What I Gained by Giving My Body - Chapter 2.19

“Y-yes, that is correct.”

“I shall consider this to be the engagement gift.”

“But…… the sample dress is…….”

Miss Sabina looked extremely distressed. Caitlyn didn’t know much about dressing rooms, but she could at least sense that this dress was a fairly important garment for her. But before she could even say she would change immediately, Archduke Akbar spoke.

“There is no need to manufacture a new one and send it. It fits the body perfectly, so why bother making a new one?”

Fortunately, Miss Sabina was a very quick-witted person. She was also well-versed in the habits of nobles, enough to know that if Archduke Akbar wanted it, he could cancel all the orders placed today immediately. She wiped the troubled expression from her face and answered in a bright voice.

“I am glad that the engagement gift is to your liking.”

Caitlyn couldn’t understand why Archduke Akbar was being so stubborn, but she found the answer within the full-length mirrors hanging throughout the boutique.

When she had looked at the dress alone, it had a bright and cute impression, but seeing herself in the dress, she was far from being cute. The flowers placed in the right spots emphasized her elegant body lines, and the fluttering hem created a mysterious impression. Above all else…….

‘Was my face always this sharp?’

Caitlyn stroked her face. Was it because of the cold colors mixed with pale purple, light gray, and light blue? A woman who looked incredibly cold and noble was facing her. A woman who didn’t seem like Caitlyn herself at all. Rather, the woman who came to mind seeing this appearance was……. Archduke Akbar wrapped his arm around her waist. His gaze shifted to Caitlyn’s form reflected in the mirror.

“……It’s quite strange. When I’m not looking, I want to see you, and when I am looking, I don’t want to see you.”

It was a voice filled with complex emotions that couldn’t be described.

“But…… in the end, it seems I did want to see you.”

Caitlyn realized it. At this moment, Roxias Akbar was not looking at her. He was surely looking at that woman, Cassandra, who must have died and returned to the earth long ago.

* * *

Exactly three days. That was the time it took for the rumors that started from Sabina’s Boutique to spread across the entire capital. Consequently, on the morning of the fourth day, Roxias Akbar was not surprised at all even after receiving a summons from the Imperial Palace.

“Roxy…… how can you betray me in this way?”

‘What was bound to come has arrived.’ Roxias looked at Chaser, his dear cousin and his lord, with a cold face. The fledgling Emperor Chaser, who had ascended the throne trembling at a mere thirty years old after his father’s sudden death, was no more.

Ten years had completely transformed him into a slithering snake, and Roxias did not miss the fact that the reason he was clinging to him now was also because he had some sort of scheme. Of course…… he himself couldn’t say he was without hidden intentions either.

“I am humbled, Your Majesty, but I did not know that placing a ring on a woman’s finger was an act of betraying Your Majesty.”

“You didn’t know!”

Chaser shouted in excitement.

“Did I not tell you over and over again that I would prepare a good bride for you!”

Roxias’s eyes narrowed. Chaser had said such things several times. Since there was no woman he actually introduced, Roxias had simply let it go in one ear and out the other.

“Since you didn’t tell me who it was, I thought you were just speaking in passing.”

“There’s no way.”

Roxias frowned and looked at Chaser. The flesh of his lower jaw, folded and hanging like a bulldog’s, was twitching as if he were displeased.

‘What is it?’

Normally, he and Chaser had respected each other’s intentions. If Chaser had a candidate for a bride prepared for him, he would have asked for his opinion in advance and proceeded with the steps. But this—was it not close to coercion? He swallowed a hollow laugh and answered slowly.

“In any case, my fiancée now is Miss Hardick. No matter who else you show me, my heart will not change.”

Chaser did not yield at all. No, to be precise, he looked at him with a gaze as if he were pitiable.

“Your mind will change once you meet her.”