Chapter 11
The estate was just as noisy in the afternoon as it had been during the rather hectic morning.
Women who had arrived in several carriages were bustling around the estate with their arms full of dresses in every color.
The empty room on the second floor beside Eleonore's bedroom had somehow become a showroom for the dressmaker's shop.
Watching from the doorway, Eleonore stared in dismay at the ever-growing collection of dresses.
The room was certainly as spacious as her own bedroom….
But seeing the large room filled with dresses made her feel downright queasy.
Surely they weren't planning to make her try on every single one of these dresses, were they?
Please, please tell me that's not the case.
Whether she knew how her lady felt or not,
Sophie stood neatly at Eleonore's side, but her eyes were wide as she gazed at the dresses filling the room, completely entranced.
“Milady! Look at that ivory dress. Isn't the lace so elegant? Wow, that silver dress they just brought in would look lovely with your fair skin!”
Honestly, if she'd just been looking, it would've been bearable.
Eleonore let out a small sigh as she watched Sophie, who was practically bursting with excitement.
Should I just say I don't feel well and send them away?
It's not even a lie, really.
Her platinum-blonde head shook from side to side.
With Sophie and her mother in the room both looking at the dresses like that,
Eleonore couldn't bring herself to voice the thought that had just occurred to her.
Fine. I'll try on just a few and make a quick decision!
I'm the one who's going to wear the dress, after all. I can't leave it to other people and end up wearing something hideous.
Her platinum-blonde head gently bobbed up and down.
Having made up her mind, Eleonore entered the room that had become a dressing room and cautiously approached Etie, who was in the middle of speaking with a middle-aged woman.
“I'm truly sorry to have called you here on such short notice. This is the sort of thing we should have had more time to prepare for.”
For someone speaking to a subordinate, Etie offered a rather formal apology.
The woman standing before the Marchioness of Béarn laughed brightly and assured her it was all right.
“Not at all, my lady. We're honored that you've entrusted us with your daughter's precious debutante gown.”
“I'm glad to hear you say so.”
“Time is short, but your daughter is every bit as beautiful as the rumors say, so it shouldn't take long. I've brought over all the dresses from my shop, so if you choose one today, we'll have plenty of time to meet the deadline.”
Goose bumps rose on Eleonore's slender arms beneath her pale blue blouse.
Of course, as a woman, she should be pleased that someone thought her beautiful.
But compliments like that still made Eleonore cringe.
She rubbed her arms over her blouse and stood close beside her mother.
At the presence beside her, Etie's brown hair swayed gently.
Etie drew her daughter, who had come up beside her, close and introduced the middle-aged woman she'd been speaking with.
“Eli, this is Mrs. Olivia, a well-known dressmaker in the capital. You'll be seeing her from time to time, so say hello.”
At Etie's words, Eleonore greeted the woman politely.
“I'm Eleonore Arraena de Béarn, youngest daughter of House Béarn.”
“I'm Olivia, a humble seamstress who gets by on her needlework. You're even more beautiful than the rumors said, milady. Thanks to you, I think I'll enjoy working again for the first time in ages.”
“Thank you for the compliment, madam. When can I start trying the dresses on?”
“Everything is nearly ready. Please take a seat, and I'll clear the room.”
With that, the woman returned to the busy group of women.
Before long, Etie's left arm had linked with Eleonore's right.
Feeling her mother's soft breast against her blouse, Eleonore gently turned her head toward Etie, who had taken her arm.
“Eli, you must be tired after all that running around since this morning, aren't you?”
If she could have done as she pleased, she would have clung to her mother like she had in bed the night before. But there were quite a few eyes on them, so Eleonore kept her expression composed and answered in a quiet voice.
“Yes. I'm a little tired. Mother, I don't have to try on every dress here, do I?”
“If I had my way, I'd have my pretty daughter try on every one.”
At the slight upward curve of her mother's lips, Eleonore felt an inexplicable chill.
“But we're short on time, and my baby isn't feeling very well, so let's try on just a few of the dresses that suit you best.”
#.
With Etie and Olivia taking their seats, Eleonore's debutante-dress survival contest had finally begun.
The two judges debated the dresses spread out before them with great enthusiasm, discussing everything from color to lace to each little pleat.
Meanwhile, the person who would actually be trying them on sat in a chair inside a makeshift changing room of curtains and wooden partitions, waiting idly for the finalists.
Quite some time passed like that.
At last, the five dresses chosen as finalists were brought before Eleonore.
Eleonore looked the dresses over a couple of times.
Honestly, apart from the slightly different colors, they all looked pretty much the same.
Well, what would I know about dresses? I barely knew anything about women's clothes.
Eleonore rose from her seat, clutching her increasingly sore lower abdomen, while the audience waited outside the changing room.
Once she was on her feet, there wasn't much for Eleonore to do.
As always, dressing her was the servants' job.
The only difference from usual was that, among the familiar faces, there were now several women who had come with Mrs. Olivia.
As they began changing her clothes, Eleonore was taken aback by the process.
She'd spent a little over a month watching the maids dress her in front of the mirror, so she had started to get used to women's clothes.
After going to the bathroom, she could now straighten her blouse and skirt by herself.
She even thought she could put on the undergarment that looked like a bra, the one that covered her breasts, by reaching behind her back.
But the dress she was being put into now was on an entirely different level from the women's clothes she'd worn so far.
It hadn't been designed with convenience in mind at all.
The platinum-blonde young lady reflected in the mirror looked less like she was putting on the dress and more like the dress was wearing her.
“Wow! Look at milady's skin. How do you take such good care of it? Even her body is so smooth, without a single blemish.”
“I hear the food at House Béarn is so lavish. How is milady's waist still so tiny?”
“Hehe. Our milady is perfect in every way, looks and all.”
On top of that, the comments she heard from those around her—especially the over-the-top praise from Sophie and the familiar faces—were getting on her nerves.
Thanks to them, the stabbing pain in her lower abdomen had grown so bad it felt as though someone were jabbing her with a knife.
Ah! Could this be stress-induced enteritis? Yeah, that would make sense.
Eleonore rubbed her slender lower abdomen for no particular reason.
“Exactly. She doesn't need to have her waist cinched in at all.”
Oh…. At least that's a relief.
Thanks to the tireless efforts of the women surrounding her, Eleonore was finally dressed in the first gown without incident.
Of course, it was still at the fitting stage, so the seams at the waist were only held together with pins and looked a little precarious.
Wearing rather high heels that suited the dress, Eleonore took Sophie's hand and stepped out from behind the partition to face the audience.
At some point, quite a crowd had gathered in the room.
There were the people who'd come with Mrs. Olivia, the maids who had just been busy dressing Eleonore, and even other servants from the estate who'd rushed over after hearing the rumors.
The people gathered in the room held their breath in admiration at the sight of Eleonore.
The pure-white dress against her fair skin made Eleonore's slender figure look even more delicate and pure.
The glimpse of cleavage above the neckline, which plunged below her shoulders, only heightened the budding allure of a young woman.
However, not everyone felt the same way.
“I think the shoulders are cut a little too low.”
The bold design revealed not only her collarbones but a hint of her upper chest, and it didn't seem to please the Marchioness of Béarn.
And her daughter, Eleonore, nodded along with her mother's words.
I agree, Mother. How am I supposed to stand in front of men wearing nothing but a scrap of fabric like this?
But the wicked Mrs. Olivia laughed merrily and began spouting the sort of lines Eleonore had only ever heard from department-store salespeople.
“My lady, this style is all the rage among young ladies in the capital. Besides, milady's bust is just the right size—not too large, but not too small—so it doesn't look vulgar at all.”
Even the last line of defense, her mother, seemed to be swayed by the woman's sales pitch.
Etie tilted her head from side to side and asked her daughter what she thought.
“Hmm. Eli, what do you think?”
Eleonore answered at once.
“The dress is certainly pretty, but… honestly, this much exposure makes me a little uncomfortable.”
No, no. I hate it! I really hate it! I'm not wearing this!
She wanted to plop down right there and throw a full-blown tantrum, but…
With so many eyes in the room fixed on her, Eleonore held back and spoke in her usual voice.
And the moment she finished speaking, something churned unusually in her lower abdomen.
The unfamiliar sensation made Eleonore place a hand over her lower abdomen through the dress.
At the unpleasant feeling of something flowing out from below, Eleonore froze in place.
Sophie, who had been attending to her at her side, was the first to notice something was wrong.
“W-wait. Milady, are you all right?”
Sophie whispered to Eleonore in a thoroughly flustered voice. Then she quickly moved behind her and used her own body to shield Eleonore from view.
The pure-white dress began to turn red, the stain spreading from the inside out.
The people gathered in the room finally noticed something was wrong and began whispering among themselves.
And Eleonore, standing in the middle of them, froze where she was.
Could the thing soaking the space between her legs really be what had just come to mind?
Was the stiffness in her lower back and the stabbing pain in her lower abdomen lately connected to what was happening now?
The first to move was the Marchioness of Béarn, who sprang to her feet at the sight of her daughter frozen in place.
“Everyone, get out! You there, by the door—close it quickly. Sophie, take Eli behind the curtain.”
The room, which had been frozen still, finally began to stir.
“What are you all doing? Can't you hear me? Move, quickly!”
At Etie's sharp command, the people gathered in the room finally hurried outside.
Eleonore, still frozen in place, began moving toward the temporary changing room behind the curtain with Sophie's help.
#.
The bedroom was silent as the grave.
Alone on the wide bed, Eleonore stared blankly at the lattice pattern on the ceiling.
She couldn't think of anything.
No, she didn't want to think about anything.
Not about what had happened earlier.
Or about what was happening to her body now.
Seo Juha could only feel that it was unfair that something like this was happening to her.
Her sky-blue eyes began to glisten with tears.
The lattice pattern on the ceiling gradually blurred, and Eleonore turned her head and buried her face in the pillow.
The only sound in the spacious room was Eleonore's muffled sobbing from her pillow.
Eventually, when the tears she'd cried out of sheer frustration had begun to subside a little,
there were a couple of knocks from beyond the heavy wooden door.
The platinum-blonde hair buried in the pillow shifted softly.
She considered telling them to go away, but in her current state all that would come out was a sob, so Eleonore buried her head in the pillow again.
Then the bedroom door quietly opened without its owner's permission.
“Eli. Are you feeling a little better now?”
At the familiar voice, her blonde hair stirred.
Even if it was her mother, Eleonore didn't want her to see her tear-streaked face, so she kept it buried in the pillow.
A warm hand gently stroked the back of Eleonore's small head.
Just that one touch seemed to ease the throbbing in her lower abdomen a little.
“Sweetheart, why don't you sit up for a moment? I brought you some warm cocoa and a hot-water bottle.”
A laugh slipped out of her.
Eleonore might be a child, but Seo Juha inside her was already an adult. At least, she had been one before.
Still, she didn't exactly dislike her mother's words and touch, even if they treated her as a child.
Eleonore lifted her buried head a little and met a pair of sky-blue eyes exactly like her own.
“Um… I'm sorry, Mother.”
“Oh, my girl. What are you apologizing for? You were crying your eyes out again—I could hear you sniffling all the way outside.”
“Hey! I didn't cry that much!”
Despite her words, one last tear rolled from her big eyes down her snow-white cheek.
Etie smiled gently and placed her right hand on Eleonore's left cheek.
Then her warm, soft hand cupped the white cheek and wiped away the tear tickling it.
“I see. Mm-hmm. That's right, my girl.”
Etie picked up a mug from the tray on the bedside table and held it out to Eleonore.
“Here, drink some warm cocoa. If you hold the hot-water bottle against your lower abdomen, it'll ease the pain a little.”
“Thank you for looking after me, Mother.”
“Oh, there's no need to thank me so much.”
At Eleonore's words, Etie replied with a soft smile.
“Your sister was the same. You never used to get period cramps, and now suddenly you have them. It feels like I'm finally getting to raise a daughter properly.”
#2. Getting Ready Is Always the Hard Part! (End)