CH 12

≪Cultural Shock≫

“Don’t worry about it, one or two more pieces of laundry won’t make a difference.”

“You must have been nervous because you slept in an unfamiliar place.”

“Oh, yes…”

The warmth and concern of all the maids prickled her heart in the morning. Iris (René) was striving to bring her mind closer to emptiness.

Her conscience had deteriorated to a level that would allow her to commit genocide with impunity, but her sense of shame seemed to be alive and well.

Iris (René) was wearing a chemise-style pajama, and her maid helped her to change her clothes.

It seems that even in Ciel-Terra, the upper classes did not change their clothes by themselves. She remembered her mother helping her get dressed when she was a little girl, but that was when she was unable to put on and take off her clothes by herself. It felt strange to have someone else do everything for her now.

Now it was a rehearsal, or rather, a training period before she began her full-fledged work as the young lady’s double. René’s life was simple, so the experience of aristocratic life was a culture shock in its own way. It seemed that when her mother was forced to leave the court, she was given a certain amount of assets, but she did not spend lavishly, instead spending it in small amounts. The reason why she didn’t hire any servants… may simply be because they were living in hiding.

Being forced to change clothes was a culture shock, but so was the way she dressed. René had only ever worn simple, mundane wool dresses. However, what she was now prepared for was a bright crimson and gothic black … dress or one-piece, she wasn’t sure which, but it was so vibrant that it almost blinded her eyes. No longer just a big doll’s figure, it was filled with ruffled decorations and had ribbon ornaments here and there. The skirt, which was as wide as it could go, seemed to have the effect of making the waist appear slimmer. The white, frilly undergarment would probably peek out from the hem of the skirt.

Such a lavishly decorated outfit may not be so different from the parade costumes worn at the Mouse Palace.

(TLN: Mickey Mouse reference I think)

–No, when the memories of being a man come back to me, I feel uncomfortable in a skirt or a dress in the first place.  Is it not the same as not wearing anything like this? Why are all women okay with dressing like this? Are they strong? Are they a fighting race?

The mainstream undergarments for women (below) seemed to be loose-fitting, which, well, if one looked past the … appearance, not much different from trunk pants, and it didn’t bother her too much.

However.

“Ouch!”

“Oh my, were they a little too tight?”

Iris (René) screamed involuntarily, and the maid who was tightening the laces stopped her hands for a moment.

The corset, which compressed from the bottom of her chest to her belly, was a first for René as well. Needless to say, for Chojiro, who was an ordinary terrestrial male, it was also his first experience.

As she recalled, corsets were abandoned in Earth’s history because they were considered to be bad for the body…

–This is certainly not good for me. Yeah, well, I’m already dead, so it’s okay, right?

She did not want to interfere with her job as “Iris”.

After she finished putting on her undergarments, the next step was that parade costume-like outfit. There was a shirt to put on underneath, an apron-like part, and strings here and there, and the clothes were put on through a process that was like a puzzle made of braided wood. She probably wouldn’t know how to do it even if she tried to put it on by herself later.

“Now, it’s done. Please take a look.”

Finally, she seemed to have finished dressing, and Iris (René) was made to stand in front of the mirror.

“Oh.”

There was a beautiful girl there, who looked just like a doll. The mirror showed her beautiful wavy hair, and her wisteria-colored eyes were shining in the mirror.

Iris, whom René was relying on, had a good-looking face to begin with. It is only natural that she would look gorgeous if she were dressed in good clothes.

Even though it was only a temporary body, Iris’s (René’s) heart throbbed with excitement.

The unmistakable attire of a nobleman. She was now wearing the lovely clothes that she had only imagined in stories.

–Wait a minute. Excited? Me?

Iris (René) suddenly reconsidered and put on a straight face.

There was even a saying, “The best revenge is to live happily.” Well, such a lukewarm revenge was not enough, but Iris (René) thought that finding a little fun in the day-to-day activities for revenge was not a bad thing at all.

But, however….

She was a former earthly male and the strongest Undead who seriously asked herself if it was right to have thrills in the act of wearing girlish clothes.

She was thinking of “revenge” as Rene and as Chojiro, but she was torn apart in other areas of her thinking.

As René, well, this outfit would be acceptable, but what about as Chojiro? Iris (René), picturing herself as a man wearing this outfit when she once lived on earth, came to the heartless conclusion, ‘If a passing child saw me wearing it, he would scream and run away’.

–Errr, but I’m a girl now, so … I mean, I’m possessing Iris, so I’d better think in terms of Iris’s standards… Huh, is there something wrong with my thinking?

While Iris (René) was pondering, her hair was being combed and a thin layer of white powder was being applied to her face, and her morning preparations were proceeding with the ease of a production line of some sort.

＊ ＊ ＊

A separate part of the castle from Iris’s (René’s) living quarters was allocated to the “Dragon’s Throat”.

This was living quarters for the servants who lived in the castle. One of the rooms, which had apparently been vacant for some time, was the party’s quarters. The large room, which was originally intended for five or six people, was furnished with three beds and some furniture.

When Iris (René) entered the room, the three were just having breakfast.

“Good morning, everyone.”

Iris (René) greeted them as usual, drawing on Iris’s memories.

Hugh, who had stopped eating and was looking at Iris (René) with a blank stare, broke into a smile.

“Oh, Iris! I didn’t recognize you for a second.”

” I knew it.”

“You could tell because of your nose!”

Hugh yanked Benedict away from the smoked meat sandwich he was munching on.

As a Kobold, Benedict had the ears and nose of a dog. He had saved the party several times with those abilities.

Well, as expected, he could not hear the sound of the «Signal Bomb» that exploded near «Silence» (although Diana seemed to sense the magic power), and it seemed that he cannot detect René who possessed Iris with his wild intuition.

” What’s up with your outfit?”

” Ummm, Maid-san…, the maid-in-waiting? The maid made me wear it.”

“Hmmm. It looks good on you, Iris. You’re always cute, but you look so different when you look this way.”

Diana praised her as if it was a matter of course. Iris (René) was somewhat annoyed.

“Oh well, you’re the young lady’s double, aren’t you? I guess you have to wear the same clothes.”

“You always wear robes for protection and ease of movement, so you’ll have to get used to that, too.”

“I thought the corset was going to kill me.”

“Ahahaha! It’s true that those things are tight. Adventurers don’t wear such things.

Diana did not usually wear a corset, but she had worn one before.

Corsets are just corrective undergarments that make you look good. Adventurers would never wear something that was so uncomfortable and prevented them from moving.

“And this dress. It’s very complicated. I don’t even know how to put it on, let alone take it off.”

“Hmmm?… Oh, that’s because you didn’t put it on yourself.”

“Yes. The maid did everything for me… It’s kind of embarrassing to be forced to change clothes all the time.”

Iris (René) was simply expressing her feelings, but when Hugh heard this, he turned his head.

“You don’t mind taking your clothes off in front of us, but you’re embarrassed when you have to be dressed?”

“Ugh. That’s…”

Iris (René) was at a loss for words.

Originally, Iris was rather careless and was often rebuked by Diana for exposing her vulnerable appearance even in the presence of Benedict and Hugh.

However, three days ago, when René was in possession of her, she made a slightly bigger mistake by changing her clothes in front of Hugh without a care in the world.

She thought it was a ‘man’s perception’…

――Even if in that case it’s safe to say that Iris was originally that kind of girl…!

She would never have done it if she had remained in “René”. Maybe it was because the memories and sensations of her previous life came back to her. She had to be careful not to look suspicious.

Iris (René) took the lesson to heart, remembering that she is now a girl.

“So, how was the job of sleeping in a soft bed all by yourself?”

“Um, well…”

Hugh asked, and Iris (René) trailed off, praying that the maids would keep their mouths shut.

“We had a proper bed, too, didn’t we?”

“Oh, yeah. It’s a blessing to sleep in a room without a single stain or crack in it. And the food is good, too.”

“Of course, it’s a dangerous quest, so expenses and rewards must be generous.”

Still not quite convinced by the job, Diana put more effort than necessary into biting into her sandwich.

“But I wonder if this is the right thing to do. I don’t know if it’s okay to call her a double, but it’s pretty obvious, isn’t it? Iris can look like the young lady if she disguises herself… “Dragon’s Throat” is not unknown. If we were in and out of the castle, even Night Pythons would realize that the young lady and Iris could have been switched.”

“You took the job, didn’t you?”

Benedict wondered. Actually, Iris (René) was of the same opinion.

The servants knew about this, and in addition, young lady Catherine, who was to be guarded in the castle, would be living a normal life while Iris (René) was at the castle.

In other words, there would be two “Catherines” in the castle, and one might wonder if there was any point in having two “Catherines” in the castle.

But Hugh shook his head as if he didn’t care.

“It’s okay to notice. Maybe. It makes it harder for them to mess with the young lady. Perhaps the young lady here now might be a fake.”

“I see.”

“Even if it doesn’t work out, that’s the Earl-sama’s problem. We’ll do our job as we’re told, and we have nothing to complain about.”

Hugh said so matter-of-factly, but Benedict looked reluctant, perhaps worried about the young lady.

–Ehh … this is the point where “Iris” should interject, isn’t it?

In possessing Iris, René was able to peek into her memories.

It was here that René read from her memories of Iris that Iris was childlike and righteous.

“Hugh. I want to help Catherine-chan, even if that’s all I can do as an adventurer.”

Iris (René) said something that had never crossed her mind.

“I wish to help, too. If the situation goes beyond our ability to handle, we can’t do anything about it.”

“Yes. Iris, be careful and don’t get yourself in any danger.”

“Yes, leader.”

Iris (René) replied with a slightly dissatisfied look on her face.

“Iris, have you had breakfast yet? I saved it for you.”

“Ah, well, I’ll have some.”

“Wait a minute, Iris-sama… I knew you were here.”

Iris was about to reach for a sandwich when a woman in a plain, modest dress pushed her way through the half-open door.

She was Catherine’s manners teacher, just as she looked (?), with her hair pulled up in an elegant braid and triangular glasses. Iris (René) was to learn upper-class manners and etiquette from her for a few days before work began.

“Iris-sama will have breakfast separately. You will learn how to eat.”

“Yes…”

“Too bad. You’re going to have to be disciplined.”

With a wry smile, Diana waved her hand.

Iris (René) had just met this teacher yesterday, but she was already feeling uncomfortable because she had been told to straighten her posture for ten minutes.

“We’re going to have a meeting to discuss security and a tour of the castle for that purpose.”

“I’ll give you the heads-up later.”

“Okay, thanks.”

＊ ＊ ＊

Following the teacher down the corridor, Iris (René) was reflecting on the conversation they had just had.

The “Dragon’s Throat” companions. She had heard that adventurers’ parties are businesslike and sometimes betray their friends for money, but at least the “Dragon’s Throat” party was not like that. It was like a party where everyone was like family.

Everyone was deeply concerned about Iris. René, who possessed Iris, liked this party even though she knew that these feelings were not directed toward her.

She felt immoral and helplessly sad that she was taking the place of Iris and stealing the love she was supposed to receive. After all, these were feelings for Iris. She did not feel fulfilled.

No one could heal this sadness and anger.

Iris (René) thought that she could only be healed by blood spilled in vengeance.