“Ann looked really busy, you should go to help her. I must speak more with Madam Khanna.”

However, it wasn’t like Rubica could keep the crying Elise when there was Khanna watching it all, and the girl needed time to calm down. Having her to stay and serve her was too much.

“Okay.”

Elise immediately realized what Rubica meant by that. As she couldn’t stop crying no matter how hard she tried, she would only ruin the mood by staying here. She knew she might get scolded by Ann if she went back, but she felt like she deserved it. She couldn’t even control her feelings and was crying in front of her mistress.

“And Madam Khanna, after you are done…”

Elise was about to say, ‘you should go to Mrs. Taylor,’ but then she closed her mouth. Ann had asked her to call Khanna without Rubica knowing about it. She just almost made another mistake.

“Please come and find me.”

“Okay, I will.”

Khanna thought it was about the payment and nodded. Discussing money with the duchess herself couldn’t be right. Elise then wiped her tears, said she was sorry, and left the room.

After she left, Rubica let out a deep sigh.

“I wanted to let her wear a pretty dress, but she doesn’t want it…”

“There’s nothing we can do about it. We should make a dress for strolls for you with this fabric. Staying inside because you are pregnant is not good for your body and the baby.”

Although Elise was pretty enough to arouse Khanna’s desire as a designer, she wasn’t Khanna’s client. Khanna had come here to make dresses for Rubica, so she recommended the fabric to her right away.

“But I think it would look better as a dress for balls.”

“I wish I could make you a dress for balls in advance, but you are pregnant. It would be better to make it when the society season comes as you will be in a different shape and size by then.”

Then, Khanna started to show some other fabrics that were dresses for walks, but none of them could catch Rubica’s eyes.

She stroked the royal blue fabric as if she just couldn’t give it up.

“Oh, what should I do to make Elise wear pretty dresses?”

Elise had become very beautiful by now, but it wasn’t enough to Rubica. She could be even more beautiful, she could be even prettier, but the progress was blocked by that mental wall she had.

“It’s not like she hates splendid things.”

Although Elise kept saying she didn’t like extravagance and it was a sin, her eyes sparkled when she saw Rubica’s pretty dresses. Moreover, she was always eager to recommend prettier and more splendid things to Rubica, but she was rather strict on herself.

She kept wearing that mouse-colored dress that didn’t match her only because it was plain and simple. Although she seemed to like her new short forelocks, she kept braiding her hair saying it was for work.

“Why is she so afraid of wearing splendid and pretty dresses? Why is she so afraid of being pretty? She has so much potential!”

Rubica would have given up if Elise wasn’t interested at all, but she was. That made Rubica even more frustrated.

“There’s nothing we can do about it. I was like her when I was her age. When I wore this pretty pink dress, I was afraid people might say I wasn’t pretty enough for it. And, Miss Solana has been considered ugly previously, so she will need even more courage.”

As long as Elise wasn’t interested in being pretty, she could have a shield of excuses. However, if she tried to be beautiful and was told she wasn’t, she wouldn’t be able to protect herself anymore. Elise had been called ugly repeatedly when she cared the most about appearance. That was why she was trying to defend herself even after she became pretty.

She had managed to find a place to be and had found people who liked her, so she didn’t want to be humiliated in front of them.

If she just stayed the way she was now and kept wearing plain dresses, she would be able to make excuses even if she became a wallflower again.

‘I’m not interested in being pretty. I don’t want to get others’ attention. Being unnoticed is just what I want.’

Elise probably wanted to pretend to be cold like that and run away. Rubica could understand that. Still, the girl was too beautiful to be left like that. And, Rubica really didn’t to see such negative thoughts get her. Elise deserved love and attention, her heart was as beautiful as her face.

“If only she wanted, she will not only get everyone’s attention at balls. She would be the queen…”

“I agree. She is pretty, but she has this unique distinctive mood that charms everyone in an instant.”

“Isn’t there any way?”

“What?”

“A way to make her let go of her fear.”

Khanna was a little confused. Most noble ladies wanted to be noticed themselves. Probably none of them wanted their lady-in-waiting to get all the attention, especially young ladies. They had a tendency of parading with a horde of followers in the society. They were supposed not to meet other men after getting married, but they just couldn’t bear to lose all the attention in a day.

Only old ladies wanted their lady-in-waiting to get all the attention and be the flower of society. They cherished and loved their young ladies-in-waiting as if they were their own daughters. Most of their ladies-in-waiting were, in fact, their nieces.

‘It’s strange.’

What the duchess was doing now was the behavior of an old lady, not a young girl. Her eyes sparkled when putting pretty fabrics on Elise and was always eager to give her more. She even just accepted and moved on with Elise’s behavior.

Any lady with authority would have yelled, ‘I will get humiliated if you wear that!’ Moreover, any lady who wasn’t like that would have just made Elise stay at home when she went to balls. No one cared about a lady-in-waiting’s heart or feelings, but Rubica was always worried that Elise might get hurt and tried to soothe her as if she had been her grandmother.

‘Well, she is so kind. She even hired me as her designer after hearing my story.’

Khanna soon denied her suspicion. Some people would mature a little early. On the other hand, some people never grew up.

“I think the ornaments in the stomacher is the problem. We might be able to convince her about the fabric’s color, but I think using jewels is too much to get over the wall in her heart.”

That definitely made sense. She had lived as a designer’s wife for years and now her experience was paying off. Khanna knew well why girls of Elise’s age found splendid dresses too much and how to convince them.

“Then what should we do?”

“How about this kind of embroidery?”

Khanna took out an embroidery book and showed Rubica some lily flower patterns.

“We can embroider with silver thread and I think it will look pretty when sparkling in the light.”

However, Rubica took another look at the blue fabric and shook her head.

“It won’t look good on it.”

Plus, the fabric was very thin. It could get wriggled when embroidered. The stomacher was made by putting cotton under the fabric, but the material itself wasn’t for embroidering.

“Yes, it won’t.”

Khanna cleanly admitted it. She had recommended embroidering as the second-best idea, but it wasn’t the best for the royal blue fabric. However, making the stomacher simple would be the worst. The fabric had a strong color and had to be matched with a stomacher just as splendid.

“Something that isn’t as splendid as a jewel but noticeable.”

It was a difficult riddle. Still, Rubica didn’t want to give up on Elise. She crossed her arms and glared at the design sketch. A clear-blue dress that would look very good on the tall Elise, and silver ornaments that would look good on blue.

Something that was about to come up but didn’t. Something that fluttered in the wind and caught everyone’s attention in an instant.

‘Rubica!’

At that moment, Rubica could hear Angela’s voice. Her cousin whose beauty she had found for the first time. The morning she hadn’t known it would be their last one together, she had made a knot to decorate her braided hair instead of using a pin. It fluttered in the wind, caught everyone’s attention, and even Angela, the tricky princess, had liked it.

‘That knot!’

How about using it? I can use it with the silver fabric and put it on her chest. It will glitter in the light of the chandelier. It can be even more splendid than jewels.