Secret Wardrobe Of The Duchess

“You can write under Madam Berry’s name so that your identity will not be revealed. I will keep your secret.”

Rubica didn’t know what to think as she looked at Gabriel. Finding a rough gemstone like her, wiping the dirt off and polishing it to make it shine always gave great joy to her.

But now that she was asked to write a column, she didn’t know what to think of it.

“Gabriel, I’m only capable of finding out which style is right for you. I can’t write a column.”

“But your advice will be able to save so many people. I… at least I changed. My life has changed so dramatically in only a week. My rank and my appearance are the same, but the way I look at life and live has changed so much. Don’t you know how happy it made me?”

Gabriel didn’t give up and asked again. She knew Rubica could change the world. Some might say that all she could do was to transform a couple of young girls but changing a person’s life and one’s attitude toward it wasn’t easy at all.

“I will think about it.”

Rubica knew the girl was really, really stubborn, so she decided it would be better to at least pretend to think about it rather than turning her down flatly right on the spot.

“Thank you.”

Gabriel also realized arguing more would do her no good, so she backed off. Instead, she took out a little notepad and a pencil from a secret pocket of her dress.

“So, how did you get the idea of the dress I wore today?”

She was now acting like a real reporter, and Rubica burst into laughter at it. From afar, it just looked like she was laughing at another witty joke from Gabriel.

“You are so active, so I thought active sports like horse-riding would suit you well. And then, I realized it would be possible to ride a horse while wearing a dress as long as the over dress is short. So, I made its skirt only half as long as ordinary dresses, but I gave it lots of pleats to make it full. With the over dress made short like a horse-riding jacket, the fabric was given more energy to make the skirt line livelier.”

“You got the idea from a horse-riding jacket? The thing men wear to ride horses?”

“Yes, you should go horseback riding while wearing the dress sometime. It will be much more comfortable than ordinary dresses.”

Gabriel was impressed again. The duchess was capable of looking at things from a totally different perspective. She had never imagined it was possible to get an idea for women’s dress from the men’s jacket.

“If you reveal that, those who like to pretend to be refined might criticize the dress.”

“Huh? But why?”

Moreover, she didn’t know why her ideas were so sensational. It was one of her charms.

“Although it’s true that the people who love the dress will like it even more for that.”

After saying so, Gabriel decided to add Rubica’s reaction of asking why in her article.

“And, you could have just introduced your ribbons and designs under Madam Khanna’s name. Why did you bother to use a fake name and introduce it as a joint work?”

Gabriel was young, but she wrote the most popular column in the kingdom. She asked that without any delay. Rubica however hesitated, but then she made the girl promise to not write about it and told her about what happened between Khanna and Christopher.

“Oh my…”

Gabriel couldn’t say anything more until they took a full lap around the mana quartz sculptures garden. She was keen on the trends and had been one of Christopher’s most passionate worshippers.

There wasn’t a single woman who was famous for her beauty who hadn’t worn a dress made by him at her debutante. People even said only ladies who wore Christopher’s dresses deserved to be society’s most beautiful women of the year.

Even though he had told Gabriel to make herself fit his dresses, she still thought he was at least good at his job.

“He shows a lot of new and pretty dresses every season that it is hard to believe he designs all of them. I also really liked him…”

“Maybe he didn’t design all of them.”

Gabriel agreed with Rubica. Khanna’s engageantes sleeve design couldn’t be the only idea Christopher had stolen. When he stole her work, he tasted the sweet fruit of joy instead of getting punished. It must have been hard for him to resist the temptation when it came for the second time.

“Yes, now that I think about it, there is more than one suspicious thing about him.”

He had criticized Khanna by calling her a designer in the countryside, but that was small compared to the other things he had done.

It had been Khanna who made a beautiful dress with royal blue fabric, but now she couldn’t get the fabric again and couldn’t make dresses with it. On the other hand, Christopher was already selling royal blue dresses to his regular customers at the capital. The color royal blue had become his symbol of the season.

“I think he is not going to leave Khanna alone, especially because he wronged her before. Of course, I will help her, but power and rank are not enough to survive in society. In there, if a few close nobles work together, even the queen can become a laughingstock…”

“I will look into it.”

It was smelling fishy, but Gabriel was definitely interested.

She instantly came up with a plan. She was going to have Tatiana’s source be employed at Christopher’s shop to find out what was going on in there.

Finding out the truth was also going to help Khanna get rid of her wrong ill fame at the capital. Plus, writing about the scandal of the most famous designer in the capital was going to let Gabriel’s magazine sell like fire.

“So please, do what I asked. Your column will help so many people.”

Gabriel didn’t forget to negotiate and argue till the very end. The duchess only smiled awkwardly, but she was sure it was only a matter of time. Rubica was going to join her.

***

The edition of The Little Bird’s News that had Rubica’s way of drinking tea sold very well. In addition to that, the rose candies and ribbons that were introduced in it became so popular that Rubica even wondered if she should pay Gabriel for the promotion. Of course, she said no to the money and asked her to write that column instead. However, as Rubica wasn’t sure about it yet, she delayed deciding on it again.

Anyway, adding sugar and milk to coffee let nobles who were not familiar with the tea enjoy it a lot more. Moreover, as Rubica went to every tea meeting she was invited to, hosting tea meetings became extremely popular among nobles.

But of course, there was a dark side to the situation. The demand for tea soared up so suddenly, but its supply couldn’t follow, so its price started to rise fast.

Thankfully, Claymore had never been richer before, so Carl had no problem with buying tea.

It was sad that tea’s price was rising, but it was good that many people were now enjoying it. Therefore, when it came to brewing the tea he acquired through some difficulties, he wanted to make sure it was in the most accurate and perfect way and serve it to the duke and the duchess during their resting time.

“Oh, wait.”

However, Edgar stopped the butler and added some spoonfuls of precious tea. Then, he poured milk and sugar as if it was only right. Seeing his actions, Carl was so shocked that he froze right on the spot.

“Oh, it’s just right. Thank you, Carl.”

Rubica came a little late and complimented Carl as she drank the tea Edgar had made. Only then, the butler could see why Edgar had made such tea.

“I didn’t make it. His Grace did.”

Carl politely pointed at Edgar who was pretending to be ignorant. Edgar accusingly looked at him, but Carl didn’t want the tea with milk and sugar to be considered as his work.

“Thank you, Edgar. How did you make it so that it matched my taste?”

“I just used my senses.”

Edgar tried to sound natural and cold as he drank his own clear tea, but he couldn’t hide his lips from curling up. Carl wanted to leave the room at that point, but there was a message he had to deliver.

“Sir Minos of Jackal Bank will be coming tomorrow morning. I said you will have time only late in the afternoon, and he said he would wait. I think I can give him a tour of the garden while he waits.”

“Is he coming alone?”

Rubica joined the conversation with a smile.

“He said he will be bringing an employee.”

That had to be Ios. Rubica had to resist a sigh. Why was that hard-to-understand dragon trying to get involved in this matter? Lord Sesar hadn’t been making any new roses as he was busy with something else. Therefore, she was worried she might not be able to control him this time.