37화
Chesha couldn’t bear to watch any longer and covered her eyes with her hands.
‘She’s always been like this.’
She’d forgotten, since Miya had been relatively tame in front of the enchantress Lichesia.
The twins, observing Miya’s dramatic welcome, blinked in confusion.
Ishuel turned to Karha and asked, “Why’s she talking like that?”
“No clue.”
“Hmm, maybe she’s sick? Or born with some kind of condition?”
“No way!” Miya snapped, thrusting her head forward.
“Look at this!”
The fake cat ears on her head twitched.
She probably expected a reaction like, *Oh no, a beastman!*
But the twins’ response was far from what she’d hoped.
“She seems mentally unstable,” Ishuel said.
“Yeah. Should we just leave?” Karha replied.
As Karha began gathering his things to go, Ishuel flashed a bright smile.
“She’s not making clothes with her tongue, so it’s probably fine.”
Miya’s face crumpled into a pout.
“That’s harsh…”
Hata, who’d been avoiding Miya in the background, finally stepped forward.
“Enough already!”
He planted his hands on his hips.
With an angry glare, he shouted, “These are Hata’s customers! Keep this up, and Hata’s gonna get mad!”
“Okay… I’m sorry…”
Miya reverted to normal speech, chastened.
She removed the cat ears from her head and the claws from her hands.
The twins’ lackluster reaction seemed to have drained her enthusiasm.
“Welcome…” she mumbled weakly.
Compared to her lively entrance, it was a wilted greeting.
“Look at the clothes… Look at lots of them…”
Pushing up her slipping glasses, she vaguely gestured at the clothes displayed in the boutique.
Ishuel scanned the garments with sharp eyes.
The coldness in his gaze, sparked by Miya’s theatrics, softened gradually.
As expected of a backworld boutique owner, Miya’s designs were bold.
Yet they had a refined touch, with impeccable craftsmanship.
She used only the finest materials.
In truth, Miya poured every coin she earned back into buying materials for her clothes.
‘But that’s why her clothes are so beautiful.’
Her eccentric behavior aside, Miya was a genius who masterfully crafted menswear, womenswear, and children’s clothing.
Her skill was undeniable, so Ishuel was bound to be impressed.
After surveying the shop, Ishuel leaned close to Chesha.
“What do you think?” he whispered.
Chesha whispered back in his ear, “I like it.”
“Should we order here, then?”
“Yeah.”
As they murmured, Karha sidled up to join in.
Chesha whispered to him too, “They make stuff here.”
Their whispering was loud enough for everyone to hear anyway.
Karha chuckled at her redundant explanation.
Ishuel, with a dead-fish stare, approached Miya, who was leaning on the counter.
“I’d like to order clothes for a ball.”
“How many days until the ball?” Miya asked dully.
Ishuel, who could overlook rudeness or quirks if the skill was there, gave a slight smile and told her the remaining days.
“We need one adult suit, three children’s suits, and a baby dress—five outfits total.”
Miya’s jaw dropped.
She couldn’t mention that the enchantress was involved, so she kept details vague.
The booking to open the shop had been made in Hata’s name, not Lichesia’s.
All Miya knew was that important clients were coming.
But this was a far bigger order than expected.
Seeing her stunned, Ishuel calmly explained his needs.
“I know making new clothes is tough. Could you do alterations? Add some embellishments or tweak the designs a bit?”
Even the capital’s best boutiques were fully booked before the ball, unable to take on even alterations.
“Hmm, that’s tricky…” Miya propped her elbow on the counter, resting her chin in her hand.
She narrowed her eyes and demanded, “Young master, show me your face.”
Never shy about his looks, Ishuel confidently pulled back his robe’s hood.
His dazzling platinum hair cascaded elegantly under the boutique’s lights.
The moment his ruby-red eyes, framed by thick lashes, met hers—
“I’ll do it!” Miya exclaimed, leaping from behind the counter.
She pranced around Ishuel, gushing, “Oh my gosh, how are you like this? You should’ve taken that hood off sooner!”
Ishuel silently beckoned Karha with a finger.
Karha sighed but complied, pulling off his hood without protest.
“Eek!” Miya squealed, clutching her face in rapture.
And finally—
Ishuel presented Chesha with a flourish, like revealing a grand prize.
Miya clasped her hands reverently and let out a crude exclamation.
“…Insane.”
Her eyes gleamed as she muttered rapidly, “Cute. So cute. Too cute. Seriously cute? Is this okay? Is it legal to be this cute? What if I go to jail for this cuteness? Should I take the fall instead?”
Chesha could guess why Miya was so smitten.
She’d always adored Lichesia’s face.
And now, here was a tiny baby Lichesia.
There was no way she could resist.
Thankfully, she didn’t outright say Chesha looked like the enchantress.
Though it seemed she was too overwhelmed to even think of it.
Ishuel snapped his fingers to snap Miya out of her daze.
A crisp sound rang out.
“Shopkeeper, focus. I’ll tell you the vibe I’m going for, so take notes…”
He paused mid-sentence.
Miya, who’d been giggling like a lunatic, suddenly clamped her mouth shut, her eyes wide with fear.
Her terror seemed instinctive, immediate.
As if the snap of his fingers was some kind of signal.
A brief silence fell over the boutique.
Even Ishuel seemed startled by her intense reaction.
Chesha watched Miya closely.
After a moment, Miya thawed.
“…N-No, it’s nothing.”
She shook her head vigorously.
Then, as if nothing had happened, she exclaimed energetically, “I just remembered something else. Tell me about the vibe!”
Miya grabbed paper and a pencil.
Licking the pencil tip, she scribbled furiously as Ishuel described his vision.
“Colors should be black, silver, and red overall… The little lady’s dress should be vibrant… The third young master’s outfit needs lots of ornate details…”
Her chicken-scratch handwriting was so bad it could pass for a cipher.
“I’ll send the clothes as soon as you’re back home.”
“Yes, yes. I think we can finish by the morning of the ball. There might be last-minute alterations after trying them on, so I’ll deliver them myself that day. It’d be great if you could all wait at home.”
Spilling words rapidly, Miya glanced at Ishuel.
“Um, about the budget…”
Flutter.
Ishuel placed a piece of paper on the counter.
A blank check.
“Do whatever you want,” he said generously.
“I’ll serve you loyally from now on, young master,” Miya said, bowing deeply as she took the check.
Chesha looked on with slight unease.
‘A blank check? Isn’t that asking to be fleeced?’
Knowing Miya’s obsession with clothes, she felt nervous.
But the payer was so satisfied that she couldn’t say anything.
Leaving Miya’s boutique, Ishuel looked utterly content.
He praised Hata with a smile that suggested he could go three days without eating and still feel full.
“Thanks for introducing us to a great shop.”
“Glad you’re satisfied.”
“You’ve lifted a huge worry. Come by the estate sometime—I’ll treat you to a meal.”
“Sure! Are you heading back now?”
“Yep.”
They parted with Hata in a warm atmosphere.
Hata didn’t want to leave Chesha but had plenty to do—packing hats, transforming back into a puppy, and returning to the estate.
Reluctantly, he returned to his shop.
“Perfect outing,” Ishuel said gleefully.
As Chesha, cradled in his arms, hurried to leave the backworld, Karha suddenly moved.
In one swift motion, he drew his twin swords, while Ishuel tucked Chesha into his chest.
Clang!
A metal net dropped from the sky, sliced apart by Karha’s blades.
“What the hell! That guy just cut it with his sword?”
“Damn it, what’re you doing? Shoot the arrows!”
“They’ll ruin the merchandise if we hit them!”
Men wielding crossbows, nets, chains, and weapons appeared atop the buildings lining the street.
As they emerged, shopkeepers quietly shut their doors, and pedestrians vanished from the streets.
Ishuel’s face hardened into a blank expression.
“Slave hunters,” he said.
Chesha sighed in his arms.
It had seemed too quiet.
“Phew.”
This was the backworld, after all…
