There are no fancy and pretty dresses in my closet.

“What should I do about this?”

The dress mother bought for me caught my eye, but it was too plain to wear to the concert.

“I don’t like it, but I have no choice.”

As I was peeking into Silke’s room, I went inside and examined her closet. As expected, it was full of dresses with sparkles and various decorations.

The problem is how to persuade Silke.

“I’ll lend you one.”

“…Silke, Felicia?”

Before my lips could part, I heard voices behind me.

“You came to borrow a dress, right? I heard you’re going to a concert.”

“And with Yurik Penton, no less.”

Though it hadn’t been long since dawn, those two seemed to have woken up early, their eyes clear.

“How did you know?”

“We heard from mother. Last night. She also asked us to help Lize wear a pretty dress, not a strange one, since it’s her first time going to a concert.”

“The dresses in your closet are sack- I mean, a bit plain.”

Silke clearly meant to say “sackcloth” before changing her words.

“…Then what’s in those boxes?”

The boxes held in each of my sisters’ hands made me uneasy. In fact, their unusually excited voices were ominous from the start.

“Oh, these? It’s nothing special.”

Felicia lifted her box with a bright smile.

“As you know, Bitty is the only maid in the mansion right now. But Bitty is ve~ry busy.”

“You could do your makeup in the salon, but it’s too early in the morning and few places would be open.”

“So Silke and I are going to specially dress you up today.”

…Huh?

“Actually, I’ve been wanting to do this! Elder sister!”

“Really? Me too, actually!”

Felicia and Silke clapped their hands and giggled. They both looked excited, as if they’d been eager to do my makeup since last night.

“Can’t I just do my own makeup? Besides, do I really need makeup?”

As I stepped back, they grabbed my arms without hesitation.

“Not wearing makeup? That’s nonsense. And you’re still young. How well could you do it? Leave it to your elder sisters.”

“Come on, Lize. Let’s go to the bathroom now. We’ll take good care of you. Okay?”

Silke and Felicia pushed me from behind.

“…Hmm, is this for applying to the cheeks?”

“I think so? But shouldn’t it be applied last?”

“They say making the cheeks red first and then applying makeup makes you look lively.”

“Really? Oh, I saw Julia mixing colors before applying! Let’s try mixing that pink and orange!”

The mirror was crowded with cosmetics taken out of the box. Silke and Felicia were delighted with the intense colors and sparkling creams that took up nearly half the table.

The problem was that they didn’t know how to use them.

“What’s this?”

“Just apply it first.”

“Then what about this?”

“Apply that first too.”

Silke and Felicia patted powder meant for the cheeks onto my bare face. Of course, it stung my skin.

I wished they would at least do something about my skin first.

But unfortunately, Silke and Felicia’s interest was not in skincare but in colorful makeup for the eyes and lips.

The more intense the color, the happier my sisters became as they brought the makeup to my eyes without hesitation. The result was predictable.

“……”

“…I’m sorry.”

Even Felicia seemed to realize this wasn’t right, apologizing without making excuses.

“…I’m sorry, Lize.”

Silke admitted it too.

My face in the mirror looked grotesque and frightening.

My eyes were dark, and my cheeks were so red I looked like a clown. My lips didn’t match my face at all, looking ridiculous no matter how I moved them. If I went to meet Roger looking like this, I might make him cry.

I silently got up and went to the bathroom to remove the makeup. My face turned red from scrubbing off the intense colors.

“Should we… call Bitty?”

“Or we could go to the salon! They should be open by now… right?”

The sisters watched me cautiously. Bitty would be busy, and it was too late to go to the salon now.

“I don’t really need makeup.”

“What are you saying! Lize, how can you go to a party without makeup?”

Silke exclaimed in surprise. It wasn’t a party, but a concert.

“Then I’ll do it roughly myself.”

“You’re going to do it?”

I nodded at Felicia’s question.

With flawless skin, I actually didn’t need to apply anything. If I had to, something light would be best. It was better to avoid colorful makeup, and for lips, a color that wasn’t too red was better.

Checking the time, I dried my wet hair and put on the light pink dress Silke lent me.

The dress that came down to my ankles fluttered like wings with every movement. There were long ribbons on the arms, and the chest was studded with jewels.

After matching the choker and necklace to the dress color, I finally fixed my hair. I tied it halfway up with a ribbon.

“Wow, it’s not bad!”

“Much better than usual! Lize!”

I see you can’t quite bring yourselves to say I look pretty.

“Thank you for lending me the dress, Silke.”

“It’s nothing. Let us know if you need our help again, okay?”

“…I’ll go to my room for a bit, so reflect on what you did wrong. You both seem to understand.”

Going to my room, I saw Roger’s violin occupying one side of the wall.

“Now let’s go to your owner.”

I hugged the violin.

Will Roger be surprised by my appearance? He’ll probably be angry, right? He won’t know why I broke my promise since he didn’t read the letter…

What should I say to him first when I see him? What expression should I make? Smiling seems wrong, but looking sad would be strange too.

“Lize! I see Yurik Penton outside the window! He’s waiting for you… mmph!”

Felicia quickly covered Silke’s mouth and smiled awkwardly at me.

“Silke, be quiet. If Swel hears, he’ll make a huge fuss.”

“Mmph mmph!”

“Lize, hurry and go out. Don’t forget to greet mother. She should be awake.”

After glancing at Swel’s room at the end of the corridor, I nodded.

I went down the stairs on tiptoe. I had to be careful until the end so Swel wouldn’t wake up. Then I carefully opened the door and saw mother sitting at her desk wearing glasses.

“Mother.”

“Are you leaving?”

Her gaze turned to me.

“Yes. I’ll be back.”

“I left some money on the table by the entrance. Take it with you.”

“That’s okay.”

“How will you manage going to the capital without money? Don’t embarrass yourself by taking handouts from the Penton’s eldest son. Buy and eat what you want yourself.”

When she puts it that way, I can’t refuse to take the money.

“Thank you, mother.”

“Make up with Roger.”

Willunz, the capital. The land of records containing everything of the empire and a holy city.

Though Hosha Village where the Marsen family lived was a prosperous and beautiful city, it couldn’t compare to the capital Willunz. The most eye-catching sight was undoubtedly the Imperial Palace occupying the northern part of the capital, where the Emperor resides.

“The palace is so big that the entrance seems close, but you actually need to ride in a carriage for about ten minutes after passing the barrier wall.”

Yurik said as I gazed up at the palace in admiration.

“Have you been inside?”

“With my father.”

Yurik said casually.

While looking at him enviously, I wondered if I might be able to enter the palace even once in my life. There were areas where civilians could enter. Rodney’s school also allowed students to tour the palace for a day if they submitted an application on specific dates.

“Lize. There’s a coffee house over there with delicious desserts.”

Yurik pointed to the city center.

“Coffee house?”

“Yes. Since your mother gave you quite a bit of money, how about recharging with some sugar?”

“I’m sorry Yurik, but I think we should head to Duke Born’s residence now.”

The clock tower was pointing almost to the hour. If my guess was correct, the concert at Duke Born’s residence would start in about two hours.

“We still have plenty of time, Lize.”

“We might miss Roger if we get too relaxed.”

But this was just the time I estimated, not the exact concert time. That’s why my words came out sharply.

“…Alright.”

“Ah. If you want to eat, let’s go! Come to think of it, it would be nice to get some desserts packaged for Roger.”

Seeing Yurik’s darkened face, I quickly changed my words. Yurik followed me to the coffee house without replying.

As Yurik said, the place was full of delicious-looking desserts. Yurik had a cake with strawberries packaged, and I bought bread topped with chocolate mousse and cream pudding. But due to time constraints, we had to give up eating at the shop and settle for takeout.

Yurik readily offered to pay for me, but I declined. As mother said, I couldn’t accept handouts from Yurik.

“I didn’t know you liked strawberry cake, Yurik.”

The carriage headed towards our destination, Duke Born’s residence. I watched Yurik, who had suddenly become much quieter.

“You ate it last time.”

“Ah. I ate it well, didn’t I? So it looked delicious to you.”

Yurik didn’t respond.

“……”

“……”

The atmosphere made it difficult to casually start a conversation. What went wrong?

“…Lize.”

“Yes? What is it?”

“You bought two.”

Yurik asked, looking at my takeout boxes.

“Oh, these. One is for me, one is for Roger… I mean, for me to eat.”

It would be better to keep my mouth shut. Especially about Roger. I belatedly realized that Yurik’s mood soured every time I mentioned Roger’s name.

“……”

“……”

It’s suffocating.

Yurik and I didn’t talk until we arrived at Duke Born’s residence. Only after getting off the carriage did I feel like I could breathe freely again.

As I looked up, my jaw dropped at the unexpectedly massive ducal residence. The mansion with its large garden was a pale sky blue, like something out of a fairy tale.

“Lize. Take my hand.”

Yurik, who had gotten off the carriage, held out his hand to me. Without a word, I placed my hand on his, and he grasped it tightly in one motion.

Many people had gathered in front of the ducal residence. As we tried to pass through the main gate among the crowd, a mercenary blocked our way.

I was inadvertently intimidated by the man’s threatening build and dark skin. Unlike me, Yurik maintained a nonchalant expression.

“I am Yurik Penton, eldest son of the Penton family. I don’t have an invitation, but I contacted in advance.”

“I am aware, Young Master Yurik. His Highness is waiting for you.”

Waiting?

I watched the back of Yurik’s head as he calmly crossed the garden, guided by the mercenary.

“His Highness was quite disappointed that you hadn’t visited for a while, Young Master.”

“His Highness?”

“Yes. Master Otto has been looking for you every time.”

Yurik seemed to be well acquainted with the mercenary as they conversed.

“Surely Master Otto isn’t here as well?”

“He arrived early this morning. He’s probably resting in the guest room.”

“…Sigh. As expected.”

Yurik let out a deep sigh.

‘So he’s been here several times before.’

Yurik appeared different to me now.

If he hadn’t been here, it would have been difficult to even enter the ducal residence. I, who had only been secretly listening to their conversation from behind, scurried to Yurik’s side to express my gratitude.

At that moment, a familiar person passed by in front of me.

“…!”

My heart sank.

My vision blurred for a moment before refocusing. The person had disappeared, but I hadn’t been mistaken.

Where did they go?

I scanned around for the vanished person but couldn’t see them. Still, I had definitely seen them.

It was undoubtedly Lady Bakus.