Chapter 41
The place Cecilia dragged me to by the hand was none other than a clothing store.
Naturally, the first thing to do once we'd decided to dress up was change clothes, but..
It was just too embarrassing to wear women's clothes.
Until now, even if I was wearing a skirt underneath, it had been hidden beneath my robe, so I hadn't been embarrassed because other people couldn't really see it. But the clothes I was putting on now didn't conceal what I was wearing; they were meant to be seen by everyone around me.
Of course, I had no choice but to be embarrassed.
“How does this look?”
“Lumia's on the short side, so we need a pattern that gives her a little more volume. And since she's very thin, something a little loose so she'll look more average.. To put it bluntly, something with the same pattern on top and bottom, in a bright color, would be better, so.. I think this checkered dress looks good?”
“Wow.. Cecilia really knows her stuff..”
“Hehe, when I secretly went out and wandered around the village.. Ah..”
No, it's my outfit, so why are you deciding everything for me..
I didn't know much about clothes, so I had no choice but to sit there quietly, but at least I wanted to choose what I was going to wear myself.. I looked around and found something suitably drab with nothing revealing.
I like this one.
This was women's clothing too, so it was a little embarrassing, but at least I thought it was better than wearing that unnecessarily bright outfit that looked as if it would radiate happiness all around it. Just as I was about to take it inside and try it on in secret,
“Ah, Lumia!”
Cecilia caught me immediately.
Of course, since I couldn't hear her, I ignored her and went into the room..
“Lumiaa~ Where are you going~!”
When did she get there?!
“Wow.. you're really fast..”
Ruril, who had approached from the side at the windlike speed characteristic of elves, said with a sly smile.
I couldn't hear her words this time either, but since she'd come over and blocked my path, I had no choice but to react. While I was looking at Ruril with an affectedly surprised expression, Cecilia approached and handed me a note saying that this didn't suit me, then took the clothes away.
No, don't!
I had to say something, or this wouldn't do.
I held out my hand as though asking her to hand me the note, but perhaps she mistook my gesture for a request for the clothes. She wrote that we'd come here to dress me up, and that these clothes weren't very suitable for that, so I should leave it to her, then showed me the note with a smile.
Well, this is awkward..
Given Lumia's personality, she didn't seem to like dressing up much, so should I just refuse and leave..?
The impulse struck me for a moment.
“What do you think, Hero?”
“Huh, me?”
“What if you imagined Lumia wearing this?”
Even if I couldn't hear her voice, there was no way I could fail to recognize what she meant when she acted as if she were showing him the clothes and asking his opinion. Without realizing it, I turned to look at the Hero. He scratched his head, trailing off as he watched me to see how he should answer.
He could just answer honestly, though.
It would be great if he said it probably wouldn't suit her and let her wear something else.. I could endure wearing other feminine clothes, but that one was really.. Maybe it was because I'd never worn anything like it, but I was terribly embarrassed.
“Well..”
“You can be honest. Lumia will be happy to hear it too, won't she?”
What do you mean, she'll be happy?!
I almost snapped, but held it in.
Fine, let's see what he answers.
I looked toward the Hero.
After staring at me for a long time without answering, the Hero smiled awkwardly and asked whether he could really be honest. But the question felt as if he were asking me, so I nodded without thinking.
No—perhaps he really had been asking me.
It seemed as if he had been speaking while looking at me.
“I want to see you in it. I think it'd suit you.”
“...”
I felt betrayed.
Yet somehow, I felt none of the anger that should have come with being betrayed. Hearing the Hero's words, if anything, left me deflated. It was only natural. The Hero liked Lumia.. He had even returned to the past to save her..
It made sense that he would want to see me all dressed up.
...
Me?
Me..?
“...”
What on earth was this feeling..
Without realizing it, I placed a hand on my chest at the happiness I sensed from the Hero after he said he wanted to see me dressed up. Through my hand, I could feel my heart beating fast, the sensation traveling along my nerves. I wasn't an idiot; I could at least tell what this feeling was.
I was unmistakably happy.
‘Was I reacting because he said he wanted to see me dressed up..?’
I shook my head.
Was I going crazy?
I wasn't Lumia, yet I kept acting as though Lumia were me. I was myself now, and I'd accepted myself as I was, but this feeling was terribly confusing.
- The Hero says he wants to see you wearing this. What do you think?
Cecilia, who had approached at some point, held out a note to me with a saintly smile. I think I said this earlier too, but although it was clearly supposed to look beautiful, for some reason it looked murderous to me now.
No, had I put it differently?
I didn't know.
There was only one answer I could give right now.
Nod.
- Good choice! I'll make you look like the cutest person in the world!
Cecilia wrote that on the note, held it out to me, and smiled as happily as could be.
What on earth was she planning to do to me..
M-me..
Eek!
.
.
.
.
Ruril shoved me outside, saying that a woman's transformation was about to begin. Cecilia and Ruril had confidently told me to leave Lumia to them, but I wondered whether it would really be all right.
I wanted to watch, so I went back into the store to take a look, but soon shook my head. Wouldn't it be better to see her after they had finished dressing her? It probably wouldn't happen, but if I happened to see her changing clothes, I wouldn't be able to face Lumia.
What would Lumia look like..?
It was only a clothing store, so they probably couldn't dress her up all that extravagantly, but I couldn't help feeling excited. Even before I returned to the past, Lumia had always worn only that outfit; I'd never seen her wear anything else. Cecilia had been the one urging us to travel so we could defeat the Demon King, while Ruril liked shopping, but neither Lumia nor Cecilia did..
As I'd suspected, Cecilia had apparently been consumed by the desire to defeat the Demon King as soon as possible. Come to think of it, I remembered that around the time she began to like me, she had started dressing up little by little, wearing different clothes and applying makeup. So this must have been her original personality.
Perhaps that condition for defeating the Demon King—dating Lumia and getting her pregnant—had brought out Cecilia's true personality. In any case, unlike before, when we hadn't been close beyond being comrades, it was a relief that everyone seemed to have grown closer.
As I sat outside thinking that over, I waited for quite a while before Ruril opened the door and called for me.
But something about Ruril was strange.
“What's wrong?”
“Huh? Oh, no.. You should see it yourself.”
With that, Ruril shyly ducked back inside.
Why was she reacting like that?
I was bewildered, but I began to grow excited at the thought that Lumia might have changed so drastically that it had made Ruril react like that. I swallowed and stepped into the room where Lumia was.
And then,
“How does she look?”
Cecilia said that and gestured toward Lumia beside her.
But my eyes didn't go to Cecilia.
They were fixed on Lumia.
A brightly colored checkered dress, hips and waist so beautiful they seemed to have been sculpted by God, and a modest but unmistakable bust. Above them stood a blue-haired girl whose face was bright red like a perfectly ripened fruit.
Her blue hair, streaked with purple highlights as if someone had dabbed it with paint here and there, had been neatly arranged with the hairpin I'd given her. It was hard to believe that her hair was usually so poorly maintained.
I didn't know much about makeup, but she must have had all the basics done, because Lumia looked especially cute and pretty today. She seemed so embarrassed to show me herself in those clothes that she couldn't keep still, twisting this way and that in discomfort.
She was incredible.
That was the only way I could describe her.
“Ah..”
Perhaps sensing my gaze, Lumia looked at me and flinched in surprise, then quickly averted her eyes. I'd spent plenty of time with Lumia and met her many times, both before my return and when we'd first met, but I'd never once seen her like this.
She was beautiful.
Far too beautiful.
“How's my handiwork?”
Cecilia asked with a sly grin.
I had no choice but to admit it.
I nodded with a vacant expression.
“There! Now that we've dressed her up, go out and have fun together! We'll have fun by ourselves!”
Saying that, Cecilia pushed Lumia toward me.
Lumia, pushed toward me, looked utterly bewildered.
‘Phew..’
I could feel my heart pounding.
She had always been cute, but..
Today,
especially.. it was terribly hard to hold myself back.