Chapter 089. Stop holding out and follow
Mariella’s face flushed with embarrassment.
“Ah, perhaps the consultation first…?”
Normally, before making clothes for a customer visiting a boutique, it was standard to start with a consultation.
They would discuss the style, color, and detailed decorations the customer wanted for the dress, then look at fabric and ornament samples in person and choose.
Taking measurements came right after that.
So it was only natural for Mariella to be flustered when he suddenly demanded measurements first, skipping every single one of those steps.
“Just take the measurements, do the design and style however you see fit.”
“……”
“For outdoor wear, one—no, two or three pieces would be good.”
“…Outdoor wear… then mainly what kind of…?”
At the absurdly vague request she had never heard or seen before, Mariella’s face instantly turned pale.
While asking again, she glanced pleadingly at Deborah standing beside her for help, but Deborah’s face looked just as stunned as her own.
Once again, the one who answered was Raymond.
“That too—do it however you think best.”
“……”
At the silent pressure that said he fully trusted her skill, cold sweat broke out down Mariella’s back.
“Then… shall we go this way?”
Deciding she would at least ask briefly while taking measurements, Mariella finally turned her gaze to Deborah.
But Deborah only stared fixedly at the side of Raymond’s face, her expression stiff.
As if she still had more to say, as if she deeply disliked the current situation.
The only reason the mood was so different from when she had been fiercely pouring out words moments ago was undoubtedly because Mariella was present.
Or perhaps some of her agitation had subsided in the meantime.
In the chain of glances passing back and forth, a strange silence briefly flowed.
The one who broke that silence was, once again, Raymond.
His gaze finally turned to Deborah’s face, which had been staring piercingly at him.
“Stop holding out and follow.”
“……”
It meant he would no longer tolerate any further defiance.
Deborah pressed her lips tightly together, then slowly began to move forward.
Only then did Madam Mariella, who had been watching the suffocating tension between the two, let out a quiet breath of relief and start walking ahead toward the fitting room.
As she glanced at Deborah following beside her, a sudden thought flashed through her mind.
Something like—did I unnecessarily get myself tangled up in a troublesome affair?
* * *
The carriage returning to Elfengreen was filled with an unprecedented silence.
Raymond leaned back the entire time with his eyes closed, not moving an inch, while Deborah kept her gaze fixed out the window without stirring once.
It was a landscape completely different from when they had set out, as if time inside the carriage had frozen.
The carriage raced on in that chilling atmosphere until, after a long while, it finally arrived at Elpengrin.
Once again, the carriage stopped not at the main building but in the inner courtyard.
Deborah hesitated for a moment about what to do, then quickly pulled the handle when she heard the opposite door opening.
After carefully stepping down onto the footboard and closing the carriage door, she turned around—only to find the duke already standing there, staring straight at her, having arrived at some point.
Yet somehow his expression was strange.
The cold, icy atmosphere remained, but on top of it was an additional layer of utter disbelief.
Well, in this thoroughly twisted mood, did it even matter?
Deborah did her best to ignore the blatant stare and calmly opened her mouth.
“Then, may I go now? I still have work left.”
“……”
She truly hadn’t meant to provoke him.
There really was work left for the day, but more than that, she was exhausted from the constant sharp exchanges.
She had spoken because she thought it would be better to return to her duties and keep her body moving without time to think.
She had no idea that those unintended words had scraped his nerves even worse.
“Go.”
She simply felt relieved at the permission that came only after a long pause.
* * *
“My lady!”
At the rattling of the carriage, Olivia’s shoulders flinched; she had been lost in thought.
When she slowly turned toward the source of the voice, she saw Lucy’s worried face looking at her.
“Ah, Lucy…”
“What on earth have you been thinking about all this time?”
What am I thinking about? Olivia quietly repeated the question to herself, and at some point her eyes stopped moving.
Seeing that, Lucy’s worry only deepened.
Just a short while ago, her lady had been so happy about receiving an invitation from Lady Cheister, yet in the past few days she had suddenly become so absent-minded.
Come to think of it, her lady had started acting strange the very next day.
The day she had gone to Charlotte Square to choose a gift for Lady Cheister.
That morning she had suffered severe stomach pain—probably from something she ate—and the ladies maid Windy had accompanied her instead.
Could something have happened that day? Lucy pondered, then finally couldn’t hold back and spoke.
“By any chance… did something happen the day you went to Charlotte Square?”
At the mention of Charlotte Square, Olivia’s face visibly hardened.
Lucy, who had watched her since childhood, could sense it instinctively.
Something had definitely happened to her that day.
Lucy tightly grasped Olivia’s hand.
“Why? What on earth happened that day?”
At Lucy’s words full of worry, the expression Olivia had barely been holding together instantly crumbled.
Clear tears quickly welled up and streamed down between her reddening eyes.
Lucy gently stroked Olivia’s hand even more softly.
“It’s all right. Tell me slowly.”
Only after sobbing like a child for a long while did Olivia finally calm down enough to lift her gaze to Lucy.
“You see, Lucy…”
Olivia finally began to speak of what had happened that day—what she had never told anyone until now.
That day, Olivia had gone to Charlotte Square to choose a gift for Lady Cheister.
More precisely, to the street inside where white stone buildings were gathered.
It was the place where the latest trends in Denver began and where every lady dreamed of romance.
Olivia had visited often herself, though recently she had been unable to come due to sudden illness.
Seeing the white buildings from inside the carriage, a strange excitement began to bubble up.
“My lady.”
She had been admiring the scenery outside the window when the voice called her.
Olivia turned her head in that direction.
“What shall we do? They say it’s a temporary closure today.”
Because it was a place notoriously difficult to book, but simple items like handkerchiefs could still be purchased, the first place she had stopped was “Mariella Boutique.”
Yet it was closed for the day.
At the completely unexpected turn of events, Olivia’s face instantly fell.
“…Nothing we can do. Get in quickly.”
She had thought a delicately embroidered handkerchief from Madam Mariella would suit Lady Cheister perfectly…
Unable to help sighing deeply at having chosen the wrong day, she let it out without realizing.
Windy climbed in through the opposite door, and just as the carriage was about to depart.
Suddenly, the faint jingle of a small bell reached her ears, followed by the sound of a door opening and closing.
Her gaze unconsciously turned that way, and immediately Olivia’s eyes shook violently.
“W-wait…”
Olivia pounded on the carriage wall, signaling the coachman to stop for a moment.
“What is it, my lady?”
At Windy’s puzzled question, Olivia gestured for silence with her hand.
Her eyes remained fixed outside the window.
The first person she spotted—the very first—was him.
Raymond von Cheister.
The man who would soon become her fiancé.
A man so striking that she could recognize him at a glance no matter where he was.
Why on earth was he coming out of Mariella Boutique?
No—more importantly, hadn’t they said it was closed for the day?
While countless questions swirled in her mind and her gaze darted frantically, another face suddenly entered her vision.
A person who had been hidden behind his tall frame.
A woman. Wearing a maid’s uniform.
A maid? At the ominous thought that pierced her, Olivia leaned even closer to the window.
Partially obscured by the man’s large body, she couldn’t see clearly, but somehow the woman felt familiar.
Though her head was slightly lowered, the long chocolate-colored hair, the slender figure, and the strikingly narrow waist—she had definitely seen them before.
When exactly…?
At that moment, a scene flashed through her mind.
—Yes, she looks very much like… a maid your father has known since he was young.
The maid who had been present when she visited Elfengreen with her father.
Just then, the woman raised her head.
It was unmistakable. It was that very maid from back then.
An inexplicable unease began creeping up from her feet, and Olivia clenched her fists tightly.
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Agghhhh fell sorry for Olivia 😭😭😭
