LIGHTNOVELSTORY Vol. 3 Chapter 9.4
Sierra, along with Ervandas, turned towards the entrance, to find the cause of the commotion. And then…
“…!”
Everyone’s eyes widened in astonishment. The person entering was someone they knew well. But she looked so different, so unfamiliar, that it was all the more startling.
“Lulu?”
A sound like a groan escaped Ervandas’s lips as he stared at the approaching figure.
He couldn’t believe his eyes. It was Lulu, walking in with graceful steps. He wasn’t surprised by her elegant gait since the Duchess had trained her harshly in etiquette.
What shocked Ervandas was the dress Lulu was wearing.
“Why…”
Lulu wasn’t wearing the outfit he had sent her. The one he had sent was a green velvet dress that complemented her red hair beautifully. A warm and elegant dress with various embellishments that Lulu loved, perfect for the cool weather.
But the Lulu walking in now was wearing something completely different. A dress as bright and intense as her hair color, a fiery red. It was an off-the-shoulder dress, revealing her shoulders. And not just her shoulders.
Ervandas’s breath hitched as his gaze traveled down past her white shoulders.
Lulu had a cute face, but her body wasn’t. After giving birth to Heinel, her curves had become even more voluptuous and alluring. And her breasts, the ones he loved to squeeze and suck, were boldly on display, their beautiful shape emphasized by the dress. And that wasn’t all.
The form-fitting dress accentuated her slender waist, the gentle curve of her hips, and the smooth lines of her long legs.
It wasn’t just the dress. Lulu usually preferred to wear her curly hair neatly styled and pulled back. But today, she had it swept up in a high bun, revealing the nape of her neck, and she wore a large, eye-catching necklace.
Lulu walked towards the stunned Ervandas and, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, took his hand, the one Princess Sierra had been eyeing covetously, and intertwined her fingers with his. Her fingers, slipping between his, subtly tickled his palm. Leaning closer, she whispered,
“Have you been waiting long, Ervandas?”
“…!”
Ervandas flinched at her words. The usual Lulu would have brightly said, “Er, did you wait for me?” and then thrown herself into his arms. But not today. Her voice was lower and more composed than usual, and her warm breath, as if deliberately aimed, brushed against his neck as she spoke. Her breath, carrying the same warmth as her body temperature, the one he always craved.
Ervandas’s face, which had been smiling just a moment ago, quickly hardened. He pulled Lulu closer, their hands still clasped. Caught off guard, Lulu stumbled and landed against his chest.
Ervandas wrapped his arm around her waist and spoke in a voice loud enough for those around them to hear,
“My dear, you must be tired. You need to rest.”
And with that, he scooped her up into his arms and headed towards the terrace at the far end of the banquet hall.
The people could only stare in a daze as Ervandas and Lulu disappeared. Princess Sierra included.
* * *
Stepping onto the secluded terrace, Ervandas set Lulu down and roughly drew the curtains. The heavy curtains swished shut, shielding them from view, and the sounds from the banquet hall faded as he closed the glass door. Lulu expected him to turn around immediately, but instead, he stood with his back to her, his forehead pressed against the glass, taking deep breaths.
Lulu cautiously called out to him,
“Er?”
Ervandas slowly turned around. Lulu caught her breath as she saw his face illuminated by the moonlight.
‘Scary!’
Ervandas stood there, his expression hardened in a way she had rarely seen before. Not a frown, not a shout, just a perfectly blank expression.
His handsome and composed face, devoid of any emotion, made him look almost inhuman.
‘Did I do something wrong?’
Lulu quickly looked down at her dress.
The mages at the Magic Tower had said they would solve her problem and then held a meeting amongst themselves. Soon after, they split up and busied themselves with various tasks. One of them, with Lulu’s permission, had gone to the Master’s vault and started rummaging frantically. Another went down to the lower floors of the Tower, searching for someone. And another dragged Lulu to a room and tried out various hairstyles, tying and untying her hair repeatedly.
It went on for an entire day. By the time Lulu mumbled, “I can’t do this anymore…”, the mages were high-fiving each other and cheering.
“Alright! Let’s shake things up for Lord Ervandas!”She had been too tired at the time to ask why Ervandas would be shaken up just because she was getting dressed.
The mages from the Magic Tower took the exhausted Lulu to the royal palace. First thing in the morning, they summoned the royal tailors, showed them the designs they had drawn, and badgered them to make the dress immediately.
“How can we make something like this in a day, let alone half a day?!”“Magic, my dear tailor. Magic. Now, get up and get to work.”“You should have said so! Wait, but this… does Prince Ervandas know about this?”“That’s the fun part. He has no idea.”“Um, are we sure this is okay?”“Don’t worry. The Tower Master will protect us.”“Well, if you say so… To be honest, we’ve always wanted to dress her in something like this.”The mages and the tailors soon joined forces and worked tirelessly. The result was the hairstyle, the dress, everything Lulu was wearing now.
Standing before the mirror, Lulu had wondered if it was really okay. It was the first time since leaving the forest that she had worn something so revealing in public.
“Actually… I think I’ll just wear the outfit Er sent me.”When Lulu hesitantly voiced her concern, both the mages and the tailors smiled and shook their heads. One of the more impatient tailors even declared, “I’ll go burn the other dress!” and ran off. When Lulu continued to hesitate, Sharia approached her and whispered,
“Think of Princess Sierra, Master. She wears things like this too.”“But… It suits her.”Sharia’s smile widened at Lulu’s words.
“It suits you too, Master. Really. Dangerously so.”Sharia’s smile was certainly genuine. It might have been laced with a hint of mischief, but it wasn’t malicious. In the end, Lulu was pushed out the door and told that it was time. Before entering the banquet hall, Sharia spotted the Duchess, who often met with Lulu and they exchanged a few words.
The Duchess gave Sharia the same sly smile and then approached Lulu, whispering,
“Lulu, once you enter the banquet hall, why don’t you try greeting Lord Ervandas the way I taught you?”Lulu deeply trusted the Duchess. After all, it was the Duchess who taught her about the world outside the castle, the things that Ervandas, having lived his life as a prince, couldn’t fully explain. To Lulu, the Duchess’s teachings were absolute truth.
‘That’s why I did what the Duchess taught me…’
She was supposed to greet him differently than usual. Hold his hand and subtly tickle his palm, hidden from view. And let her breath brush against his neck.
The Duchess had said that Ervandas would love it.
‘Noooooooo!’
Lulu screamed internally, watching Ervandas approach, his expression unreadable. When he was right in front of her, she involuntarily took a few steps back.
“Er, um, why are you looking at me like that…”
“Who…”
“Huh?”
“Who dressed you like that?”
Ervandas’s tone was so menacing that it seemed he could effortlessly cast the person who dressed Lulu into the depths of hell.
Lulu remembered what Sharia and the other mages at the Magic Tower had repeatedly asked her to promise. They said that something dangerous might happen soon, and they begged her to save them. Lulu had assured them that no one would dare threaten the mages of the Magic Tower and that she would protect them as their Master.
Now she realized that the person who could potentially threaten them was Ervandas.
Lulu was torn. She didn’t want to lie to Er. But if she told the truth, it seemed likely that several mages would end up buried in the royal garden today.
“Um, Er, I wanted to wear this… so I wore it…”
“You wanted to wear this?”
Ervandas took a step towards her. As Lulu hurriedly tried to back away again, she bumped into something. She turned around and saw the terrace railing. It was a fairly spacious terrace, but she had already reached the end.
“Suddenly, why?”
Ervandas’s voice was laced with a hint of accusation. Lulu desperately pressed her lips together, trying to stop them from pouting.
“Why what? Do I need a reason to wear what I want? Lots of people dress like this.”
“Who dresses like this?”
Ervandas’s sharp tone, as if she had been walking around naked, made Lulu feel unjustly accused, and she retorted in a frustrated voice,
“What? Princess Sierra was dressed like this!”
She had intended to speak calmly and elegantly, as the Duchess had taught her, but it was impossible. She could maintain a dignified demeanor when handling matters as the Master of the Magic Tower, yet she couldn’t do the same in front of Er. Frustration, a sense of injustice, and the anger that had been simmering within her since she saw Ervandas laughing with Princess Sierra at the last banquet, all mixed together.
She had thought that if she kept her mouth shut now, she could at least end this conversation with some semblance of maturity. But in the end, Lulu blurted out what she had truly wanted to say,
“Why aren’t you saying anything to Princess Sierra but getting angry at me?!”
Ervandas stopped in his tracks at her outburst.
“Princess Sierra?”
“Yes! That pretty one! She was dressed like me, and you were talking and laughing with her, so why are you only like this with me?!”
Having finally revealed everything that had been weighing on her heart, Lulu’s face crumpled.
“You could just smile at me like that too…”
Confessing the feelings that had been pricking at her heart for the past month, Lulu didn’t feel any better.
At those words, Ervandas opened his mouth with a sigh,
“I can’t smile at you like that.”
“What?”
Lulu gaped at his absurd reply.
She had thought that he would at least apologize when she said that. That he would promise to smile at her just like he smiled at Princess Sierra. But he couldn’t?
‘Should I just punch him?’
But even if she unleashed her strongest punch, it would probably feel like a feather landing on his steel-like body.
Then, should she attack him with magic?
Her excitement about the banquet, which had been building up all day, had vanished, replaced by a cold, empty feeling. Her throat tightened, and her eyes burned. She wasn’t a child anymore; she was the Master of the Magic Tower, the prince’s wife, recognized by everyone. She couldn’t cry and cling to him like she did in the forest. She didn’t want to!
Lulu decided to just leave. She knew it was rude to leave the banquet without even properly greeting anyone, but it was better than breaking down in tears.
‘I’m never wearing something like this again.’
To be honest, when she had looked in the mirror after getting dressed, she couldn’t help but admire herself. The outfits Er had sent her before were beautiful, but she had thought that this dress suited her quite well.