/

Chapter 23




Early in the morning, Rosena, who left the imperial palace in a carriage, arrived on a busy street where several shops were located.
Before getting off the carriage, Rosena was belatedly able to properly look at Yerhan.
He looked different from usual, dressed in an outing outfit like this.
He wore a neat white shirt and a black cape that came down to his knees.
Black pants that came down smoothly have knife-like wrinkles, everything looked perfect.
Perhaps because he had donned on an all-black outfit, his bright hair stood out.
Yerhan put on his hat before getting off the wagon. It was so as to not attract attention.
He got off the carriage first and then Rosena got up.
Illian, who grabbed Rosena’s hand, was wearing shorts, and a waist-length cape, just like Yerhan.
He was buttoned up to his neck in fear of being hit by a cold wind.
Unexpectedly, the two who were dressed in similar clothes looked like father and son.
Yerhan’s eyebrows shot slightly up and down when he looked at Illian.
Soon after, his smooth jawline moved.
“I’ll hold him.”
Illian reluctantly fell into Yerhan’s arms.
Rosena got out of the carriage and looked up at the sign in front of her.
The shiny sign was written in elegant cursive, akin to flowing water.
[Lielle’s Wardrobe]
Rosena rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. No matter how she looked at it, it was a dressing room.
“Why are we here
”
Rosena looked at Yerhan, who held Illian, and asked.
Then he casually pushed the dressing room’s door.
“You’ll need clothes from now on.”
Oh, he’s saying she’s going to match Illian’s clothes.
Rosena nodded slowly.
She didn’t bring more than a few clothes as she left the kingdom to minimize the burden.
She bought some clothes in the Empire, but most of them were ready-made clothes, so they didn’t fit Illian perfectly.
Rosena looked Yerhan’s back with a strange face.
He was holding Illian firmly with his arms in case he felt uncomfortable.
Looking at it, her fingertips were strangely itchy.
“Welcome.”
At the same time as the clear bell rang, the store clerk smiled and welcomed Rosena and Yerhan.
She was dressed in style, in the most fashionable clothes, as if to represent that she’s truly a wardrobe clerk.
As soon as Rosena saw her, she realized that her clothes were way out of style.
When Rosena stopped, Yerhan stepped up first and talked to the clerk.
The clerk checked if they had made a reservation in advance, and they were invited inside immediately after checking the name.
“I’m going to get a couple of suits.”
Yerhan, who sat Illian in a chair, talked to the clerk. Then the clerk asked with a big smile.
“Yes, you’re going to get some clothes fitted for your wife, right?”
Yerhan wrapped Rosena’s shoulder lightly instead of answering.
Rosena was surprised and opened her eyes wide, she didn’t even realise that he hugged her shoulders.
“Me?”
Yerhan nodded, and Rosena’s mouth was about to part to say she didn’t need it as a habit.
“After marriage, you’ll have to go on a lot of official occasions.”
“
That’s.”
“And the nobles all value appearance.”
Rosena kept her mouth shut. There were only three pieces of clothing that she brought along.
They were also simple clothes suited for moving around, thus the clothing decorations were plain so that they wouldn’t get wrecked.
Clothes tell a lot about a person. Status, economic power, dignity and sense.
As Yerhan said, she couldn’t enter the banquet halls dressed like this.
Everyone would laugh at Rosena for her lack of culture, and they would speak ill of Rosena, the young lady of a fallen count family.
Right, it was like matching armor before going to war.
You can’t be thrown into society naked.
“I got it.”
Rosena decided to fit only a couple of clothes.
She couldn’t urge him, who doesn’t have money, to get luxury, anyway.
Yerhan smiled as if he was pleased, and called the clerk.
“Please bring me all the fabrics in the store.”
Dozens of fabrics unfolded as soon as his words were finished.
Her eyes began to twinkle.
She once lived as a count’s daughter, but it had been a long time since she had dressed in earnest like this.
“We’ll start from here to here.”
What Yerhan chose was almost all of the fabrics.
Rosena shouted in surprise.
“I don’t need that much.”
“If you’re in the imperial palace, you’ll need clothes that suit every occasion.”
Yerhan smiled softly and pushed Rosena’s protests away.
At the same time, the clerk went a little further, and brought them a bunch of papers.
“These are the designs that are popular these days.”
Rosena came to her senses and looked down at the papers.
There were several dress designs, but nothing caught her eyes.
Perhaps it’s because she lived in the Kingdom of Astania for a long time, the dresses that are popular in the empire these days looked awkward.
Rosena chose a dress that was at least to her liking.
Then she thought she wanted to get a dress tailored to the designs she wore in Astania.
“By any chance, can you make it into the design I want?”
“Of course, we can.”
Rosena agonized and began to draw on the paper.
Soon a fairly plausible design was completed.
“Oh, my God.”
The clerk looked around the design in admiration.
It was her first time in a long time seeing a novel design as a clothing store owner.
“How fresh! What kind of fabric would you like?”
Rosena chose the color and material of the fabric without difficulty.
They were all designs seen in the Marquis of Hellis in the Kingdom of Astania.
Rosena, who finished ordering her stuff, thought that the shopping was over.
But it wasn’t like that for Yerhan.
In addition, he chose enough clothes to fill her closet.
Rosena watched it and swallowed her saliva. She didn’t know if she could pay for all that with the gold she brought.
A little tired, Rosena hugged Illian, who was sitting silently on the chair.
Come to think of it, she didn’t order any of Illian’s clothes.
“What about Illian?”
“Aah.”
Yerhan began to choose a suitable fabric.
And then she thought he’d just chose everything that caught his eyes and finished the order at once.
They only finished choosing clothes after almost two hours.
It didn’t take them a few minutes to buy Illian’s clothes, but they were able to finish it without a hitch anyway.
When the clerk was calculating the bill, Yerhan took Illian inside for a while.
“There must have been an error in the measurement. I’ll be back.”
Rosena sat in a chair, staring blankly at the show window.
She could see people passing through the streets through the clear windows.
Then some people stopped in front of the store.
They were looking at the clothes on the mannequins from outside the store.
The two women standing side by side looked like a pair of mother and daughter.
Rosena’s eyes widened as she looked still at the women, who were overdressed from head to toe.
The clear sound of the bell filled the store.
The two women, who were looking at dresses in front of the store, came inside.
The women looked around the shop and gazed at the dress hanging on the hanger.
A middle-aged woman with her hair curled up pulled the dress out of the hanger and tried to put it on.
The clerk who was waiting inside explained to her about the dress.
The middle-aged woman seemed to like the dress very much, as she was tenacious enough to touch it.
Then she asked the clerk for a price.
The middle-aged woman’s face hardened for a moment when the clerk smiled and told her the price.
“Well, it’s not that expensive.”
When she spat out the bluff, her shoulders trembled in fear. Then her forehead narrowed as if to observe everything.
“Looking closely, I don’t like the shape of the button.”
“Mother, look at this.”
A young woman who looked like her daughter picked up a hat.
The hat, decorated with sky blue feathers, was gorgeous enough even if seen from afar.
She repeatedly checked the price tag to see if she really liked the hat.
“It’s like the one I have at home. I don’t think I have to buy it.”
She said so, but her eyes were dripping with regret.
The two women, who were walking around the store and pulling things out here and there, stepped further inside.
And the two opened their eyes wide at the same time.
“
Rosena?”
“Sister?”
They looked at Rosena with expressions that showed they couldn’t believe what they’re seeing.
It would be naturally hard to recognize a person at a glance if they hadn’t seen each other for seven years, but Rosena looked no different from then, as if she had just been missing for three months.
“Why are you here
”
Macella, a middle-aged woman who was so surprised that she couldn’t speak properly, opened her lips.
Rania, who was standing next to her, was also busy looking at Rosena.
“
Long time no see.”
Rosena talked calmly without panicking.
Because she had already recognized them before they came into the store.
The three people who met again after seven years in a small store were silent for a moment.
The silence grew as heavy as a wet cotton swab and then became sharp as if it could cut through the air.
Rania and Macella were looking at Rosena up and down with an unpleasant face.
The modest dress she currently wore caught their eyes.
“You must have had a hard time.”
She was pretending to be worried, but was sarcastic at the same time.
Macella looked arrogantly at Rosena, tilting her chin up.
And next to her, Rania was grinning.
It was because she felt as if she had won after witnessing her sister’s terrible look compared to her own dress.
“Running away without taking responsibility. It was a shame.”
The way she retorted was harsh.
Macella scolded Rosena with cold eyes.
It was a public place, but she was speaking with her voice raised as if things had gone well for her.
Rosena listened to such a Macella.
She didn’t care about anything else, but she was worried about how her mother would react when she saw Illian.
At the very least, she didn’t want Illian to hear anything bitter.
“Nonetheless, I already sent a let
.”
“Rosena.”
Yerhan, who snapped Macella’s words, stood next to Rosena.
With the advent of Yerhan, Macella and Rania swallowed their breaths.
The two looked up at Yerhan blankly, forgetting what they were saying.
Blond hair, which seemed to melt at any moment, and eyes like the blue sky created a strange color contrast.
His sharp nose as if it was drawn, smooth lips, and a firm jawline, it was never a common face that they could see anywhere.
His mythical appearance even made Rania drop the fan she held.
The mother and daughter, who had been frantically immersed in Yerhan’s face, belatedly gasped for air.
At the same time, their eyes landed on Rosena’s shoulder. Yerhan’s hand was laid gently on it.
“You, you said you’re marrying the third prince, but with another man
..!”
Macella raised her voice.
The man who was standing next to Rosena was obviously not the third prince, who was known to be ugly.
However, she did not get to continue her words.
It was because Yerhan took a step forward and said the following words.
“I’m her husband.”