels like something is squeezing my entire body. Above all…”

Dalia said as she grabbed and tore off a ribbon attached to the dress with her own hands.

“It doesn’t look pitiful at all, does it?”

While Louise was still unable to recover from the relentless criticism of her dress, Dalia’s muttered word ‘pitiful’ made her snap to attention.

“Pitiful…?”

“Yes. Instead of this huge skirt, I think it would be better if the dress fell in a clean, straight line. How should I put it… a dress that looks extremely pitiful when wet in the rain, fragile and making one want to protect it. Do you understand what I mean?”

A pitiful-looking woman… The type of woman Dalia wanted to portray was precisely a pitiful-looking woman.

And at that moment.

With just one word from Dalia, the artistic soul that had been obscured by capitalism was ignited.

Pitiful yet beautiful… A fragile dress that makes one want to protect it!

Exclaiming thus, Louise suddenly started draping fabric on a mannequin.

Thinking of a design that would make Dalia look pitiful.

“Is this what you mean, perhaps?”

A little while later, Louise asked as she wiped off a bead of sweat.

The dress on the mannequin had a simple form that had never been seen in the Empire before.

“This is exactly it! But it looks a bit plain.”

Perhaps because she had just seen a dress with too strong colors, now it seemed a bit bland.

As she pondered this, her eyes fell on a pair of lace gloves.

Lace gloves with tiny crystals embedded in them.

Yes, that’s it!

Dalia quickly pointed to the gloves and said.

“How about embroidering crystals all over the dress like those gloves? I think that would make it prettier!”

“Crystals?”

Crystals were accessories that were only used sparingly on the upper part of clothes or just on gloves.

Not only was the labor cost for embroidering each crystal onto a dress substantial, but the crystals themselves were expensive.

And now she wanted to put such crystals all over the dress?

Good heavens.

‘Why didn’t I think of that?!’

Embroidering hundreds of crystals would be much more expensive than attaching dozens of ribbons to a dress.

This was the way to satisfy both her artistic soul and make money!

Louise let out a sigh at her own foolishness for seeing only one thing and missing the bigger picture.

Then she immediately gazed at Dalia, who was fingering the satin draped on the mannequin.

‘Could the Duchess be…’

An ill-fated genius who couldn’t express her artistry because she was born into a noble family?