The Runaway Female Lead Doesn't Run Away (13 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 12
A sunny afternoon, just like any other day.
Dahlia, who had been lying in bed, clutched her head and sat up abruptly.
“What on earth was that kiss!”
Unfortunately, she had been in this state ever since returning from the garden party.
Had something about her awkward gesture—meant to ease the tension of being alone with him—deeply stirred Clayton?
The unexpected press of lips had felt as though the entire world had frozen in place.
As the memory of that kiss resurfaced, Dahlia’s cheeks flushed again, and she shook her head vigorously.
“This just won’t do.”
Her expression turned utterly resolute.
“At this rate, it’s only a matter of time before we spend another night together.”
He already held her hand without hesitation and had even brushed his lips against hers in public—who knew when he might knock on her door again at night?
She had to prepare in advance before such an unfortunate incident occurred.
With that thought, Dahlia dashed to her wardrobe and picked out the plainest-looking outfit.
“Let’s go out and see a physician today.”
She couldn’t delay any longer.
Though pregnancy seemed highly unlikely, she definitely needed to get tested. She also had to request a prescription for contraception for the future.
Just as Dahlia was hastily rummaging through her wardrobe for that reason, someone knocked on the door and entered her room.
“Madam, it’s Jason. May I come in for a moment?”
Startled by the butler’s sudden visit, Dahlia quickly stepped away from the wardrobe and straightened her clothes.
“Come in.”
At her permission, Jason revealed himself.
“Madam, we received word from Madam Louise’s dressmaking atelier.”
“The atelier?”
“Yes. They’ve completed the preliminary fitting for the gown you’ll wear at the upcoming Imperial birthday celebration.”
“The birthday celebration…?”
Ah!
Dahlia’s eyes sparkled as she suddenly remembered something important.
‘Right—the Emperor’s birthday! I’d completely forgotten amidst all the recent chaos!’
“When exactly is the party?”
“In fifteen days.”
“Fifteen days…”
Though she certainly couldn’t afford to lounge around picking out gowns, a dress for the Imperial birthday was another matter entirely.
‘Since I’ll be visiting the atelier anyway, I might as well look for a good physician while I’m out.’
At that thought, she suddenly felt re-energized.
She needed to handle everything as quickly as possible.
“I’ll head to the atelier right now.”
Back when she first transmigrated into this world, she’d never felt more full of vigor—
but the moment she arrived at the atelier, Dahlia froze in disbelief.
“So… this is the dress I ordered?”
“Oh my! We picked it out together that day, and as I mentioned last time, this is currently the most fashionable design in the Empire.”
“Fashionable…?”
Frowning dubiously, Dahlia scanned her reflection in the mirror.
She could overlook the exaggerated, voluminous silhouette of the skirt, but the fabric covering her up to the base of her neck made the gown feel more like a nun’s habit than attire for an evening party.
‘Now that I think about it, all the clothes here have been suffocatingly modest.’
Most social gatherings Dahlia had attended so far had taken place outdoors, leading her to assume everyone layered their clothing out of fear of the cold—
but it seemed this style was simply the prevailing fashion after all.
“Hmm…”
Dahlia tilted her head as if deep in thought and examined the dress from various angles.
‘Despite the stuffy silhouette, the colors are overwhelmingly vibrant.’
Perhaps that was why it didn’t look tragically elegant at all—only stifling and old-fashioned.
As a duchess, she was expected to wear the Empire’s latest fashion,
but…
‘There’s no way I’d wear this and pretend to be a tragic heroine shedding tears in front of the male lead.’
That was utterly unthinkable.
Unaware of Dahlia’s inner turmoil, Madam Louise cheerfully selected additional embellishments for the dress.
“How about topping it off with ribbons made from imported fabric? What do you think?”
While this might appear to be a designer’s sincere effort to enhance the gown’s beauty, Madam Louise had ulterior motives.
‘Even if the dress becomes more excessive, adding these ribbons will net me an extra 500,000 darcs. I’ll tack them on and raise the price.’
She was simply scheming to profit handsomely from the dress. A sly smile curled Madam Louise’s lips.
Although she herself had popularized this gown, Louise couldn’t actually call it beautiful.
She’d never imagined that dresses she’d created solely to exploit naive noblewomen would become such a trend.
For Louise, the sole standard of a beautiful dress was its price tag.
Lace costing 1 million darcs per bolt; ribbons crafted from premium satin imported from the Eastern Empire at 500,000 darcs each—
the more expensive, the more beautiful, according to Louise.
In that sense, the Duchess of Seyear was her perfect mark.
Unlike other noblewomen, the duchess never meddled with designs and simply sat quietly nodding.
Her pretty face ensured she looked elegant in anything, so Louise’s creations never appeared cheap on her.
Moreover, House Seyear was one of the wealthiest families in the Empire—second only to the Imperial household.
And the current Duke of Seyear didn’t bat an eye even if his wife’s dress cost as much as a townhouse.
Thus, Madam Louise was pouring every ounce of effort into upselling an even pricier gown—
but then—
“Madam, if we just add this final touch, your dress will be absolutely perfect…”
“I’ll need to have the dress remade entirely.”
Dahlia’s words sent Louise’s heart plummeting into despair.
“…Excuse me? What do you mean…?”
“I want to change everything—the colors, the silhouette. Make it much simpler. And use as little fabric as possible.”
What kind of catastrophe was this?
Remaking the dress was one thing, but using as little fabric as possible?!
Louise responded in a panicked voice, as if it were utterly out of the question.
“W-why the sudden change, Madam? If we follow your instructions, the dress will look shabby! If the Duchess of Seyear attends the Imperial ball in something so plain, you’ll surely become the laughingstock of everyone there!”
In the past, a simple “But you’ll be the next Lady of House Seyear” had always been enough to silence Dahlia’s objections.
Thanks to that, Louise had sold countless luxuries to the Seyear estate—but today was different.
“No matter what you say, I won’t wear it like this.”
Dahlia spoke with unprecedented firmness.
“This just looks ridiculous.”
Thud.
It felt as though someone had struck her head hard.
“R-ridiculous…? My dress…?”
Dahlia was the first person to ever call a garment designed by Louise—the undisputed top designer of the Empire—ridiculous.
Even the Empress herself had effusively praised her creations as beautiful.
Yet Dahlia’s verbal assault wasn’t over.
“It’s also cumbersome and uncomfortable. It feels like it’s squeezing my entire body. And above all…”
She grabbed a ribbon on the dress herself and tore it off.
“It doesn’t look pitiful at all!”
While Louise stood dazed by such blunt criticism of her work, Dahlia muttered the word “pitiful” under her breath—
and Louise suddenly snapped to attention.
“Pitiful…?”
“Yes. Instead of this gigantic skirt, I’d prefer a dress with clean, straight lines. You know, something that looks utterly tragic when drenched in rain—fragile and delicate, making people want to protect me. Do you understand what I mean?”
A pitiful woman… Dahlia’s ideal feminine image was precisely that: someone who looked pitiful.
And in that instant—
with just those few words from Dahlia, the artist’s soul buried beneath layers of capitalism reignited.
Tragic yet beautiful… delicate yet evoking a desire to protect!
Exclaiming this, Louise immediately grabbed the nearest fabric and began draping a mannequin,
envisioning a design that would make Dahlia look pitiful.
“Might this be what you had in mind?”
A short while later, Louise asked after wiping away a bead of sweat.
The gown draped on the mannequin had a minimalist form never before seen in the Empire.
“That’s exactly it! Though it looks a bit plain now.”
Perhaps after seeing the previous dress’s overpowering colors, this one now seemed dull in comparison.
As Dahlia pondered this, her eyes fell upon a lace glove.
A lace glove adorned with tiny, individually set crystals.
Yes—that’s it!
She quickly pointed to the glove and said,
“What if we embroider crystals like these all over the dress? Don’t you think that would make it even more beautiful?”
“Crystals…?”
Crystals were a luxury embellishment typically used sparingly—either as minimal accents on garments or exclusively on gloves.
This was because hand-embroidering them onto a dress required immense labor, and the crystals themselves were extremely costly.
Yet Dahlia was suggesting covering the entire dress in them?
Good heavens.
‘Why didn’t I think of that myself?!’
Embroidering hundreds of crystals would be far more expensive than attaching dozens of ribbons.
This was the perfect solution—satisfying her artistic soul while maximizing profit!
Louise let out a sigh, chiding herself for her earlier shortsightedness.
Then, she fixed her gaze on Dahlia, who was still thoughtfully touching the draped satin on the mannequin.
‘Could the Duchess possibly be…?’
A tragic genius, born into nobility and thus robbed of the chance to fully express her artistry?
Male lead fell into her trap — and shattered when she walked away
This is also on my reread list!
This one is a slow burn, but when it burns, it burns hard.
Definitely worth a read, y’all!
The story follows a thousand-year-old seductive spirit who, on a bet, sets out to charm the male lead—a once-promising but unfortunate cultivator.
But just when she succeeds in making him fall for her, she heartlessly leaves, driving him to madness.
Determined to find her at all costs, he captures her, keeping her by his side no matter what, even if she hates him.
I love this kind of trope—I enjoy watching the male lead suffer in agony.
The ending drags a bit with unnecessary filler, but that’s fine.
As long as I enjoy the beginning, I’m good.
Intro
As an enchantress, Su Heng possesses captivating eyes and charming beauty, easily manipulating the joys and sorrows of living beings at her fingertips.
But to enchant a god, making him taste the bitterness of love’s separation, long-lasting resentment, unattainable desires, and inability to let go…
Do you dare?
Su Heng assists a divine lord in his cultivation, aiming to make him experience all the sufferings of love, so that he can attain the Great Dao.
Only after being chased down from the heavens by the divine lord, confined and completely possessed by him, does she realize how successful she has been.
The once gentle and polite youth has transformed into someone she no longer recognizes.
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MANGA DISCUSSION
1 Comment
Chapter Comments (14)
She is lost in her own world… lol. The bug went plop
Despite your horrible with listening, Rachel you get points
Hang in there Dalia, let’s aim for a leisure life.
Inline Comments (67)
Clayton murmured with a cold, sharp smile.
You ignored her first. To me ,you don’t have rights to anything about her
And so, unintentionally, Dahlia ended up ditching Samantha and Daniel yet again.
Noo. They won’t trust you again girl. Anyway I am still mad at Clayton
Unlike the Duke, who didn’t even care whether his own wife was being humiliated
Yes. So I want you to become male lead. Clayton did a lot of mess. But there is bot a chance for you🥲
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VKotaku28
Good for you designer! Then let’s move to the next location