33화
Amid the chaos, Chesha, who had been quietly eating, suddenly lost her appetite.
She set down the fork she’d just stabbed into a succulent piece of roasted lamb.
Then she pinched her arm.
Hoping desperately it was a dream, she pinched hard, but unfortunately, it hurt quite a bit.
Chesha glanced under the table.
There sat a puppy with an expression that seemed to say, “Is this a dream?”
Meanwhile, the twins were engrossed in their heated conversation.
“But the shop might’ve gone under.”
“What?”
“When I went there last time, it was a mess. Still, they’re probably just clearing out inventory before closing, right?”
Karha earnestly tried to persuade Ishuel, saying there were plenty of nice hats and accessories, so they could just grab a few.
Under the table, Hata wagged his tail gently, pretending not to care.
Even in his shock, he seemed pleased by the praise.
Ishuel replied primly, “A shop in the backworld? Their designs are probably too eccentric.”
“No, really, trust me.”
“Hmph.”
Something felt off.
Karha aside, even Ishuel seemed to know a fair bit about the backworld.
Chesha had been suspicious before, but what could a noble family like the Basilian Count’s, tucked away in the Black Forest of the east, have to do with the backworld?
Especially two young boys.
‘And Karha’s even been to the hat shop before.’
While Chesha’s mind raced, Ishuel and Karha reached an agreement.
“Fine, let’s go check it out.”
“Yeah, let’s go. When?”
“It’s urgent, so as soon as possible? Tomorrow?”
“Deal.”
Watching the twins make futile plans, Chesha clicked her tongue.
The shop would be closed when they got there anyway.
‘The hat shop’s owner is currently under the table, tearing into a chunk of meat.’
When Hata’s hat shop was first mentioned, Chesha had been startled.
But thinking calmly, all she had to do was stay quiet, and it would sort itself out.
‘Alright. Let’s play dumb!’
Her appetite returned as if it had never left.
Leaving the twins to their fiery debate, Chesha resumed her meal.
“Why’s it so noisy? I told you to mind your table manners.”
At that moment, Belzeon appeared in the dining room.
Fresh from paperwork, his fingers were slightly stained with ink.
“Brother!”
Ishuel leaped up and rushed to Belzeon.
Belzeon, momentarily flustered by Ishuel’s enthusiastic welcome, soon understood everything after hearing Ishuel’s lengthy rant about the tackiness of the capital’s boutique.
His expression returned to perfect indifference.
He nodded along, as if this sort of thing happened often.
‘At this point, maybe it’s not the clothes that are bad, but Ishuel’s standards that are too high.’
Chesha couldn’t help but suspect as much.
Given Belzeon and Karha’s nonchalant reactions, it seemed entirely possible.
“They said it was the most famous boutique in the capital, so I trusted them! They’re clearly mocking the Basilian family.”
Ishuel fumed that if he’d known, he would’ve ordered from their usual eastern boutique instead.
In his rage, he even started spinning conspiracy theories.
“They gave the good stuff to other families and sent us the worst clothes and accessories!”
Listening quietly, it started to sound plausible.
‘He might actually be onto something.’
Hata had said the boutique received a hat order for the Basilian estate.
‘If it was a hat Hata made, Ishuel would’ve loved it.’
But from the look of things, Hata’s hats must’ve gone to another family.
It seemed Hata’s painstaking effort, thinking Chesha would wear it, had backfired.
‘It must’ve been an amazing hat.’
Some noble visiting the boutique probably saw the items meant for the Basilian family and demanded them for themselves.
From the boutique’s perspective, they’d naturally prioritize prominent capital families over some backwater eastern nobility.
Having a famous figure wear their clothes was great publicity, after all.
“Should we look for a new boutique?”
Belzeon offered soothingly.
But Ishuel shook his head.
“With the ball just days away, we’ll just add some accessories to the clothes and find decent hats or headpieces.”
Ishuel let out a light sigh.
“It’s the Basilian family’s first debut in the capital’s social scene…”
His eyes gleamed with near-manic intensity as he declared, “I’ll make it work, Brother.”
No one could stop Ishuel in his fervor.
Even Belzeon fully supported his opinion.
Kierne wasn’t home today, but if he had been and heard this, he likely would’ve let Ishuel do as he pleased too.
That’s how intense Ishuel’s obsession with clothing was.
The Basilian men, well aware of this, tended to give in.
“Ugh, it’s just so tacky.”
After Belzeon took Karha away to discuss something, Ishuel, left in the dining room, led Chesha and the puppy to the dressing room.
Five mannequins stood there, draped in the clothes from the boutique.
The moment Ishuel saw them, his irritation flared again.
“Perfect for wiping windows if we tore them up. Right, little sibling?”
Chesha examined the clothes.
Four suits, one small baby dress, and various accessories.
The custom-ordered clothes weren’t bad at all.
In fact, they were quite decent.
It was a renowned boutique, so even their worst was above average.
‘But I get why he’s upset.’
Ishuel didn’t want “decent” clothes.
He wanted perfection.
‘It’s our social debut, so he wants to go all out.’
The Basilian family members were all striking in appearance.
Ishuel couldn’t help but want to dress them impeccably, ensuring the Basilians stole the show at the ball.
“The dress is just…”
Ishuel’s voice turned icy, especially in front of Chesha’s dress.
Fiddling with it, he muttered in a tone colder than Belzeon’s, “Good thing I picked the fabric myself, or I’d have tossed it straight into the trash. Even a curtain from the snake’s castle would look better.”
Chesha, picturing the dreary castle curtains, thought that wasn’t true but stayed silent.
Hata, nestled in her arms, was slightly—very slightly—intimidated by Ishuel’s fierce aura.
“I specifically told them to add lace!”
Still, Ishuel’s eye for detail was impressive.
As he scanned the four suits, planning what to fix and which accessories to use, everything he said made sense.
Chesha, playing with Hata’s paws while watching, eagerly chimed in the moment Ishuel looked away from the mannequins.
“You worked hard!”
Ishuel let out a groan and pulled Chesha, puppy and all, into a hug.
“It’s still not good enough.”
He pouted.
Watching his sharp demeanor, curiosity naturally arose.
How did Ishuel become so obsessed with fashion?
The Basilian family’s snake castle was a grim, dreary place.
While Kierne dressed well, he wasn’t as fanatical about it as Ishuel.
It was fascinating how Ishuel had developed this passion in such an unlikely environment.
Unable to hold back her curiosity, Chesha asked, “Why do you like clothes so much, big brother?”
“Hm? No real reason.”
Ishuel brushed it off, saying he just enjoyed dressing up.
Still, wondering if there was a specific trigge
r, Chesha pressed, and he thought it over.
Then, as if it suddenly came to him, he spoke.
“Oh, the first time…”
With a wry smile, as if it were nothing, Ishuel said, “I didn’t want to look like I didn’t have a mom.”
