“Fine, I’ll go to the perfume shop.”

“Great. But first, we should show you to the duchess!”

Rubica had already gone downstairs.

Grace met her at the exception room and couldn’t even think that she could have been Madam Berry.

“Your dress is really pretty.”

Rubica pretended as if she had never seen the girl before and complimented the dress and hairstyle she had done herself.

Grace wasn’t used to getting compliments and didn’t know what to do, but she managed to whisper, ‘thank you’. The compliments seemed to rather discourage her.

‘Of course, her new look isn’t enough to give her sudden confidence.’

Rubica took the time to talk to her so that she could get used to her change. She gained confidence in time and started to smile naturally.

“I forgot to give Her Majesty a gift yesterday.”

When Carl came to give her a letter from the queen, Rubica spoke of the matter. She had gotten so good at lying that she didn’t even pray to the god of honesty anymore.

Maybe her conscience had disappeared after she got used to life in society, or one had to lose conscience to fit in society. She didn’t know which was first.

“I will deliver it for you. I am going to the king’s palace to meet Her Majesty this afternoon,” Gabriel said along with the script they had prepared in advance and stood up.

“But it’s quite heavy, you won’t be able to carry it alone.”

“I’ll help her,” Grace, who had always been sitting quietly at a corner with her cheeks covered with her hair, offered as she also stood up

Rubica was glad to see her change. Just a little bit of beauty had changed her so much. Maybe she had dragged out more than beauty from the girl’s inside.

“Thank you.”

Actually, Rubica hadn’t changed Grace herself. She was pretty much the same girl as before. However, she believed she was completely different now.

That was when she learned how to love herself. Only those who loved themselves could have the sparkle that was now in her eyes.

Rubica was dragged by that sparkle and walked her to the door. She even wished she could follow them to the king’s palace.

“Madam, you should go in now.”

“Okay, goodbye.”

Grace was clearly excited as she left. It made Rubica suddenly recall the daughter of a marquis who was being praised for being the most beautiful woman on the entire continent.

She was Christopher’s muse. Rubica had seen her from a close distance at the queen’s tea meeting, and she was indeed as beautiful as people said.

However, she didn’t have the sparkle that Grace now had. She was worried sick she might put on weight after having just one piece of cake, and she worried her skin might turn dark after taking a short walk.

It was said that to maintain her beautiful hair, she woke up early in the morning, washed her hair, and dried it by riding a swing for more than an hour.

‘But that isn’t real beauty.’

As she looked at the carriage going away, Rubica decided to recover the beauty so many people had lost.

The god of love was also the god of beauty for a reason. One can never become beautiful without loving oneself.

***

Everything happened just as Gabriel and Rubica had expected. The moment Grace’s dramatic change and fichu became hot, Presa, Madam Berry’s shop, was opened in the middle of the capital.

It was shocking that it sold only ready-made clothes, and people had a hard time accepting the fact that they couldn’t even get a glimpse of the designer at the shop.

Soon everyone at the capital was talking about that mysterious designer.

“I don’t know why we should bother to go to a shop when we can have good designers come to us.”

“She must be so arrogant, why else would she hide who she is?”

“Maybe she has an ugly scar on her face and doesn’t want to show it to the people.”

Noble ladies, who were used to discussing with their designers for a long time at their homes, didn’t welcome the shop’s new strategy called, ‘If you want to buy from us, come to our shop’.

They felt it was more humiliating than designers refusing to visit them, saying they already had too many orders.

“But I heard Claymore’s carriage was parked in front of Presa for a long time yesterday.”

“Claymore’s carriage? Was it a maid on an errand?”

“No, it seems like the duchess went herself.”

There were some people who just had to check new things with their own eyes. The lady who was speaking had actually met Rubica at the shop, but she pretended like she had heard it from someone else. Of course, her friends didn’t believe her.

“Don’t be absurd. Why would the duchess go to such a shop? She can call any designer, even Madam Khanna, any time she wants. I’m sure even that Berry will immediately go when summoned by her.”

“Oh, and you must have heard Christopher is constantly criticizing Khanna because every single lady here at the capital has bought things from him, but the duchess isn’t even thinking of calling him.”

“Well, as everyone is talking about the shop these days, the duchess might have gone herself out of curiosity.”

The lady whose story was not being believed spoke angrily.

She showed too many emotions, and everyone could notice she had been to Madam Berry’s shop.

However, it was hard to believe the duchess had been there just because it was so famous now, so everyone started to guess the reason.

“Maybe the duchess is Madam Berry’s supporter.”

“It sounds likely, she was the one who hosted the first tea meeting and introduced ribbon dresses.”

“Oh, you are right. And everyone knows Madam Berry is related to Khanna’s shop…”

“Will she sometimes go to Presa from now on?”

Someone asked the question and it brought silence. Everyone was calculating the probability of the duchess showing up at Presa again and the benefits they might be able to gain if they managed to speak to her even briefly.

“Well, I just remembered I must discuss something with my husband.”

“And I am scheduled to meet a jeweler.”

“Oh, and I must finish the shawl I’m making for my niece.”

They all stood up, each of them with a different excuse, and they all met again at Presa exactly an hour later.

“My glove got a hole and I needed a new pair immediately. This is the only shop I can buy gloves right away, so…”

“Um, I dropped my fichu and it’s now dirty with mud…”

They were all embarrassed and started to make excuses for one another. But then, they all suddenly shut up.

The door was opened with a clear ‘ding’ sound of the bell attached to it, and Princess Charlotte came in with her ladies-in-waiting.

It wasn’t easy to see the princess, and even those noble ladies could meet her only at huge balls. So, everyone in the shop froze at once at her appearance.

However, the princess was quite used to getting attention and spoke to the saleswoman first.

“Can I see some dresses?”

“Oh, um, dresses, Your Highness?”

“Yes, I need some dresses for the gifts I want to send…”

The saleswoman immediately brought the nicest dress she had, but the princess didn’t really like it.

She had come because her mother had asked her to, so she wasn’t going to buy anything she didn’t like. She looked around and then talked to a lady.

“May I take a look at the dress you are holding now?”

“Oh, of course, Your Highness?”

The lady was of low rank, so she couldn’t even dream of ever talking to the princess.

She quickly offered the dress, although she couldn’t believe what was happening to her. The saleswoman quickly took it and showed it to the princess.

“Thank you.”

The queen had told her more than once not to behave as usual. She even sent ladies-in-waiting with her to keep an eye on her.

So, the princess thanked kindly and smiled while the lady was so shocked for being thanked that she couldn’t say a word in reply.

But the princess didn’t care and started to go through dresses.

“This one’s not bad… but…”

“To whom are you going to present dresses?”

“Girls of the workhouse.”

“Oh, that is so kind of you.”

“But this one’s too bright in color…”

She looked around to see if there was anything else, but then she was surprised.

The ladies, who had just been looking at gloves and handkerchiefs, were all holding a brown or grey dress.

‘What is this?’

However, it was quite convenient and let her spend less time going through the dresses, so she decided not to care.

She smiled broadly and spoke to a lady who was holding the brown dress she wanted.

“May I take a look at it?”

“Yes, yes, of course, Your Highness. I am Baroness Verier.”

“Veri… er?”

“Oh, I am so impressed by your generosity. I’ve never thought of sending clothes to the workhouse. Maybe I could do it myself.”

It was a shallow tactic almost anyone could see through. However, Princess Charlotte never thought thoroughly. She just glad to hear a compliment.