“Excuse me, I was told you called for me…”
Madame Miela’s eyes widened in horror as she took in the room drenched in red dye, letting out a scream.
“Good heavens! What in the world happened here?”
She flung the door wide open and rushed toward Evan and me.
“C-Could it be, your wound reopened? Is that it?”
She was one of the few who knew about Evan’s injury but was unaware of this plan. She looked at his wound with a frantic expression, at a loss for what to do.
“A physician, we need—”
“Calm down, Madame Miela.”
“But, my lady, the blood… the blood…”
“It’s not blood, Madame. As the head designer of Ruiasha, you of all people should know.”
“What?”
Her face went blank at my response. I picked up the torn leather pouch from the floor and handed it to her.
“This is…”
“Yes, it’s the pouch that held the dye I requested.”
I had deliberately asked Madame Miela, through Anasha, to prepare the dye pouch under the pretense of being interested in dyes. While Madame Miela was trustworthy as Ruiasha’s head designer, I hadn’t shared the plan with her.
To make this plan succeed, it was best to keep the number of people in the know to a minimum. As the saying goes, to deceive the enemy, you must first deceive your allies. Acting without knowledge was far more natural for fooling prying eyes.
“Why is this…?”
“It burst by accident.”
“An accident?”
“The sword suddenly fell, startling the young lady, and she dropped the pouch.”
“Oh my!”
At Evan’s explanation, Madame Miela gasped, noticing the sword lying on the floor, covered in red dye. As her gaze dropped, Evan naturally released my hand, which he had been holding.
“For the pouch to burst just from falling on the floor, the leather must have been poor quality.”
Madame shook her head at my words.
“No, it’s not that. Dye pouches are specially treated to prevent the dye from altering, unlike regular leather pouches. That makes them prone to tearing under external impact. I should’ve warned you, but I assumed you knew. It’s my fault.”
As she said, I already knew dye pouches were weaker than regular leather ones. That was precisely why I chose to use dye instead of real blood.
A regular leather pouch wouldn’t tear so easily from a fall. It would’ve been a flimsy excuse that could raise suspicions.
“No, Madame, it was my fault for not being careful. More importantly, what should we do about this mess?”
“Oh, goodness, look at me!”
She examined my dye-soaked appearance from head to toe and said, “That’s why the deputy manager said I needed to come up.”
“Will changing my dress be enough?”
She scanned me again, from head to toe, then let out a heavy sigh.
“If it were just the dress, maybe, but unfortunately, the dye got on your face and hair too. It’s a type that doesn’t come off easily, and with your light hair color, wiping it won’t solve it.”
“So I need to wash.”
Madame nodded, cautiously gauging my reaction.
“You brought a maid, I assume?”
“I came with Anasha, so I didn’t bring a maid.”
“The Countess came with you?”
“She had some errands nearby. She’s probably waiting at the back entrance by now.”
Her shoulders slumped.
“I see. Without a maid, you can’t wash here.”
“Even with a maid, I don’t think I could wash here, Madame.”
“You’re right, that was thoughtless of me. I’m sorry.”
She looked deeply apologetic. I smiled at her in response. Though Madame Miela had some noble blood, she hadn’t inherited a formal title and was raised as a commoner.
While she dealt with nobles in her work, it was natural that she wasn’t fully versed in their customs.
Women, especially unmarried women, couldn’t casually disrobe and bathe outside their homes. It was tied to the taboo against perceived promiscuity among unmarried women.
For commoners, bathing outside the home was acceptable with female relatives, but nobles were different.
Even with family, nobles didn’t bathe together. An unmarried noblewoman could only disrobe in front of her personal maid. This meant that, with a maid, she could bathe elsewhere, in theory.
But most noblewomen, even with their maids, avoided bathing outside their homes. It was tied to their reputation. A sensible noblewoman would never do anything to invite gossip.
Of course, I wasn’t refusing Madame Miela’s suggestion out of concern for my reputation. My reputation was already at rock bottom; a bit more wouldn’t hurt. I declined her offer because I needed to be seen leaving in this state.
“Still, I need to head home, and this is a problem. If only I had something to cover up with…”
“…Oh!”
As I muttered with a troubled expression, Madame Miela let out an exclamation, as if struck by an idea.
“There’s a women’s cloak among the recent samples we made. It has a hood, so it should be perfect for covering you up.”
“That’s a relief.”
I smiled brightly, genuinely relieved. I received reports on the samples she designed, as I kept an eye on Ruiasha’s best-selling works. I was well aware of the cloak she’d recently sampled.
Her samples were made and stored on the second floor, where I’d instructed the Marchioness of Engrail and the Baroness of Bizdel to be detained.
“Evan, I’ll take my leave. Take care of yourself.”
I couldn’t delay any longer because of Madame Miela. The unfinished conversation would have to wait—perhaps through a letter or a discreet meeting later, though whether that could happen soon was uncertain.
“My lady.”
Instead of a farewell, he called my name. His face, which had been twisted in pain moments ago, was now calm as ever.
“Don’t forget. The Pison Guild exists to protect you.”
*‘And I exist to protect you.’*
His unspoken words seemed to ring in my ears like a whisper.
“My lady?”
Madame Miela called, noticing my stillness. She knew I was the true master of the Pison Guild, so she likely took Evan’s words in stride.
“I won’t forget. I’m counting on you for what’s to come, Evan.”
“Don’t worry, my lady.”
With Evan’s agreement, the plan was moving forward, but a heavy weight settled in my chest.
To me, he was one of my people, left to me by my grandfather. I’d thought he followed me simply to repay my grandfather’s kindness. But the weight of Evan’s feelings was far heavier than I’d imagined.
“Phew.”
I placed a hand on my chest and took a deep breath. The heaviness eased slightly. There was no time to dwell on other things now. My enemies weren’t so weak that I could afford to be distracted.
“I’ll be going.”
I gave Evan a slight nod. Madame Miela was already waiting outside the room.
“Take… care.”
As I turned to leave, a low voice whispered behind me.
“Maybe it’s because of all the bad things happening lately, but the guild master seems worried about you too.”
Madame Miela muttered with a concerned expression. Knowing my personality to some extent, she continued without waiting for a reply.
“There was a commotion downstairs earlier, wasn’t there? If I’d been there, I’d have crushed that ill-mannered young lady!”
Her chatter didn’t stop as we descended to the second floor. She fumed, frustrated that she hadn’t been there to witness it.
“Oh my!”
“Good heavens!”
As we turned the corner onto the second floor, two noblewomen gasped at the sight of me. Dropping their fans, they rushed toward me.
“What happened!”
“Miss Eliant, are you alright?”
“I’m fine, Marchioness of Engrail, Baroness of Bizdel.”
They stared, speechless, at my dye-stained dress.
“I-Is that… blood?”
At the Baroness of Bizdel’s words, Madame Miela stepped forward.
“Goodness, blood? No, my lady.”
“Then…?”
“It’s dye.”
“Dye?”
The Baroness of Bizdel looked at me, incredulous. I nodded in confirmation.
“As Madame Miela said, it’s dye, Baroness.”
“Why is dye…?”
She alternated her gaze between my stained dress and my face.
“Dye pouches are typically fragile, and it accidentally burst,” I explained.
